The overall aim of this unit is to provide familiarity with the design, programming, operation, and design constraints of computing hardware. By taking the Computer System course (COS-10004), you should be able to:

1. Read and write assembly language programs for a simple microcomputer.
2. Identify the hardware components of a computer and the functions they perform.
3. Describe the overall behaviour of compilers, assemblers, linkers and interpreters.
4. Argue some of the trade-offs between hardware and software that occur in computers.