Winter 2023
- Lectures: Mon and Fri 10:30am - 12pm
- Labs: Tue 6:30-8:30pm and Wed 6:30-8:30pm
- Lecturers: Pat Hanrahan, Julie Zelenski
- CAs: Maria Paula Fernandez, Keegan Mehall
- SLs: Liana Keesing, Anna Mistele
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CS107 is the third course in the systems core sequence. The CS106A/B courses provide students with a solid foundation in programming methodology and abstractions, and CS107 follows on to develop the skills needed to build computer systems.
CS107e: Computer Systems from the Ground Up is a variant of CS107 that teaches the fundamental concepts of computer systems through bare metal programming on the Raspberry Pi. Bare metal programming means you will not run an operating system on the Raspberry Pi and will make minimal use of libraries. This course also serves as an introduction to embedded systems. The course starts with the microprocessor and moves up to the C programming language, without skipping anything in between. The goal is to build a solid understanding of all aspects of how modern computers execute programs and how program development tools work.
The major learning goals for the course are:
- To understand how computers represent information, execute programs, and control peripherals.
- To master command-line programming tools and the C programming language.
Topics covered include:
- the ARM architecture
- assembly language and machine-level code
- the C programming language
- compilation, linking and loading
- debugging
- memory organization and management
- controlling peripherals: GPIO, graphics, sound, and keyboards
Students will receive a Raspberry Pi and a kit of parts, and all assignments will run on the Raspberry Pi. Assignments build upon each other by adding more and more functionality to a core library. They culminate in a simple personal computer shell using a keyboard and display. Finally, students do a project of their choosing where they build a complete hardware-software system.
This class is organized by weeks. Each week has lectures on Fri and Mon, a 2-hour lab session midweek, and a programming assignment which is due the following week. Lecture and lab attendance is mandatory. The final project is completed over the last two weeks of the quarter. There are no exams.
For information about the differences between CS107 and CS107e, check out this FAQ.
History
CS107e is a new approach to introducing students to computer systems in the Stanford curriculum. It is the brainchild of Pat Hanrahan; the course owes its very existence to Pat's inspiration and travail, along with the heroic contributions of the multi-talented Isabel Bush, the Lead TA in the first offerings of the course. Phil Levis, Dawson Engler, Julie Zelenski, and Chris Gregg have contributed to the cause as instructors and we've have enjoyed superb student collaborators: Anna, Ashwin, Eric, Jane, Jennifer, Lenny, Liana, Maria Paula, Michelle, Mihir, Ngoc, Omar, Peter, Sean, Sergio, Shannon and Will. The tireless efforts of the TAs to support student learning have earned boundless praise from our students. A huge shout-out to David Welch, the person most responsible for figuring out how to write bare metal programs on the Raspberry Pi. If it weren't for the great work of David shares, we would not be offering this course!
Our course materials have evolved to a fairly solid and stable state. We would be delighted for others to adopt from our work. Contact us at cs107e@cs.stanford.edu for more information and access to our private-facing material.