When teaching computer architecture, why are universities using obscure CPUs?
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When teaching computer architecture, why are universities using obscure CPUs?
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Re: When teaching computer architecture, why are universities using obscure CPUs?
#2Not all of them do --- MIPS was very common once (now probably being replaced by RISC-V), and I've come across recent (<5 years old) lecture slides from Indian universities where they still use the 8086/88, 8051, 8080/8085/Z80, etc.
Re: When teaching computer architecture, why are universities using obscure CPUs?
#3Much as I also have never understood universities teaching to "teaching" architectures (DLX), or "teaching" languages (Eiffel - luckily removed from our curriculum before I started), at the same time I did not land a job based on having learned "practical" architectures 68k or MIPS either.
Re: When teaching computer architecture, why are universities using obscure CPUs?
#4I had undergraduate and graduate courses that studied x86 at 2 different universities.
Re: When teaching computer architecture, why are universities using obscure CPUs?
#5The goal of Uni is to learn the basics and build upon them. Thats why.
Re: When teaching computer architecture, why are universities using obscure CPUs?
#6Because you've only got like 12 weeks and the students are 19. Gotta choose wisely
Re: When teaching computer architecture, why are universities using obscure CPUs?
#7Not all of them do --- MIPS was very common once (now probably being replaced by RISC-V), and I've come across recent (<5 years old) lecture slides from Indian universities where they still use the 8086/88, 8051, 8080/8085/Z80, etc.
My university did that switch over in '18. The course originally taught MIPS but shifted to RISC-V, partially though because the book that they taught from was updated from MIPS to RISC-V. I really appreciated the switch, especially as RISC-V becomes more and more relevant.
Re: When teaching computer architecture, why are universities using obscure CPUs?
#8Because x86/x64 is horribly CISC. I challenge you to list the instructions a current x64 processor runs in a table. You will get so lost in the extensions it does and does not support that you will give up.
Because Apple's M chips have not been on the market long enough for us to adjust, nor are there cheap versions we can pick up for our hardware labs.
Because phones are not good for teaching computer architecture. We want something with a large screen and keyboard.
If I were teaching computer architecture, I would use an ARM chip in a Raspberry Pi.
Re: When teaching computer architecture, why are universities using obscure CPUs?
#9Modern CPUs are too complicated to teach in a semester. Plus, the course is meant to teach how a CPU works at a conceptual level, not train students for x86 assembly programming.
Re: When teaching computer architecture, why are universities using obscure CPUs?
#10Much as I also have never understood universities teaching to "teaching" architectures (DLX), or "teaching" languages (Eiffel - luckily removed from our curriculum before I started), at the same time I did not land a job based on having learned "practical" architectures 68k or MIPS either.
Hey I learned Eiffel. It's a nice language. I wish we had pre-conditions and post-conditions in modern procedural language.