This page provides more detailed information about individual lectures as well as links to various resources. Students are encouraged to read selected textbook chapters and review slides before the lecture.
Lecture 1 (Feb 19, 2026)
- Agenda
- Introduction
- What’s below your program
- Abstraction as a tool
- Hennessy & Patterson, Computer Organization and Design
- Chapter 1, Computer Abstractions and Technology
- Extras
Lecture 2 (Feb 26, 2026)
- Computer performance
- Execution (response) time
- Throughput
- Classic performance equation
- Execution time, clocks per instruction (CPI), clock rate
- Amdahl’s law
- Hennessy & Patterson, Computer Organization and Design
- Chapter 1, Computer Abstractions and Technology