Schedule

Below is a preview of the week-by-week plan for the quarter. There may be adjustments and rearrangements as we go.

• In the readings listed below, B&O is Computer Systems (Bryant and O'Hallaron), K&R is The C Programming Language (Kernighan and Ritchie), and EssentialC is a PDF available at http://cslibrary.stanford.edu/101.

• Lecture videos are posted on Canvas under the "Course Videos" tab

• Live Zoom session links are posted on Canvas under the "Zoom" tab

• Lecture check-in quizzes are posted on Canvas under the "Assignments" tab

Lecture Code

Any code examples worked in class will be posted after lecture into /afs/ir/class/cs107/lecture-code/lect[N] where you replace [N] with the lecture number. You can make a copy to compile or modify by doing the following, which will make a folder in the current location called lect[N] that is a copy of the lect[N] code.

cp -r /afs/ir/class/cs107/lecture-code/lect[N] lect[N]

You can also view lecture code from your web browser by clicking here.

Topics	Readings	Assignments
Week 1
Lecture 1 (Mon 9/14): Welcome to CS107! We'll go through course logistics, learning goals, and a tour of C programs.	Lecture 1 Slides Lecture 1 Code Handouts: 1 - General Information B&O Ch 1 - skim this chapter for a quick overview of what is meant by systems, and for a preview of topics to come.	Out: assign0
No labs this week.
Lecture 2 (Fri 9/18): Integers Topic 1: How can a computer represent integer numbers? We'll learn more about the representation of the integer types: char, short, int, and long, in both unsigned and two's complement signed. We'll also discuss integer arithmetic, overflow, truncation and sign extension, and how mixed signed and unsigned comparison operations work.	Lecture 2 Slides Lecture 2 Code B&O Ch 2.2-2.3 - skim the formal proofs, but it's important to take away a solid working knowledge of two's complement and behaviors of integer operations.
Week 2
Lecture 3 (Mon 9/21): Bits and Bitwise Operators We'll dive further into bits and bytes and how to manipulate them using bitwise operators.	Lecture 3 Slides Lecture 3 Code B&O Ch 2.1	In: assign0 Out: assign1
Lab 1: Bits and ints	Be sure to check out our guide to gdb.
Lecture 4 (Fri 9/25): Chars and C-Strings Topic 2: How can a computer represent and manipulate more complex data like text? We'll explore how strings and characters are manipulated in C using the char and char * types, discuss null termination, and become familiar with the string.h functions.	Lecture 4 Slides Lecture 4 Code K&R (1.9, 5.5, Appendix B3) or Essential C section 3 for C-strings and string.h library functions. C-strings are primitive compared to Java/C++ strings, so take note of the manual efforts required for correct use and pitfalls to avoid.
Week 3
Lecture 5 (Mon 9/28): More C-Strings Now it's time to start digging into the use of * and &, pointer operations/arithmetic, and memory diagrams. In lecture, we will trace through code, draw lots of pictures, and poke around in gdb.	Lecture 5 Slides Lecture 5 Code K&R Ch 1.6, 5.5 or Essential C section 3 on the mechanics of pointers and arrays. Pay special attention to the relationship between arrays and pointers and how pointers/arrays are passed as parameters.
Lab 2: C-Strings	Be sure to check out our guide to Valgrind.	(Wed.) In: assign1 Out: assign2
Lecture 6 (Fri 10/2): Arrays and Pointers Topic 3: How can we effectively manage all types of memory in our programs? We'll answer questions like: how are arrays and pointers the same? How are they different? How is an array/pointer passed/returned in a function call? After this lecture, you'll understand how arrays and pointers allow two syntaxes for accessing sequential memory locations, but the underlying reality of the memory is the same.	Lecture 6 Slides Lecture 6 Code K&R 5.2-5.5 or Essential C section 6 on advanced pointers
Week 4
Lecture 7 (Mon 10/5): Stack and Heap We'll learn about stack allocation, stack frames, and parameter passing. Then, we'll introduce dynamic allocation on the heap (malloc/realloc/free), heap contractual guarantees and undefined behavior.	Lecture 7 Slides Lecture 7 Code K&R 5.6-5.9 or Essential C section 6 on the heap. The key concept is comparing and contrasting stack and heap allocation.
Lab 3: Arrays/Pointers		(Wed.) In: assign2 Out: assign3
Lecture 8 (Fri 10/9): void *, Generics Topic 4: How can we use our knowledge of memory and data representation to write code that works with any data type? We'll continue comparing and contrasting stack and heap allocation. Then, we'll move on to untyped void * pointers and motivate C generics.	Lecture 8 Slides Lecture 8 Code still working through K&R 5.6-5.9 or Essential C section 6 on the heap.
Week 5
Lecture 9 (Mon 10/12): More Generics We'll talk about function pointers, which allow us to implement generic operations using client callbacks.	Lecture 9 Slides Lecture 9 Code K&R 5.11, review man pages or your C reference to be introduced to generic functions in the C library (qsort, lfind, bsearch)
Lab 4: void */Function Pointers		In: assign3 Out: assign4
Lecture 10 (Fri 10/16): Intro to x86-64, Data Movement Topic 5: How does a computer interpret and execute C programs? We'll introduce assembly/machine language and find out what's happening underneath the hood of the C compiler, including a discussion of the x86-64 instruction set architecture and its powerful mov instruction. Then, we'll talk about addressing modes, data layout, and access to variables of various types.	Lecture 10 Slides Lecture 10 Code B&O 3.1-3.3 for background info on x86-64 assembly. Very carefully read B&O 3.4 on addressing modes and data transfer. The multitude of addressing modes is one of the things that puts the first "C" in CISC. Be sure to check out our x86-64 guide.
Week 6
Lecture 11 (Mon 10/19): x86-64 ALU We'll talk about arithmetic and logical instructions.	Lecture 11 Slides B&O 3.5-3.6 Be sure to check out our x86-64 guide.
Lab 5: Assembly x86-64 in all its glory	Be sure to check out our x86-64 guide.	Out: Mid-quarter assessment
Lecture 12 (Fri 10/23): x86-64 Condition Codes and Control Flow We'll see how to implement C if/else and loops in assembly and discuss other uses of condition codes (setx/cmov).	Lecture 12 Slides Lecture 12 Code B&O 3.6 Be sure to check out our x86-64 guide.	In: Mid-quarter assessment
Week 7
Lecture 13 (Mon 10/26): x86-64 Runtime Stack We'll talk about procedures and the runtime stack and introduce instructions for call/return, parameter passing, local stack storage, and register use.	Lecture 13 Slides Lecture 13 Code B&O 3.7, 5.1-5.6
Lab 6: Runtime Stack Fun explorations with the stack!		In: assign4 Out: assign5
Fri 10/30 - No Lecture
Week 8
Mon 11/2 - No Lecture
No labs this week.
Lecture 14 (Fri 11/6): Managing the Heap Topic 6: How do core memory-allocation operations like malloc and free work? We'll see how the heap fits into the address space. We'll introduce design decisions for implementing malloc/realloc/free, as well as performance tradeoffs (throughput, utilization). Then, we'll compare and contrast stack and heap allocation.	Lecture 14 Slides B&O Ch. 9.9 and 9.11 cover heap allocation implementation and memory misuses. There's lots of very useful detail in 9.9 for your heap allocator!
Week 9
Lecture 15 (Mon 11/9): More Heap Management, Optimization We'll take a look at the compilation process and the various optimizations gcc does on our behalf. We'll also learn of some tools we can use to profile our own code so we know where to optimize ourselves. This could be helpful for final tuning of your heap allocator!	Lecture 15 Slides Lecture 15 Code Optimally skim B&O Ch. 5	In: assign5 Out: final project
Lab 7: Code and Memory Optimization Experiments in optimization and profiling	Be sure to check out our CS107 guide to callgrind.
Fri 11/13 - No Lecture
Week 10
Lecture 16 (Mon 11/16): Wrap-up and Q&A We'll wrap up the course themes, preview courses and opportunities post-107, and say some final words. Bring questions if you have them!	Lecture 16 Slides Lecture 16 Code CS107 Recap Page
No labs this week.
Fri 11/20 - No Lecture		In (Fri): final project

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