CS210 Computer Systems Spring 2005

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General information:

• Instructor: Rich West
• Email: richwest@cs.bu.edu
• Office hours: M 1:30-4:30pm
  
• Office: MCS 289
• TF: Xin Qi
  
• Email: xqi@cs.bu.edu
• Office hours: W 1:00-2:30pm, F 1:30-3:00pm
  
• Class location: SMG 302
  
• Lecture times: TR 3:30-5:00pm
• Discussion location: EMA 304
• Discussion times: Tue 10:00-11:00am and 1:00-2:00pm, Thu 5:00-6:00pm
  
• Text books:
  
• David A. Patterson and John L. Hennessy, Computer Organization & Design: The Hardware / Software Interface, Morgan Kaufmann, 2005, Third Edition, ISBN 1-55860-604-1.  
• Note that we will focus on the MIPS architecture covered throughout the textbook. Additional material on MIPS and its educational SPIM simulator (MIPS spelled backwards) will be made available on-line.
• B. Kernighan and D. Ritchie. The C Programming Language, Second Edition, Prentice Hall, 1988.
  
• A classic text that provides an excellent description of the C language.

• Syllabus (Subject to change)
• Grading (Subject to change)
• Course mailing list: cs210@cs.bu.edu (type: 'csmail -a cs210' to add yourself to the mailing list).

Prerequisites:

• This course assumes that students have a solid background in C++ programming from  CAS CS 111 or equivalent. CS 112 (or CS 113) is also recommended, but not essential for students with strong programming skills. A solid working knowledge of operating systems such as Unix and Windows is also assumed. MA 293 is helpful for the material on Boolean Logic, but is not essential. 
• We often will make use of C as an example of high-level language because its syntax and semantics are closer to assembly language concepts. You should not be distracted by this since C is mostly a subset of C++. C and C++ both share many of the same fundamental programming constructs. C, however, lacks support for object-oriented programming.

Course Summary:

• This course covers the structure and organization of computer systems, the design and implementation of abstractions that enable humans to use computers efficiently, the basics of assembly programming, how to translate between assembly and machine language, how it is possible to build a machine that executes instructions, and the various interfaces between processors, memory, peripherals, and operating system software.

• CS 210 is a principal course for computer science majors. It provides background for courses in the systems area such as operating systems, compilers, networks and databases, not to mention more advanced courses in computer architecture.

Discussion Sections:

• The Teaching Fellow will lead the discussion sessions. The objective is to re-enforce the concepts covered in the lectures, and answer questions (or provide clarifications) regarding the homework and programming/lab assignments.
  
• The schedule for discussion sections can be found here (please check regularly for updates).
  

Further Information:

	John Waldron's web page on  an  "Introduction to RISC :  Assembly Language Programming"
	Sample MIPS code
	MIPS Assembly Language Tutorial
	Web site for SPIM
	Play-Hookey Website (interactive pages on digital circuits)
	MIPS applications Playstation 2 Other MIPS-based applications

Last updated: January 18, 2005.