GATE 2024 CS (Set 1) question paper PDF and answer key

The official GATE 2024 Computer Science & Information Technology (Set 1) paper, organised by IISc Bengaluru: 65 questions for 100 marks in 3 hours. Download the official question paper and answer key as PDFs. Below is how the marks were split by topic, the complete official answer key and 5 questions solved step by step.

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Question paper (PDF)Official answer key (PDF)

Source: the official paper and answer key published by IISc Bengaluru for GATE 2024 (official GATE site). Spotted a mistake? Email team@lemyte.com.

General Aptitude: 10 · 15 marks
Computer Science & Information Technology: 55 · 85 marks
MCQ / MSQ / NAT: 29 / 20 / 16
Marks to all: None

Not in 2027 1 question (Q 53) is on topics removed from the GATE 2027 syllabus. They are marked in the answer key below. What changed for CS

Where the marks were

GATE 2024 CS (Set 1) topic-wise marks

Computer Science & Information Technology questions only; General Aptitude adds 15 marks on top. The top three topics carried 27 of the 85 subject marks.

Topic	Questions	Marks
Computer Organization and Architecture	6	10
Computer Networks	6	9
Databases	6	8
Operating System	5	8
Compiler Design	5	8
Programming and Data Structures	5	8
Theory of Computation	4	7
Algorithms	4	7
Digital Logic	4	6
Discrete Mathematics	4	6
Probability and Statistics	3	4
Linear Algebra	2	3
Calculus	1	1

Free solved questions

5 solved questions from GATE 2024 CS (Set 1)

Question text and figures as in the official paper, the answer from the official key, and a worked solution. The other 60 solutions are in your report after you take the paper.

Q3 · General Aptitude · MCQ · 1 mark

If ‘ $\to$ ’ denotes increasing order of intensity, then the meaning of the words

[\text{dry} \to \text{arid} \to \text{parched}]

is analogous to

[\text{diet} \to \text{fast} \to \underline{\hspace{1.5cm}}].

Which one of the given options is appropriate to fill the blank?

(A)
starve
(B)
reject
(C)
feast
(D)
deny

Answer (official key): A

Solution

The words

\text{dry} \to \text{arid} \to \text{parched}

show increasing intensity of lack of moisture.

Similarly,

\text{diet} \to \text{fast} \to \text{starve}

shows increasing intensity of reduced food intake.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option A.

Q4 · General Aptitude · MCQ · 1 mark

For positive non-zero real variables $p$ and $q$ , if

\log(p^2+q^2) = \log p + \log q + 2\log 3,

then the value of

\frac{p^4+q^4}{p^2 q^2}

(A)
79
(B)
81
(C)
9
(D)
83

Answer (official key): A

Solution

Using log rules,

\log(p^2+q^2) = \log p + \log q + 2\log 3 = \log(9pq).

Hence,

p^2 + q^2 = 9pq.

Now,

p^4 + q^4 = (p^2+q^2)^2 - 2p^2q^2.

So,

\frac{p^4+q^4}{p^2q^2} = \frac{(p^2+q^2)^2}{p^2q^2} - 2 = \frac{(9pq)^2}{p^2q^2} - 2 = 81 - 2 = 79.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option A.

Q41 · Algorithms · MSQ · 2 marks

Let $G$ be a directed graph and $T$ a depth first search (DFS) tree in $G$ that is rooted at a vertex $v$ . Suppose $T$ is also a breadth first search (BFS) tree in $G$ , rooted at $v$ . Which of the following statements is/are TRUE for every such graph $G$ and tree $T$ ?

(A)
There are no back-edges in $G$ with respect to the tree $T$
(B)
There are no cross-edges in $G$ with respect to the tree $T$
(C)
There are no forward-edges in $G$ with respect to the tree $T$
(D)
The only edges in $G$ are the edges in $T$

Answer (official key): C

Solution

If $T$ is also a BFS tree rooted at $v$ , then the tree depth of every vertex equals its shortest-path distance from $v$ .

A forward edge in a DFS tree goes from a node to a proper descendant that is not its child. If such an edge existed from $u$ to a descendant $w$ , then BFS would place $w$ at depth at most

\text{depth}(u)+1,

which contradicts the fact that $w$ appears deeper than that in the same tree $T$ .

So forward edges cannot exist.

Back edges and cross edges may still exist in general, and $G$ may certainly contain edges outside the tree.

Therefore, the correct answer is C.

Q43 · Theory of Computation · MSQ · 2 marks

Consider the 5-state DFA $M$ accepting the language

L(M) \subset (0+1)^*

shown below. For any string $w \in (0+1)^*$ , let $n_0(w)$ be the number of 0's in $w$ and $n_1(w)$ be the number of 1's in $w$ .

5-state DFA for Q50

Which of the following statements is/are FALSE?

(A)
States 2 and 4 are distinguishable in $M$
(B)
States 3 and 4 are distinguishable in $M$
(C)
States 2 and 5 are distinguishable in $M$
(D)
Any string $w$ with $n_0(w)=n_1(w)$ is in $L(M)$

Answer (official key): B, C

Solution

This is a figure-dependent DFA distinguishability question. The official accepted false statements are B and C.

Therefore, the correct answers are B and C.

Q51 · Algorithms · Numerical · 2 marks

The number of edges present in the forest generated by the DFS traversal of an undirected graph $G$ with 100 vertices is 40. The number of connected components in $G$ is _________

Answer (official key): 60

Solution

In a DFS forest of an undirected graph with $n$ vertices and $c$ connected components, the forest has

n-c

tree edges.

Here,

n=100,\qquad n-c=40.

100-c = 40 \Rightarrow c = 60.

Therefore, the answer is 60.

The other 60 questions are solved in your report when you take GATE 2024 CS (Set 1) as a 3-hour test.

Take GATE 2024 CS (Set 1) as a test

Official answer key

GATE 2024 CS (Set 1) answer key

All 65 answers from the official key. Numerical answers are ranges; “or” means the key accepts either answer.

Download the official GATE 2024 CS (Set 1) answer key (PDF)

Q	Topic	Type	Marks	Answer
1	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	1	D
2	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	1	A
3	Verbal Aptitude	MCQ	1	A
4	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	1	A
5	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	1	C
6	Spatial Aptitude	MCQ	2	A
7	Verbal Aptitude	MCQ	2	C
8	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	2	A
9	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	2	C
10	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	2	A
11	Probability and Statistics	MSQ	1	B, C
12	Databases	MCQ	1	D
13	Databases	MCQ	1	A
14	Operating System	MSQ	1	B, C
15	Theory of Computation	MSQ	1	C, D
16	Compiler Design	MSQ	1	A, D
17	Computer Organization and Architecture	MSQ	1	A, B, C
18	Digital Logic	MSQ	1	A, C
19	Computer Networks	MSQ	1	A, D
20	Operating System	MSQ	1	D
21	Databases	MSQ	1	A, C
22	Discrete Mathematics	Numerical	1	2
23	Discrete Mathematics	Numerical	1	16
24	Compiler Design	Numerical	1	6
25	Computer Networks	MSQ	1	A, C
26	Databases	Numerical	1	2
27	Programming and Data Structures	MCQ	1	C
28	Computer Organization and Architecture	MCQ	1	C
29	Linear Algebra	MCQ	1	B
30	Algorithms	MCQ	1	A
31	Programming and Data Structures	MCQ	1	C
32	Computer Networks	MCQ	1	C
33	Probability and Statistics	MCQ	1	B
34	Digital Logic	MCQ	1	B
35	Calculus	MCQ	1	D
36	Operating System	MCQ	2	A
37	Computer Networks	MCQ	2	B
38	Compiler Design	MCQ	2	A
39	Compiler Design	MCQ	2	D
40	Compiler Design	MCQ	2	A
41	Algorithms	MSQ	2	C
42	Programming and Data Structures	MCQ	2	D
43	Theory of Computation	MSQ	2	B, C
44	Programming and Data Structures	MSQ	2	B, D
45	Digital Logic	MSQ	2	A, B
46	Linear Algebra	MSQ	2	A
47	Databases	MSQ	2	B, C, D
48	Databases	MSQ	2	B, C, D
49	Programming and Data Structures	MCQ	2	A
50	Algorithms	MCQ	2	A
51	Algorithms	Numerical	2	60
52	Discrete Mathematics	MSQ	2	B, D
53	Computer Organization and ArchitectureNot in GATE 2027 syllabus: Secondary storage (magnetic disk)	Numerical	2	4096
54	Computer Networks	Numerical	2	40
55	Computer Organization and Architecture	Numerical	2	3
56	Digital Logic	Numerical	2	4
57	Operating System	Numerical	2	14
58	Discrete Mathematics	MSQ	2	B, C
59	Computer Organization and Architecture	MSQ	2	B, C
60	Theory of Computation	Numerical	2	179
61	Operating System	Numerical	2	6596
62	Probability and Statistics	Numerical	2	0.37 to 0.38
63	Theory of Computation	Numerical	2	44
64	Computer Organization and Architecture	Numerical	2	3
65	Computer Networks	Numerical	2	6

Questions about GATE 2024 CS (Set 1)

How many questions are in the GATE 2024 CS (Set 1) paper?

65 questions for 100 marks: 10 General Aptitude questions worth 15 marks and 55 Computer Science & Information Technology questions worth 85 marks. By type, there were 29 MCQs, 20 MSQs, 16 numerical answer (NAT) questions. The paper lasted 3 hours.

Is there negative marking in GATE 2024 CS (Set 1)?

Yes, for MCQs only. A wrong MCQ answer costs one-third of its marks (−⅓ for a 1-mark question, −⅔ for a 2-mark question). MSQ and numerical (NAT) questions have no negative marking, and an MSQ earns marks only when every correct option is chosen.

Which topics carried the most marks in GATE 2024 CS (Set 1)?

Outside General Aptitude, the biggest topics were Computer Organization and Architecture (10 marks), Computer Networks (9 marks), Databases (8 marks). The full topic-wise split is in the table on this page.

Were any GATE 2024 CS (Set 1) questions awarded marks to all?

No. Every question was graded with the answer in the official key.

Where does this GATE 2024 CS (Set 1) answer key come from?

From the official answer key published by IISc Bengaluru, which organised GATE 2024. Range answers for numerical questions and questions with more than one accepted answer are kept exactly as the key gives them.

GATE 2024 CS (Set 1) question paper PDF and answer key

GATE 2024 CS (Set 1) topic-wise marks

5 solved questions from GATE 2024 CS (Set 1)

GATE 2024 CS (Set 1) answer key

Questions about GATE 2024 CS (Set 1)

How many questions are in the GATE 2024 CS (Set 1) paper?

Is there negative marking in GATE 2024 CS (Set 1)?

Which topics carried the most marks in GATE 2024 CS (Set 1)?

Were any GATE 2024 CS (Set 1) questions awarded marks to all?

Where does this GATE 2024 CS (Set 1) answer key come from?

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