COMSC142: Computer Architecture and Organization

Fall 2026 Sam Bowne

College Complex 2, 232
Tues 2:30 - 4:45 PM

You can get help on
Tuesdays at 6 pm on Zoom with a password of student1
and Mon, Wed, and Thu at 7:30 pm on Twitch.

Schedule · Lecture Slides · Projects · Syllabus

Class Description

ADVISORY: Eligibility for ENGL-090

The organization and behavior of real computer systems at the assembly-language level. The mapping of statements and constructs in a high-level language into sequences of machine instructions is studied, as well as the internal representation of simple data types and structures. Numerical computation is examined, noting the various data representation errors and potential procedural errors. May not be repeated. SC

LMC: DA
TRANSFER: CSU

Textbook

Dive into Systems (free, online)

Quizzes

The quizzes are multiple-choice, online, and open-book. However, you may not ask other people to help you during the quizzes. You will need to study the textbook chapter before the lecture covering it, and take the quiz before that class. Each quiz is due 30 min. before class. Each quiz has 5 questions, you have ten minutes to take it, and you can make two attempts. If you take the quiz twice, the higher score counts.

Use this Canvas server: LMC Canvas

Grading

Grades are determined from your total points, like this:
Points   Grade
540   A
480   B
360   C
300   D
< 300   F

Schedule

DateDueTopic
Tue 8-25 0. Introduction
Demo: ED 30
Tue 9-1Quiz 0 and 1
Proj ED 30 		1. By the C, by the C, by the Beautiful C
Demos: CL 10 and CL 20
Tue 9-8Quiz 2
Proj CL 10 		(CENSUS DAY)
2. A Deeper Dive into C Programming
Demo: ED 202
Tue 9-15Quiz 3
Proj CL 20 		3. C Debugging Tools
Demo: C 101
Tue 9-22Quiz 4
Proj ED 202 		4. Binary and Data Representation
Demos: C 101 continued, ED 204
Tue 9-29Quiz 8
Proj C 101 		8. 32-bit x86 Assembly (IA32)
Demos: ASM 100, ASM 104
Tue 10-6Quiz 7
ASM 100 		7. 64-bit x86 Assembly (x86-64)
Demo: ASM 105
Tue 10-13Quiz 9
ASM 104 		9. ARM Assembly
Demos: ASM 110, ASM 120
Tue 10-20Quiz 11
ASM 105 and ASM 110 		11. Storage and the Memory Hierarchy
Demo: ASM 200, ASM 210, ASM 310
Tue 10-27Quiz 12
ASM 120 		12. Code Optimization
Demo: ED 205, ED 206
Tue 11-3Quiz 13
ASM 200 and ASM 210 		13. The Operating System
Demos: R 10 and R 20
Tue 11-10Quiz 14a
ED 204 		14. Leveraging Shared Memory in the Multicore Era (Part 1)
Demo: ED 210
Tue 11-17Quiz 14b
ED 205 		14. Leveraging Shared Memory in the Multicore Era (Part 2)
Demo: ED 441
Tue 11-24Quiz 15
ED 206 		15. Looking Ahead: Other Parallel Systems and Parallel Programming Models
Tue 12-1 Last Class: No New Material
Mon 12-7
through
Fri 12-11		  Final Exam available online throughout the week.
It covers chapter 0-12, except Ch 5 and 6. It will be worth 80 pts.
You can only take it once.
All Quizzes due 30 min. before class

Lecture Slides

0. Introduction · PDF · Keynote
1. By the C, by the C, by the Beautiful C · PDF · Keynote
2. A Deeper Dive into C Programming · PDF · Keynote
3. C Debugging Tools · PDF · Keynote
4. Binary and Data Representation · PDF · Keynote
8. 32-bit x86 Assembly (IA32) · PDF · Keynote
7. 64-bit x86 Assembly (x86-64) · PDF · Keynote
9. ARM Assembly · PDF · Keynote
11. Storage and the Memory Hierarchy · PDF · Keynote
12. Code Optimization · PDF · Keynote
13. The Operating System · PDF · Keynote
14. Leveraging Shared Memory in the Multicore Era (Part 1) · PDF · Keynote

14. Leveraging Shared Memory in the Multicore Era (Part 2) · PDF · Keynote

15. Looking Ahead: Other Parallel Systems and Parallel Programming Models · PDF · Keynote

Projects

Enter Flags · Scoreboard

Prepare a Linux Environment

ED 30: Linux Virtual Machine (15)

LJ: Linux Journey (83 extra)

C and Debugging

CL 10: C Development Environment  15
CL 20: Stack Frames  15
ED 202: Linux Buffer Overflow Without Shellcode  40 + 75 extra
C 101: Binary Games  25 + 15 extra

x86 Assembly Language

ASM 100: Basics  20 + 49 extra
ASM 104: Bases & Printing  20 + 20 extra
ASM 105: ASCII  5 + 15 extra
ASM 110: Gdb  15 + 15 extra
ASM 120: Files  15 + 40 extra
ASM 200: Caesar Cipher  20 + 15 extra
ASM 210: XOR  5 + 15 extra

Linux Exploits

ED 204: Exploiting a Format String Vulnerability  20
ED 205: Very Simple Heap Overflow  10 + 20 extra
ED 206: Heap Overflow via Data Overwrite  10 + 35 extra
ED 207: Linux Buffer Overflow with ROP (requires VMware)  15 extra
ED 210: Exploiting a Race Condition  10 extra

Agents

Recommended

ED 33: Ubuntu Linux Desktop (10 pts)
ML 135: OpenClaw on Ubuntu Linux (15 pts)
ML 136: OpenClaw: exec and Email (20 pts)

Not Recommended

ML 123: Running Llama 3 Locally (15 pts)
ML 133: MCP with Claude (15 pts)
H 112: Cloudflare Quick Tunnel (25 pts)
ML 134: IronClaw on Ubuntu Linux (15 pts)

Windows Exploits

ED 32: Windows 10 or 11 Virtual Machine (recommended)  15 extra
H 2: Windows 2016 Server Virtual Machine (not recommended)  15 extra
 
ED 308: Exploiting "Vulnerable Server" on Windows     Google Cloud version  50 extra
ED 309: Defeating DEP with ROP  20 extra
ED 301: Windows Stack Protection I: Assembly Code  15 extra
ED 302: Windows Stack Protection II: Exploit Without ASLR  15 extra
ED 303: Windows Stack Protection III: Limitations of ASLR  15 extra
ED 310: Windows Mitigations  10 extra

ARM

Preparing an ARM System

ED 40: Linux on ARM64 Hardware  15 extra
ED 41: Emulating ARM Machines  15 extra

Exploiting ARM Systems

ED 440: Exploiting Linux on 32-Bit ARM  15 extra
ED 441: Exploiting Linux on 64-Bit ARM  15 extra
ASM 310: ARM64 Assembly  30 extra

Rust

R 10: Rust Basics, Overflows, & Injection  35 extra
R 20: Rust Dangling Pointers & Memory Leaks  35 extra

Last Updated: 7-6-26 8 pm