Computer Systems & Hardware Archi-
tecture Complete Semester Guide
High-Yield Comprehensive Guide, C Pointer Models, Assembly, Pipelining
Hazard Traces, Cache Hand-Calculations, TLB & Quick-Cram Appendix
Computer Science & Engineering | Course Code: University Of California - Berkeley - CS 61C
| 2024-2025 Comprehensive Edition
📘 WHAT’S INSIDE THIS GUIDE:
✔ Master Bit-Level Representation: Two's Complement overflow conditions, IEEE 754 Floating-
Point, and Endianness
✔ C Memory Management & Pointers: Pointer arithmetic scaling rules, Stack vs. Heap allocation,
and Buffer Overflow anatomy
✔ Assembly Calling Conventions: RISC-V / x86-64 register usage, Caller-saved vs. Callee-saved,
and Stack Frame layout
✔ 5-Stage CPU Pipelining: Complete cycle-by-cycle clock trace of Data Hazards (RAW/Load-
Use) with Forwarding and Stalls
✔ Cache Memory Hierarchy: Step-by-step worked trace of Set-Associative address partitioning,
hit/miss tracking, and LRU evictions
✔ Virtual Memory & Multi-Level Paging: Step-by-step hand-calculated address translation from
Virtual Address to Physical PFN via TLB
✔ 10 Deadly Computer Systems Exam Traps flagged by professors (unsigned comparisons,
alignment padding, cache tag formulas)
✔ APPENDIX: 1-Hour Emergency Pre-Exam Quick-Cram Cheat Sheet with memory hierarchy
latency scale and 25 active recall flashcards
, Computer Science & Engineering · University Of Califor-Computer Systems & Hardware Architecture Complete Se-
nia - Berkeley - CS 61C mester Guide
Disclaimer: This is an independently created academic study aid. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any specific
university, textbook author, or publisher.
Independent Study Aid. Not affiliated with or endorsed by any specific university or Page 2 of 8
publisher.