Education · In development
CSA-102: Toolchain Arc (Py6502v + NES Capstone)
CSA-102 is the academy's 6502 toolchain arc: the follow-on to CSA-101 where you build the software that turns a high-level language into bytes the 6502 you built can run. Four weeks plus an NES-cartridge capstone. You write programs in Py6502v (a Python-syntax-compatible language), compile them with a compiler you help extend, run them in a browser REPL workbench, and finish by shipping a playable NES-compatible .nes cartridge that runs on the same Tang Primer 25K you brought up in CSA-101. It pairs with CSA-101 (the silicon arc) to take you from gates all the way to a high-level language and a finished game on hardware you built.
This course is not open for enrollment yet
We are building it now. CSA-102 picks up where CSA-101 leaves off, so the on-ramp is the same: start with SPK-101 (Sparking Curiosity), the no-prerequisite gateway that gives you the 6502 vocabulary, then take CSA-101 (Silicon Arc) to build the chip this toolchain targets.
What you build in CSA-102
- Py6502v, a Python-syntax language and its compiler that emits 6502 machine code. The same source runs unchanged under
python3on your laptop and compiles to a binary for the chip, a dual-execution property you use for fast prototyping. - The REPL workbench: Py6502v source on one side, the generated 6502 assembly in the middle, register and memory state on the other, with a host-versus-emulator view so you watch both run side by side.
- A playable
.nescartridge: the capstone game, written in Py6502v against the runtime library, compiled to NES cartridge format, running on your Tang Primer 25K or in the browser for students without a board.
Where it sits in the 6502 pair
CSA-101 and CSA-102 are the academy's 6502 pair. CSA-101 (Silicon Arc) builds the 6502 from NAND gates and synthesizes it onto an FPGA. CSA-102 builds the language, compiler, and runtime that target that chip. The cohort ladder runs SPK-101, then CSA-101, then CSA-102.
Looking for the 32-bit course?
The flagship 32-bit course is CSA-110 (Fundamentals of Computing Systems), which rebuilds the whole stack on RV32I-Lite and is fully built today. The 6502 pair (CSA-101 plus CSA-102) and CSA-110 are sister tracks: take either or both. A student who has done the 6502 pair walks into CSA-110 already knowing the toolchain shape, now felt at 32-bit width.