As we learned earlier, computer architecture is the set of steps that make up how a computer functions. These steps include things like how it processes information, where its components are located, and what types of computers this system works with.

Architecture is one of the most important concepts in engineering, as engineers depend heavily on it to create their own products or improve upon someone else’s. Software architects get paid pretty well too!

That said, knowing just the basics of computer architecture isn’t enough to be very successful. In fact, many people who call themselves “software developers” don’t know much about it at all.

Here, we will take a closer look at some of the more fundamental aspects of architectural theory, including terminology, discrete math, representations, topologies, and systems. We will also explore some advanced topics such as cache hierarchies and memory layouts. By the end of this lesson you will have a good understanding of these theories and their applications in software development.

Disclaimer: This topic may seem overwhelming at first, but do not worry! You are definitely capable of learning something new here. There are only eight lessons total, so stick with us until you've mastered everything mentioned. To make sure you're paying close attention, use your notes or smartphone app to follow along.

Different layers of the computer

A layer is an abstract concept that covers a wide range of things, depending on what it is designed to do. For example, in this article we will discuss how computers work at the transistor level.

But before we get into that, let’s take a step back and talk about why it is important to understand how individual components function.

When you are trying to program a computer or design your own circuit, you have to know how basic parts of the chip work. This includes knowing whether there are just transistors (nodes that connect to other nodes) or if there are additional functional devices such as gates, flip flops, or registers.

It also means understanding the types of connections that can be made, for instance when adding two numbers together, there are only so many ways to connect them- add, subtract, multiply, divide, and so on. There are infinitely more possibilities with computer programs!

This is where the field of computer architecture comes into play. An architect designs buildings, so it makes sense to apply that analogy here. They determine which concepts are needed to build a house and then use those concepts to create something new, like a house.

Computer architects focus on developing fundamental building blocks and organizing these bricks into working systems. By doing this, they make sure everything works seamlessly and efficiently. It also gives people who want to expand on already existing ideas a solid foundation to start from.

Hardware architecture

So what is hardware architecture, then? This term refers to how your computer’s components connect together- in other words, how they work with each other.

Hardware architectures come in two main forms: fixed or flexible. Fixed hardware configurations are what we refer to as x86 (or more specifically, Intel x86). Many computers today use this type of architecture because it has been around for quite some time and is very well understood.

X86 CPUs typically have several important features that make them powerful. They contain special registers used to store information, and these registers can be read and written directly using something called a fetch and execute (or ADD) instruction. Because of this, software can quickly access memory locations without having to go through a CPU stage first.

This article will talk about three such stages within an X86 CPU: the pipeline, out-of-order execution, and speculative processing.

The CPU

A computer’s processor is its brain – it executes software programs. Almost every task you do with your smartphone or computer uses the processors at their core to power some sort of computation.

Computer processors work by executing small chunks of code (computer instructions) one after another. This is how most computers operate today.

Modern processors are so advanced that they can perform complex math calculations, as well as check billions of pieces of data against each other in what’s called “parallel computing.” But before those came along, there was only one way a processor could accomplish something. It had to compare all numbers together!

That process is known as sequential execution.

So what makes a modern day processor different?

It’t fast enough!

CPU manufacturers have been improving speed for several years now, which has led to faster desktop and laptop computers, tablets, and smartphones.

But while processors get much quicker than they were back in 2013, we still need more powerful ones to run many apps, games, and systems.

The motherboard

A computer’s motherboard is one of its most important components. It is what connects all of the other parts together, enabling them to work as a unit. Materials such as glass or plastic are used to make the board, and it is where various chips, wires, and ports come together.

The type of motherboard you have depends mostly on two things: how much memory it can hold and whether it has built-in graphics processing units (GPUs). Graphics cards are an increasingly powerful feature that many people use their computers for.

Graphics card manufacturers create GPUs by putting several small processors in parallel. An average person doesn’t need a GPU with lots of RAM, so some boards don’t include one, but they may still have a slower CPU chip instead. This isn’t too big a deal unless you really rely on the GPU.

The memory

Memory is one of the most important parts in any computer system. Almost every piece of software you use has access to RAM (randomly accessible memory). This includes apps, web browsers, gaming programs, and more!

Computer engineers are very careful about how they organize this memory because it can be expensive.

Ram is a finite resource that computers have to work with. If there’t enough ram for all the applications running at once, some will not run properly or may even stop working completely.

As your computer gets more advanced, it usually gets faster too, but only up to a certain speed. At that point, everything becomes slow due to lack of ram.

Software can take advantage of unused areas of ram which helps make things smoother, but if there’s not enough ram, it will become sluggish or possibly unusable.

The hard drive

An integral part of any computer is its hard disk or internal storage device. This device stores all of your software and other important files such as pictures and music.

A hard disk can make the difference between whether you use your computer for some time or if you pull it out after only limited usage.

They are usually made up of many small, closely connected components that work together to store and access information. Each component works by storing either a negative or positive charge in order to determine what data goes where.

These individual parts are manufactured and assembled with high precision so that they work seamlessly with each other.

There are several different types of hard disks we could discuss here but for the purposes of this article, we will be talking about two of the more common ones – flash and magnetic media. Both of these depend on an electro-magnetic force to function properly.

The GPU

A graphics processing unit (GPU) is an integral part of a computer that controls the screen pixels or images displayed by your device. Most laptops these days have at least one, if not many GPUs. There are three main components of a GPU: the chip itself, the memory attached to it, and how the GPU connects to each other and to the rest of the computer.

The chip is what does all the work in terms of displaying pictures and videos you create with software like Photoshop or iMovie. This chip is also very efficient at doing advanced mathematical calculations such as those needed for video games. Some chips even have additional features such as special circuits designed to handle parallel computing, which means they can perform large amounts of complex math much faster than normal processors.

Computer scientists use the term “architecture” to describe the way this chip is put together. An architecture is the general design pattern used to construct a piece of equipment. For example, every smartphone has an ARM processor in them so they all share the same architecture. Even though their internal workings may be different, they are still using the same basic structure.

There are several architectures available for GPU chips, but the most common ones are called von Neumann and Harvard.

A von Neumann CPU uses a separate set of registers and RAM to store information instead of having everything stored inside of the GPU.

The BIOS

Before you can do anything with a computer, it has to talk to the software or operating system that you want to use it for. This is done through an input/output (I/O) bus, which connects your computer to external devices such as monitors and keyboards. Your motherboard contains what are called firmware programs or bios chips, which initialize the I/O busses in your machine and set up other parts of the computer, such as the CPU and GPU.

The most important part of this chip is its register, which is used to tell the rest of the computer what functions the CPU, GPU, and RAM can perform. These registers also determine how fast each component can work- they're like settings for powerful computers!

Because these processors and memories operate at high speeds, there's always some current flowing across their internal wires. In very complex CPUs, so much current flows that it creates its own electromagnetic field, which can interfere with nearby components and even cause electrical shorts. To prevent this, every processor includes something called a power supply unit (PSU), which regulates electricity and absorbs some of the energy being radiated away.