Syllabus for CS 438, Operating Systems Analysis

Fall 2000

The course is divided into four three-week sections; each section covers a major part of an operating system:

  1. Introduction

  2. Processes

  3. Input-Output

  4. Memory Management

  5. File Systems

I will try hard not to change the syllabus during the semester, but I make no promises.

Note: The phrase "x through y" means "from the start of x up to and including the end of y."

Section 1 - Introduction (Wednesday, 6 September, through Monday, 18 September)

Readings
Chapter 1

Class notes
Introduction
Computer architecture

Assignment
No assignment

Test
No test

Section 2 - Processes (Wednesday, 20 September, through Monday, 9 October)

Readings
Sections 2.1 through 2.4

Class notes
Processes
Scheduling
Concurrency
Concurrency control mechanisms

Assignment
Process management assignment available on Wednesday, 20 September
Process management assignment due Wednesday, 11 October at 2:00 p.m.
The grades
An example solution

Test - Wednesday, 11 October
The answers
The grades

Section 3 - Input-Output (Wednesday, 11 October, through Monday, 30 October)

Readings
Sections 3.1 through 3.3, 3.6 through 3.6.1, 3.7 through 3.7.2, 3.7.5 through 3.8.2, 3.9 through 3.9.2

Class notes
Introduction to input-output
Deadlock
Disk devices
Clocks and terminals

Assignment
Device management assignment available on Wednesday, 11 October
Device management assignment due Wednesday, 1 November at 2:00 p.m.
The grades
An example solution

Test - Monday, 6 November
The answers
The grades

Section 4 - Memory Management (Wednesday, 1 November, through Monday, 20 November)

Readings
Sections 4.1 through 4.6

Class notes
Introduction to memory management
Virtual memory and paging
Segmented memory

Assignment
Memory management assignment available on Wednesday, 1 November
Memory management assignment due Monday, 27 November at 2:00 p.m.
The grades

Test - Monday, 20 November
The answers
The grades

No class - Thanksgiving break, Wednesday, 22 November

Section 5 - File Systems (Monday, 27 November, through Wednesday, 13 December)

Readings
Sections 5.1 through 5.5

Class notes
Files and directories
Implementing file systems
Reliability and security
Kerberos

Assignment
File management assignment available on Monday, 27 November
File management assignment due Wednesday, 13 December at 2:00 p.m.
The grades

Test - Wednesday, 13 December
The answers
The grades

Open Lecture on distributed operating systems, Monday, 18 December, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (final exam period) in Edison 118.

This page last modified on 29 December 2000.