CS 281: Assembly Language & Architecture
Syllabus
You can download the syllabus here. The syllabus includes information on grading, course goals, and policies I will use in teaching this course.
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We will be using Computer Organization and Design, by Patterson and Hennessy. You may use the 4th edition (blue), 4th edition revised (green), 5th edition (white), or 6th edition (gray). Please be careful if you buy the book from a vendor besides the bookstore, as there is a totally different book (with columns on the cover) by the same authors.
Homework
Specific assignments are given below. Please note that homeworks are very important, and make up a very large portion of your grade. If you fall behind, you will likely do poorly on the exams as well.
Assembly-language programming is fundamentally different from the high-level-language programming that you're used to. It is important that you have a comment on almost every line, so that it doesn’t become unreadable.
Homeworks can be turned in here.
Other Resources
C programming:
- Here is hello world in C.
- An online C compiler.
Assembly programming:
- The formal MIPS specifications are here.
- MARS is available here.
- A MIPS reference to look up particular instructions. (You may also use the help dialog within MARS.)
- An online MIPS simulator. It contains some sample starter programs.
- An applet to play with the IEEE 754 standard for floating-point numbers.
Circuit design:
Class-Only Information
Click here if you’re in the class, for more useful information.
Class Schedule
This is a tentative schedule for the class. I may change it depending on how the class progresses.
| Week | Dates | Homework | Due Date | Files | Readings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 3-6 | HW 1 | Sep. 13 | — | A C Primer for Java Programmers Mergesort Animation |
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| 2 | September 9-13 | HW 2 | Sep. 20 | — | Chapter 1 | |
| 3 | September 16-20 | HW 3 | Sep. 27 | array.asm | Chapter 2 | |
| 4 | September 23-27 | HW 4 | Oct. 4 | — | Chapter 2 | |
| 5 | Sep. 30-Oct. 4 | Midterm 1 | ||||
| 6 | October 7-11 | HW 5 | Oct. 18 | — | Chapter 2 | |
| 7 | October 14-18 | HW 6 | Oct. 25 | — | Chapter 3 | |
| Fall Break! | ||||||
| 8 | October 23-25 | HW 7 | Nov. 1 | — | Chapter 3 | |
| 9 | Oct. 28-Nov. 1 | HW 8 | Nov. 8 | dummy-adder.circ | Appendix B/C* | |
| 10 | November 4-8 | Midterm 2 | ||||
| 11 | November 11-15 | HW 9 | Nov. 22 | dummy-memory.circ | Appendix B/C* | |
| 12 | November 18-22 | HW 10 | Dec. 2 | dummy-control.circ | Chapter 4 | |
| 13 | November 25-26 | HW 11 | Dec. 6 | — | Chapters 4-5 | |
| Thanksgiving! | ||||||
| 14 | December 2-6 | HW 12 | Dec. 13 | — | Chapter 5 | |
| 15 | December 9-11 | — | — | — | Chapter 5 | |
| Final Exam: Wednesday December 18, 12pm | ||||||