This hands-on tutorial is a broad examination of how a modern computer works. Classroom tested for over a decade, it gives readers a firm understanding of how computers do what they do, covering essentials like data storage, logic gates and transistors, data types, the CPU, assembly, and machine code. Introduction to Computer Organization gives programmers a practical understanding of what happens in a computer when you execute your code. You may never have to write x86-64 assembly language or design hardware yourself, but knowing how the hardware and software works will give you greater control and confidence over your coding decisions. We start with high level fundamental concepts like memory organization, binary logic, and data types and then explore how they are implemented at the assembly language level. The goal isn’t to make you an assembly programmer, but to help you comprehend what happens behind the scenes between running your program and seeing “Hello World” displayed on the screen. Classroom-tested for over a decade, this book will demystify topics like: How to translate a high-level language code into assembly language How the operating system manages hardware resources with exceptions and interrupts How data is encoded in memory How hardware switches handle decimal data How program code gets transformed into machine code the computer understands How pieces of hardware like the CPU, input/output, and memory interact to make the entire system work Author Robert Plantz takes a practical approach to the material, providing examples and exercises on every page, without sacrificing technical details. Learning how to think like a computer will help you write better programs, in any language, even if you never look at another line of assembly code again.

The new RISC-V Edition of Computer Organization and Design features the RISC-V open source instruction set architecture, the first open source architecture designed to be used in modern computing environments such as cloud computing, mobile devices, and other embedded systems. With the post-PC era now upon us, Computer Organization and Design moves forward to explore this generational change with examples, exercises, and material highlighting the emergence of mobile computing and the Cloud. Updated content featuring tablet computers, Cloud infrastructure, and the x86 (cloud computing) and ARM (mobile computing devices) architectures is included. An online companion Web site provides advanced content for further study, appendices, glossary, references, and recommended reading. - Features RISC-V, the first such architecture designed to be used in modern computing environments, such as cloud computing, mobile devices, and other embedded systems - Includes relevant examples, exercises, and material highlighting the emergence of mobile computing and the cloud

A new advanced textbook/reference providing a comprehensive survey of hardware and software architectural principles and methods of computer systems organization and design. The book is suitable for a first course in computer organization. The style is similar to that of the author's book on assembly language in that it strongly supports self-study by students. This organization facilitates compressed presentation of material. Emphasis is also placed on related concepts to practical designs/chips. Topics: material presentation suitable for self- study; concepts related to practical designs and implementations; extensive examples and figures; details provided on several digital logic simulation packages; free MASM download instructions provided; and end-of-chapter exercises.

Computer Organization and Design Fundamentals takes the reader from the basic design principles of the modern digital computer to a top-level examination of its architecture. This book can serve either as a textbook to an introductory course on computer hardware or as the basic text for the aspiring geek who wants to learn about digital design. The material is presented in four parts. The first part describes how computers represent and manipulate numbers. The second part presents the tools used at all levels of binary design. The third part introduces the reader to computer system theory with topics such as memory, caches, hard drives, pipelining, and interrupts. The last part applies these theories through an introduction to the Intel 80x86 architecture and assembly language. The material is presented using practical terms and examples with an aim toward providing anyone who works with computer systems the ability to use them more effectively through a better understanding of their design.

This text offers both the theoretical, machine-independent concepts underlying the construction of all computers, and a specific introduction to the assembly language and architecture of the widely used PDP-11. It discusses the major functional components of a computer - memory, ALU, Input/Output, and processor - and how they are integrated into a complete computer system. The book describes and builds an idealized model of a computer and shows how the theoretical concepts are put into practice in the construction of the PDP. It integrates hardware concepts with software principles, introducing the student to internal systems programs used to run the computer.

Updated and revised, The Essentials of Computer Organization and Architecture, Third Edition is a comprehensive resource that addresses all of the necessary organization and architecture topics, yet is appropriate for the one-term course.