Tier 1 · Gated foundation
Computer Systems Fundamentals
A four-week intensive that builds the mental model underneath the code — bits, the CPU, memory and the operating system — so failures three layers above the metal become reasoning, not mystery.
- Duration
- 4 weeks
- Tier
- Tier 1 · Foundations
- Certificate
- WIATech Certificate in Computer Systems Fundamentals
Every line of code eventually runs on a real computer, and the engineers who debug confidently are the ones who carry an accurate mental model of what is happening underneath their code. FND 30 builds that model — bits, the CPU, memory and the operating system — so that when something goes wrong, you can reason about where the failure is and why. By the end, a graduate can explain what happens between pressing Enter on a Python script and seeing the output, every layer, in their own words.
§ What you'll be able to do
- Read a bug report and identify which layer it operates at — CPU, memory, OS, program logic, or above
- Estimate orders of magnitude for data sizes, memory needs and time-to-execute
- Explain why software is slow by identifying CPU vs memory vs I/O bottlenecks
- Reason about a crash by tracing from the error message to the layer where it originated
- Hold a coherent conversation about how computers work, without bluffing
§ What you'll cover
How Data Lives in a Computer
The bottom layer — how a computer represents numbers, characters and everything else as patterns of bits, and the consequences those representation choices have.
How a Computer Executes Code
The architectural layer — the CPU, the memory hierarchy, how a program runs, concurrency and what a GPU means, as a way of thinking rather than assembly.
The Operating System as the Computer's Manager
The systems-software layer — what an OS is and does, covering processes, virtual memory, the filesystem abstraction and system calls.
How It All Connects — End to End
The integration layer that wires bits, CPUs and operating systems into one continuous mental model, including what performance means and why programs crash.
Capstone
The Annotated Execution
The student traces a short program from the user pressing Enter to the final output, identifying every layer of execution in a defensible written walkthrough and diagram.
§ Tools you'll use
- A system monitor (htop, Task Manager or Activity Monitor)
- A hex editor or xxd
- A simple text editor
- A programming-language reference manual