Computer Systems Programming

Dr. Eyas El-Qawasmeh

eyas@just.edu.jo
eyasa@usa.net

Cell Phone: 0795289573

 Administrivia
• Books
- System Software – An introduction to Systems
Programming. Third edition, Addison Wesley
Publishing, 1997.
• Grades
– First 15%
– Second 15%
– Student Activities ( homeworks, Quizes, ..) 20%
– Final Exam 50%
 Administrivia – cont.

• Sharing / copying exercises

will NOT be tolerated

• Make your cell phone off. Otherwise, you

will be asked to leave the class.
 Chapter 1 : Background
• In this chapter we will study the SIC.

• SIC ( Simplified Instructional Computer).

• SIC is used to present fundamental software

concepts.
 Fundamentals - Programming

 What do we mean by programming?

 Instructing a computer in an unambiguous, step by
step manner to perform tasks that will help us solve
some real world problem within finite time.
 This real world problem can be in any domain –
business, commerce, finance, engineering,
education, science, arts, health, medicine,
entertainment, …
 Fundamentals – Kinds of Programs

 Different Kinds of Programming?

 End-User Programming:
 Word, Excel, Paint, Chat, Explorer, …

 Utilities and Analysis Programming:

 Visual Basic, Javascript, HTML, Format conversion, …

 Applications Programming:
 Banking, Engineering, Education, GIS, …

 Systems Programming:
 Assemblers, Loaders, Compilers, Device Drivers, OS, …
 Fundamentals – The Big Question

 What is the Ultimate Goal?

 Reduce the communication gap between humans and computers.

01010101
Utilities & 11111001
End-User Applications Systems
Analysis 01001000
 Fundamentals – Purpose of Study

 Why Should You study Systems Programming?

 This is the kind of knowledge that will distinguish a computer science/software
engineering graduate from others who claim to be great programmers.

 You are more than a mere user of computer systems. You know
the inner functioning!!!
 The programs are complex, and there are some beautiful techniques used (data structures,
algorithms, formal models). These you will treasure throughout your professional life.

 Essential for jobs in embedded programming!!!

 Course Objective
 Describe the operation of, and discuss data
structures, algorithms and design options of the
following types of System Software:
 Assemblers
 Linkers and loaders
 Compilers and Interpreters
 Operating systems
 Upon completion of this course, you will be :
 Able to design and program a simple Assembler/Compiler,
Loader and Interpreter.
 Know the architecture, structure and techniques in an
Operating System, and
 Ready for the detailed Operating Systems Design course.
 Introduction
 Definition
 System software consists of a variety of programs
that support the operation of a computer
 Example:
 e.g. when you took your first programming course
 text editor, compiler, loader or linker, debugger
 e.g. if you wrote any assembly language programs
 assembler, macro processor
 e.g. you invoked all of these processes and used
devices like printers, keyboard etc.
 interacting with the operating system
 System Software vs. Machine Architecture

 One characteristic in which system software differs from application

software is machine dependency
 e.g. assembler translates mnemonic instructions into machine

code
 e.g. compilers must generate machine language code

 e.g. operating systems are directly concerned with the

management of nearly all of the resources of a computing

system

 There are however some aspects of system software that do not

directly depend upon the type of computing system
 e.g. general design and logic of an assembler

 e.g. code optimization techniques

• If you write a program in the assembly
language, then you might used macro
instructions in this program to read/write
data and perform other functions. You used
an assembler, which mostly included a
macro processor, to translate this program
into machine language program. The
translated program were prepared for
execution by the loader or linker, and may
have been tested using the debugger.
Organization of a Computer System

• A computer system consists of

– hardware
– system programs
– application programs
What is the difference between system
software and application software ?
• An application software is primarily
concerned with the solution of some
problem, using the computer as a tool.

• System programs are intended to support

the operation and use of the computer itself,
rather than any particular application.
For this reason, system programs are usually
related to the architecture of the machine on
which they are to run.
 Assemblers
• Translate mnemonic instructions into
machine code.

• The instruction formats, addressing modes,

etc. are of direct concern in assembler
design.
 Compilers
• Must generate machine language code,
taking into account the hardware
characteristics as the number and type of
registers and the machine instructions
available.
 Note
• There are some aspects of system software that do not
directly depend upon the type of computing system being
supported.

• Example 1 : The general design and logic of an assembler

is basically the same on most computers.

• Example 2: Some of the code optimization techniques

used by compilers are independent of the target machine.

• Example 3: The process of linking together

independently assembled subprograms does not usually
depend on the computer being used.
 The Simplified Instructional Computer (SIC)
 SIC is a hypothetical computer that includes the
hardware features most often found on real machines
 Why SIC?
 Not to get embroiled in the idiosyncrasies of any particular
machine.
 Understand system software at a generic level.
 Two versions of SIC
 standard model
 SIC/XE version
(SIC programs are upward compatible. Will run on SIC/XE)
 SIC Machine Architecture
 Memory
 8-bit bytes
 3 consecutive bytes form a word – addressed by lowest
numbered byte
 Byte addressable 215 bytes of memory
 Registers (24 bits each, total 5 in number)
Mnemonic Number Special use
A 0 Accumulator; used for arithmetic operations
X 1 Index register; used for addressing
L 2 Linkage register; JSUB
PC 8 Program counter
SW 9 Status word, including CC
 SIC Machine Architecture
 Data Formats
 Integers are stored as 24-bit binary numbers; 2’s complement
representation is used for negative values, 8 bit ASCII for characters.
 No floating-point hardware.
 Instruction Formats
opcode (8) x address (15)

 Addressing Modes
Mode Indication Target address calculation
Direct x=0 TA=address
Indexed x=1 TA=address+(X)
 SIC Machine Architecture
Instruction Set
 load and store: LDA, LDX, STA, STX, etc.
 integer arithmetic operations: ADD, SUB, MUL, DIV, etc.
 All arithmetic operations involve register A and a word in

memory, with the result being left in the register

 comparison: COMP
 COMP compares the value in register A with a word in

memory, this instruction sets a condition code CC to indicate

the result
 conditional jump instructions: JLT, JEQ, JGT
 these instructions test the setting of CC and jump accordingly

 subroutine linkage: JSUB, RSUB

 JSUB jumps to the subroutine, placing the return address in register
L
 RSUB returns by jumping to the address contained in register L
 SIC Machine Architecture
 Input and Output
 Input and output are performed by transferring 1 byte at a

time to or from the rightmost 8 bits of register A

 The Test Device (TD) instruction tests whether the addressed

device is ready to send or receive a byte of data

 “Less Than “ if device is ready; “Equal” if device is busy.

 Read Data (RD)

 Write Data (WD)

 SIC/XE Machine Architecture
 Larger Memory
 220 bytes in the computer memory
 More Registers
Mnemonic Number Special use
B 3 Base register; used for addressing
S 4 General working register
T 5 General working register
F 6 Floating-point acumulator (48bits)

 Floating Point Registers and Instructions

 More addressing modes
 SIC/XE Machine Architecture
 Data Formats
 Floating-point data type: frac*2(exp-1024)
 frac: 0~1
 exp: 0~2047

s exponent fraction (36)

(11)
 Instruction Formats
 larger memory -> extend addressing capacity
Format 1
op(8)
Format 2
op(8) r1(4) r2(4)
Format 3 e=0
op(6) n I x b p e disp(12)
Format 4 e=1
op(6) n I x b p e address (20)
 SIC/XE Machine Architecture
 Addressing Modes
Mode Indication Target address calculation
Base relative b=1, p=0 TA=(B)+disp (0<=disp<=4095)
Program-counter b=0, p=1 TA=(PC)+disp (-2048<=disp<=2047)
relative
Direct b=0, p=0 TA=disp (format 3) or address (format 4)
Indexed x=1 TA=TA+(X)

 How the target address is used?

Mode Indication operand value
immediate addressing i=1, n=0 TA
indirect addressing i=0, n=1 (TA)
simple addressing i=0, n=0 SIC instruction (all end with 00)
i=1, n=1 SIC/XE instruction

 Note: Indexing cannot be used with immediate or indirect addressing

 SIC/XE Machine Architecture
 Instruction Set
 new registers: LDB, STB, etc.
 floating-point arithmetic: ADDF, SUBF, MULF, DIVF
 register move: RMO
 register-register arithmetic: ADDR, SUBR, MULR, DIVR
 supervisor call: SVC
 generates an interrupt for OS

 Input/Output
 SIO, TIO, HIO: start, test, halt the operation of I/O device
HOME READING/WORK
 The following Figure F.2 move 3-byte word into
a register then move 1-byte (contains
character) only
SIC Programming Examples (Fig 1.2)
 The following figure 1.3 compute (alpha+incr
-1) and store it in beta using SIC and SIC/XE
SIC Programming Example (Fig 1.3)

HOME READING/WORK
 The following fig 1.4 writes an assembly
program to copy 11-byte character string to
another.
SIC Programming Example (Fig 1.4)

HOME READING/WORK
 You have arrays ALPHA, BETA, and GAMMA,
each one consists of 100 words. Add the
corresponding elements of ALPHA and BETA
and store the result in GAMMA. ( The solution is
in following figure 1.5
SIC Programming Example (Fig 1.5)

HOME READING/WORK
 Write a simple program that demonstrate a
simple example of input and output on SIC and
on SIC/XE. The solution is in Fig 1.6 in the text
book which I already copied it and distribute it
in the class
 Write a program that call a subroutine that
reads a 100-byte record from an input device
into memory. The solution is in the text Figure
1.7. I already distribute the solution in the class
Computer Architecture Review
Basic computer components
Monitor

Bus
Structure of a large Pentium system
We will skip the material from the beginning of
section 1.4 to the end of chapter 1. We might
come back for it later. However, you must solve
all the questions at the end of chapter 1
 Home Work No. 1
• Due date is July 22 hardcopy.
• Solve one question only using the assembler
which I will inform you about it.
• The question is as follows :No mod 10.
• However, if you get 1 then solve 11
• If you get 2 then solve 12.
• If you get 3 then solve 13.
• If you get 0 then solve 10
 Assembler resources
• The following URL contains assembler of
the SIC
• http://cis.csuohio.edu/~somos/cis335
• Please visit the above address and
download the assembler.
• It contains readme file
 Q1 page 40
• Write a sequence of instructions for SIC to
set ALPHA equal to the product of BETA
and GAMMA. Assume that ALPHA,
BETA and GAMMA are defined as in Fig
1.3 a
 LDA BETA
MUL GAMMA
STA ALPHA
BETA RESW 1
GAMMA RESW 1
ALPHA RESW 1
 Q2 page 40

Write a sequence of instructions for SIC/XE

to set ALPHA equal to 4*BETA – 9.
Assume that ALPHA and BETA are
defined as in Fig 1.3b. Use immediate
addressing .
 LDA BETA
MUL #4
SUM #9
STA ALPHA
BETA RESW 1
ALPHA RESW 1
End of chapter 1