(Latest Revision -- January 25, 2018)
[2018/10/25: Initial Revisions]
Course Description
for Operating Systems I: CS 3750
"An elephant is a mouse with an operating system."
TERM: Spring 2018
CLASS INFO FROM SCHEDULE:
🍇 20566 CS 3750 001 Operating Systems I Lec 3.0 TuTh 14:00-14:50 P-101
🍇 20567 CS 3750 002 Operating Systems I Lab 0.0 TuTh 14:00-14:50 P-101
INSTRUCTOR: John Sarraille, Professor of Computer Science
OFFICE:
P-286,
Professional Schools Building (also known as Demergasso-Bava Hall), Cal State Stanislaus
OFFICE HOURS:
- Wednesdays 11:00-13:00
- Thursdays 14:00-15:00
- Fridays 11:00-13:00
- or ask me for an appointment at a time that works for you
(The first day of scheduled office hours is Wednesday, January 31, 2018, and
the last is Wednesday, May 16, 2018.)
E-MAIL:
john@ishi.csustan.edu
PROFESSOR SARRAILLE'S HOMEPAGE:
http://www.cs.csustan.edu/~john/js.html
CS 3750 HOMEPAGE:
http://www.cs.csustan.edu/~john/Classes/CS3750/
PREREQUISITES:
It is important that you be adequately prepared for taking this course, CS
3750. Check with me if you have not passed both:
- Data Structures + Algorithms (CS 3100), or the equivalent,
and
- Computer Organization (CS 3740), or the equivalent.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
The main aim of this course is for you to develop an understanding of
important concepts and techniques involved in the design, implementation,
and use of computer operating systems.
Some specific goals are to learn about what an operating system does, about
sequential processes, the control of concurrent processes, memory
management, protection, security, network operating systems, and truly
distributed operating systems.
REQUIRED TEXT:
Silberschatz:
Operating Systems Concepts, Ninth Edition
; written by Abraham Silberschatz, Peter Galvin, and Greg Gagne;
published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc;
ISBN-13: 978-1118063330
RECOMMENDED TEXT:
Peek:
Learning the Unix Operating System (5th edition);
by Jerry Peek, Grace Todino-Gonguet and John Strang;
published by O'Reilly and Associates, 2001;
ISBN 9780596002619
COURSE COVERAGE:
I strongly recommend that you read the Silberschatz book - all of it.
Operating Systems is a big area, and you have to do a lot of reading to get an
adequate background in the subject. I expect to discuss material in chapters
1-13 in class, giving special attention to chapters 5 and 7-9, which deal
with the areas of process control and memory management. I'll discuss
more material if time allows.
INFORMATION ABOUT CLASS SESSIONS (lecture vs lab):
For technical reasons, students in this class are required to sign up
separately for a lecture section and a lab section, and a typical CSU
Stanislaus Schedule of Classes indicates that lecture and lab occur on
different days or times. In actual fact, I don't run the class that way.
TESTS & GRADING:
I'll give you problems you can work on to help you
study for tests. I don't collect or grade homework, and it does not have any direct
effect on your course grade. However I'll go over the answers as part of the preparation
for tests, and I think working the problems is likely to help you do better on tests.
There will be:
- Homework assignments followed by short quizzes every week or two, and
- A mandatory comprehensive final exam.
Generally homework will be a combination of problems from the textbook and
assignments to write small essays. Quizzes will cover the reading
and lectures.
By default, the quizzes combined will count for 60% of your grade
and the final will be worth 40%. If your scores on these tests are uneven,
I'll see about giving more weight to what you did better.
LATE ASSIGNMENTS AND TEST DATES:
When you sign up for this course, and when you remain in this course,
you have agreed to be available during all the class meeting times
and the final exam time. You have also agreed to follow all
the course rules and guidelines. Therefore, I will ordinarily not grant
requests to change the way the course is conducted. For example,
I don't ordinarily give make-up tests to individual students, or allow
individual students to take tests before or after the rest of the class.
Having said that, it is possible that there could be a compelling reason why I
should make a special accommodation for you. If it has to do with a
disability, you should probably discuss it with someone in the
Disability Resource Center. You can also discuss the matter
with me, if that seems like the more appropriate option, and I'll do my best
to make the right decision or referral.
Get started early on assignments. That way, if you run into difficulty, you
can seek help in class and/or office hours in a timely fashion.
We can have class discussions about which dates the class will take quizzes.
I may be willing to change
some of these dates. If you want a change in the schedule, please bring
this up (in class, preferably) as soon as possible, and not
at the last minute. (It's usually a good idea for class members
to try to work out some consensus before bringing the subject up with me.)
Help:
If you find yourself in difficulty with some aspect of the course,
seek help from me promptly. Maybe I can clear things up
if you ask me a question in class. Other students may benefit from
hearing the discussion. You may speak to me after class or
during my office hours. You may send me a message by e-mail. You are entitled
to get help this way. Office visits and such are a normal part
of a college education. Whatever you do, please don't subvert
your chances of success by continuing to spin your wheels
when you are stuck in a rut. To get through a class like this
successfully, you may have to get over foolish pride, stubbornness,
and/or shyness.
PARTICIPATION:
I hope to be accessible and helpful to you during this course. I want you to
get as much as possible out of it.
Remember that you are a member of a class, a group, a team.
People intentionally designed the university education
to be a group activity. If you scrunch down in your seat and sew your
mouth shut, you make your education and the education of the other
students more difficult. Don't be worried about seeming ignorant,
because we are all lacking in education. A college education is self-help
for ignorant people, and that includes the instructors, by the way.
To do well in the class, and to help the rest of the class, read everything
I assign as soon as possible, and read with care. Read difficult material
more than once! Attend all classes. Pay close attention. Take notes - yes,
write things down on paper, or key into a computer.
Studies show
that people who write
notes learn better. It has to do with the actual activity of writing
while listening and thinking. Review your notes before each class. Get started
on assignments early. Do a little each day, and bring your
questions and problems concerning these assignments to class each day.
Finish assignments and reading on time. Do what you can to keep class
discussion lively and to the point. Reply to questions. Ask questions and
make remarks if you feel you have something to add, or if you feel something
needs to be explained better.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN WORK:
Sometimes it can be difficult for the student to figure out the difference
between 'cheating' and 'working smart.' Here is some guidance:
Homework: Since the homework is not graded, you are free to discuss it
with others to the extent you want. To get the most out of it, you should
probably do as much as you can by yourself, but you'll have to
be the judge of how much that is. We'll go over all the answers in class,
before you get any related questions on any quizzes.
Tests: You must write your quizzes and final exam with no discussion
or help from anyone. The one exception is that you are allowed to come
forward and ask me to clarify the meaning of a test question, if you wish.
It will be up to me to decide how to answer, or whether to answer at all.
I will tell the class any new information that arises from such an exchange.
Academic Dishonesty:
If caught cheating, expect to receive the full
extent of consequences allowed under University policy. Cheating degrades the
integrity and the core values of our shared educational system.
There are always better alternatives. Be open to them.
NETWORK AVAILABILITY OF COURSE MATERIALS:
I will make course documents, assignments, supplements, and so on available on
the world wide web. To access the on-line CS 3750 materials, you can open the
URL:
http://www.cs.csustan.edu/~john/Classes/CS3750/
There is also a miscellaneous collection of information that you may want to
use from time to time. It is located here:
http://www.cs.csustan.edu/~john/Classes/General_Info/
COMPUTER EQUIPMENT:
Each of you is supposed to have an account that gives you access to all the
Computer Science Department Lab computers. Most of the computers share a
networked file system, and you get the same home directory, regardless of
which which one you log into.
If you don't seem to have access to those computers, then let me know right
away.
The CS computers are located in the Computer Science Lab:
P-288.
P-288 is in the Professional Schools Building (aka:
Demergasso-Bava Hall), in the extreme northwest corner of the second
floor of the north wing.
Generally, CS Department workstations are available for access 7 days a week
and 24 hours per day. However campus computer labs do not remain open at all
hours. Therefore sometimes network connections are the only means available
for connecting. See the section below entitled "INTERNET CONNECTIONS" for
more information. Also see the course document entitled
loginDirections.
P-288 will be open basically mid-morning until about 5:00 p.m.. During these
times, you can be physically present in the CS Department Lab while using a
department computer. This can be very beneficial because you then have the
opportunity to work and communicate with fellow students and members of the
staff and faculty.
Due to budgetary constraints beyond our control, the hours during which
P-288 is open are subject to change on short notice. Please check the
postings of the lab hours at the entrance to the lab, in the "message of
the day" that is printed on your screen when you log on to your CS computer
account, or
check on the web.
Incidentally, the CS Department often seeks volunteers and work-study
students to help keep the lab open longer hours. For further information,
ask our system administrator, Deep Gill:
P-288C,
(209) 667-3273,
dgill@cs.csustan.edu.
You can access many CS Department Lab computers via an ssh or sftp
connection from anywhere on the Internet. When the CS Lab is closed, you
may wish to login from a host on the campus local area network, such as
those in the
University open labs.
Generally those labs are open during the
same hours that the campus library is open. Please check postings online, or
at the labs, or ask lab personnel in order to get further information about lab
hours. Lab assistants should be able to show you how to establish ssh or
sftp connections to a CS Department workstation. You'll need to know your
login name and password.
INTERNET CONNECTIONS:
You may want to obtain Internet connectivity for your residence.
This is not a requirement and not necessary for success,
but it can be a great time-saver and a convenience, once you have gotten
past the hurdle of setting everything up.
There are several Internet service providers (ISPs) that serve this area.
Chances are that members of the class can make good recommendations. If you
like, we can devote some time to this topic in class.
One can find many ISPs by doing a web search. ISPs also advertise in the
yellow pages and in newspapers.
If you get an Internet connection, make sure you get remote login
(ssh) and file transfer (sftp) software. This will allow you to log
in from home to your computer account at the college and also transfer
files back and forth. For more information about this, read the
remote login and file transfer help sheet.
For additional information, ask me or the CS Lab Administrator, Deep Gill:
P-288C,
(209) 667-3273,
dgill@cs.csustan.edu.