Course Schedule
NC State - Fall ‘25 - CSC 236
Please note that this is a tentative schedule. The course schedule and assignment deadlines are subject to change due to weather, illness, etc.
Exam Dates
| Exam | Date |
|---|---|
| Exam 1 | Monday, September 29th, 2025, 4:30pm - 5:45pm |
| Exam 2 | Monday, October 20th, 2025, 4:30pm - 5:45pm |
| Final Exam | Friday, December 5th, 2025, 3:30pm - 6:00pm |
Project Due Dates
| Project | Due Date |
|---|---|
| Project 1 (SPACES) | Monday, September 22nd, 2025, 4:30pm |
| Project 2 (TEMP) | Wednesday, October 8th, 2025, 4:30pm |
| Project 3 (BOWLING) | Monday, November 3rd, 2025, 4:30pm |
| Project 4 (RLC) | Monday, November 17th, 2025, 4:30pm |
Note: make sure to check the late project policy.
Report Due Dates
| Report | Due Date |
|---|---|
| Final Report | Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025, 11:45pm |
Homework Due Dates
| Homework | Due Date |
|---|---|
| HW1 - Bin/Hex operations | Wednesday, August 27, 4:30pm |
| HW2 - Load/Store/Add/Sub | Wednesday, September 10, 4:30pm |
| HW3 - Conditionals | Monday, September 22, 4:30pm |
| HW4 - Loops | Wednesday, September 24, 4:30pm |
| HW5 - Mul/Div | Monday, October 6, 4:30pm |
| HW6 - Subroutines and Stack | Wednesday, October 15, 4:30pm |
| HW7 - ARM64 Machine Code | Monday, October 20, 4:30pm |
| HW8 - Linking with HLLs and Stack | Monday, October 27, 4:30pm |
| HW9 - x86 Machine Code | Wednesday, November 5, 4:30pm |
| HW10 - Microcode | Monday, November 10, 4:30pm |
| HW11 - Pipeline, Float | Wednesday, November 19, 4:30pm |
| HW12 - JVM | Monday, December 1, 4:30pm |
Full Schedule
| Date | Week | Day | Topic | Things Due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday, August 18 | 1 | Mon | Introduction to Architecture | |
| Wednesday, August 20 | 1 | Wed | Unsigned/Signed Number Systems | |
| Monday, August 25 | 2 | Mon | Basic Computer Architecture | |
| Wednesday, August 27 | 2 | Wed | ARM64 Architecture | * HW1 - Bin/Hex operations (4:30pm, beginning of class) |
| Monday, September 1 | 3 | Mon | NO CLASS - Labor Day | |
| Wednesday, September 3 | 3 | Wed | ARM64 Environment (Start Assembly) | |
| Monday, September 8 | 4 | Mon | C = A + B Program Format, Interrupts, File I/O | |
| Wednesday, September 10 | 4 | Wed | Compares, Jumps, Logical operations, and SPACES | * HW2 - Load/Store/Add/Sub (4:30pm, beginning of class) |
| Monday, September 15 | 5 | Mon | Efficiency, Testing, and other topics | |
| Wednesday, September 17 | 5 | Wed | NO CLASS - Project work day | |
| Monday, September 22 | 6 | Mon | Multiply and Divide and TEMP | * HW3 - Conditionals (4:30pm, beginning of class) * SPACES (4:30pm, beginning of class) |
| Wednesday, September 24 | 6 | Wed | Indirect Addressing | * HW4 - Loops (4:30pm, beginning of class) |
| Monday, September 29 | 7 | Mon | Exam 1 (1-page cheat sheet, no calculators or other electronics, up to “efficiency and other topics”) | |
| Wednesday, October 1 | 7 | Wed | ARM64 Machine Code | |
| Monday, October 6 | 8 | Mon | NO CLASS - Project work day | * HW5 - Mul/Div (4:30pm, beginning of class) |
| Wednesday, October 8 | 8 | Wed | Subroutines and BOWLING | * TEMP (4:30pm, beginning of class) |
| Monday, October 13 | 9 | Mon | NO CLASS - Fall Break | |
| Wednesday, October 15 | 9 | Wed | Linking with High-Level Languages | * HW6 - Subroutines and Stack (4:30pm, beginning of class) |
| Monday, October 20 | 10 | Mon | Exam 2 (Open book, no calculators or other electronics, up to ARM64 Machine Code) | * HW7 - ARM64 Machine Code (4:30pm, beginning of class) |
| Wednesday, October 22 | 10 | Wed | x86 architecture over time | |
| Monday, October 27 | 11 | Mon | x86-64 architecture | * HW8 - Linking with HLLs and Stack (4:30pm, beginning of class) |
| Wednesday, October 29 | 11 | Wed | NO CLASS - Project work day | |
| Monday, November 3 | 12 | Mon | x86-64 machine code and RLC | * BOWLING (4:30pm, beginning of class) |
| Wednesday, November 5 | 12 | Wed | Microcode, String Instructions, Microcode Machine Example | * HW9 - x86 Machine Code (4:30pm, beginning of class) |
| Monday, November 10 | 13 | Mon | Advanced Topics (Floating Point, Pipelining) and Final Report | * HW10 - Microcode (4:30pm, beginning of class) |
| Wednesday, November 12 | 13 | Wed | NO CLASS - Project work day | |
| Monday, November 17 | 14 | Mon | Java Virtual Machine | * RLC (4:30pm, beginning of class) |
| Wednesday, November 19 | 14 | Wed | Tradeoffs in Processor Design & Performance Issues in Processor Design | * HW11 - Pipeline, Float (4:30pm, beginning of class) |
| Monday, November 24 | 15 | Mon | NO CLASS - Project work day | |
| Wednesday, November 26 | 15 | Wed | NO CLASS - Thanksgiving | |
| Monday, December 1 | 16 | Mon | Review for Final Exam | * HW12 - JVM (4:30pm, beginning of class) * Final Report (Tuesday, Dec 2nd, 11:45pm) |