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!Week!!Week of...!!Tuesday - Class!!Thursday - ALC/Lab!!Deliverables
|-
|1||Jan 6||[[#Tuesday (Jan 7)|Introduction to Software Porting, Portability, Benchmarking, and Optimization]]||How is Code Accepted? - Analyze code submissions in two separate open source projects||Blog a commentary on code reviews in two communities
|-
|2||Jan 13||Assembly language, Machine code, and Architecture Distinctions||Hello World - Compile a basic C program and analyze the resultant binary||Set up a Fedora system and the ARMv8 Foundation Model
|Exam Week||Apr 14||colspan="3"|Exam Week - No exam in this course!
|}
== Week 1 ==
=== Tuesday (Jan 7) ===
* Introduction to the Problem
** Most software is written in a '''high-level language''' which can be compiled into [[Machine Language|machine code]] for a specific architecture. However, there is a lot of existing code that contains some architecture-specific code fragments written in [[Assembly Language]].
** Reasons for writing code in Assembly Langauge include:
*** Performance
*** [[Atomic Operation|Atomic Operations]]
*** Direct access to hardware features, e.g., CPUID registers
** Most of the historical reasons for including assembler are no longer valid. Modern compilers can out-perform most hand-optimized assembly code, atomic operations can be handled by libraries or [[Compiler Intrinsics|compiler intrinsics]], and most hardware access should be performed through the operating system or appropriate libraries.
** A new architecture has appeared: Aarch64. This is the first new [[Computer Architecture|computer architecture]] to appear in several years.
** There are over 1400 software packages/modules present in GNU Linux systems which contain architecture-specific [[Assembly Language|assembly language code]]. Most of these packages cannot be built on Aarch64 systems without modification.
* In this course, you will:
*# Select two software packages from a list compiled by Steve Macintyre of Linaro. Each of the packages on this list contains assembly language code which is platform-specific.
*# Prepare a fix/patch for the software so that it will run on 64-bit ARM systems (aarch64). This may be done at either of two levels:
*## Port - Add additional assembly language code for aarch64 (basic solution).
*## Make Portable - Remove architecture-specific code, replacing it with compiler intrinsics or high-level code so that the software will successfully build on multiple platforms.
*# Benchmark - Prove that your changes do not cause a performance regression on existing platforms, and that (ideally) it improves performance.
*# Upstream your Code - Submitting your code to the upstream (originating) software project so that it can be incorporated into future versions of the software. This will involve going through a code review to ensure that your code is compatible with and acceptable to the upstream community.
* Optional: You can participate in the [http://linaro.org Linaro] Code Porting/Optimization contest. For details, see the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo1dBB3tke8 YouTube video] of Jon "maddog" Hall and Steve Mcintyre at Linaro Connect USA 2013.
* Course details:
** Course resources are linked from the CDOT wiki, starting at http://zenit.senecac.on.ca/wiki/index.php/SPO600 (Quick find: This page will usually be Google's top result for a search on "SPO600").
** Coursework is submitted by blogging.
** Quizzes will be short (1 page) and will be held without announcement at any time. Your lowest three quiz scores will not be counted, so do not worry if you miss one or two.
** Course marks:
*** 60% - Project Deliverables
*** 20% - Communication (Blog and Wiki writing)
*** 20% - Labs and Quizzes
** Friday classes will be held in an "Active Learning Classroom". You are encouraged to bring your own laptop to these classes.
** For more course information, refer to the SPO600 Weekly Schedule (this page), the [http://www.senecacollege.ca/ssos/findWithoutSemester/spo600/sict Course Outline], and [[SPO600 Course Policies]].
