From NAND to tetris in 12 easy steps

As CS and EE courses become increasingly more specialized, students are increasingly unable to grasp major ideas that cut across traditional course lines. This workshop presents a course that restores the big picture and demystifies the integrated design and function of computer systems. Using a modular series of 12 projects, students are guided through the gradual construction of a complete working computer system. Starting with simple NAND gates, the students build a general-purpose hardware platform and a modern software hierarchy, yielding a simple but surprisingly powerful computer. This is achieved in a one-semester course by virtue of extreme focus and modular design. The course is completely self-contained, requiring no special equipment or software beyond what is given in the course web site, and is accompanied by a new MIT Press textbook.