Introduction

Overview Administrivia More Languages! Setup Student Voice

Reference

Visual Studio Code VSC Cloning replit.com Git Gitlab Setup Using GitLab VSC GitLab Terminal;GitLab

1. Basic Operations

Basic Operations Binary Recap Basic Operations Floating Point Numbers Basic Operations - Summary Basic Operations - Task Sheet 1 Basic Operations - Task Sheet 2

2. Memory

Memory The Stack Methods & Frames Stack Step By Step Recursion Primitives Vs Objects I The Heap Primitives Vs Objects II Frame Detail Summary Java Memory Exercise

3. C Programming

The C Programming Language C Basics C Variables C Branching & Loops C Operators C Functions C Strings C Input/Output C Code Organisation C Programming - Task Sheet

4. C Memory

C Memory C Pointers C Arrays C Lab Session 2

5. C Struct

C Data Structures C Struct Pointer Guide

C Linked Lists Exercises 1 External Pages Pointers To Pointers Doubly Linked Lists Doubly Linked Lists Node Based Stacks Stacks - Node Based Exercises 2 Trees Binary Trees Binary Search Trees Exercises 2

7. Assembly Language

Assembly PC Hardware Assembly Environment Setup Assembly Basics Registers System Calls Variables & Constants Arithmetic Logic Conditions Loops Exercises Numbers Procedures & The Stack Debugging Assembly Generating Assembly From C

Overview

“Videos of this week’s lecture” currently connects to last years lectures if you want to watch ahead, I’ll update the links to the new recordings as we go through.

Programming 03

The focus of this module is memory. By examing how memory is used by software we gain a deeper understanding of how code actually works. We can then use that understanding to write code that is faster and uses memory more efficiently.
We will look at how memory is separated in to different areas and how we use those different areas.
We will also look at memory at different levels.

The Java programming language hides how memory is being used. This makes coding easier but restricts what we can do potentially make code slow and inefficient.
The C programming language is a much older language and works at a lower level. To program in C requires us to be aware of how different types of data are stored and accessed.
Assembly Language is even older and works at an even lower level than C. In Assembly we access memory through the registers in the CPU.
We will be coding at these three levels, focusing on how memory is used.

Why?

A deeper understanding of computer memory can improve our code by making it faster and/or more efficient. (Speed and efficiency are sometime incompatible!). An understanding of memory also helps in other subjects like Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security. Coding at lower levels like C and Assembly is an essential skill in Cyber Security and embedded programming.

Module Goals

The aims of this module is to gain a good understanding of:

how memory works in a computer
how operations are carried out at a low level
the basics of the C programming language
the basics of Assembly Language

You should build on your previous skills in

analysing a problem and designing a solution
coding

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