Class Format
Lectures (2 * 80 minutes / week), recitations (55 minutes / week), and exams (midterm + final) will take place in person on Busch campus.
Programming assignments will be completed using the Rutgers CS Instructional Lab Linux computers.
"Written" assignments will be completed electronically using either Canvas or GradeScope (TBA).
Textbooks
The primary textbook for this course is Computer Systems, A Programmer's Perspective, 3/E (CS:APP3e) by Randal Bryant and David O'Hallaron.
Optional textbooks that we will reference include:
- The C Programming Language 2/E by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie. This is the classic K&R ANSI C book, which is standard against which all reference manuals are compared.
- Modern C by Jens Gustedt.
- Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface (RISC-V Edition) by David Patterson and John Hennessy.
- Introduction to Computing Systems: From Bits & Gates to C/C++ & Beyond 3/E by Yale Patt and Sanjay Patel.
- Operating Systems Concepts by Silberschatz, Galvin, and Gagne.
- Digital Design by M. Morris Mano and Michael Ciletti.
- Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach by John Hennessy and David Patterson.
- Digital Design and Computer Architecture, RISC-V Edition by Sarah Harris and David Harris.
- Digital Arithmetic, by Milos Ercegovac and Tomas Lang.
Course Load and Grading
Expected coursework includes:
- Programming Assignments: 6 total assignments to be submitted on GradeScope via GitHub.
- Written Assignments: 11 total assignments administered weekly through Canvas or GradeScope (TBA).
- Exams: 2 total exams (miderm and final).
We will follow the grading scheme below:
- Programming Assignments (53%): We will have 6 programming assignments weighted as follows.
- [3%] PA1: Intro to Linux
- [10%] PA2: C Development + Integers
- [10%] PA3: Pointers, Arrays, Strings, Structs and Explicit Memory Management
- [10%] PA4: Assembly Programming
- [10%] PA5: Single-cycle CPU Emulation
- [10%] PA6: Extension with Memory + Caches
- Written Assignments (12%): We will have 11 written assignments. Your 3 lowest grades will be dropped, resulting in 1.5% each for the remaining assignments.
- Midterm (15%): We will have one in-class midterm exam.
- Final (20%): The exam is during the finals period.
| Course Percentage | Letter Grade |
|---|---|
| 89.5+ | A |
| [86.5, 89.5) | B+ |
| [79.5, 86.5) | B |
| [76.5, 79.5) | C+ |
| [69.5, 76.5) | C |
| [59.5, 69.5) | D |
For example, an 89.49% will translate to a B+ while an 89.5% will translate to an A.
The grades may be curved upward at the end of the semester, depending on the final grade distribution.
Acknowledgments
This course draws inspiration from the hard work of faculty all over the country:
The course website design is inspired by James Bornholt