APPENDIX A — Downloading and Installing SPIM

This on-line course uses SPIM. SPIM is a simulator for the MIPS32 processor instruction set architecture (ISA). All you need for this course is SPIM and a text editor. SPIM is free, available at:

http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~larus/spim.html

You will need a text editor. The text editor that comes with Microsoft operating systems, Notepad, will work, but just barely. A better text editor is much more convenient. If you are already using a text editor that came with a programming environment it will work fine. Sometimes these editors are called "program editors." The editor that comes with Visual Basic will not work. A "word processor" such as WordPerfect or Word will not work, either.

If you are familiar with downloading and installing programs, download and install SPIM and skip the rest of this appendix. If (as happens all too often) SPIM has moved to a new location, look for it with a search engine. It is used by many schools and is downloadable from several locations.

Appendix Topics:

• Downloading SPIM.
• Installing SPIM.
• Testing SPIM.
• Usage Notes.
• Additional Resources.