Chapter 0: Administrivia

Contact Information

• gottlieb@nyu.edu (best method)
• http://allan.ultra.nyu.edu/~gottlieb two el's in allan
• 715 Broadway, Room 712

Web Pages

There is a web site for the course. You can find it from my home page, which is http://allan.ultra.nyu.edu/~gottlieb

• You can find these lecture notes on the course home page. Please let me know if you can't find it.
• I mirror my home page on the CS web site.
• I also mirror the course pages on the CS web site.
• But, the official site is allan.ultra.nyu.edu. It is the one I personally manage.
• The notes will be updated as bugs are found.
• I will also produce a separate page for each lecture after the lecture is given. These individual pages might not get updated as quickly as the large page

Textbook

Text is Hennessy and Patterson ``Computer Organization and Design The Hardware/Software Interface'', 2nd edition.

• Available in the bookstore.
• Used last year so probably used copies exist
• The main body of the book assumes you know logic design.
• I do NOT make that assumption.
• We will start with appendix B, which is logic design review.
• A more extensive treatment of logic design is M. Morris Mano ``Computer System Architecture'', Prentice Hall.
• We will not need as much as Mano covers and it is not a cheap book so I am not requiring you to get it. I will have it put into the library.
• My treatment will follow H&P not mano.
• Most of the figures in these notes are based on figures from the course textbook. The following copyright notice applies.
  ``All figures from Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Approach, Second Edition, by David Patterson and John Hennessy, are copyrighted material (COPYRIGHT 1998 MORGAN KAUFMANN PUBLISHERS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED). Figures may be reproduced only for classroom or personal educational use in conjunction with the book and only when the above copyright line is included. They may not be otherwise reproduced, distributed, or incorporated into other works without the prior written consent of the publisher.''

Computer Accounts and mailman mailing list

• You are entitled to a computer account, get it.
• Sign up for the course mailman mailing list. http://www.cs.nyu.edu/mailman/listinfo/v22_0436_001_fa01
• If you want to send mail to me, use gottlieb@nyu.edu not the mailing list.
• Questions on the labs should go to the mailing list. You may answer questions posed on the list as well.
• I will respond to all questions; if another student has answered the question before I get to it, I will confirm if the answer given is correct.
• You may do assignments on any system you wish, but ...
  • You are responsible for the machine. I extend deadlines if the nyu machines are down, not if yours is.
  • Be sure to upload your assignments to the nyu systems.
    • If somehow your assignment is misplaced by me or a grader, we need a to have a copy ON AN NYU SYSTEM that can be used to verify the date the lab was completed.
    • When you complete a lab (and have it on an nyu system), do not edit those files. Indeed, put the lab in a separate directory and keep out of the directory. You do not want to alter the dates.

Homeworks and Labs

I make a distinction between homework and labs.

Labs are

• Required
• Due several lectures later (date given on assignment)
• Graded and form part of your final grade
• Penalized for lateness

• Optional
• Due beginning of Next lecture
• Not accepted late
• Mostly from the book
• Collected and returned
• Can help, but not hurt, your grade

Doing Labs on non-NYU Systems

You may solve lab assignments on any system you wish, but ...

• You are responsible for any non-nyu machine. I extend deadlines if the nyu machines are down, not if yours are.
• Be sure to upload your assignments to the nyu systems.
  • In an ideal world, a program written in a high level language like Java, C, or C++ that works on your system would also work on the NYU system used by the grader. Sadly this ideal is not always achieved despite marketing claims that it is achieved. So, although you may develop you lab on any system, you must ensure that it runs on the nyu system assigned to the course.
  • If somehow your assignment is misplaced by me and/or a grader, we need a to have a copy ON AN NYU SYSTEM that can be used to verify the date the lab was completed.
  • When you complete a lab (and have it on an nyu system), do not edit those files. Indeed, put the lab in a separate directory and keep out of the directory. You do not want to alter the dates.

Obtaining Help with the Labs

Good methods for obtaining help include

1. Asking me during office hours (see web page for my hours).
2. Asking the mailing list.
3. Asking another student, but ...
   Your lab must be your own.
   That is, each student must submit a unique lab. Of course, simply changing comments, variable names, etc does not produce a unique lab.

Upper left board for assignments and announcements

I use the upper left board for lab/homework assignments and announcements. I should never erase that board. View as a file it is group readable (the group is those in the room), appendable by just me, and (re-)writable by no one. If you see me start to erase an announcement, let me know.