CREATOR: An Educational Integrated Development Environment for RISC-V Programming Articles uri icon

publication date

  • May 2024

start page

  • 1

end page

  • 17

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 2169-3536

abstract

  • This article introduces a new integrated development environment called CREATOR (didaCtic
    and geneRic assEmbly progrAmming simulaTOR) that provides an interactive platform for educational
    assembly programming. CREATOR is specially designed for the academic environment, so it is very
    intuitive to users who are encountering assembly for the first time. It makes the traditional theory classes
    interactive, engaging students" participation. Moreover, it is a multiplatform simulator that can be used
    with a web browser without requiring a server or additional installations, and it can be used on different
    types of devices. CREATOR allows all the necessary steps to be performed on the same tool, from the
    implementation of the assembly program to its execution on real hardware. For this purpose, it allows
    editing, compiling, simulating, debugging, and loading the program on the hardware device without auxiliary
    software. In addition, it is also capable of detecting compilation errors, execution errors, and violations of the
    parameter passing convention, helping users understand the reason for a given error so that they can resolve
    it. CREATOR offers the RISC-V and MIPS32 architectures by default. However, it is possible to modify
    these architectures or add new architectures in the tool as needed by any user. This feature allows teachers
    to prepare practical labs adapted to the teaching objectives, and it can also be used for research, e.g., for the
    study of different instruction sets.

subjects

  • Computer Science

keywords

  • assembly programming; educational simulator; esp32-riscv; integrated development environment (ide); risc-v