CS 264 Introduction to Computer Systems

Loyola University Chicago

Spring 2023

Course Description

  • This is an intermediate course that teaches the basics of computer organization, mainly from the pogrammer's perspective. The high-level goal of this course is to make you a more versatile and dextrous programmer. We will do that by teaching you how the computer works, which will help you understand how your program is executed.
  • The schedule on this page lists the topics we will cover by date.

Slop Days

  • Each student will be granted five slop days at the beginning of the semester. A slop day allows you to turn in work up to 24 hours past the deadline. You can't use more than two slop days on a single assignment (which would allow you to turn in up to 48 hours past the deadline). Work that is submitted more than 48 hours late or without the use of slop days will not be accepted.
  • In order to use a slop day, you must do two things: (1) alert Neil and Jack via email or slack that you will be turning your homework in late before the homework deadline and (2) alert Neil and Jack via email or Slack when the homework has been submitted. If you don't do both, your homework will not be graded and you will get a zero for the late assignment.

Grading

  • Treat this course like a job where you are trying to get promoted. If you show up and do your work, you will get a good grade.
  • The lowest quiz AND homework score will be dropped before computing the final grade.
  • No partial credit for code that does not compile.
    • Homework: 55 %
    • Participation: 10 %
    • Checkins & Quizzes: 35 %
    Percentage Letter Grade
    91+ A
    89-90 A-
    87-88 B+
    77-86 B
    75-76 B-
    73-74 C+
    62-72 C
    60-61 C-
    50-59 D
    Below 50 F

Scheduling Conflicts

  • If you have a (legitimate) scheduling conflict with a quiz or exam, it is possible to schedule a makeup session. You must let me know at least two weeks prior to the quiz/exam date. Legitimate scheduling conflicts include religious observances.
  • LUC's academic calendar can be found here.

Mandatory Reporter Statment

  • Each faculty and staff member at Loyola University Chicago is required to report any incidents of gender-based misconduct that they are made aware of, even if it happened in the past. Gender-based misconduct includes discrimination based on actual or perceived sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, or pregnancy or parenting status; dating and domestic violence; sexual misconduct (including sexual assault, sexual harassment, and sexual exploitation); and stalking.

Programming Resources

Collaboration

  • Students are expected to write their own code for homework assignments. No copying or code sharing is allowed. Copying code from the Internet is also not allowed.

Lab

  • Doyle 309
  • Tuesday: 4:00 — 6:00PM

Course Schedule

Tenative

Date Topic Details
Tue 01/17 Intro, Class Structure, Policies, etc. / Hex & Binary Homework 1 Assigned
Intro Slides
Binary Slides
Activity: Hex
Thu 01/16 Hex & Binary Video: Hex & Binary
Video: 2's Complement
Slides
Tue 01/21 Combinatorial Logic Homework 1 Due
Homework 2 Assigned
Quiz: Hex & Binary
In-Class Activity: Building an Adder
Video: Circuitverse Tutorial | Circuitverse
Reading:
Thu 01/23 Sequential Logic Video: Circuitverse Flip Flops
Video: Flip Flop Theory
In-Class Activity: Four Bit Adder
Tue 01/28 git/Rev Control Env setup: apt, cd, ls, vim, make
Linux filesystem		 Homework 3 Assigned: Write a C program to convert Celcius to Fahrenheit
GitHub Username Survey
Video: Compiling C Programs
GitHub Personal Access Token Guide
Thu 01/30 Intro to C Quiz: Combinatorial Logic
Homework 2 Due
Video: Compiling Programs in Linux
Video: Debugging with gdb
Further Reading:
  • C Book Chapter 1.1
Tue 02/04 Loops in C Homework 3 Due
Homework 4 Assigned
Further Reading:
  • C Book Chapter 1.2
Thu 02/06 Strings in C Strings Activity | GitHub Repo
Further Reading:
  • C Book Chapter 1.3
Tue 02/11 Strings in C Homework 4 Due
Homework 5 Assigned | Instructions
Further Reading:
  • C Book Chapter 1.5
Thu 02/13 Command Line Arguments Further Reading:
  • C Book Chapter 1.6
Tue 02/18 File I/O in C gdb Primer
Thu 02/20 File I/O in C Quiz
Homework 5 Due
Stack Activity
Stack Slides
Tue 02/25 Linked Lists Homework 6 Assigned
Activity: Linked Lists
FSM Notes
Thu 02/27 Linked Lists Activity: More linked list fun!!
Video: Arrays in 68k Reading:
Tue 03/04 Spring Break — No Class
Thu 03/06 Spring Break — No Class
Tue 03/11 Processes & Memory Spaces Homework 6 Due
Thu 03/13 Interprocess Communication: Sockets Quiz: Linked Lists Stack Activity
Tue 03/18 Interprocess Communication: Sockets Homework 8 Assigned
Thu 03/20 Intro to Assembly Language & Registers ARM Instruction Reference
M1 Toolchain Setup Instructions
Further Reading:
  • Raspberry Pi Assembler Chapter 1 & 2
Tue 03/25 Intro to Assembly Language & Registers ARM GDB Debugger Instructions
Further Reading:
  • Raspberry Pi Assembler: Chapter 3
Thu 03/27 Intro to Assembly Language & Registers
Tue 04/01 Branches & Conditionals in Assembly Homework 8 Due
Thu 04/03 Branches & Conditionals in Assembly
Tue 04/08 Arrays in Assembly
Thu 04/10 Global Variables in Assembly
Tue 04/15 The Stack & Local Variables
Thu 04/17 The Stack & Local Variables Video: Servo Controller
pwm.s
Tue 04/22 The Stack & Local Variables