Instruction Set Architecture

Question 1

What is abstraction and why is it necessary?

Answer 1

Focuses on one layer of a computer system treating the rest as black boxes which is necessary as it manages the complexity across fields

Question 2

What are the layers of Abstraction

Answer 2

User Layer, Application layer, OS layer, Hardware Layer

Question 3

Assembly Language vs Instruction Set

Answer 3

Assembly is a low-level computer language to be used by humans whereas an instruction set is a hardware list of executable commands

Question 4

What does a micro processor define?

Answer 4

The internal organization of functional units and data paths in a microprocessor

Question 5

What is RISC and CISC

Answer 5

Reduced Instruction Set Computer (ex. ARM)
Complex Instruction Set Computer (ex. x86)

Question 6

Name one pro and con of RISC

Answer 6

Pro:
Faster Execution

Con:
Fewer Instructions

(CISC is the opposite)

Question 7

What happens if the CPU has no registers?

Answer 7

If the target ISA has register operations, then the interpretation treats an area of RAM as if it were registers which means the computer won’t run quickly