CSCI 140
Assembler Programming and Computer Organization
Spring Semester 2002
Welcome to CSCI 140. For this course, we will centralize the distribution of information on this course web page. This page can be found on the Clark web server at http://babbage.clarku.edu/~jbreecher/comp_org/comp_org.html.
Basic Information - Course Description
- Textbook
- Lectures
- Your Evaluation
- Weekly Events
- The Projects
Basic Information
| Professor: | Dr. Jerry Breecher, jbreecher@clarku.edu |
| Carlson Room 102, (508)793-7396 | |
| Meeting Time: | Lecture: Monday, Wednesday 1:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. |
| Lab: Thursday, 1:15 p.m. - 2:25 p.m. | |
| Office Hours: | Monday, Wednesday 2:15 - 3:45 |
| By appointment; 24 hour response by email |
Course Description
This is what the catalog says:
140 Assembly Language And Computer Organization/ Lecture, Laboratory
Covers fundamentals of assembly language programming such as data representation, the instruction set, addressing mode, macros, procedures, input and output facilities, assembler and linker, introduction to logic circuits, and the basic machine organization of conventional computers. The goal is to understand how a computer performs various tasks that are completely hidden from the user in a high-level language. For the laboratory component, students will write several programs in assembly language.
Textbook
Patterson and Hennessey, Computer Organization & Design, The Hardware/Software Interface, Second Edition 1998, Morgan Kaufmann ISBN 1-55860-428-6.
Lectures
In the Table below are pointers to the notes for the course. The formats available can be read by Microsoft Powerpoint (.ppt), read by Apache (.pdf) or downloaded to a postscript printer (.ps). Lectures generally will be from these notes. Feel free to print them out and use them during class to avoid extensive notetaking. You can simply annotate these notes rather than writing everything. But warning, don't be lulled into a false sense of security. What's talked about in the class will be in MUCH MORE DETAIL than is present on these slides.
An added advantage of written out notes is that you know what to read in the text. In general, I follow the book fairly closely so you should have no trouble figuring out where to find material to amplify these course notes.
The following Notes are arranged in book order, not necessarily in the order we'll lecture on them.
LABS: This is a chance for you to practice what will be done in the projects. Attendance is expected in these labs, but the main purpose is that you will see what is to happen in the projects. Small demonstrations will happen every week for your amusement and edification.
PROJECTS: These are programming assignments that you are expected to turn in. There's a schedule for these that's given later in this syllabus.
Your Evaluation
Your evaluation in this course is determined by:
05% Labs
45% Projects - The lowest project grade (of those of 1 week duration) will be dropped.
30% 3 Midterm Exams - The lowest of the 3 midterm exams will be dropped.
20% Final Exam
Weekly Events
Here's how the material and deliverables break down for the semester.
| Date |
Topic |
| Jan 14 |
Chapter 1: Computer Technology |
| Jan 16 |
Chapter 1: |
| Jan 21 |
Appendix A: Assemblers - The Mips Instruction Set |
| Jan 23 |
Chapter 3: Instruction Set Architecture |
| Jan 28 |
Chapter 3: |
| Jan 30 |
Chapter 3: |
| Feb 4 |
Chapter 3: |
| Feb 6 |
EXAM 1 |
| Feb 11 |
Appendix B: Hardware |
| Feb 13 |
Appendix B: |
| Feb 18 |
Chapter 4: Computer Arithmetic |
| Feb 20 |
Chapter 4: |
| Feb 25 |
Chapter 4: |
| Feb 27 |
Chapter 4: |
| Mar 4, 6 |
SPRING BREAK |
| Mar 11 |
Chapter 5: The Processor |
| Mar 13 |
EXAM 2 |
| Mar 18 |
Chapter 5: |
| Mar 20 |
Chapter 5: |
| Mar 25 |
Chapter 6: Pipelining |
| Mar 27 |
Chapter 6: |
| Apr 1 |
Chapter 7: Memory Hierarchy |
| Apr 3 |
Chapter 7: |
| Apr 8 |
EXAM 3 |
| Apr 10 |
Chapter 8: Peripherals & Busses |
| Apr 15 |
Chapter 8: |
| Apr 17 |
Chapter 8: |
| Apr 22 |
Chapter 9: Multiprocessors |
| Apr 24 |
Chapter 9: |
| May 1-3,6 |
FINAL EXAM |