COMP SCI 252: Introduction to Computer Engineering

Spring 2025 · UW–Madison

This course follows computation from bits and switching circuits to stored programs. The LC-3 provides a small system for connecting instruction encodings, datapath behavior, assembly code, and input/output.

Topics

• Binary representation and arithmetic
• Logic gates, memory, and finite state machines
• Processor organization and instruction execution
• LC-3 machine code, assembly, and debugging
• Subroutines and device communication

Notes

• Lectures
• Concept references
• Homework and code
• Projects
• LC3 Tutor course guide
• Textbook chapters
• Textbook edition compatibility
• Course details
• Archived schedule

Resources

• LC3 Tutor

Instructor material: Jim Skrentny, UW–Madison, © 2020–2025. Textbook: Yale N. Patt and Sanjay J. Patel, Introduction to Computing Systems. Original course documents, textbook extracts, and student work are private study materials.