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Web-Based Implementation of the Little Man Computer
PROCEEDINGS

, , Illinois State University, United States

International Conference on Mathematics / Science Education and Technology, Publisher: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)

Abstract

This paper describes the implementation of a well-known paradigm to depict the architecture and operations of a computer. The model, originally introduced by Dr. Stuart Madnick at MIT, is called the Little Man Computer (LMC). This simplistic metaphor is an effective method to introduce students to the workings of a computer. The LMC uses familiar objects and actions to represent computer components and operations. The "Little Man" visibly interprets and performs all the assigned tasks that are equivalent to the fetch and execute cycles in a traditional CPU. The LMC model uses a small instruction set that lets students write simple programs in code which resembles that of low-level languages. The LMC simulation was implemented in Java and operates in two modes, edit and execute. This application has proven to be very useful for teaching the Von Neumann architecture.

Citation

Vila, J. & Beccue, B. (2000). Web-Based Implementation of the Little Man Computer. In Proceedings of International Conference on Mathematics / Science Education and Technology 2000 (pp. 398-403). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved March 28, 2024 from .

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