CISC-260
Machine Organization and Assembly Language Programming
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Fall 2010

Overview:

Although humans find it easier to write programs in a high-level programming language such as C++ or Java, computer hardware only understands instructions written in machine language. A machine language instruction is a sequence of binary bits that tell the computer what operation to perform and on what data. Assembly language uses pneumonic codes for the operations and symbols for the locations of the data, but the correspondence between assembly language instructions and machine language instructions is generally one-to-one. It is essential that computer professionals understand the low-level operation of a computer and how high-level programming constructs are represented in machine language and executed by the hardware.

This course will study the basic concepts of computer organization, with an emphasis on data representation, assembly language programming, the relation between assembly language and machine language, assemblers, and the issues that affect their design. Students will write programs in MIPS, an assembly language that exemplifies RISC architectures.

Announcements

• The first midterm exam will be in class on Wednesday, Oct. 13. There will be a help session from 6pm-8pm Tuesday, Oct. 12 in Room 201 Smith. Click on the Essential Handouts tab at the top of this web page to get a review sheet for the exam.

  The second midterm exam will be in class on Friday, Nov. 12. Class on Wed. Nov. 10 will be devoted to answering questions in preparation for the exam. Click on the Essential Handouts tab at the top of this web page to get a review sheet for the exam.