Introduction/Overview

Objectives

1. Investigate the topics for this course.

Notes

• This is completely made up by me.
  • The Introduction section in the outline does not seem to be doable without more introduction.
  • So we will go out of order.
• This semester we will learn to program in assembly language.
  • This is a language very "Close" to what the hardware needs to do anything.
• To understand assembly, I think it is useful to understand the true language of the computer, machine language.
  • At one level, this is just a set of switches that we turn on and off
  • For MUCH more detail, see CMSC 2100 Logic & Switching.
  • But we need to talk about that somewhat here too, sorry those who have taken 2100.
• To do this (understand the language of the computer) however, we need to understand the basics for representing things in the model the computer uses.
• This leads us to an character set of {0,1} and how represent data using this system..
  • Binary
  • Two's Complement
  • IEEE 754 Floating Point Number representation
  • ASCII/Unicode representation of characters
  • Machine Instruction Format
• We can then discuss how to represent machine instructions in a format that is easier to understand (Assembly Language)
• We then need to discuss the basics of a computer
  • We will not drop to the gate or microcode level
  • But we will look at the major components of a cpu - Sorry 2100 finishers.
• Finally we will discuss how to program at the assembly level
  • How to store and manipulate data
  • The instructions needed to do this.
  • The tools needed to do this
• We need to understand that some of this is
  • universal (binary, two's complement)
  • Some of this is standard (ASCII, UNICODE)
  • Some of this is theoretical (abstract operation of a CPU)
  • Some of this is architecture dependent ( X86 machine and assembly language)
• How does this class fit in
  • CMSC 2100 Logic & switching theory
    • Required for CS majors
    • Discusses most of the above topics (not programming)
    • Looks at
      • Data representation
      • digital electronics
      • Basics of Computer Organization, or the basic components needed to make a computer.
  • CMSC 3240 Computer Architecture
    • Studies the Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)
    • Looks at
      • how we specify a computer should be built
      • how we can measure the performance of a computer
      • how we can improve the performance of a computer
• So why study assembly programming?
  • Traditional justifications
    • To better understand how the computer works
    • To better understand how programs work
    • With the hope we can be more efficient
    • To be ready for compilers and Operating Systems
    • To be ready for cybersecurty
  • Bad Justifications
    • In case you need to write for a chip where there is no compiler
    • So you can write "more efficient" code than a compiler
    • I learned it (multiple times), you should too!
  • ChatGPT thinks
    • It can improve debugging and diagnostic skills
    • It teaches precision and Discipline
    • Historical and Conceptual Literacy