Computer Organization and Architecture

Instructor

• Charlie Curtsinger

Meeting Times

• MWF 10:00–11:50am in Noyce 3820

Office Hours

• Monday, 3:00–4:00pm
• Wednesday, 1:30–3:00pm
• Thursday, 11:00am–noon
• Make an appointment, or drop in when I am unbooked. Please try to make just one appointment ahead of time each week so all students are able to attend office hours; if a time is still available the same day you are welcome to book another appointment or drop in.

Textbook

• Computer Organization and Design, David Patterson and John Hennessy, 6th Edition

Mentors

• Haobo Chen

Mentor Sessions

• Wednesdays at 8:00pm

About this course

Welcome to CSC 211, Computer Organization and Architecture. In this course, we will address questions such as the following:

• How does a computer actually work?
• How do we use electricty to perform abstract tasks like adding and storing numbers?
• What happens when a computer executes a program?
• How do languages and hardware work together?
• How can we make computers faster?

By the end of this class, you will be able to:

• design and construct digital logic circuits
• write programs in assembly language
• identify the main components in a computer and explain how they work
• understand hardware design issues and how they affect performance