Computer Systems
Hardware, the CPU, memory, storage, software and Boolean logic.
16 topics
Computer Systems covers hardware and software, operating systems, utility software, the CPU and its components, the fetch-execute cycle, CPU performance, high and low level languages, translators, primary and secondary storage, cloud storage, embedded systems and Boolean logic.
The CPU is the heart of the unit. Learn the components with their specific jobs, and be precise about the registers — the memory address register holds an address, the memory data register holds the data found there, and confusing them is the most frequent error in fetch-execute questions. The three factors affecting performance each need a mechanism rather than a name. Logic gates and truth tables reward working gate by gate, filling each column completely, rather than trying to evaluate a whole row at once.