Low-Level Programming

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• Summarise how the stack and the heap are used by a C program.
• Explain how low-level languages interact with memory using pointers, references, and addresses.
• Summarise the main purposes of compilation, and explain how compilation differs from interpretation.
• Explain purposes and uses of overloading, templates, and sub-typing in C++.

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Use memory transactions to communicate with devices in an embedded system
• Write, compile, and execute programs in an embedded device

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Apply testing and debugging techniques to find and fix programming errors.
• Execute the aforementioned programs both on an embedded devices and on computers more generally.
• Write and compile programs in a low-level programming language.

• Introductory C: Strong typing (vs weak typing), compilation (vs

interpretation).

• Memory management: Stack/heap memory models, pointers and references, fault diagnosis techniques.
• Features commonly found in low-level programming languages (e.g. the preprocessor)
• Tooling: Memory checkers, testing frameworks, debuggers, and techniques for effective use of these.
• Practical experience working with an embedded system as a case study.
• OOP in a low-level programming with C++: templating, and the Standard Template Library, static vs dynamic types, overloading, and inheritance and containment relationships.

• Lectures
• Guided self-study
• Labs as part of the AICE Lab Programme which will cover practical aspects

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.