5 ms·

MIT 6.004: Computation Structures

275 points by skovorodkin 7y ago

qubex 7y ago
This seems very comprehensive and beautifully comprehensible. It reminds me closely of The Elements of Computing Systems and its companion web-based incarnation Nand2Tetris available at https://www.nand2tetris.org/ https://www.nand2tetris.org/
musicale 7y ago
I kind of like their Minispec HDL - I don't think I've seen it before though I guess it derives from Bluespec. I have always liked Wirth's Lola as well. Verilog and VHDL are serviceable, but I think there is an advantage to having a simple, friendly syntax without the verbosity and overhead of VHDL. I also liked how Wirth's course involved running on FPGA hardware. It looks like you might be able to do that in the MIT course as well although I didn't see specific labs for it.
lake99 7y ago
I was hoping to learn about GPU and neural network accelerator architectures. This seems like a conspicuous absence in the course.
- kennethfriedman 7y ago
  This is an undergrad course, "200 level" in the standard course numbering (which MIT does not follow). It's for people who know how to program, but relatively new to the field. It's mostly going to be getting people used to assembly and basic computational building blocks. You might be interested in the new class: 6.812 Hardware Architecture for Deep Learning.
  - lake99 7y ago
    Indeed. Thank you!
yomly 7y ago
Last time I looked at MIT 6.004 the lecture slides seemed like they were useless without the speaker but there were no videos so I moved on. Looks like there's been an update since so will take another look...
- commandlinefan 7y ago
  I started trying to read through the slides in the link and I felt the same way - this looks like fascinating stuff that I wish I understood better, but I got lost trying to just read the slides without a lecturer going over them. There were a few textbooks listed (including Hennesy & Patterson's excellent "Computer Organization"); I might check out the other two instead.
  - yomly 7y ago
    I'm finding nand2tetris much better for covering what I gather is mostly the same. The 6.004 for 09 has more of the physics than nand2tetris but I can live without that
bunnie 7y ago
wow. setup and hold times have been demoted to 'demystification only' and not something that is part of the formal curriculum. when I helped teach this course in the 90's, it was a major section and if you could not answer basic questions about synchronous clock discipline, you could not get an A. It was as important as stack-based calling conventions. I mean, I guess most 'computer science' folks today can have a fecund and profitable career and have never heard of these concepts, but... I hope some people still wonder, why do we have clock speeds, and what other alternatives might exist?
- WillSlim95 7y ago
  It was there till 2017. The change to the present form happened in 2018, when Arvind became a co instructor Source I have been following this class online since 2015.
- drhodes 7y ago
  The previous version, with full labs, autograded tutorial problems and exercises is still available here: https://computationstructures.org/lectures/info/info.html https://computationstructures.org/lectures/info/info.html Also, an archived version of that course is still running on edx ... https://www.edx.org/course/computation-structures-part-1-digital-circuits https://www.edx.org/course/computation-structures-part-1-dig... .. where there is a forum available, so people can still ask questions about how to build a 32-bit CPU from scratch using MOSFETs :) It's also on OCW, https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-004-computation-structures-spring-2017/ https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-compu...
ArtWomb 7y ago
Somewhat related: looks like Prof. Harry Lewis is also teaching a class on "Classic CS" during the Spring 2020 term at MIT. "This subject examines papers every computer scientist should have read, with an emphasis on the period from the 1930s to the 1980s. It is meant to be a synthesizing experience for advanced students in computer science: a way for them to see the field as a whole, not through a survey, but by reliving the experience of its creation, relating the original work to the field as it exists today. The aim is to create a unified view of the field by replaying its entire evolution at an accelerated rate, giving students the opportunity to become sophisticated generalists" https://www.eecs.mit.edu/academics-admissions/academic-information/subject-updates-spring-2020/6s897 https://www.eecs.mit.edu/academics-admissions/academic-infor...
- vga805 7y ago
  That sounds pretty awesome, does anyone happen to have a list of the papers the class covers, I can't seem to find it online.
  - adamnemecek 7y ago
    It's probably similar to this one https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/34992/assignments/syllabus https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/34992/assignments/syllabu...
- metahost 7y ago
  Do you have the course schedule or content? I can't seem to find any past content/editions of the course. The course sounds amazing!
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
ruang 7y ago
Is the site just temporarily down? I was watching one of the lecture videos and when I came back to the site I got a 502 error.
rckoepke 7y ago
I get 502 error
lanyusea 7y ago
It seems MIT changes the url: https://6004.mit.edu/web/fall19FA19/resources/lectures https://6004.mit.edu/web/fall19FA19/resources/lectures
- ruang 7y ago
  Thank you! I really needed this.

275 points by skovorodkin 7y ago

This seems very comprehensive and beautifully comprehensible. It reminds me closely of The Elements of Computing Systems and its companion web-based incarnation Nand2Tetris available at https://www.nand2tetris.org/ https://www.nand2tetris.org/

musicale 7y ago

I kind of like their Minispec HDL - I don't think I've seen it before though I guess it derives from Bluespec. I have always liked Wirth's Lola as well. Verilog and VHDL are serviceable, but I think there is an advantage to having a simple, friendly syntax without the verbosity and overhead of VHDL. I also liked how Wirth's course involved running on FPGA hardware. It looks like you might be able to do that in the MIT course as well although I didn't see specific labs for it.

lake99 7y ago

I was hoping to learn about GPU and neural network accelerator architectures. This seems like a conspicuous absence in the course.

kennethfriedman 7y ago
This is an undergrad course, "200 level" in the standard course numbering (which MIT does not follow). It's for people who know how to program, but relatively new to the field. It's mostly going to be getting people used to assembly and basic computational building blocks. You might be interested in the new class: 6.812 Hardware Architecture for Deep Learning.
- lake99 7y ago
  Indeed. Thank you!

yomly 7y ago

Last time I looked at MIT 6.004 the lecture slides seemed like they were useless without the speaker but there were no videos so I moved on. Looks like there's been an update since so will take another look...

commandlinefan 7y ago
I started trying to read through the slides in the link and I felt the same way - this looks like fascinating stuff that I wish I understood better, but I got lost trying to just read the slides without a lecturer going over them. There were a few textbooks listed (including Hennesy & Patterson's excellent "Computer Organization"); I might check out the other two instead.
- yomly 7y ago
  I'm finding nand2tetris much better for covering what I gather is mostly the same. The 6.004 for 09 has more of the physics than nand2tetris but I can live without that

bunnie 7y ago

wow. setup and hold times have been demoted to 'demystification only' and not something that is part of the formal curriculum. when I helped teach this course in the 90's, it was a major section and if you could not answer basic questions about synchronous clock discipline, you could not get an A. It was as important as stack-based calling conventions. I mean, I guess most 'computer science' folks today can have a fecund and profitable career and have never heard of these concepts, but... I hope some people still wonder, why do we have clock speeds, and what other alternatives might exist?

WillSlim95 7y ago
It was there till 2017. The change to the present form happened in 2018, when Arvind became a co instructor Source I have been following this class online since 2015.
drhodes 7y ago
The previous version, with full labs, autograded tutorial problems and exercises is still available here: https://computationstructures.org/lectures/info/info.html https://computationstructures.org/lectures/info/info.html Also, an archived version of that course is still running on edx ... https://www.edx.org/course/computation-structures-part-1-digital-circuits https://www.edx.org/course/computation-structures-part-1-dig... .. where there is a forum available, so people can still ask questions about how to build a 32-bit CPU from scratch using MOSFETs :) It's also on OCW, https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-004-computation-structures-spring-2017/ https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-compu...

ArtWomb 7y ago

Somewhat related: looks like Prof. Harry Lewis is also teaching a class on "Classic CS" during the Spring 2020 term at MIT. "This subject examines papers every computer scientist should have read, with an emphasis on the period from the 1930s to the 1980s. It is meant to be a synthesizing experience for advanced students in computer science: a way for them to see the field as a whole, not through a survey, but by reliving the experience of its creation, relating the original work to the field as it exists today. The aim is to create a unified view of the field by replaying its entire evolution at an accelerated rate, giving students the opportunity to become sophisticated generalists" https://www.eecs.mit.edu/academics-admissions/academic-information/subject-updates-spring-2020/6s897 https://www.eecs.mit.edu/academics-admissions/academic-infor...

vga805 7y ago
That sounds pretty awesome, does anyone happen to have a list of the papers the class covers, I can't seem to find it online.
- adamnemecek 7y ago
  It's probably similar to this one https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/34992/assignments/syllabus https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/34992/assignments/syllabu...
metahost 7y ago
Do you have the course schedule or content? I can't seem to find any past content/editions of the course. The course sounds amazing!
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

ruang 7y ago

Is the site just temporarily down? I was watching one of the lecture videos and when I came back to the site I got a 502 error.

rckoepke 7y ago

I get 502 error

lanyusea 7y ago

It seems MIT changes the url: https://6004.mit.edu/web/fall19FA19/resources/lectures https://6004.mit.edu/web/fall19FA19/resources/lectures

ruang 7y ago
Thank you! I really needed this.