This syllabus is subject to change based on specific class needs, especially the schedule. Significant deviations will be discussed in class.
Introduces basic operating system concepts including virtualization, memory management, process and thread management, concurrency, file systems, and process scheduling. Students will also gain hands-on experience with the C programming language and Unix-based operating systems via programming projects.
Possible topics include:
| Processes | Concurrent Data Structures |
| CPU Scheduling | Concurrency Bugs |
| Virtual Memory | I/O Devices |
| Free Space Management | Redundant Disk Arrays |
| Locks | File Systems |
The required course textbook is:
It is available online at http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~remzi/OSTEP/.
Late assignments: You have each been allotted a total of 5 late days. You may apply these without any penalty to any project you see fit, with the exception that you may use at most 2 on any individual project. The whole point here is to give you some flexibility that allows for things like illnesses, long trips, and the like. I am unlikely to grant further extensions. Any projects turned in late will result in a 20% penalty per day.
Academic dishonesty: Monmouth College’s official policy on academic dishonesty can be found here. You are responsible for reading and complying with that policy.
In this course, any violation of the academic honesty policy will have varying consequences depending on the severity of the infraction as judged by the instructor. Minimally, a violation will result in an “F” or 0 points on the assignment in question. Additionally, the student’s course grade may be lowered by one letter grade. In severe cases, the student will be assigned a course grade of “F” and dismissed from the class. All cases of academic dishonesty must be reported to the Associate Dean who may decide to recommend further action to the Admissions and Academic Status Committee, including suspension or dismissal. It is assumed that students will educate themselves regarding what is considered to be academic dishonesty, so excuses or claims of ignorance will not mitigate the consequences of any violations
Collaboration: We encourage you to make use of the resources available to you – it is fine to seek help from a friend, tutor, instructor, internet, etc. However, copying of answers and any act worth of the label “cheating” is never permissible! In addition to listing your sources and collaborators, you should be producing your own writeup in your own words. By “your own words,” we mean you should be producing the text yourself, without some external aid. Verbatim copying of text is specifically disallowed, but so is taking a source and rearranging some phrases and changing some variable names to create a derivative version! Such behavior is definitely NOT “using your own words.” It does not matter if you helped contribute to this source text with others, since then you are still not the sole author of the text. The point of collaborating on an assignment is not to produce a jointly authored set of solutions, since that violates the course policies. Instead, it is to help you solve the problems, which sometimes involve a bit of creativity. After you have jointly come up with the ideas you need to solve the problems, though, you should part ways with your group and sit down to do the writing by yourself. I also advise against sharing the writeup you submit with others, since if someone else uses your text as a source for their own solution (with or without your permission), you will also be implicated in the violation of the academic integrity policy. In any case, if two nearly identical solutions are received, we have no way of tell which is the original, and the policy is to not award credit for either submission.
Electronic devices: Do not use your phone or other devices in class except where necessary. Any computer or tablet usage should be related to the course. If a device is not being used for Zoom or Socrative it should be put away and turned on silent. Other usage is rude and distracting to others.
General expectations: In short, I expect you to be respectful of others and take responsibility for your own learning. You are here to learn, so work hard and be professional.
Just attending class is not sufficient to truly learn the material. Read the text, use the resources available at Monmouth College, and go beyond the material.
If you miss class, you are responsible for everything covered on that day. College is, in some sense, your job. Take pride in creating quality work. Staple your assignments, label problems, and present your answers neatly and orderly.
Your job is to convince me that you have learned the material – show your work! Even if you do not know a particular answer, guide me through your thought process.
The weekly workload for this course will vary by student and over the semester, but on average should be about 12 hours per week. The follow table provides a rough estimate of the distribution of this time over different course components for a 16 week semester.
| Category | Amount | Final Grade Weight | Total Time | Time/Week (Hours) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 55 | 10% (Participation) | - | 3.5 |
| Projects | 3–5 | 45% | 64 | 4.5 |
| Exam Study | - | - | 27 | 1.5 |
| Exams | 3 | 45% | - | - |
| Reading+Unstructured Study | - | - | 2.5 | |
| 12 |
Your participation grade is based on a variety of activities. During class I will often make use of the Socrative (https://socrative.com) app, so you’ll need to install this on your phones. Participating in Socrative questions and with in-class group activities is required for a decent participation grade; an A includes asking questions either in class or in office hours.
Your final grade is based on a weighted average of particular assignment categories, with weights shown above. You can estimate your current grade based on your scores and these weights. You may always visit the instructor outside of class to discuss your current standing.
This courses uses a standard grading scale. Assignments and final grades will not be curved except in rare cases when its deemed necessary by the instructor. Percentage grades translate to letter grades as follows:
| Score | Grade |
|---|---|
| 94–100 | A |
| 90–93 | A- |
| 88–89 | B+ |
| 82–87 | B |
| 80–81 | B- |
| 78–79 | C+ |
| 72–77 | C |
| 70–71 | C- |
| 68–69 | D+ |
| 62–67 | D |
| 60–61 | D- |
| 0–59 | F |
You are always welcome to challenge a grade that you feel is unfair or calculated incorrectly. Mistakes made in your favor will never be corrected to lower your grade. Mistakes made not in your favor will be corrected. Basically, after the initial grading your score can only go up as the result of a challenge*.
You are always welcome to challenge a grade that you feel is unfair or calculated incorrectly. Mistakes made in your favor will never be corrected to lower your grade. Mistakes made not in your favor will be corrected. Basically, after the initial grading your score can only go up as the result of a challenge.
The following tentative calendar should give you a feel for how work is distributed throughout the semester. Assignments and events are listed in the week they are due or when they occur. This calendar is subject to change based on the circumstances of the course.
| Date | Topic | Assignment |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 01/14 | Operating Systems Overview | Read OSTEP 1,2 |
| Tue 01/15 | Intro to C | Work through this tutorial |
| Wed 01/16 | More C | |
| Fri 01/18 | Exercise: Linked List Stack in C | |
| Mon 01/21 | CPU Virtualization: Privilege Levels | OSTEP 3-6, Project 1 out |
| Tue 01/22 | Context Switching | |
| Wed 01/23 | Project 1 Walkthrough | |
| Fri 01/25 | CPU Scheduling | OSTEP 7 |
| Mon 01/28 | MLFQ and Lottery Scheduling | OSTEP 8-9 |
| Tue 01/29 | Memory Allocation Algorithms | OSTEP 12,17 |
| Wed 01/30 | (Class Cancelled) | Read OSTEP 13-14 |
| Fri 02/01 | Coalescing; Base and Bounds | Read OSTEP OSTEP 15 |
| Mon 02/04 | Segmentation | Project 1 due, Project 2 out, Read OSTEP 13-16 |
| Tue 02/05 | (Class Cancelled) | |
| Wed 02/06 | Paging | OSTEP 18 |
| Fri 02/08 | Review Project 1; Project 2A | OSTEP 19 |
| Mon 02/11 | Project 2B | |
| Tue 02/12 | TLBs | OSTEP 19 |
| Wed 02/13 | Making Page Tables Smaller | OSTEP 20 |
| Fri 02/15 | Swapping | OSTEP 21-22 |
| Mon 02/18 | (Class Cancelled - Conference) | |
| Tue 02/19 | (Class Cancelled - Conference) | |
| Wed 02/20 | (Class Cancelled - Conference) | |
| Fri 02/22 | Detailed Paging Example | OSTEP 23-24 |
| Mon 02/25 | Exam Review | Project 2 due |
| Tue 02/26 | Exam Review - VAX/VMS | |
| Wed 02/27 | Exam 1 | |
| (Fri 03/01) | (Half-semester course exams – no class) | |
| (03/04–03/08) | (Spring break) | |
| Mon 03/11 | Project 2 Review | |
| Tue 03/12 | Project 2 Review | |
| Wed 03/13 | Project 2 Review | |
| Fri 03/15 | Project 2 Review, Thread API | OSTEP 25, Exam 1 Redux Due |
| Mon 03/18 | Race Conditions | OSTEP 26-27, Project 3 out |
| Tue 03/19 | Project 3 Overview | |
| Wed 03/20 | Locks | OSTEP 28 |
| Fri 03/22 | Concurrent Data Structures | OSTEP 29 |
| Mon 03/25 | Evaluating Locks | |
| Tue 03/26 | Futexes | |
| Wed 03/27 | Condition Variables | OSTEP 30 |
| Fri 03/29 | Producer/Consumer | |
| Mon 04/01 | Producer/Consumer | |
| Tue 04/02 | Producer/Consumer | |
| Wed 04/03 | Project 3 Questions | |
| Fri 04/05 | Semaphores | OSTEP 31 |
| Mon 04/08 | Semaphores | |
| Tue 04/09 | ||
| Wed 04/10 | Project 3 due | |
| Fri 04/12 | Concurrency Bugs | OSTEP 32 |
| Mon 04/15 | Concurrency Bugs and Project 3 Review | Exam 2 out |
| Tue 04/16 | (Scholar’s Day) | |
| Wed 04/17 | I/O Devices, Disks | OSTEP 36 |
| (Fri 04/19) | (Easter Break) | |
| (Mon 04/22) | (Easter Break) | |
| Tue 04/23 | Disk Scheduling | OSTEP 37 |
| Wed 04/24 | Disk Scheduling | |
| Fri 04/26 | RAID | OSTEP 38 |
| Mon 04/29 | Files and Directories | OSTEP 39 |
| Tue 04/30 | File System Implementation | OSTEP 40 |
| Wed 05/01 | Review | |
| Fri 05/03 3:00 PM | Final Exam |
The Teaching and Learning Center offers FREE resources to assist Monmouth College students with their academic success. Programs include supplemental instruction for difficult classes, drop-in and appointment tutoring, and individual academic coaching. The TLC is here to help students excel academically. TLC services are not just for struggling students, but can assist all students to get better grades, practice stronger study skills, and manage time.
Make an appointment with Kam Williams, Director of Academic Support Programs and Student Disability Services, at the TLC on the 2nd floor of Poling Hall. The department phone number is 457-2257, or contact the department online at http://ou.monmouthcollege.edu/academics/teaching-learning-center/. They can also be reached via email at: tlc@monmouthcollege.edu
Disability Support Services: If you have a disability or had academic accommodations in high school or another college, you may be eligible for academic accommodations at Monmouth College under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Monmouth College is committed to equal educational access.
Students can meet with Kam Williams about accommodations at the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC). The TLC is located on the 2nd floor of Poling Hall. For more information, call 309-457-2257 or connect online at http://ou.monmouthcollege.edu/life/disability-services/default.aspx.