CS230/330 : Operating Systems (Winter 2001)

Instructor

Name: David Beazley
Office : Ryerson 257B
Phone : (773) 702-9111
email : beazley@cs.uchicago.edu
Office hours: Whenever I am around (which is most of the time) or by appointment

Teaching Assistants

Ian Cooke (iancooke@cs.uchicago.edu)
Brian Ward (bri@cs.uchicago.edu)

Grader

Brendan Strejcik (brendan@cs.uchicago.edu)
Aquinas Hobor (aahobor@cs.uchicago.edu)

Class Information

Class mailing list : cs330@cs.uchicago.edu
Class web page: http://www.classes.cs.uchicago.edu/classes/current/CS330/.

Overview

The primary objective of this class is to cover concepts central to the design and implementation of modern operating systems. Topics include but are not limited to processes, threads, memory management, file systems, interprocess communication, I/O systems, scheduling, synchronization, and security. A secondary objective of this course is to give you some experience working on a substantial software project and to prepare you for future work in systems research.

Prerequisites

CS116 C/C++ Programming.
CS222 Computer Architecture.
Knowledge of basic data structures.
Prior experience with the Unix operating system (recommended).

Textbooks

Required

Operating System Concepts, 5th Ed., by Silberschatz and Galvin.

We will be covering at least the first six parts of the Silberschatz book.

Recommended

The following books are not required, but you may want to make a purchase if you are unsure about your preparation for this class.

The C Programming Language, by Kernighan and Ritchie (a.k.a, the "K&R" book).
The Practice of Programming, by Kernighan and Pike.
The Unix Programming Environment., by Kernighan and Pike.
Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment., by W. Richard Stevens.

Grading Structure

Unix shell project (10%)
Kernel project (70%)
Midterm (10%)
Final Exam (10%)

Grading Scale

90-100 : A
80-89 : B
70-79 : C
60-69 : D
< 60 : F

Graduate Credit

Graduate students and undergraduates taking the course for graduate credit will be required to perform additional work on the projects and exams. These additional requirements will be clearly indicated as "graduate only."

Class Accounts

To access the class machines, you will first need to obtain a CS account. Please go to http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/info/services.php to obtain an account. A dedicated set of Sun Solaris machines are used for this class. These machines are only available to students in CS230/330 and are intended to provide an environment in which you can experiment without receiving the wrath of an annoyed system administrator. The names of the class machines are as follows:

stonecrusher.cs.uchicago.edu
sunspot.cs.uchicago.edu
stimulation.cs.uchicago.edu
sidewinder.cs.uchicago.edu
wildcat.cs.uchicago.edu

Four of these machines are located in Ryerson 257 and can be used at the console. Otherwise, all of the machines are remotely accessible via 'ssh'.

Academic Dishonesty

You are encouraged to interact with your classmates and to discuss various design aspects of the projects and assignments. However, the work you hand in must be your own. Blatant copying or sharing of solutions or source code will result in an F in the course and referral to the college administration. Also, be advised that the operating system project changes from year-to-year. Therefore, past solutions to the project are likely to be of questionable utility.

A Few Words About The Project

Most of your grade in this course is determined by a substantial programming project in which you will work in groups to implement a fully-functional operating system kernel. Everything you might have heard about the project is true. Therefore, even though I will not be assigning daily busywork, you should plan on spending a considerable amount of time working in the lab. Furthermore, it goes without saying that you will not receive a passing grade for the class unless you also receive a passing grade on the project.

With this said, here are few things to keep in mind:

This is an advanced computer science course intended for graduate students and advanced undergraduates. I assume that you are proficient with C/C++ programming and basic data structures. If you aren't up to speed on these topics, it is your responsibility to hit the books.
You should be able to find relevant programming information on your own. For instance, you should know how to use Unix man pages and how to find programming information in books and on the internet.
The development environment for the project is Sun Solaris and ANSI C. You should be somewhat familiar with basic Unix commands, a text editor such as emacs or vi, and use of the C compiler.
The time commitment required for the kernel project is substantial. Although this class only meets 2 days a week, you should plan to spend 10-20 hours a week outside of class working on the project. I will do my part to make sure you are properly caffeinated.
A significant amount of interaction tends to occur outside of the classroom and in the labs. Therefore I encourage you to interact with your classmates, to provide assistance to those who might be struggling, and to engage in an open exchange of ideas. Part of your project grade will be based on your lab participation.
Last, but not least, the kernel project is a lot of fun. After all, you're going to be writing code that is so sick, so depraved, and so twisted, it will make all of those script-kiddies want to run away in horror. Besides, what could be better than getting a nice winter tan from the glow of a CRT?

Where to go for help

Operating systems is traditionally one of the most challenging computer science courses. Do not hesistate to see me or the TAs if you have any problems or concerns. Our goal is to make sure that you succeed in this class.