This course covers the fundamental issues in the design of modern computer systems, including the design and implementation of key hardware components such as the processor, memory, and I/O devices, and the software/hardware interface.
Basic information
- Course Number: 01:198:211 Sections 05, 06, 07, and 08
- Instructor: Yipeng Huang
- Email: yipeng.huang@rutgers.edu
- Course Type: Undergraduate
- Credits: 4
- Learning Management System (LMS): https://rutgers.instructure.com/courses/104725
- Syllabus: https://yipenghuang.com/teaching/2021-spring/
When and where to find the class
Lectures: Tuesdays & Thursdays 3:20 PM – 4:40 PM Eastern Time. Lectures will be recorded live, and students are encouraged to attend at that time to best keep up with the class. The Zoom link to join live is on the class LMS on Canvas. Log in to Zoom with your Rutgers email address; otherwise, the passcode to join is available on the class LMS. Lecture recordings will be posted online within one day.
Recitations: Recitations will be synchronous and will not be recorded. You are strongly recommended to attend recitations prepared with questions about assignments and lectures and make use of the help from TAs.
- Section 05: Mondays 9:30–10:25 AM Eastern Time
- Section 06: Thursdays 6:55–7:50 PM Eastern Time
- Section 07: Tuesdays 5:15–6:10 PM Eastern Time
- Section 08: Tuesdays 6:55–7:50 PM Eastern Time
The meeting links for each recitation TA is on the class LMS on Canvas.
Office hours: Prof. Yipeng Huang’s office hours are Wednesdays 10:30–11:30 AM at https://rutgers.zoom.us/my/yh804
The TAs have additional office hours; time and meetings links for each TA is on the class LMS on Canvas.
Learning goals
Throughout the course, students will learn about low-level programming, digital logic, and the memory hierarchy via case studies that are representative of real-world computer systems.
Students will apply essential knowledge about computer systems to modify and create new low-level software and hardware implementations via hands-on programming exercises.
At the end of this course, students should have the preliminary skills to design and evaluate solutions involving the computer software-hardware interface to address new problems.
Topics
- C programming
- Data representation and computer arithmetic
- Assembly language programming
- Boolean algebra
- Basic digital logic design
- Processor design
- Cache design
- Main memory design
Recommended textbooks
- Computer Systems: A Programmer’s Perspective (CS:APP, 3rd ed.)
- Modern C (https://modernc.gforge.inria.fr/)
Expected work and grading policy
- 6 programming assignments, 12% of the course grade each
- weekly short timed quizzes, 2% of the course grade each
- class and recitation participation
- discussion via Piazza
The course letter grade will be assigned according to this scale. A: 100%–90%. B+: 89.9%–87%. B: 86.9%–80%. C+: 79.9%–77%. C: 76.9%–70%. D: 69.9%–60%.
Syllabus
| Date | Topic / learning goals | Reading assignment | Programming assignment (PA) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, January 19 | [slides] Spring Semester Begins. Preview of this class. | CS:APP Chapter 1. Modern C Chapters 1–8. | |
| Thursday, January 21 | [slides] Connecting to ilab. Introduction to Linux commands. Writing, compiling, and running C programs. | PA 1 (C control flow, arrays, data structures, file I/O) released | |
| Tuesday, January 26 | [slides] Headers, function prototypes, strings, control flow, how a Makefile works, string manipulation. | ||
| Thursday, January 28 | [slides] Pointers, arrays, memory. | ||
| Tuesday, February 2 | [slides] Pointers, function parameter passing, C memory model. | ||
| Thursday, February 4 | [slides] Structs, data structures, binary search trees, linked lists, queues in C. | CS:APP Chapter 2. | |
| Tuesday, February 9 | [slides] Strategies for correct software. Bugs and debugging. | ||
| Thursday, February 11 | [slides] Why digital / binary numbers. Bits and bytes. Signed integers and arithmetic. | PA 1 due; PA 2 (C algorithm pattern implementation) released | |
| Tuesday, February 16 | [slides] Fractions and fixed point numbers. | ||
| Thursday, February 18 | [slides] Floating point numbers. Normalized and subnormal (denormalized) numbers. Special cases. | ||
| Tuesday, February 23 | [slides] Floating point multiplication. Instruction set architectures. | ||
| Thursday, February 25 | [slides] Introduction to assembly languages. | PA 2 due; PA 3 (data representations) released | |
| Tuesday, March 2 | |||
| Thursday, March 4 | |||
| Tuesday, March 9 | |||
| Thursday, March 11 | PA 3 due; PA 4 (assembly bomb lab) released | ||
| Saturday, March 13 | Spring Recess Begins | ||
| Sunday, March 21 | Spring Recess Ends | ||
| Tuesday, March 23 | |||
| Thursday, March 25 | |||
| Tuesday, March 30 | |||
| Thursday, April 1 | PA 4 due; PA 5 (caches) released | ||
| Tuesday, April 6 | |||
| Thursday, April 8 | |||
| Tuesday, April 13 | |||
| Thursday, April 15 | PA 5 due; PA 6 (digital logic) released | ||
| Tuesday, April 20 | |||
| Thursday, April 22 | |||
| Tuesday, April 27 | |||
| Thursday, April 29 | |||
| Monday, May 3 | Regular Classes End | ||
| Tuesday, May 4 | Reading Day | ||
| Wednesday, May 5 | Reading Day | ||
| Thursday, May 6 | Spring Exams Begin | PA 6 due | |
| Wednesday, May 12 | Spring Exams End |
Resources
Technology Requirements: Students will need access to the Canvas site, and be able to join class via audio, at minimum.
Learning remotely presents new challenges. For assistance with learning how to address these challenges, please consult the resources available here: https://rlc.rutgers.edu/remote_instruction
Please visit the Rutgers Student Tech Guide page for resources available to all students. If you do not have the appropriate technology for financial reasons, please email Dean of Students deanofstudents@echo.rutgers.edu for assistance. If you are facing other financial hardships, please visit the Office of Financial Aid at https://financialaid.rutgers.edu/.
Academic Integrity: https://www.cs.rutgers.edu/academics/undergraduate/academic-integrity-policy
http://nbacademicintegrity.rutgers.edu/home-2/academic-integrity-policy