Computer Architecture/Software Engineering

Essentials of Computer Organization and Architecture focuses on the function and design of the various components necessary to process information digitally. This title presents computing systems as a series of layers, taking a bottom–up approach by starting with low-level hardware and progressing to higher-level software. Its focus on real-world examples and practical applications encourages students to develop a “big-picture” understanding of how essential organization and architecture concepts are applied in the computing world. In addition to direct correlation with the ACM/IEEE guidelines for computer organization and architecture, the text exposes readers to the inner workings of a modern digital computer through an integrated presentation of fundamental concepts and principles.

In its fourth edition, this book focuses on real-world examples and practical applications and encourages students to develop a "big-picture" understanding of how essential organization and architecture concepts are applied in the computing world. In addition to direct correlation with the ACM/IEEE CS2013 guidelines for computer organization and architecture, the text exposes readers to the inner workings of a modern digital computer through an integrated presentation of fundamental concepts and principles. It includes the most up-to-the-minute data and resources available and reflects current technologies, including tablets and cloud computing. All-new exercises, expanded discussions, and feature boxes in every chapter implement even more real-world applications and current data, and many chapters include all-new examples. --

Computers were invented to “compute“, i.e., to solve all sort of mathematical problems. A computer system contains hardware and systems software that work together to run software applications. The underlying concepts that support the construction of a computer are relatively stable. In fact, (almost) all computer systems have a similar organization, i.e., their hardware and software components are arranged in hierarchical layers (or levels) and perform similar functions. This book is written for programmers and software engineers who want to understand how the components of a computer work and how they affect the correctness and performance of their programs.

Computers were originally invented to solve all sort of mathematical problems. Nowadays, computers do much more than that and are present in all human activities. In fact, a computer is a fantastic machine capable of doing the most amazing tasks, if an appropriate program is provided. A computer system contains hardware and system software that work together to run software applications. Interestingly, the underlying concepts that support the construction of a computer are relatively stable. In fact, (almost) all computer systems have a similar organisation, i.e., their hardware and software components are arranged in hierarchical layers and perform similar functions. This book was written for programmers and software engineers who want to comprehend how the components of a computer work and how they affect the correctness and performance of their programs.

"Essentials of 80x86 Assembly Language" is designed as a supplemental text for the instructor who wants to provide students hands-on experience with the Intel 80x86 architecture. It can also be used as a stand-alone text for an assembly language course.

It is by now an obvious observation that much of the world depends on information technology. Our infrastructure relies on IT: our buildings, finance systems, roads, airplanes, cars, televisions, washing machines and bread makers; as does much of what we do: our banking, learning and communicating. Almost everyone today uses information technology, but few know how it works, and very few indeed understand the mysteries of how to build new systems. This imbalance between ‘users’ and ‘knowers’ grows worse every year. With the ‘dot com collapse’, the number of students studying computers, and information technology more generally, has been shrinking steadily. In the long run, this trend is not likely to be a good thing, either in Australia or elsewhere. What can we do about this? IT courses worldwide report falling enrolments and high attrition. The glamour of computing – seemingly effortless graphics and animations, and the management of massive computations and data sets – is at odds with the reality of how difficult it can be to coax computers into exhibiting these advanced capabilities; and many students find the transition from the dream to reality too difficult to master. One possibility is to reconceptualize both what and how we teach, making IT more attractive to students without sacrificing the rigour and depth needed to produce graduates capable of life-long learning against the backdrop of rapidly evolving technologies. The Faculty of Information Technology at QUT has long sought to develop curricula and pedagogies that make this possible. The results of this search show in innovative curricula, real-world engagement, and a dominant position in our local market for IT education. QUT’s strategic plan, the ‘QUT Blueprint’*, exhorts the University to be bold, experiment, and engage with the real world in order to ensure we remain relevant and attuned to the needs of both our graduates and the industries that will employ them. The contents of this book report on a significant part of our response to this challenge. I’m honoured to be able to write this preface only a year after I joined QUT; the work herein is a credit to my two predecessors as Deans of the Faculty, Professors Dennis Longley and John Gough, and to all the staff of the Faculty, both academic and professional, and current and past. Hopefully it will also help to inspire a new generation of staff and students. To you, the reader, this book is best thought of as a snapshot of a long quest to discover the secrets of how best to approach the moving feast that is IT education. It will be of interest to those looking to develop new curricula of their own, or benchmark their own journeys of discovery. We should never imagine that we have all the answers; indeed, it’s our hope that readers will learn from, and improve on, what we have achieved, and share their insights with us in return, so that the co-evolution of ICT teaching around the world can be facilitated.

With up-to-date coverage of modern architectural approaches, this handbook provides a thorough discussion of the fundamentals of computer organization and architecture, as well as the critical role of performance in driving computer design.Captures the field's continued innovations and improvements, with input from active practitioners. Reviews the two most prevalent approaches: superscalar, which has come to dominate the microprocessor design field, including the widely used Pentium; and EPIC, seen in the IA-64 architecture of Intel's Itanium. Views systems from both the architectural and organizational perspectives. Includes coverage of critical topics, such as bus organization, computer arithmetic, I/O modules, RISC, memory, and parallel processors.For professionals in computer product marketing or information system configuration and maintenance.