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Skills

Build a Computer from Logic Gates (Nand to Tetris I)

8 weeks · 2 milestones

Build a Modern Computer from First Principles: From Nand to Tetris (nand2tetris.org), then one project of your own. Part of the Varsity Curriculum: Computer Science.

Milestone map

Milestone map

2 milestones

Do the course work in public

3–6 weeks (7–13 hrs/week)

Take Build a Modern Computer from First Principles: From Nand to Tetris for free and do projects 1–5: every chip, from NAND up to the CPU. Keep everything in one public repo or notebook as you go. OSSU lists the Coursera version. We use the free nand2tetris.org site, which has the same projects.

Proof required

Link your public repo or notebook with projects 1–5: every chip, from NAND up to the CPU, and a screenshot or log showing the self-check passed.

What gets checked

  • Every chip passes its test script.
  • The HDL is yours (history, comments).
  • The CPU runs the supplied test programs.

Common mistakes

  • Copying posted answers: verifiers read the history.
  • Skipping the self-check, then asking for review too early.

Powstik Guide

A public repo or notebook with projects 1–5: every chip, from NAND up to the CPU.

Steps

  1. Make a public repo or notebook first.
  2. Do one unit at a time and commit after each.
  3. Run the self-check: Every chip must pass its supplied test script in the hardware simulator.
  4. Write a short README: what is here and how to run it.
  5. Ask three people who know the topic to check it.

Template

README
Course: Build a Modern Computer from First Principles: From Nand to Tetris (nand2tetris.org)
What is here:
How to run it:
Self-check result:
What was hardest:

What gets sent back

  • No history, just one big upload.
  • Self-check not shown.
  • Code that does not run from the README.

Resources

Foundationstart here

Depthgo deeper

What a verifier looks for

  • Every chip passes its test script.
  • The HDL is yours (history, comments).
  • The CPU runs the supplied test programs.
  • Ask one question about a choice in the code; the answer should be clear.

You'll sign in first, then come straight back here.

Write the assembler and run a program

1–3 weeks (5–8 hrs/week)

Use what you learned. Make the project 6 assembler plus a small Hack program you wrote, running on your computer. Keep it small enough to finish in about two weeks.

Proof required

Link the project 6 assembler plus a small Hack program you wrote, running on your computer, with a README that says how to run or read it.

What gets checked

  • The assembler's output matches the supplied one.
  • Your program runs in the CPU emulator.
  • The README explains how to run both.

Common mistakes

  • A project too big to finish.
  • A demo that only works on your machine.

Powstik Guide

The project 6 assembler plus a small Hack program you wrote, running on your computer.

Steps

  1. Write one line: what it does and for whom.
  2. Build the smallest version that works.
  3. Test it on someone else's machine or with someone else reading it.
  4. Write the README.
  5. Ask three people to check it.

Template

README
What it does:
Who it is for:
How to run it:
What I would do next:

What gets sent back

  • Does not run from the README.
  • Not clearly the person's own work.
  • Claims more than it does.

Resources

Foundationstart here

Depthgo deeper

What a verifier looks for

  • The assembler's output matches the supplied one.
  • Your program runs in the CPU emulator.
  • The README explains how to run both.
  • Check that the work is the person's own.

You'll sign in first, then come straight back here.

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