CSCI 3500: Operating Systems - Class Page

Fall 2016

1. Course Description
2. Prerequisites
3. Studios
4. Labs
5. Course Schedule
6. Textbooks and Other Resources
7. Grading
8. Academic Honesty
9. Academic Support

Course Description

Operating systems are the fundamental bridge between computer hardware and the software programs we use and create. As a concept, operating systems are one of the oldest software disciplines, yet they continue to adapt and reinvent themselves as the computing landscape evolves. Modern operating systems must tackle the same challenges of the original mainframes, but must also meet the varied needs of personal computers, severs, mobile/embedded devices, and virtualized systems.

The four elements of this course are lectures, studios, labs, and exams. Studios are short assigments intended to be completed primarily within class time and to augment lecture topics. Labs are longer assignments that will ask students to apply and analyze OS mechanisms. Most class periods will consist of a short lecture followed by studio time. Expect a lab assignment approximately every two weeks.

The purpose of this course is for each student to:

• Learn the theory and practice of modern operating systems
• Understand the tradeoffs inherent in operating system design
• Complete practical exercises with the Linux operating system

Topics:

• Purpose of an OS and modern computer hardware
• Processes, threads, and scheduling
• Multi-threaded and concurrent programming with threads
• Memory allocation and paging
• File systems
• Networking
• Security

Prerequisites

• CSCI 2100 - Data Structures
• One of: CSCI 2400 - Computer Architecture or ECE 3217 - Computer Architecture and Organization
• Some experience: C or C++
• Some experience: object-oriented programming
• Studios and lab assignments are constructed around the Linux terminal, prior experience is beneficial but not required

Please see the instructor if you're missing a prerequisite or uncertain about your preparation for this course.

Studios

Computer science is an emminently practical discipline, and studios are daily assignments intended to complement and reinforce lectures through practice. Studios will be completed in a team of two students. Students from different teams may discuss studios, but sharing of code or solutions is strictly prohibited.

Studios are due in two batches. All studios assigned before the midterm will be due the Friday before the midterm. Similarly, all studios assigned after the midterm but before the final will be due the Friday before the final exam. Studios will be graded on a trimodal scale: complete, partial credit, or no credit. Studios that are turned in late or not turned in at all will recieve no credit, studios graded as partial will recieve 80% credit.

Labs

There will be approximately seven lab assignments for this course. These are programming assignments whose purpose is to apply course concepts and to analyze operating system mechanisms. As such, each lab will require a written report detailing your findings in addition to a code submission.

Some labs will require a team of two students, while others are individual projects. Students from different teams may discuss the lab assignments only during course meeting times. Students from the same team are of course encouraged to discuss and work on lab assignments at any time.

Labs submitted on time (as determined by electronic time stamp) are eligible for full credit. Labs submitted up to 24 hours late will be given a ten percent penalty. Labs submitted between 24 and 48 hours late will be given a twenty percent penalty. Labs submitted after 48 hours late will not be given credit, except in the case of extenuating circumstances pre-approved by the instructor.

The following labs have been assigned:

• encrypt - DES encrypting a file
• slush - SLU Shell
• crack - multi-threaded password cracker
• malloc - memory allocator

Course Schedule

Textbook and Class Resources

Required Course textbook: Modern Operating Systems, 4th Ed. by Tanenbaum and Bos. A classic computing textbook on the fundamentals of operating systems, with a bent towards Unix-like operating systems.

Linux skills references:

References for Linux software development.

• vi tutorial

• Another vi tutorial

• emacs tutorial

• Another emacs tutorial

Software resources:

• Secure Shell: My favorite terminal client- runs through the Chrome browser on nearly any platform. Gives a great, consistent interface between Windows, Mac, and Linux.

• Google Search for Shell Emulators: Find something that works for you!

• WinSCP: Easily transfer files between your Windows machine and the departmental Linux machines.

• scp manual page: Transfer files between your Mac/Linux machine and the departmental Linux machines.

Linux kernel hacking references:

We aren't doing any kernel hacking in this course, but these are great references if you're interested.

• Linux Kernel Development by Robert Love, 2010. This is an excellent, compact, and inexpensive text that gives the reader a good understanding of kernel design and critical kernel source code. Written by a Linux kernel veteran.

• Understanding the Linux Kernel by Bovet and Cesati, 2006. This is a more exhaustive reference to the kernel than Love's book, covering many data structures and code snippets in detail. Available online for free through the university's subscription to the O'Riley Safari service.

• Linux Device Drivers by Corbet, Rubini, and Kroah-Hartman, 2005. The definitive book on hardware device drivers for Linux. Contains some useful reference material over kernel modules, kernel development, kernel locking, timing, and other topics. Available online for free through lwn.net.

• LWN.net is a news and information outlet for the open source community. They often run very high quality articles about kernel development, kernel architecture, and kernel mechanisms. When I can't find any good references, searching for "LWN (my_topic)" is usualy helpful.

• Linux Journal is a magazine covering the Linux community. They often run very high quality articles about kernel development, kernel architecture, and kernel mechanisms. Similar to above, searching for "Linux Journal (my_topic)" often yields good results.

• Linux Cross Reference by free-electrons.com This tool easily allows you to browse the Linux source code as well as search for identifiers.

• kernel.org the go-to website for Linux kernel source code.

Grading

There are three activities for which you will receive credit in this course: studios, labs, and exams. Studios are daily guided assignments primarily designed to familiarize students with course concepts and development tools (i.e. knowledge and comprehension tasks). Lab assignments will ask students to apply general course concepts and analyze OS design alternatives. A midterm and final exam will evaluate your technical understanding of course concepts.

Studios are graded on the following scale: complete, partial credit, or no credit. Studios will not be turned back with detailed comments. Labs and exams will be graded on a points scale and will be turned back with detailed comments.

Make up exams will only be given for severe and documented reasons.

Your grade will be determined as follows:

Grading is done on a straight scale (uncurved) with a 90%, 80%, 70%, and 60% guaranteeing an A-, B-, C-, and D- respectively.

Academic Honesty

Most work assigned in this course, other than exams and some labs, is expected to be completed collaboratively. Student teams may change from assignment to assignment, but the sharing of written work or significant portions of code between teams is strictly prohibited.

Students are expected to adhere to the academic integrity and honesty policies as defined by both the University's academic integrity policy and the College of Arts & Sciences academic honesty policy. The course staff will make final determinations on what constitutes cheating. If in doubt, please ask first.

Some specific guidelines for this course:

• Code you submit as solutions to the programming assignments must be written by you or your team. You are not allowed to copy code from other students.
• Copying pieces of code from in-class examples is allowed, but you must cite the source of such code with a comment denoting the start and finish of the copied section.
• Copying small pieces of code from man pages, online references or other sources is generally acceptable, but to be safe you should check with me first. Code from such sources must be cited with a comment denoting the start and finish of the copied section.
• Copied code that is not cited will be considered plagiarism and will be treated as cheating. Citing your code protects you from this. However, copying large portions of code is still grounds for a reduction in grade, even if it is not cheating. Please check with the instructor if you are copying more than a few lines of code!

Academic Support

In recognition that people learn in a variety of ways and that learning is influenced by multiple factors (e.g., prior experience, study skills, learning disability), resources to support student success are available on campus. Students who think they might benefit from these resources can find out more about:

• Course-level support (e.g., faculty member, departmental resources, etc.) by asking your course instructor.
• University-level support (e.g., tutoring/writing services, Disability Services) by visiting the Student Success Center (BSC 331) or by going to www.slu.edu/success.

Students with disabilities or suspected disabilities are strongly encouraged to both bring any additional considerations to the attention of the instructor and make full use of the university's Disability Resource Center.