Tag: computer architecture

Writing an Emulator for the MIX Architecture

I've been reading a lot of TAOCP lately (that's The Art of Computer Programming by Donald Knuth for you plebes out there 😛 ). This classic book series consists mainly of designing a lot of algorithms in machine language. The machine language used is that of the fictional MIX architecture, which Knuth created specifically for … Continue reading Writing an Emulator for the MIX Architecture →

How to Check the Byte Order (Endianness) of Your System in C

There are two basic kinds of computer architectures: little-endian and big-endian. These two terms refer to the byte order used for numerical data. In little-endian systems (which include most CISC architectures), the lower-order bytes are stored first (meaning in the lower addresses). In big-endian systems (which include most RISC architectures), the higher-order bytes are stored … Continue reading How to Check the Byte Order (Endianness) of Your System in C →