Description
Computer Systems takes students on a journey, starting at the highest level of abstraction applications and finishing at the lowest level-logic gate.
Along the way, the book explores the levels: high-order languages, assembly, operating systems, and machine. Rather than present these topics in isolation, Computer Systems uses the theme of abstraction to explain the connections between the levels.
By focusing on these inherent relationships, this text illuminates the fundamental principles of a computer system.
The book is based in large part on a virtual computer that is designed to teach the basic concepts of the classic von Neumann machine.
The strength of this approach is that the central concepts of computer science are taught without getting entangled in the many irrelevant details that often accompany such courses. Concentrating on the fundamentals is more than just a hedge against obsolete knowledge.
This approach also provides a foundation that encourages students to think about the underlying themes of computer science.
Features:
- Free software for Pep/6 virtual machine available for student use from the Internet. Versions for Microsoft Windows, MacOS, and UNIX are available.
- Pep/6.instruction set included inside the front cover of this book.
- Programming tasks and problems use C++ as the representative language.
- Analogies to art, business, government, and the natural sciences make traditionally difficult concepts understandable and memorable.
- Provides a framework for thinking about computer organization that prepares students for future courses in Automata Theory, Operating Systems, Advanced Computer Architecture, and beyond.
ISBN:9780763707941
