Important Topics for GATE 2020 : Computer Science

S.No. Subject Main Topics

1. Programming  Pointers
 Recursion, call by value, call by
reference.
 Array
2. Theory of Computation 1. Finite automata and regular language :
Finding minimum number of states in
DFA based on given language.
Generating strings based on given
grammar.
2. PDA : Which type of language given. For
eg: CFL, Regular, CSL etc.
Closure properties.
3. Turing machine : Determining whether
language is decidable or un-decidable
Determining whether language is
countable or un-countable.
3. Computer Network 1. LAN :
 Error control
 Flow control
2. TCP, UDP and IP :
 TCP (particularly congestion algorithms
and header knowledge)
 IP addressing
 Fragmentation.
3. Routing, AL and network security :
 Public keys and private keys
 RSA algorithms
 Different types of attacks
4. Engineering Mathematics 1. Matrices : Properties of Eigen values and
Eigen vectors. Finding rank or determinant
of matrix.
2. Probability : Random variable
conditional probability.
3. Calculus : Limits and integration.
5. Operating System 1. Memory management and virtual
memory :
 Paging
 Replacement algorithms
2. Process management :
 Deadlock
 Execution of code in time sharing
system
 Scheduling algorithms (FCFs, Round
robin etc.)
3. File structure : Disk structure and inode
6. Computer Architecture 1. Memory organization :
 Multilevel cache
 K-way set associative cache
 Conflict misses and compulsory misses.
2. Instruction pipelining : Speed up
problems
3. CPU architecture and addressing
modes :
 Transfer of control modes.
 Base indexed addressing modes.
7. DBMS 1. Relational algebra and tuple relational
calculus :
 Division operators
 Join operations
2. SQL :
 Group by clause
 Nested queries
3. Database design : Normal forms
(Particularly3NF and BCNF)
4. Transaction and concurrency control :
 Conflict serializable
 Recoverability
 2 phase locking
8. Digital Logic 1. Logic Function :
 K-MAP
 Explicitly asked about properties of
EXOR and EXNOR gates (Functions)
2. Combinational circuits : Overflow
conditions in case of 2’s complement
addition
3. Sequential circuits : Mod value of
counter.
4. Number system :
 Floating point representation
 2’s complement representation
9. Algorithms 1. Divide and conquer : New problem
based on divide and conquer
approaches.
2. Greedy :
 Spanning trees
 Shortest paths problems
 Knapsack
3. Asymptotic notation : Time complexity
of code snippet.
10. Discrete Mathematics 1. Relations : Determination of type of
relations.
 2. Mathematical Logic : Converting English
sentences into predicate calculus and
vice versa.
3. Combinatorics : Recurrence relation and
calculating closed form of generating
functions.
4. Graph Theory :
 Planar graph
 Computing relation between vertices
and edges based on given conditions.
11. Complier design 1. Parsing techniques :
 First and follow in LL (1) parsing
 Closure of augmented grammar (LR,
LLR)
2. Syntax directed translation:
 Difference between synthesized and
inherited attributes.
 Expression tree evaluation.
3. Code generation : Static single
assignment and minimum number of
registers based questions (optimization).
12. Data Structure 1. Tree :
 Heap tree insertion, deletion time
complexity.
 Trees with probability and permutation
combination problems.
2. Graphs : BFS and DFS (Different types
of edges)
3. Stacks and queues : Implementation
through linked list
13. Verbal and Numerical Ability Reasoning
English