COMP2115P: Computer Systems - Fall 2021

Abstract

The course is devoted to exploring the interaction between a program, the operating system, and the hardware. Topics include: the C programming language emphasizing pointers, explicit dynamic memory allocation, and formatted I/O; machine-level representation of programs; processor architecture; program optimization; the memory hierarchy; processes; UNIX I/O; concurrent programming. The course will facilitate a hands-on introduction to C/UNIX programming and systems programming. The goal is to both understand a high-level assembly language, and to know what goes on at a computer level when you compile and run a program. We will learn assembly language first, then C, and then integrate it with computer systems and operating systems.