Systems Programming and Computer Architecture

Abstract

Introduction to systems programming. C and assembly language,floating point arithmetic, basic translation of C into assembler,compiler optimizations, manual optimizations. How hardware featureslike superscalar architecture, exceptions and interrupts, caches,virtual memory, multicore processors, devices, and memory systemsfunction and affect correctness, performance, and optimization.

Objective

The course objectives are for students to: 1. Develop a deep understanding of, and intuition about, the execution of all the layers (compiler, runtime, OS, etc.) between programs in high-level languages and the underlying hardware: the impact of compiler decisions, the role of the operating system, the effects of hardware on code performance and scalability, etc. 2. Be able to write correct, efficient programs on modern hardware, not only in C but high-level languages as well. 3. Understand Systems Programming as a complement to other disciplines within Computer Science and other forms of software development. This course does not cover how to design or build a processor or computer.

Content

This course provides an overview of "computers" as a platform for the execution of (compiled) computer programs. This course provides a programmer's view of how computer systems execute programs, store information, and communicate. The course introduces the major computer architecture structures that have direct influence on the execution of programs (processors with registers, caches, other levels of the memory hierarchy, supervisor/kernel mode, and I/O structures) and covers implementation and representation issues only to the extend that they are necessary to understand the structure and operation of a computer system. The course attempts to expose students to the practical issues that affect performance, portability, security, robustness, and extensibility. This course provides a foundation for subsequent courses on operating systems, networks, compilers and many other courses that require an understanding of the system-level issues. Topics covered include: machine-level code and its generation by optimizing compilers, address translation, input and output, trap/event handlers, performance evaluation and optimization (with a focus on the practical aspects of data collection and analysis).

Resources