Sun, 3 Mar 2013, 15:59

If you check the class website, you will notice two additions which 
I collectively call "Buzzwords."

The main one is a collection of words that I have used in teaching this
course the past half-dozen times, with an explanation of what each term
means.  If we had a required textbook, these explanations would all be
included somewhere in the textbook.

As you know, there is far more interesting stuff than can be possibly
covered in a single semester, and from time to time (and semester to
semester), it occurs to me to add to the main body of what we cover.
Kind people would call this, "course enrichment"!  Less kind people
would call it, "an old man's digressions."  Since I will feel comfortable
asking you on the exam about anything I have talked about it class, you
might find this alphabeticized glossary useful.

This glossary has evolved in the following way.  At the start of each 
semester, I ask my TAs to write down every term (aka buzzword) I discuss 
in class that they think would benefit from further explanation.  A week 
before the exam, they give me their list of buzzwords.  I provide explanations
for those that are appearing for the first time, and we add the buzzwords and
explanations to the growing collection.

The result, further explanation of lots of interesting topics in computer
architecture that you can use as you see fit, much like you would use a
dictionary or encyclopedia.

So, the first question I often get is: What about all the buzzwords from
previous semesters that you did not "digress" into this time?  Clearly, I will
not ask you about them.  Therefore, to make life a little easier, we have
also included in the Handouts section a list of those buzzwords that my TAs
collected this semester.  Explanations of them, of course, are in the aggregate
collection.

Hope you find this useful.

Good luck preparing for the first midterm.

See you in class tomorrow.

Yale Patt