How a Computer Really Runs Programs
You go up from single instructions to how a whole computer runs real programs -- how the processor is built, why memory is arranged in layers, and how programs are linked, loaded, given memory and kept apart. Claude Code helps you explore each idea with real tools.
Class 1Buffer overflows and memory safety
How a classic security hole works, and how to stop it.
Class 2Inside the processor
How a CPU actually carries out an instruction.
Class 3Pipelining: overlapping instructions
How a processor works on several instructions at once.
Class 4Making programs fast
Writing code the processor can run quickly.
Class 5The memory hierarchy
Why memory is built in layers, fast to slow.
Class 6Caches, and why they matter
The small fast memory that makes programs fly.
Class 7Linking: building an executable
How separate pieces of code become one program.
Class 8Exceptions and processes
How a computer runs many programs at once.
Class 9Signals and control flow
How a program is told that something happened.
Class 10Virtual memory
How every program gets its own private memory.
Class 11Dynamic memory allocation
How a program asks for memory while it runs.
Class 12Final review: the whole systems picture
Seeing how every layer fits, from a bit to a running program.