[ale] Computer Architecture class?

[Leam Hall]

Ed, thanks!

I'm reading http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000043.html 
and it is giving me some ideas as well. I have yet to learn assembler, 
but I have a lot to learn. My real goal is to do something I enjoy. I 
can assure you, unlocking user accounts is not on that list...

Leam


On 09/03/2013 09:02 PM, Ed Cashin wrote:
> On Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 4:05 PM, leam hall <leamhall at gmail.com
> <mailto:leamhall at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     Hey all, reverse question. Coursera has a Computer Architecture
>     class starting in a couple weeks.
>
>     https://www.coursera.org/course/comparch
>
>     I like the *idea* of knowing that sort of stuff but I've never been
>     in a job that would need it. Has anyone done so and can you tell me,
>     on list or off, what the job was like? I'm certain I want to know
>     more and do more, but don't want to spend time chasing the wrong
>     dream. This course is one of several I could take, so I'm trying to
>     pick one and go with it.
>
>
>   I think that the stuff I know about how hardware is designed makes it
> easier for me to talk to the software developers who really understand
> how the hardware works.
>
> For example, if I really understand the way the CPU cache is designed,
> the tradeoffs, etc., then it helps me remember how the caches really
> work, and then I can learn and retain the reason why you need a memory
> barrier in some circumstances, and then I can intelligently talk to
> someone about why it's safe or dangerous to do such-and-such in the
> implementation of a more scalable locking primitive without using a
> memory barrier.
>
> Well, I guess to be fair it gets me halfway there.  There's also the
> stuff that makes a memory barrier important, like compiler instruction
> reordering (not relevant to the arch class) and CPU-level instruction
> reordering (arch-class relevant).  For the latter, understanding branch
> prediction, instruction pools, etc., is a good background!
>
> If the levels of software you're planning to work with are way higher
> than the systems programming level, then I can't say how relevant you'll
> find the course.  And it's really hard to learn if the material doesn't
> seem relevant.
>
> By the way, I saw you mention assembly language, and I've recently
> refreshed what few skills I have in that area by re-learning NASM, this
> time for x86_64.  I have two little things on github in a "low" repo you
> can see.  I use Linux and Mac OS X for these toy examples.
>
> https://github.com/ecashin/low
>
> --
>    Ed Cashin <ecashin at noserose.net <mailto:ecashin at noserose.net>>
> http://noserose.net/e/
> http://www.coraid.com/
>
>
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