"Nobody programs in machine language" (was: ...)

From: Tony Duell <ard_at_p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
Date: Tue Jun 22 17:55:29 2004

>
> > > How much on other kinds of processors? (RISC)
> >
> > That should be covered in another class: computer architecture.
>
> I don't see how the RISC vs CISC (vs VLIW vs ...) architectural question has
> any chance of being meaningfully put without a reasonable knowledge of the
> concepts of assembly language. Ideally teach a simple and restrictive

I would agree. I don't see how you can understand how a processor
operates, or what different architectures mean, without a knowledge of
the concepts of machine code and assembly language.

And I discovered years ago (while trying to understand how telephone
exchanges work) that it's a lot easier to understand a real example (in
this case a real assembly language for a real processor) than some
'simplified' ficticious thing that could never actually work because
important details are missing.

-tony
Received on Tue Jun 22 2004 - 17:55:29 BST