CS 3750 Schedule

(Latest Revision -- 11/28/2001)
(11/28/2001: schedule details for end of term)

WORK SCHEDULE FOR CS 3750 -- Fall 2001

This schedule is a draft and subject to change. Keep checking the class web space for the latest version.

You will find weekly reading assignments here. The reading assignments set a pace for you. You are supposed to read the entire text in one semester. The pace is adequate to allow you to do that. The pace will also keep you ahead of what I am covering in lecture. In class we will devote some time to discussion of what you are currently reading, but we may have to spend much or most of the time on something else. You should check here each week to see what will be covered in the lecture material, and you should review that material to prepare for the lecture.

Lectures will probably lag behind the reading assignments for most of the semester. At the end of the semester, lectures will skip from topic to topic, and perhaps finally catch up with the reading assignments.

I will synchronize homework assignments pretty well with the assigned reading. In class or office hours, feel free to ask questions related to the current homework.

Before you read a chapter in the book, first read the assigned homework problems for that chapter. As you read the chapter, gather the maximal amount of relevant information to use in your answers to the problems.

WEEK #1: Sep 06 - Sep 07

Week #1 is a short week, due to the first day of school falling on a Thursday.
Friday, September 07 is the first class day for CS 3750. There will be no class meeting that day because I have duties as a member of the CSU Statewide Academic Senate that require me to be in Long Beach.
Course Handouts: You may drop by the CS Department office P-287 on Sept 6 or 7 and pick up a printout of the course description, or you can print yourself a copy. The course description is located here. Please carefully read the course description this week. If you need a computer account or help with your username and password, please fill out and submit one of the account service forms.
Try doing a "Hello World" tutorial on one of the Sun Ultra computers in the Computer Science Lab. Ask me for help next week if you have any problems.

WEEK #2: Sep 10 - Sep 14

Reading Assignment: chapter #1 (Introduction), chapter #2 (Computer-System Structures), and (part of) chapter #3 (Operating-System Structures)
Assignment: Retrieve homework #1 assignment from web space. Get started on the assignment.
Lecture Topic(s): chapters #1-3

WEEK #3: Sep 17 - Sep 21

Reading Assignment: (rest of) chapter #3 (Operating-System Structures) and chapter #4 (Processes)
Lecture Topic(s): chapters 3 and 4
DUE: Homework Assignment #1, Ch1-2, Monday, September 17
Assignment: Keep checking as I add problems for homework set #2. Work on problems as you do the reading.

WEEK #4: Sep 24 - Sep 28

Reading Assignment: chapter #5 (Threads) and chapter #6 (CPU Scheduling)
Lecture Topic(s): chapters 5 and 6

WEEK #5: Oct 01 - Oct 05

Reading Assignment: chapter #7 (Process Synchronization) and some of chapter #8 (Deadlocks)
Lecture Topic(s): Process Synchronization
DUE: Homework Assignment #2, Ch #3-5, Monday, October 01

WEEK #6: Oct 08 - Oct 11

Reading Assignment: chapter #8 (Deadlocks) and chapter #9 (Memory Management)
I'll hand back graded homework on Monday and give you a chance to ask questions about the material to be covered on the exam -- chapters 1-5.
In-Term Exam #1 on chapters 1-5, Wednesday, Oct 10: Please bring a small blue book.
Lecture Topic(s): Process Synchronization
No class Friday -- Columbus Day

WEEK #7: Oct 15 - Oct 19

Reading Assignment: chapter #10 (Virtual Memory)
DUE: Homework Assignment #3, Ch #6-7, Friday, October 19
Lecture Topic(s): Concurrency and Deadlocks
Teach-In Wednesday, October 17, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. As an exercise in assessing the effectiveness of your instruction at CSU, please attend the CSU teach-in at the campus Event Center (U-108), located in the Student Union Building. I recommend that you come when you can and leave when you must. I'd like you to attend from 10:10 to 11:08 in lieu of other CS 3750 activities. There will be no CS 3750 lecture or lab that day.

WEEK #8: Oct 22 - Oct 26

Reading Assignment: chapter #11 (File-System Interface) and chapter #12 (File-System Implementation)
Lecture Topic(s): Concurrency and Deadlocks

WEEK #9: Oct 29 - Nov 02

Reading Assignment: chapter #13 (I/O Systems) and some of chapter #14 (Mass-Storage Structure)
DUE: psuedo-code description of the algorithm for your solution to program #1, Monday, Oct 29.
Lecture Topic(s): Memory Management and Virtual Memory

WEEK #10: Nov 05 - Nov 09

Reading Assignment: (the rest of) chapter #14 (Mass-Storage Structure) and chapter #15 (Distributed System Structures)
DUE: final version of program #1, Monday, November 05.
DUE: Homework Assignment #4, Ch #8-10, Friday, November 9
Lecture Topic(s): Memory Management and Virtual Memory

WEEK #11: Nov 13 - Nov 16

No Class Monday -- Veteran's Day
Reading Assignment: chapter #16 (Distributed File Systems) and chapter #17 (Distributed Coordination)
In-Term Exam #2 on chapters 6-10, Friday, Nov 16: Please bring a small blue book.
Lecture Topic(s): ???????

WEEK #12: Nov 19 - Nov 21

Reading Assignment: chapter #18 (Protection) and chapter #19 (Security),
DUE: psuedo-code description of the algorithm for your solution to program #2, Monday, Nov 19.
Lecture Topic(s): ???????
No class Thursday or Friday -- Thanksgiving vacation

WEEK #13: Nov 26 - Nov 30

Reading Assignment: chapter #20 (The Linux System), chapter #21 (Windows 2000), and chapter #22 (Historical Perspective)
Lecture Topic(s): Concurrent programming, File system implementation, and Distributed Systems

WEEK #14: Dec 03 - Dec 07

DUE: final version of program #2, Monday, Dec 03.
DUE: make-up re-write of in-term exam #2 Wednesday, Dec 05.
In-Term Exam #3 on chapters 12, 15-17, Friday, December 07: Please bring a small blue book.
Lecture Topic(s): File system implementation and Distributed Systems

"WEEK #15": Dec 10

Monday is the last class day of the semester.
Lecture Topic(s): Distributed Systems plus other topic(s)

CS 3750 Optional FINAL EXAM: The (optional) CS 3750 final exam is scheduled as follows:

Section 01: Monday, Dec 17, 8:30-10:30, in P-113

The final exam will be comprehensive. It will cover content from all three in-term exams. I will try to keep the number of questions small so that everyone has plenty of time for answering.

For purposes of grade calculation, your score on the final will replace your lowest in-term exam score, unless your score on the final is lower than your lowest in-term exam score, in which case your score on the final will have no effect.

If you want to take the exam, send me an e-mail message and tell me so. I will make a copy of the exam for you.