BASICl—a simple computer to introduce computer organization and assembler language programming

Abstract

BASICl is a simple interactive assembler-loader/interpreter which has been used as an instructional tool for the introductory course in computer organization and assembler language programming offered by the Computer Science Department at Washington State University. Both “hardware” and software are organized so as to emphasize basic concepts and to eliminate the confusion which occurs when these concepts are first introduced surrounded by the myriad of machine and assembler language-dependent details of an actual computer system. BASIC1 a decimal machine, has a small single address instruction repertoire with a trace, dump, reasonable diagnostics and run time interactive debugging capability. An associated simulator, called TESTER serves to evaluate whether and how well the students' programs have worked.