PROJECT: Prime Number Computation (PNC2)

Continue exploring algorithm/implementation, this time exploring a new algorithm: the sieve of eratosthenes.

Add to your two separate, independent programs, one in Vircon32 C, and other in Vircon32 assembly, functionality that:

• implements individual and combined functionality for the following optimizations (both in C and assembly):
  • sieve of eratosthenes (soe)
• sieve of eratosthenes with sqrt optimization (soe +s)

The following are reference screenshots of what your implementations should approximate.

Your next program, and first sieve, will be the Sieve of Eratosthenes. Perhaps among the best and likely longest-known sieves, its origins date from antiquity.

This sieve, instead of calculating to determine the eligibility of a prime, works in a manner of marking off patterns of values that cannot be prime (so, it is composite-focused in approach vs. prime-focused).

In order for it to work, we must store all the values we're processing so we can obtain what is left when done– what remains are the prime values.

Some refined considerations:

• include memory management related to the sieve in your timing
• for better visibility of performance, take measurements out to FOUR (4) decimal places (instead of the previous 3 we did for pnc0/pnc1)
• for graphing purposes, you may want to exclude the brute results, so your graphs do not suffer from needless compression (you want to see how soe performs against the better brute variants; at this point we already know it'll blow baseline brute out of the water)
• if the line graph is too noisy (too many things, not enough clear labels), consider doing a bar graph instead.
• you can, optionally, choose to bypass running brute once it surpasses a certain threshold; in my example, I set a threshold of 4 seconds, which is why you do not see results provided for 8192, as it'll have exceeded the limit during the 4096 run.

Here is the wikipedia page:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieve_of_Eratosthenes

Here is an animated image of this sieve in action (from wikipedia):

You will want to go here to edit and fill in the various sections of the document:

• https://lab46.g7n.org/notes/comporg/spring2025/projects/pncX

To be successful in this project, the following criteria (or their equivalent) must be met:

• Project must be submit on time, by the deadline.
  • Late submissions will lose 33% credit per day, with the submission window closing on the 3rd day following the deadline.
• Executed programs must display in a manner similar to provided output
  • output formatted, where applicable, must match that of project requirements
• Processing must be correct based on input given and output requested
• Output, if applicable, must be correct based on values input
• Code must be nicely and consistently indented
• Code must be consistently written, to strive for readability from having a consistent style throughout
• Code must be commented
  • Any “to be implemented” comments MUST be removed
    • these “to be implemented” comments, if still present at evaluation time, will result in points being deducted.
    • Sufficient comments explaining the point of provided logic MUST be present
• No global variables (without instructor approval), no goto statements, no calling of main()!
• Track/version the source code in your lab46 semester repository
• Submit a copy of your source code to me using the submit tool by the deadline.

Let's say you have completed work on the project, and are ready to submit, you would do the following:

lab46:~/src/SEMESTER/DESIG/PROJECT$ submit DESIG PROJECT file1 file2 file3 ... fileN

You should get some sort of confirmation indicating successful submission if all went according to plan. If not, check for typos and or locational mismatches.

I'll be evaluating the project based on the following criteria:

312:pnc2:final tally of results (312/312)
*:pnc2:submitted C and assembly implementations [26/26]
*:pnc2:each implementation builds cleanly [26/26]
*:pnc2:output conforms to specifications [26/26]
*:pnc2:processing is correct, and to specifications [26/26]
*:pnc2:working sieve of eratosthenes implementation [52/52]
*:pnc2:working soe with sqrt implementation [52/52]
*:pnc2:all variants and combinations thereof operational [26/26]
*:pnc2:graph produced from timing data produced [26/26]
*:pnc2:graph posted to discord and documentation page [26/26]
*:pnc2:timing data is taken out to at least 5 decimal places [26/26]

• each class member is to participate in the contribution of relevant information and formatting of the documentation
  • minimal member contributions consist of:
    • near the class average edits (a value of at least four productive edits)
    • near the average class content change average (a value of at least 1024 bytes (absolute value of data content change))
    • no zero-sum commits (adding in one commit then later removing in its entirety for the sake of satisfying edit requirements)
  • adding and formatting data in an organized fashion, aiming to create an informative and readable document that anyone in the class can reference
  • content contributions will be factored into a documentation coefficient, a value multiplied against your actual project submission to influence the end result:
    • no contributions, co-efficient is 0.50
    • less than minimum contributions is 0.75
    • met minimum contribution threshold is 1.00

• Solutions not abiding by spirit of project will be subject to a 50% overall deduction
• Solutions not utilizing descriptive why and how comments will be subject to a 25% overall deduction
• Solutions not utilizing indentation to promote scope and clarity or otherwise maintaining consistency in code style and presentation will be subject to a 25% overall deduction
• Solutions not organized and easy to read (assume a terminal at least 90 characters wide, 40 characters tall) are subject to a 25% overall deduction
• Individuals who have not participated at least 50% will be subject to a 50% overall deduction.