The program counter is a register in a computer processor that contains the address (location) of the instruction being executed.

In this case, each instruction occupies three memory locations, and we have nine memory locations in total: three for the instructions and six for the data. Therefore, the program counter (PC) will start at 0, and the third INP instruction will be stored at location 6.

Since each instruction uses three memory locations, the program counter will be incremented by 3 each time an instruction is executed. Thus, the program counter will be at 6 when the third INP instruction is executed.

Therefore, the value of the program counter will be 6.

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INP
STA VAL1
INP
STA VAL2
INP     ; the third INP - this instruction will be stored at memory location 6
STA VAL3
SUB VAL2
BRP CHECK1
LDA VAL2
STA VAL3
CHECK1
LDA VAL3
SUB VAL1
BRP CHECK2
LDA VAL1
STA VAL3
CHECK2
LDA VAL3
OUT
HLT
VAL1 DAT
VAL2 DAT
VAL3 DAT

Coding involves writing instructions for a computer or computer program in a programming language. The instructions, which are also known as code, include commands, comments and other information that instruct a computer on what to do and how to do it. When written properly, these instructions will run a series of processes that can create an output or perform tasks.

For example, in the JavaScript language, the following code is an instruction to print out “Hello World” on the screen:

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console.log('Hello World');

This code will result in printing the text “Hello World” on the computer or program’s output device, such as the console or the terminal.

JavaScript functions are blocks of code that can be assigned to variables and be invoked, or called, later. Functions return a value which is the result of executing the instructions which the function contains. When the function is called, the instructions in the function are executed in the same order that they are written.

When a JavaScript function is invoked, it will use the return keyword to indicate the value that the function returns. If the return keyword is not used, the function will return undefined.

An example of a function with a return value is below. This function takes in two numbers and defines a result value which is the sum of those numbers.

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function addNumbers(num1, num2) {
  let result = num1 + num2;
  return result;
}

let sum = addNumbers(45, 15);
console.log(sum); // Output: 60

The addNumbers() function takes two parameters and returns the result of adding those two parameters together. The addNumbers() function is then used with the sum variable which is assigned the value of the addNumbers() function. When the addNumbers() function is called, the return keyword is used to indicate the value that the function should return. In this case, the final output is 60 which is the sum of 45 + 15.

For further information on JavaScript functions see this page.