COMP226 Tutorial 2

Hand-in questions

1. Briefly (in 1 sentence) describe what each of the following components of a computer system is and what it does:

   a. Instruction register
   b. ALU.
   c. Registers
   d. PC
   e. RAM
   f. Cache
   g. System bus
   

2. State one advantage of a RISC architecture.

(I've only given you a couple of questions this week so that you can get started quickly. Expect more than this in future tutorials!)

Discussion questions

1. In lectures, we looked at two assembly language programs: text1.s and text2.s. These programs would not work correctly if the data were changed although they do get the right answer on the data given. For each program, identify where it lacks generality.
   Rewrite the code in such a way that it would work for arbitrary data located between the labels first and last.
   The programs, and the data file (data.s), are available in the sample SPARC code directory.

2. What would you like to learn about computer architecture in this unit? What do you find interesting from the first few lectures?

3. A CISC computer could compile the HLL statement z = x + y into a single machine instruction whereas a RISC computer requires four instructions to perform the same task. Discuss whether you think that the CISC architecture will enable programs to run faster than the RISC approach, Are there any other factors that may make CISC or RISC preferable?

4. Discuss the concept of a "stored program" computer. If programs could not be stored, but were external, what differences would it make to the way computers operate and the things we can do with them? Are you aware of any types of computers we use today that do not always have stored programs?