Important Idioms and Phrases with Letter 'B'


1.     Back Seat Drivers
Meaning - People who criticize from the sidelines, much like someone giving unwanted advice from the backseat of a vehicle to the driver/any person who gives unwanted advice instead of helping or understanding
·         Meaning (Hindi) - कोई भी व्यक्ति जो मदद या समझने के बजाय अवांछित सलाह देता है
·         Example - Nobody likes a backseat driver constantly nagging them when they want to work peacefully.
2. Back to Square one
·         Meaning - Having to start all over again/start working on a plan from the beginning because your previous attempt failed completely
·         Meaning (Hindi) - जहाँ के तहाँ
·         Example - We’ll have to go back to square one if the government pulls our funding on this project.               
3. Bring home the bacon
·         Meaning - To earn money, particularly for one's family; to be successful, especially financially successful.
·         Meaning (Hindi) - सफलता हासिल करन , कमाना
·         Example - Women nowadays not only take care of the household but also bring home the bacon.
4. Back Room Boys
·         Meaning - People who do important work but have no contact with the public/Someone who advises a public figure or maintains a professional role that does not garner public attention.
·         Meaning (Hindi) - अप्रसिद्ध महत्वपूर्ण व्यक्ति
·         Example - Backroom boys don't always receive the credit they deserve for theirs.
5. Bad Blood
·         Meaning - feelings of hate between people because of arguments in the past
·         Meaning (Hindi) - आपसी दुश्मनी
·         Example - There has been bad blood between the two families for years.
6. Badger someone into doing something
·         Meaning - to put pressure on somebody by repeatedly asking them questions or asking them to do something/to persistently nag or pester someone until you obtain what you want
·         Meaning (Hindi) - दबाव डालना 
·         Example - Children keep badgering me to take them to the magic show.
7. Bait and Switch
·         Meaning -  a deceptive commercial practice of advertising a low-priced item to attract customers, then telling them that the product is out of stock and persuading them to buy a more expensive article. 
·         Meaning (Hindi)- ग्राहकों को आकर्षित करने के लिए एक कम कीमत वाला आइटम विज्ञापित करने का एक भ्रामक व्यावसायिक अभ्यास, फिर उन्हें यह बताते हुए कि उत्पाद स्टॉक से बाहर है और उन्हें अधिक महंगा उत्पाद  खरीदने के लिए राजी करना 
·         Example - This store is famous for its bait and switch tactics.
8. Bang for the buck
·         Meaning -  Value for the money spent
·         Meaning (Hindi) - लगाये गये धन की पूरी कीमत वसूलना 
·         Example - We were able to get a big bang for our buck when we advertised on the Internet.
9. Banker's hours
·         Meaning - Short work hours/a work day that is shorter than that of most businesses, typically between 10 am and 3 pm on Monday through Friday, the hourswhen banks used to be open
·         Meaning (Hindi) - कम कार्य के घंटे
·         Example -  My sister's husband owns his own company and is able to work banker's hours with his large staff. 
10. Bark up the wrong tree
·         Meaning -To attempt or pursue a futile course of action, often by making some kind of suggestion or request/to make the wrong choice; to ask the wrong person; to follow the wrong course
·         Meaning (Hindi) - गलतफ़हमी में होना
·         Example -  If you think you will solve the problem by following those steps, you are barking up the wrong tree.
11. Be all ears
·         Meaning - To be ready and eager to hear what one has to say.
·         Meaning (Hindi) - ध्यान लगाकर सुनना
·         Example - She had expected him to be all ears when she told him about her wedding plans.
12. Brush something/someone Aside
·         Meaning - dismiss someone or something curtly and confidently
·         Meaning (Hindi) - उपेक्षा करना
Example -  I am so down with math, it's my favourite subject in school.
13. Be off one's head
·         Meaning - To be mad
·         Meaning (Hindi) - पागल होना
·         Example - He must be off his head to think that he will win the elections.
14. Be on to someone/something
·         Meaning - To have the knowledge, be suspicious, or be aware of someone's actions, behavior, or intention. 
·         Meaning (Hindi) - अवगत रहना 
·         Example - My supervisor in onto the new saleswoman who is taking money from her sales register.
15. Bear down on someone/something
·         Meaning - To put forth one's maximum effort toward something
·         Meaning (Hindi) - अधिकतम प्रयास करना 
·         Example - If you want to get a passing grade this semester, you'll really need to bear down on your studies.
16. Bear the brunt (of something)
·         Meaning -To suffer the worst part of an unpleasant or problematic situation
·         Meaning (Hindi) - एक अप्रिय या समस्याग्रस्त स्थिति के सबसे बुरे हिस्से से पीड़ित होना 
·         Example- When our system crashed, the call centre employees bore the brunt of our customers' anger.
17. Bear the palm
·         Meaning - To win. Palm leaves were formerly used as symbols of victory.
·         Meaning (Hindi) - जीतना
·         Example -  I heard that you might bear the palm at the science fair! Congratulations—it would be a well-deserved victory.
18. Beat about the bush
·         Meaning -  Irrelevant talking 
·         Meaning (Hindi) - इधर उधर की बातें करना
Example - Stop beating about the bush and tell us only the truth.
19. Before Long
·         Meaning - soon 
·         Meaning (Hindi) -   जल्द ही 
·         Example - If we keep spending so much, before long we'll be without any money.
20. Beyond the shadow of a doubt
·         Meaning - If you know or believe something beyond a shadow of a doubt, you are certain that it is true
·         Meaning (Hindi) - संदेह से परे
·         Example - He is a responsible person beyond a shadow of a doubt.
21. Bids fair
·         Meaning - To appear likely.
·         Meaning (Hindi) - संभावना दिखाई देना
·         Example - Being so interested in medical, this girl bids fair to be a doctor one day.
22. Black and Blue
·         Meaning - Bruised, either physically or emotionally/To beat mercilessly
·         Meaning (Hindi) - चमड़ी उधेड़नाशारीरिक रूप से या भावनात्मक रूप से  गहरी चोट पहुचाना
·         Example -  The father beat him black and blue for his coming late to home.
23. Blood is thicker than water
·         Meaning - The family bond is closer than anything else 
·         Meaning (Hindi) - पराया पराया होता है, अपना अपना होता है 
·         Example - Some people in this world do great deeds for someone they barely know and prove this saying wrong that 'Blood Is Thicker Than Water '
24. Blow up
·         Meaning -  Suddenly became angry
·         Meaning (Hindi) - अचानक क्रोधित हो जाना
·         Example - The passenger who was waiting in the line blew up at the ticket agent.
25. Blue in the face
·         Meaning - extremely angry, frustrated, annoyed, embarrassed or upset
·         Meaning (Hindi) - बेहद क्रोधित
·         Example - I was blue in the face after accidentally seeing the boys harassasing a new student.
26. Bought the farm
·         Meaning - To die, particularly in an accident or military action.
·         Meaning (Hindi) - अंत हो जाना 
·         Example - He bought the farm on that last patrol with the terrorist.
27. Boil down to something
·         Meaning - Be summarised 
·         Meaning (Hindi) - संक्षेप में 
·         Example - The reason that we could not go on a holiday boiled down to the fact that we did not have enough money.
28. Bury the hatchet
·         Meaning - Cease fighting, make peace 
·         Meaning (Hindi) -झगड़ा ख़त्म करना
·         Example - Let us now bury the hatchet, and work for the advancement of the country.
29. By long odds
·         Meaning - Most decidedly
·         Meaning (Hindi) - निःसन्देह
·         Example -  She is by long odds the greatest of living mathematicians.
30. By fair or foul means/By fits and starts/By hook and by crook
·         Meaning - By all means/In any way
·         Meaning (Hindi) - किसी भी विधि से, चाहे गलत या सही
·         Example - The minister wants to win the seat by fair or foul means.
Word of the day: Break
1. Break a leg
·         Meaning - A superstitious way to say 'good luck' without saying 'good luck', but rather the opposite
·         Meaning (Hindi) - भाग्य तुम्हारे साथ हो
·         Example - While going out on a tour, sam said to his friend 'Break A Leg' and little did he thought that it would turn out to be true, when his friend tripped and broke his leg. 
2. Break Even
·         Meaning - Of a financial enterprise, to neither gain profit nor incur debt; to earn and spend money in equal amounts. 
·         Meaning (Hindi) - हानिरहित व्यापार करना
·         Example - Our company was able to break even after only six months of operation. 
3. Break-in
·         Meaning -  To force entry into something, often a building/To interrupt someone or something/Interrupt to speak
·         Meaning (Hindi) - घुस पड़ना
·         Example - Reporters break in quite frequently during PM's press conference on educational reforms.
4. Break off/Break something up
·         Meaning - Stop speaking/to stop or end suddenly or cause (something)
·         Meaning (Hindi) -   बातचीत बंद कर देना,अचानक रोक देना
·         Example -  India resumed talks with Pakistan after a long break off.
5. Break out
·         Meaning - Escape
·         Meaning (Hindi) -  भाग निकलना
Example - The convicts plotted to break out of prison.
6. Break someone in
·         Meaning - Help to adjust to a new situation/familiarize someone with a new job or situation.
·         Meaning (Hindi) - एक नई स्थिति या एक नई नौकरी के साथ किसी को परिचित कराना
·         Example -  I have to break in a new receptionist.
7. Break something down
·         Meaning - Divide/separate something into a number of parts
·         Meaning (Hindi) -  विभाजन
Example - My teacher broke down the scientific theory so that the class could understand it easily.
8. Break the ice
·         Meaning - do or say something to relieve tension or get the conversation going in a strained situation or when strangers meet.
·         Meaning (Hindi) - चुप्पी तोड़ना, विवाद हल करना
·         Example - Everybody was tense after the fight between the husband and wife then a common friend broke the ice by starting the dialogue between the two.

Post no 52 soft engg

21.
Internal costs include
(a)   Developers salaries
(b)   Managers and support personnel salaries
(c)   The cost of overheads such as utilities, rent and senior managers
(d)   Materials (such as manuals) and services such as travel
(e)   All of the above.

22.
Problems with using Lines of Code to measure the size of a product include(s)
(a)   The creation of source code is only part of the development effort
(b)   The Lines of Code (LOC) will differ between languages and cannot be measured for some languages
(c)   Should comments, data definitions etc (i.e. non-executable LOC) be included as well?
(d)   The final size (kLOC) can only be determined once the product is delivered
(e)   All of the above.

23.
Software Science bases its estimation of the size of a product on
(a)   Files (Fi), Flows (Fl) and Processes (Pr)
(b)   Lines of Code (kLOC)
(c)   Function Points (FP)
(d)   operands and operators
(e)   Feature Points (FeP).

24.
In Intermediate COCOMO the mode that represents complex products is referred to as
(a)  Embedded                                       
(b)  Semidetached                                  
(c)  Organic
(d)  Multiplicative                                    
(e)  Monolithic.

25.
Work that continues throughout the project and does not relate to any specific phase of software development is termed a(n)
(a)  Milestone           
(b)  Project function                                
(c)  Activity             
(d)  Task                  
(e)  Baseline.

26.
The advantage of following the IEEE Standard for drawing up a Software Project Management Plan (SPMP) - see IEEE Standard 1059.1 1987 - is
(a)   It is drawn up by representatives from major software development organisations
(b)   It is designed for all types of software products
(c)   It is a framework that can be used irrespective of process model or specific techniques
(d)   It can be tailored for each organisation for a particular application area, development team or technique.
(e)   All of the above.

27.
The best way to test the Software Project Management Plan (SPMP) is by
(a)  Prototyping        
(b)  Inspection          
(c)  Simulation        
(d)  Compilation        
(e)  Debugging.

28.
Algorithmic cost estimation in different organisations may be different for the same application development, because
(a)   Different organisations consider complexity factors differently
(b)   Different organisations may use different programming languages
(c)   Developers' skills may vary
(d)   Techniques for the measurement of productivity may vary
(e)   All of the above may be true.

29.
The aim of software engineering is to produce software that is
(a)   Fault-free
(b)   Delivered on time
(c)   Delivered within budget
(d)   Satisfies users' needs
(e)   All of these are the aims of software engineering.

30.
Object-oriented concepts are not new. The first OO language was considered to be
(a)  ALGOL-68                                        
(b)  FORTRAN 77     
(c)  C                     
(d)  MODULA                                         
(e)  SIMULA 67.


Answers


21.
Answer : (a)
Reason:  Internal costs comprise all the costs to the developers.
22.
Answer : (e)
Reason:  There are many problems with using Lines of Code to measure the size of a product.
23.
Answer : (d)
Reason:  Software Science bases its estimation of the size of a product on the number of operands and operators.
24.
Answer : (a)
Reason:  In Intermediate COCOMO there are three modes: organic, semidetached and imbedded.
25.
Answer : (b)
Reason:  Work that continues throughout the project and does not relate to any specific phase of software development is termed a project function.
26.
Answer : (e)
Reason:  There are many advantages of using a standard.
27.
Answer : (b)
Reason:  The best way to test the Software Project Management Plan (SPMP) is by a plan inspection by the SQA team. In order to further reduce risk the duration and cost estimates should further be independently computed by people other than the original project team.
28.
Answer : (e)
Reason:  Cost estimation incorporates a number of factors.
29.
Answer : (e)
Reason:  The aim of software engineering is to produce software that is fault-free, delivered on time, delivered within budget, and satisfies users' needs.
30.
Answer : (e)
Reason:  The first OO language was considered to be SIMULA 67.

POST 51 Software Engineering

11.
Which property of the rapid prototype is not important?
(a)   The speed with which it can be developed
(b)   The speed with which it can be modified
(c)   Its ability to determine the client's real needs
(d)   The insights that the design team can gain from it, even if they are of the 'how not to do it' variety
(e)   Its internal structure.

12.

An example of the risk involved in software development is
(a)   Key personnel may resign before the product is complete
(b)   The manufacturer of critical components (e.g. the hardware associated with a real-time system) may go bankrupt
(c)   Technology changes may render the product obsolete
(d)   Competitors may market a fully functional lower-cost equivalent package
(e)   All of these are risks involved in software development.

13.

A simple way of looking at the spiral software life-cycle model is as a waterfall model with each phase proceeded by
(a)  Build-and-fix                                     
(b)  Freezing            
(c)  Synchronization
(d)  Testing                                            
(e)  Risk analysis.

14.

The degree of interaction between two modules is known as
(a)  Cohesion           
(b)  Strength            
(c)  Inheritance        
(d)  Coupling            
(e)  Instantiation.

15.

The relationship between a derived class (or subclass) and base class is referred to as
(a)  Association                                      
(b)  Inheritance         
(c)  Polymorphism   
(d)  Instantiation                                     
(e)  Aggregation.

16.

Myers (1978) identifies seven levels of cohesion. Which level of cohesion may be defined as followed; "the output from one element in the component serves as input for some other element"?
(a)  Communicational cohesion                
(b)  Functional cohesion                         
(c)  Communicational cohesion                
(d)  Temporal cohesion                    
(e)  None of these.
17.
A design is said to be a good design if the components are
(a)   Strongly coupled
(b)   Weakly cohesive
(c)   Strongly coupled and Weakly cohesive
(d)   Strongly coupled and strongly cohesive
(e)   Strongly cohesive and weakly coupled.
18.
If a control switch is passed as an argument this is an example of _______ coupling.
(a)  Content             
(b)  Common            
(c)  Control              
(d)  Stamp               
(e)  Data.
19.
Which of the following is a type of abstraction?
(a)  Data                  
(b)  Procedural         
(c)  Iteration            
(d)  All of the above   
(e)  None of the above.
20.
In the classical chief programmer team approach, the team member responsible for maintaining the detailed design and coding is
(a)   The chief programmer
(b)   The programming secretary
(c)   A specialized function that exists outside 'the team'
(d)   The individual coder (i.e. programmer)
(e)   The back-up programmer.

Answers

11.
Answer : (c)
Expla:  The sole use of the rapid prototype is to determine what the client's real needs are as rapidly as possible. The rapid prototype is then effectively discarded so its internal structure is not relevant.
12.
Answer : (e)
Expla:  There are many risks involved in software development.
13.
Answer : (e)
Expla:  A simple way of looking at the spiral software life-cycle model is as a waterfall model with each phase proceeded by risk analysis.
14.
Answer : (d)
Expla:  The degree of interaction between two modules is known as coupling.
15.
Answer : (b)
Expla:  A derived class inherits all the attributes of a base class.
16.     
Answer : (e)
17.
Answer : (e)
Expla:  You should aim to maximize the interaction within a module and minimize the interaction between modules.
18.
Answer : (c)
Expla:  Two modules are control coupled if one passes an element of control to another.
19.
Answer : (d)
Expla:  The three types of abstraction (data, procedural and iteration) are all instances of the more general concept of information hiding.
20.
Answer : (d)
Expla:  In the classical chief programmer team approach, the team member responsible for maintaining the detailed design and coding is the individual coder (i.e. programmer).


POST 50 Software Engineering

1.
Identify, from among the following, the correct statement.
(a)   One of the main challenges Software Engineering facing today is the requirement of most software systems to work with a multitude of homogenous systems
(b)   ‘Legacy systems’ are custom developed software systems for the legal domain
(c)   Software does not wear-out in the traditional sense of the term, but software does tend to deteriorate as it evolves
(d)   Since software is essentially ‘intangible’ it is relatively easy to manage software projects
(e)   With the advent of component based software assembly, we find that only less than 20% of today’s software is still custom built.
2.
Software Engineering:
(a)   Is a set of rules about developing software products
(b)   Has been around as a discipline since the early 50’s
(c)   Started as a response to the so-called ‘Software Crisis’ of the late 90’s
(d)   Is an engineering discipline concerned with all the aspects of software production
(e)   Is now a mature discipline on par with other established engineering fields.
3.
Read the following paragraph and identify the correct statement.
“Imagine that you were recently hired as a software engineer to a company that specializes in aircraft navigation control software. While orientating yourselves to the company’s work practices, you observe that they in fact do not conduct a few tests that they should in order to comply with the relevant safety standard. When you inquire about this from the project manager, he dismisses it saying that those tests are really unnecessary (and takes an unreasonably long time to conduct, as well as being superfluous) and that they have managed with the other tests for so long, without any problems.”
(a)   You should immediately resign from the company and file a complaint with the relevant standard institution
(b)   You should do nothing and let the matter slide
(c)   Although you are new to the company, and you hardly know anything about the internal processes and politics, you should insist on the company changing its work practices immediately; failing which you threaten to report the matter
(d)   Since you are new to the company, and you are unfamiliar with the internal processes and politics, you should first find-out more about the issue and its background
(e)   None of the above statements are correct.
4.
With regard to Evolutionary development, identify the correct statement.
(a)   Evolutionary development usually comes in two flavors; exploratory development, and throw-away prototyping
(b)   Very large projects are natural candidates for an evolutionary development based approach
(c)   Exploratory development is used in situations where most of the requirements are well understood in advance
(d)   One of the strong points of evolutionary development is that it facilitates easy project management, through the high volume of documentation it generates
(e)   Often the construction of a throw-away prototype is not followed by a reimplementation of the system using a more structured approach.
5.
What is the fundamental reason that software cannot be considered to be engineered?
(a)   It is designed by humans and therefore flawed
(b)   Software engineering (as opposed to other forms of engineering, such as Civil) is an art - not a science
(c)   The discipline is relatively new, say in comparison to bridge building that is an activity that has millennia of practice
(d)   None of these are true. Software Engineering is a truly rigorous discipline
(e)   The complexity of systems and their interaction continues faster than we can understand it.
6.
The software life cycle can be said to consist of a series of phases. The classical model is referred to as the waterfall model. Which phase may be defined as "The concept is explored and refined, and the client's requirements are elicited?"
(a)  Requirements                                   (b)  Specification                                    (c)  Design
(d)  Implementation                                 (e)  Integration.
7.
The individual or organisation who wants a product to be developed is known as the:
(a)  Developer           (b)  User                  (c)  Contractor          (d)  Initiator              (e)  Client.
8.
Which of the following items should not be included in the software project management plan?
(a)   The techniques and case tools to be used
(b)   Detailed schedules, budgets and resource allocations
(c)   The life cycle model to be used
(d)   The organisational structure of the development organisation, project responsibilities, managerial objectives and priorities
(e)   None of the above.
9.
The final form of testing COTS software is _________ testing.
(a)  Unit                   (b)  Integration          (c)  Alpha                (d)  Module              (e)  Beta.
10.
In the maintenance phase the product must be tested against previous test cases. This is known as __________ testing.
(a)  Unit                   (b)  Integration          (c)  Regression        (d)  Module              (e)  Beta.


Answers

1.
Answer : ©
Explanation :  Remaining all are contradictory.
2.
Answer : (d)
Explanation :  Software crisis of the late 60’s .
3.
Answer : (d)
Explanation :  D is the appropriate choice.
4.
Answer : (a)
Explanation :  Evolutionary development usually comes in two flavors; exploratory development, and throw-away prototyping is the correct statement with respect to Evolutionary development.
5.
Answer : (e)
Explanation :  The fundamental reason that software can not be considered to be engineered is the complexity of systems and their interaction continues faster than we can understand it.
6.
Answer : (a)
Explanation :  In the requirements phase the concept is explored and refined and the clients requirements are elicited.
7.
Answer : (e)
Explanation :  The individual or organisation who wants a product to be developed is known as the client.
8.
Answer : (e)
Explanation :  The software project management plan should include: the life cycle model to be used, the organisational structure of the development organisation, project responsibilities, managerial objectives and priorities, the life cycle model to be used, detailed schedules, budgets and resource allocations.
9.
Answer : (e)
Explanation :  Beta testing occurs when a commercial form of the software is released to selected clients.
10.
Answer : (c)
Explanation :  Regression testing occurs when the product is tested against previous test cases. This most frequently occurs in the maintenance phase.