Question

why study computer architecture and organization ?

Answer 1

Computer architecture is a specification detailing how a set of software and hardware technology standards interact to form a computer system or platform. In short, computer architecture refers to how a computer system is designed and what technologies it is compatible with. As with other contexts and meanings of the word architecture, computer architecture is likened to the art of determining the needs of the user/system/technology, and creating a logical design and standards based on those requirements.

Computer organization is concerned with the way the hardware components operate and the way they are connected together to form the computer system. The various components are assumed to be in place and the task is to investigate the organizational structure to verify that the computer parts operate as intended. Computer organization refers to the operational units and their interconnections that realize the architectural specifications.

A very good example of computer architecture is von Neumann architecture, which is still used by most types of computers today. This was proposed by the mathematician John von Neumann in 1945. It describes the design of an electronic computer with its CPU, which includes the arithmetic logic unit, control unit, registers, memory for data and instructions, an input/output interface and external storage functions.

There are three categories of computer architecture:

• System Design: This includes all hardware components in the system, including data processors aside from the CPU, such as the graphics processing unit and direct memory access. It also includes memory controllers, data paths and miscellaneous things like multiprocessing and virtualization.
• Instruction Set Architecture (ISA): This is the embedded programming language of the central processing unit. It defines the CPU's functions and capabilities based on what programming it can perform or process. This includes the word size, processor register types, memory addressing modes, data formats and the instruction set that programmers use.
• Microarchitecture: Otherwise known as computer organization, this type of architecture defines the data paths, data processing and storage elements, as well as how they should be implemented in the ISA.

Computer Organization and Architecture lets you know how exactly each instruction is executed at the micro level. The data flow, timing analysis, memory hierarchy, tradeoffs between execution cycles, hardware requirements/costs, software-hardware trade-offs can be known.

If you plan to study embedded systems/ processor design, these concepts are very important, as they form the basis of design strategy. It is also a well known fact that assembly coding is closest to the computer, and it is always most optimum, if written properly. This is very important for real-time or time critical systems coding, as each millisecond is very important. Knowing the architecture completely helps you write assembly codes. If you are writing assembly codes, you know exactly how many instructions-cycle it will take to execute it, which is generally not possible in higher languages like C/Java etc.

Any computer engineer or scientist should basically know the underlying details of the machine he or she is going to use. You may be an application programmer, a compiler writer or any software designer. Only if you know the underlying architecture, you’ll be able to use the machine much more effectively and your performance will improve. To become an expert on computer hardware you need to know the underlying concepts of computer architecture.

Benefits of Studying computer Organization & computer Architecture

•It is concerned Us with the way the hardware components operate and the way they are connected together to form the computer system.

•We know various components are assumed to be in place ad task is to be a organizational structure.

• We know about on the system components, circuit design, logical design, structure of instruction, computer arithmetic, processor control, assembly programming and methods of performance enhancement.

Following are the other benefits arranged in a column format of studying computer architecture and organization

Computer Architecture	Computer Organization
Computer Architecture is concerned with the way hardware components are connected together to form a computer system.	Computer Organization is concerned with the structure and behavior of a computer system as seen by the user.
It acts as the interface between hardware and software.	It deals with the components of a connection in a system.
Computer Architecture helps us to understand the functionalities of a system.	Computer Organization tells us how exactly all the units in the system are arranged and interconnected.
A programmer can view architecture in terms of instructions, addressing modes and registers.	Whereas Organization expresses the realization of architecture.
While designing a computer system architecture is considered first.	An organization is done on the basis of architecture.
Computer Architecture deals with high-level design issues.	Computer Organization deals with low-level design issues.
Architecture involves Logic such as Instruction sets, Addressing modes, Data types and Cache optimization	Organization involves Physical Components such as Circuit design, Adders, Signals and Peripherals