Computer systems
M Telfer
6 points * 26 lecture hours, 26 laboratory hours * First semester * Caulfield
Utilities: features and use of text editors, simple programming and the use of compilers. Operating systems, characteristics and variants. Programming fundamentals: problem definition, top-down program design, modularity and its advantages, flow charts and structure diagrams. Flow of data values, data structures and control between program segments and between the program and its environment. Files, peripherals. Programming languages: comparison of programming languages - Pascal, C, Assembler. A treatment of Pascal: datatypes, records, procedures and functions. Simulation: application to numerical integration, Runge-Kutta solution of differential equations, stability. Use of spreadsheet and problem-solving packages. Number systems: radix, binary, decimal, octal, hexadecimal. Floating-point representation, IEEE recommendation for floating-point standard. Signed twos complement representation. Arithmetic: binary arithmetic (fixed format, unsigned and signed), floating-point arithmetic.
Assessment
Examinations (3 hours): 60% * Laboratory work: 40%