Introduction to Computer Systems

Welcome to the first week of Computer Systems! This week, we will begin our exploration of the essential principles of computer systems, covering how we represent data using bits and bytes, exploring the architecture that makes up a computer, diving into the mechanics of how computers perform integer arithmetic, understanding the role of operating systems, acquainting ourselves with the C language (common programming language used for lower-level programming), and unraveling the art of debugging.

Topics Covered

• Bits, bytes, and data representation
• Hardware organization of a system
• Integer representation and arithmetic
• Operating System Responsibilities
• Introduction to C (gcc)
• Using a debugger (gdb)

Learning Outcomes

After this week, you will be able to:

• Understand the basic components of a computer system and their roles in data processing.
• Describe the von Neumann architecture and the fetch-execute cycle.
• Explain the hierarchical structure of memory and its impact on program performance.
• Analyze the various levels of programming languages and their relationships to computer hardware.
• Demonstrate proficiency in binary, hexadecimal, and decimal number systems.
• Convert between different number representations.
• Explain how characters and strings are represented in computer systems (ASCII, Unicode, etc.).
• Analyze bitwise operations and their applications in programming.