Academic
Address Space of IPv4 and IPv6
Dec 6th
Introduction to IP Addresses
When ARPANET was launched in year 1969, Network Control Protocol (NCP) was used to facilitate communication between various hosts connected with it. However with the development of ARPANET and initiation of internet related projects, it was required to use much more flexible, reliable and scalable protocol to carry out the same task. To overcome limitations of NCP, two new protocols were developed, Internet Protocol (IP) for routing data between different networks or hosts, and Transaction Control Protocol (TCP) for tasks like data streaming, segmentation, error handling and flow controlling.
Internet Protocol Addresses or IP Addresses were used to address hosts connected to internet or any other network, making it is possible to uniquely identify connected hosts. As an example consider a real life scenario of sending a letter. When sending a letter, the sender writes the receiver’s postal address on the right side of the envelope. When it is posted, latter will be routed to related post office using various transport methods, depending on the address written on the envelope. At last, receiving side’s postman will receive the letter and he will check the post box number, street name, block number or any related field written on the envelope and delved the letter to relevant person. Packet delivery of a network also happens in a similar way. Sender mentions the receiver’s address, which is IP address of receiver on the packet. When posting a letter, the receiver’s address is written on the right side. As same as that there are some rules to be followed when mentions the receiver’s IP address. When the packet is sent, it will be router through number or router, networks, and hosts using various transport methods like, fiber optics and copper cables. Selected route will depend on the IP address of receiver. Finally the packet will be delivered to receiver. If a letter is sent without writing the receiver’s address, it will not be delivered to related person, because there is no possible way to identify destinations. Same as that, without IP addresses there won’t be a reliable mechanism to route packets between various networks, because there is no possible way to identify sources or targets. More >
Static Data Structures vs. Dynamic Data Structures
Dec 2nd
With the daily evolution of information technology, computer is used for many purposes than it was used to. So that, resource usage of a computer is increasing, such as memory usage and processing. With the increasing usage of system resources, it is a must to ensure effective and efficient use of available resources. Data Structure is a way of storing and organizing data, effectively. There are two major categories of Data Structures called ‘Static Structures’ and ‘Dynamic Structures’. Each has its own set of advantages and disadvantages.
Static Data Structures
As same as the word ‘static’ suggests, static data structures are designed to store static “set of data”. However, static “set of data”, doesn’t mean that we can not change the assigned values of elements. It is the memory size allocated to “data”, which is static. So that, it is possible to change content of a static structure but without increasing the memory space allocated to it.
Dynamic Data Structures
Dynamic data structures are designed to facilitate change of data structures in the runtime. It is possible to change the assigned values of elements, as it was with static structures. Also, in dynamic structures the initially allocated memory size is not a problem. It is possible to add new elements, remove existing elements or do any kind of operation on data set without considering about the memory space allocated initially. More >
Endian mismatch
Sep 18th
Basically, “byte ordering” refers to the order that is used while storing sequence of bytes in computer memory. Two major ordering methods used with modern computers are described below. Reason to call the “byte ordering” instead of “bit ordering” it that, normally smallest memory unit that get assigned with a memory address is 8 bits or 1 byte.
Big-endian and Little-endian byte ordering
“Big-endian byte ordering” refers to storing sequence of bytes, starting from the most significant byte (“Big End In”). Meanwhile “Little-endian byte ordering” refers to storing sequence of bytes starting from the least significant byte (“Little End In”).
Example is worth than hundreds of words. So lets proceed with a simple example. More >
Essentials of Counter-Controlled Repetition
Sep 18th
What is “Counter-Controlled Repetition” ?
Counter-Controlled Repetition which seems bit ruff at the first sight is nothing but a simple king of flow controlling method, available in almost every programming language. So lets break this word into simple units to understand what it is.
Counter is a variable which is used to count up or down to some value. As an example think of a simple cash counter you see at a regular bank. It keep on counting number of notes, until the notes are over.The machine increases a electronic counter to keep track of total number of notes. In the same way we use counters in various parts of programming process.
So what is a repetition. As the word means it is an repetition of some computer instructions. So when it comes to programming languages, it refers to the repeated execution of some lines of code over and over again.
So “Counter-Controlled Repetition” refers to the repetition of same instructions depending on a counter variable, that controls the number of times instructions should be repeatedly executed. More >
