Module 00 · Systems and memory in C

Memory, bits, and pointers in C

Computers execute instructions directly against linear memory. Master binary representations, two's complement integer arithmetic, pointer dereferencing and traversal, stack frame activation records, and manual free-list heap allocators.

4 lessons · 4 graded exercises·2.5 hours·beginner·No prerequisites

Bits, bytes, and two's complement integers

20 min · exercise

How numbers and flags are represented at the hardware bit level, two's complement arithmetic, bit masking, and sign extension.

Memory addresses and pointer arithmetic

25 min · exercise

The linear address space, pointer dereferencing, pointer arithmetic across typed strides, null pointers, and buffer boundaries.

Stack frames and local variable lifetimes

20 min · exercise

The call stack architecture, frame pointers, activation records, local variable scope, return addresses, and stack overflow.

Manual heap allocation and free-list allocators

25 min · exercise

The heap memory region, malloc and free lifecycle, memory fragmentation, boundary tags, block splitting, and coalescing.