Syllabus

University of Mary Washington
Department of Computer Science

CPSC405: Introduction to Operating Systems
TTh 12:30-1:45pm Trinkle B7

Objectives

I really like Professor Dahlin’s description of his operating systems course:

“The crosscutting theme in this course is providing abstractions above imperfect hardware to make it usable by programmers and users. At the end of the course, students should understand a set of abstractions (concurrent programming, virtual addressing, memory protection, caching, transactions, …) that are useful in many large-scale software systems not just OS kernels. More important than memorizing specific abstractions used in operating systems of the past, students should understand these abstractions well enough to synthesize their own abstractions when faced with new problems.Another important goal of the course is for students to understand the computers they use and on which they build their applications. A student graduating with a CS degree should believe “there is no magic”: they should be able to describe the chain of events that occurs when they hit a key and cause a letter to appear on the screen from the register level (or logical gate level or transistor level) to the system architecture level to the operating system level to the application level. This is philosophically important, but it is also of practical interest to developers who need to figure out how to make a system do what they want it to do.”

Goals

• to develop the ability to read (and apply) program specifications and technical documentation.
• to develop the ability to meet coding deadlines
• to acquire a good understanding of the structure of operating systems including
  • processes
  • threads
  • scheduling
  • process synchronization
  • deadlocks
  • memory management
  • virtual memory
  • file-system interface and other I/O
• gain basic core competencies in kernel development. This includes extending a barebones kernel to include executing user processes, paging, and file management.
• develop abilities to critically compare operating systems and assess emerging technologies.

Readings

• Either Operating System Concepts Essentials or  Operating System Concepts (either the 7th or 8th edition). Both of these books are by Silberschatz, Galvin & Gagne.
• Additional online readings assigned in class.

Programming Projects

This is a programming intensive course.

This semester we will be working through a variety of programming projects. In 305, the architecture class, you gained experience with the C programming language. The first projects of this course (done individually) are intended to refresh your memory of C.  One is a review of bitwise operators in C and the other is related to dynamic memory allocation. The rest of the projects will be done with a partner.  Several projects will be related to threads. In one of those projects you will create a user level thread package.  The final projects were developed at MIT and used for a number of courses including the honors introduction to operating systems course at the University of Texas at Austin and the operating system engineering course at MIT, as well as courses at Stanford and UCLA. Professor Frans Kaashoek has given us permission to use this material.

The projects will be challenging. The programming labs are time intensive and you should plan your class schedule accordingly.

Projects can be developed on lab computers (Rosemary) or your own computer.  Projects will be graded based on how they run on the lab computer environment. Be sure to test your code on a lab computer before submitting it.

Projects are due anytime on the due date. That is, if the due date is on a Saturday, you can submit the project up to midnight Sunday. Projects turned in by 8am the following day will likely incur a 7% penalty. Projects turned in between 8am the following day and midnight will likely receive a 15% penalty. Students unable to complete a project due to illness or family emergency should contact me as soon as possible.

Pair Programming

As already mentioned, you will work on most of the projects with a partner. It is your responsibility to select someone with whom you work well. It is also your responsibility to resolve any team problems. You must follow the pair programming methodology. In particular, both people must work together at the same time to understand the problem, come up with a solution, code the solution, and test the code. This works best when two people share one computer periodically swapping the keyboard as they change roles. In addition to improving your code this will enable both people to understand all aspects of the project. Quizes will have questions that require detailed knowledge of the projects.

Due date flexibility and slip days

Each team is allowed 4 slip days. The team can divide these slip days among projects anyway they wish to extend project deadlines. To help me keep track of slip days, the top of each project’s readme file must contain the following line:

Slip days used for this project ______      Total slip days used for all projects _______

Fractions of slip days may not be used. If your project is one hour late you must use a whole slip day.

Any team can appeal a project’s due date. The appeal must be supported by every member of the team and must be verbally presented at the beginning of a class period. The appeal must include 1) the source of why the project cannot be completed by the original due date, 2) offer an alternative due date, and 3) specify evidence that the proposed due date is reasonable. If an appeal is granted the new due date will be for the entire class. I also may extend due dates on my own.

Cooperation versus cheating

The lab you submit must be your team’s own work. There will be opportunity in class to discuss the projects in a general way with students in your group, but you may not examine any other team’s code. Sharing code on programming assignments is a form of academic dishonesty. Significant similarity of notation or form between submissions of different students or between a student’s work and solutions found on the web will be regarded as evidence of academic dishonesty. Also, you also should not google and find lab solutions for any similar course.

You should not look at the written work of another student (other than your team mate). This includes code and sketches of a solution drawn on paper or whiteboard. Having a discussion while one person is looking at written material is also not appropriate. When you are discussing the project with another student you should not be writing anything down, recording the conversation, or using a computer. Remembering what a person said without these aids is some indication that you actually understood the material.

As I mentioned, this is a programming intensive course, and I expect students to make a good-faith effort to complete the programming assignments.

Teams

During the first day of class, all students will be assigned to permanent teams. Throughout the course, teams will both take team tests and participate in joint activities. Team performance will be one component of your final grade.

Grading

Grading is based on a method developed by Professor Lee Sheldon at Indiana University. It is based on obtaining experience points (XP). The number of XP determines what level you are at. You start the class with 0 XP  at Level 0. The level you obtain at the end of the semester determines your final grade. Here is the chart:

I differ from Professor Sheldon in offering students options on how to accumulate XP. There will be opportunities to earn at least 2350XP during the course. This gives each individual some flexibility in what tasks to do. You gain XP working individually, with a partner, and with your team.

If you are at Level Zero when midterm grades are due I will report your work as unsatisfactory.

Activities

Programming Projects – 700XP

There will be between 5 and 6 programming projects involving Intel assembly, C, and C++.  Each project will be worth between 150 and 250XP.

Quizzes – 400XP

There will be approximately 5 short multiple-choice quizzes given during the course. Each quiz will be taken individually, then, immediately after, the same test will be taken as a team. Each individual quiz is worth on average 40 points; each team quiz is also worth on average 40XP. You will have advance notice of these quizzes.

Team Work (in-class) – 250XP each team member

There will be a variety of activities worth between 50-75XP. The vast majority of team work will be done during class time. However, to get maximum points on a particular task  you may need to meet occasionally outside of class.

Team Reading Presentation – 75XP each team member

Teams will do a presentation on a section of the textbook or an assigned reading.

Partner Reading Presentation – 75XP

You will do a presentation on a section of  the textbook or an assigned reading.