Week 5

Be sure to take the quiz while it is open!

Upon finishing this learning module, you should be able to:

• Describe the major components of a CPU and their purpose
• Discuss the fundamental machine execution cycle (fetch-decode-execute)
• Trace the execution of and write simple machine code programs
• Perform common error detection and correction tricks used by computers
• Use loops to build programs that create or modify images

Architecture and Machine Code

Machine Architecture and the Machine Cycle

Read about the major components of a CPU and the machine cycle in chapter 6 of the computing section of Welcome to CS.

Optionally, watch this video as a secondary source. The first 12.5 minutes do a nice job of showing a processor at work. (From there on it gets into more detail than we are going to worry about, but you may find it interesting.)

Machine Code and the Little Computer

Read about machine languages and the architecture of the Little Computer in sections 7.1–7.2 in Welcome To CS. Don't worry about reading past 7.2; there is more about the Little Computer that we will tackle next unit.

Explore the first Little Computer worksheet and check your work with the key. You will need to make use of the Little Computer simulator.

Algorithm of the Week: Error Detection and Correction

Read chapter 5 of Nine Algorithms That Changed the Future.

Optionally, check out the algorithms that allow for checking credit card numbers and the ISBNs on books.