As a computer scientist or software engineer, understanding the underlying hardware can lead to more efficient and effective code. This includes understanding how the CPU, memory, and disks work, as well as how data is transferred between them.

Understand the different levels of the memory hierarchy (registers, cache, main memory, and secondary storage) and aim to keep as much of the frequently accessed data as close to the CPU (i.e., in registers or cache) as possible.

With the increasing prevalence of multi-core processors, consider how tasks can be broken down and run in parallel to make the most of these hardware capabilities.

Wherever possible, aim to minimize the latency (the delay before a transfer of data begins following an instruction for its transfer) and maximize the throughput (the rate of successful message delivery over a communication channel).

Don't do more work than necessary. Use algorithms and data structures that minimize work. Avoid unnecessary memory accesses.

Hardware technologies evolve rapidly. Keeping up-to-date with the latest advancements can help you take advantage of new features and capabilities.

The ADD instruction is used to add the contents of two registers and store the result in a register.

The SUB instruction is used to subtract the contents of two registers and store the result in a register.

The LOAD instruction is used to load the value from memory into a register.

The STORE instruction is used to store the value from a register to memory.

Computer Architecture

Concepts

Examples

Interview Prep

Best Practices

Learning Resources