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Introducing computer systems from a programmer's perspective

Authors:

Randal E. Bryant,

David R. O'HallaronAuthors Info & Claims

ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, Volume 33, Issue 1

Pages 90 - 94

https://doi.org/10.1145/366413.364549

Published: 01 February 2001 Publication History

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Abstract

The course "Introduction to Computer Systems" at Carnegie Mellon University presents the underlying principles by which programs are executed on a computer. It provides broad coverage of processor operation, compilers, operating systems, and networking. Whereas most systems courses present material from the perspective of one who designs or implements part of the system, our course presents the view visible to application programmers. Students learn that, by understanding aspects of the underlying system, they can make their programs faster and more reliable. This approach provides immediate benefits for all computer science and engineering students and also prepares them for more advanced systems courses. We have taught our course for five semesters with enthusiastic responses by the students, the instructors, and the instructors of subsequent systems courses.

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Patt, Y. N., and Patel, S. J. Introduction to Computing Systems: From Bits and Gates to C and Beyond. McGraw-Hill, 2000.

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Patterson, D. A., and Hennessy, J. L. Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface. Morgan-Kaufmann, San Francisco, 1997.

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Reiss CTychonievich L(2023)Experiences with a Hardware Description Language for a CS-major's Computer Organization Course2023 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343254(1-9)Online publication date: 18-Oct-2023
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Shashidhar NCooper P(2016)Teaching malware analysis: The design philosophy of a model curriculum2016 4th International Symposium on Digital Forensic and Security (ISDFS)10.1109/ISDFS.2016.7473529(119-125)Online publication date: Apr-2016
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Fenwick JSutton P(2012)Using quicksand to improve debugging practice in post-novice level studentsProceedings of the Fourteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference - Volume 12310.5555/2483716.2483733(141-146)Online publication date: 31-Jan-2012
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/2483716.2483733
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Index Terms

Introducing computer systems from a programmer's perspective
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Model curricula
2. Software and its engineering

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Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

ACM SIGCSE Bulletin Volume 33, Issue 1

March 2001

432 pages

ISSN:0097-8418

DOI:10.1145/366413

Editor:
John Impagliazzo
103 Hofstra Univ., Hempstead, NY

Issue’s Table of Contents

SIGCSE '01: Proceedings of the thirty-second SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer Science Education
February 2001
456 pages
ISBN:1581133294
DOI:10.1145/364447
Chairmen:
Henry Walker
Grinnell College
,
Renée McCauley
College of Charleston
,
Judith Gersting
Univ. of Hawaii at Hilo
,
Ingrid Russell
Univ. of Hartford

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 February 2001

Published in SIGCSE Volume 33, Issue 1

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Reiss CTychonievich L(2023)Experiences with a Hardware Description Language for a CS-major's Computer Organization Course2023 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343254(1-9)Online publication date: 18-Oct-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343254
Shashidhar NCooper P(2016)Teaching malware analysis: The design philosophy of a model curriculum2016 4th International Symposium on Digital Forensic and Security (ISDFS)10.1109/ISDFS.2016.7473529(119-125)Online publication date: Apr-2016
https://doi.org/10.1109/ISDFS.2016.7473529
Fenwick JSutton P(2012)Using quicksand to improve debugging practice in post-novice level studentsProceedings of the Fourteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference - Volume 12310.5555/2483716.2483733(141-146)Online publication date: 31-Jan-2012
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/2483716.2483733
Yang SBaird MO’Rourke EBrennan KSchneider B(2024)Decoding Debugging Instruction: A Systematic Literature Review of Debugging InterventionsACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/369065224:4(1-44)Online publication date: 5-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3690652
Gourdine DMatthews S(2023)An Open-Source BinaryGame for Learning Reverse EngineeringJournal of Computing Sciences in Colleges10.5555/3606402.360641938:8(136-145)Online publication date: 1-Apr-2023
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Railing BMerkle LDoyle MSheard JSoh LDorn B(2022)Exam TimeProceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 210.1145/3478432.3499123(1138-1138)Online publication date: 3-Mar-2022
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Kirdani-Ryan MKo AMerkle LDoyle MSheard JSoh LDorn B(2022)The House of Computing: Integrating Counternarratives into Computer Systems EducationProceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education - Volume 110.1145/3478431.3499394(279-285)Online publication date: 22-Feb-2022
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Ai LDeng YZhou YFeng H(2021)RUE: A caching method for identifying and managing hot data by leveraging resource utilization efficiencySoftware: Practice and Experience10.1002/spe.296351:11(2252-2273)Online publication date: 9-Mar-2021
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Railing BBryant RBarnes TGarcia DHawthorne EPérez-Quiñones M(2018)Implementing MallocProceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education10.1145/3159450.3159597(104-109)Online publication date: 21-Feb-2018
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