CS611
Assembly Language Programming and Machine Organization
Spring 2002

Instructor: P. Hatcher
Office: Kingsbury M202
Phone: 862-2678
E-mail: hatcher@unh.edu
Office Hours: MWF 9:30-10am, MWF 11:10am-11:40am, 1:10-2:00pm, or by appointment.

The prerequisite for this course is CS515.

The key goals for the course are to understand program and data representation, to become familiar with assembly language and machine language programming, to understand the impact on software of basic computer architecture concepts such as the memory hierarchy, and to study fundamental system software such as assemblers, linkers and debuggers.

An outline of the material covered by this course is given here.

Grading

• Each program will be worth 11.67% of the course grade (6 @ 11.67% = 70% total).

• The midterm exam will be worth 10% of the course grade.

• The final exam will be worth 20% of the course grade.

The programming assignments are (with tentative due dates):

1. Implement base-64 encoding and decoding: due Feb 10.

2. Implement sim611 assembler: due Feb 24.

3. Emulate sim611 floating-point instructions using sim611 assembly language: due Mar 10.

4. Implement sim611 linker: due Mar 31.

5. Preemptive thread library for Linux Intel IA-32: due Apr 14.

6. Simple file system: due May 5.

The programming assignments must be done in C. There are two exceptions:

• program 3 must be done using sim611 assembler; and
• program 5 will require some code written using Intel IA-32 assembler.

Programming assignments may be handed in late at a penalty of 5 points per day up to one week late. A program is not considered late unless turned in after 8am on the day after the due date.

The grading of programming assignments will be based primarily upon demonstrated correct functionality. That is, you will be awarded points for what your program actually does. Some test cases may be public but others will be hidden, so careful testing will be required.

Points may be deducted from your programming assignment grade if your work is not adequately documented and structured. If we can't easily read and understand your program, you may lose points! The following are some guidelines:

• each function should have a header explaining its purpose;

• avoid long functions;

• global variables should be used sparingly and for good purpose;

• modularize appropriately (hide symbols);

• function bodies should be well-commented;

• use symbolic constants when appropriate;

• always use function prototypes; and,

• choose meaningful variable and function names.

The midterm exam will be given during a normal class meeting, probably on Wednesday, March 13.

The final exam will be given during finals week: 3:30-5:30pm on Thursday May 16.

Students receiving at least 68% of the course points are guaranteed at least a C. Students receiving at least 78% of the course points are guaranteed at least a B. Students receiving at least 88% of the course points are guaranteed at least an A.

Textbooks

On reserve in the Kingsbury library:

• Computer Organization & Design: The Hardware/Software Interface
  by Patterson and Hennessy

• C: A Reference Manual
  by Harbison and Steele

I do not think you need to purchase either of the above books. Access to the copies on reserve in the library should be sufficient. However, if you want to order your own copies of either of the books on reserve, I suggest Quantum Books or Amazon.com Books.

We will also use two manuals that I have downloaded from Intel's Developer Site:

• IA-32 Intel Architecture Software Developer's Manual, Volume 1: Basic Architecture
• IA-32 Intel Architecture Software Developer's Manual, Volume 2: Instruction Set Reference Manual

Computer Accounts

Policy on Cheating

In addition, submitting programs that are based upon code retrieved from Internet sources is also explicitly forbidden and will be considered "cheating".

Because so much of your course grade is based upon the programming assignments, I will treat cases of cheating severely. If caught cheating on an assignment, you can expect to (at least) receive a failing grade for the course.

Comments and questions should be directed to hatcher@unh.edu