Assembly & Machine Code

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Assembly Language

Assembly language was the first type of programming language to come about after machine code programming.

Assembly language

Assembly language was the first type of programming language to come about after machine code programming.
Assembly language uses 3 letter mnemonics for key actions (such as INP for input), this makes them easier to remember for a developer.

Little man computer

The Little Man Computer (LMC) is a virtual implementation of a Von Neumann processor that allows people to test out a basic assembly language compiler.
This allows users to see how the registers and memory locations are used in a processor.
The LMC has 11 assembly instructions.

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Little man computer addressing

Assembly language is low level and can use different types of address to access memory locations.
The LMC only supports direct addressing of memory locations.

Machine Code Instructions

Machine code is a low-level language that controls the CPU.

Machine code instructions

When your program is run it is converted to machine code instructions.
Machine code instructions will have different sized instructions based on their architecture.
- 64-bit processors will have instructions that are 64bit in size.
These machine code instructions are split into sections.

Machine code instructions cont.

The first section is basic machine operation. This is the instruction to perform, such as addition, represented in binary.
The second part is the addressing mode. The addressing mode is usually stored in two bits.
- The addressing mode tells the processor which type of addressing to use on the operand code or opcode for short.
The final part of the instruction is the operand or opcode, which will be translated differently depending on the type of address mode used.

1Components of a Computer

1.1Structure & Function of the Processor

1.1.1Structure of the CPU

1.1.2Fetch, Decode, Execute Cycle

1.1.3Factors Affecting CPU Performance

1.1.4CPU Architecture

1.2Types of Processors

1.2.1CISC & RISC

1.2.2Multicore & Parallel Cores

1.3Input, Output & Storage

1.3.1Computer Systems

1.3.2Magnetic Storage

1.3.3Optical Storage

1.3.4Types of Optical Storage

1.3.5Types of Memory

1.3.6Flash Memory

1.3.7Virtual Memory

2Software & Software Development

3Exchanging Data

4Data Types, Data Structures & Algorithms

4.1Data Types

4.1.1Data Types

4.1.2Arrays & Strings

4.1.3Representing Numbers

4.1.4Binary Arithmetic

4.1.5Hexadecimal

4.1.6Converting Binary Numbers

4.1.7Floating Points in Binary

4.1.8Floating Point Arithmetic

4.1.9Bitwise Manipulation

4.1.10Character Sets

4.2Data Structures

4.2.1Arrays, Linked Lists & Queues

4.2.2Graphs, Hash Tables & Stacks

4.2.3Trees

4.3Boolean Algebra

4.3.1Computational Logic

4.3.2Boolean Logic

4.3.3Karnaugh Maps

4.3.4Boolean Identities

4.3.5Flip Flops & Adder Circuits

5Legal, Moral, Cultural & Ethical Issues

5.1Computing Related Legislation

5.1.1Data Protection Act (1998)

5.1.2Computer Misuse Act (1990)

5.1.3Copyright Designs and Patents Act (1988)

5.1.4Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000)

5.2Moral & Ethical Issues

5.2.1Online Activity Tracking

5.2.2Censorship

5.2.3Cultural Issues

5.2.4Environmental Issues

5.2.5Layout, Colour Paradigms & Character Sets

6Elements of Computational Thinking

6.1Thinking Abstractly

6.1.1Abstraction

6.2Thinking Procedurally

6.2.1Decomposition

6.3Thinking Logically

6.3.1Pseudocode & Flow Diagrams

7Problem Solving & Programming

7.1Programming Techniques

7.1.1Programming Fundamentals

7.1.2Modularity

7.2Programming Construction

7.2.1Integrated Development Environments

7.2.2Testing

8Algorithms

8.1Algorithms

8.1.1Interpreting, Correcting & Completing Algorithm

8.1.2Sort Algorithms

8.1.3Insertion & Merge Sort

8.1.4Search Algorithms

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