Teaching students java bytecode using lego mindstorms robots

Abstract

Assbly language is a valuable subject to teach, yet one of the most underappreciated by students. Students do not see the need for assbly language and they get through it as quickly as possible. Given the time in a computer organization course to teach assbly language, assignments -- either quick-and-easy ones or those contrived-to-teach-a-point -- contribute to this attitude of malaise. This paper documents a project to inject some fun into the teaching of assbly language. First, we switch the language to Java bytecode. Second, we use unique assignments to use Java bytecode with Lego Mindstorms robotics.