Principles of computer system organization

  • Authors:
  • Peter J. Denning

  • Affiliations:
  • -

  • Venue:
  • SIGCSE '70 Proceedings of the first SIGCSE technical symposium on Education in computer science
  • Year:
  • 1970

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Abstract

This paper describes the content of a one-term advanced undergraduate course being developed in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University. As the title suggests, the course is approached through theory and models, not through case studies. My experience is not only that students find the more traditional case-study approach intellectually unsatisfying and often confused or confusing, but they find that a little formalism helps them to see precisely what is the intellectual content of a discussion. My goal is not to teach them systems programming; it is instead to help them develop mathematical modeling techniques which prove useful in understanding and evaluating systems and their problems. Using this approach, I have successfully taught to juniors material. I have often seen reserved for graduate students.