It's so last millennium to write to the OS.--- Scott McNealy, Breakfast Discussion with Scott McNealy & John Gage
31 July 2003, European Technology Forum
You should be a proficient programmer and have a working knowledge of basic algorithms and data structures. The prerequisites for this class are Computer Algorithms I (CS 305), and Computer Architecture I (CS 286).
The course is divided into four three-week sections, with each section covering a major part of an operating system. See the syllabus for details.
The class meets in Bey Hall 126 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00 to 5:50 p.m. Wednesday, 5 November, is the last day you can withdraw from the class with a W. There will no be class on Thursday, 27 November (Thanksgiving).
There will be four programming assignments, one for each three-week section; see the project description for details.
There are no mid-term or final exams; for those that need them, mid-term grades will be computed as the straight, unweighted average of the test and programming assignment grades completed by the mid-term.
The final grade is a straight, unweighted average of the seven highest test scores and programming assignment grades; that is, there are seven grades total - the lowest grade is dropped - and each remaining grade constitutes one-seventh of your final grade.
I use the usual grade ranges:
| 95 | <= | A | ||
| 90 | <= | A- | < 95 | |
| 86.6 | <= | B+ | < 90 | |
| 83.3 | <= | B | < 86.6 | |
| 80 | <= | B- | < 83.3 | |
| 76.6 | <= | C+ | < 80 | |
| 73.3 | <= | C | < 76.6 | |
| 70 | <= | C- | < 73.3 | |
| 60 | <= | D | < 70 | |
| F | < 60 |
The final grades.
This is a programming course, and you will be writing C++ programs. It is a good idea to have on hand a book about C++ programming. If you're going to buy a book, I recommend the C++ Primer, third edition, by Lippman and Lajoie (Addison-Wesley, 1998). The department uses C++ How to Program by Deitel and Deitel (Prentice Hall, 2001) in its programming classes, and you'll be o.k. if you have or can borrow a copy to use.
Mail relevant to the class will be stored in a hyper-mail archive. If your message is of general interest to the class, I'll store it, suitably stripped of identification and along with my answer, in the archive.
mu.cs.cs438 can be found at the news server on
cslab.monmouth.edu. The news group is not available outside Monmouth
University. Those unfamiliar with news groups will probably find it easiest to
start with Netscape Navigator.
My attendance policy applies only to lecture attendance; it does not apply to other kinds of attendance which may be required for the course. Repeated failures to meet the attendance expectations set for tests, meetings, projects, labs or other forms of course work will have a bad influence on your grade.
Monmouth University does have a class attendance policy, which you can find in the Academic Information chapter of the Student Handbook. To the extent that I need to keep the record straight, I will take attendance. Attendance lists, however, are entirely for the University's benefit; I will make no use of them in grading.
First, the only complaint that matters is that something got marked wrong when it was actually right. When you come to complain, be prepared to present, in explicit detail, what it is you did and why you think it's right.
Second, complaints about a particular test or assignment are only valid until the next test or assignment is due; after that point the book is permanently closed on all previous test or assignment grades.
A late assignment is penalized five points a day for each day it's late. I use a 24-hour clock running from midnight to midnight to measure days; note this means that an assignment handed in the day after it's due is penalized ten points: five for the day it was due and five for the next day.
A make-up test must be scheduled to be taken by the date of the test following the missed test (or the final exam if you miss the last test). If a missed test is not made up by the time of the next test, you get a zero for the missed test.
There will be only one make up given per missed test. If more than one person misses the same test, those people will have to coordinate among themselves to pick a mutually agreeable date for the make up.
Operating system projects and research.
An OS web ring.
Not for computers only: a pre-emptive, multitasking, open-source operating system for LEGO Mindstorms (and it supports POSIX semaphores too).
OS News, a web site with os news and opinions.
A FAQ on building your own operating system. It appears to be Linux and PC-centric, but it'll give you some idea of what you're missing when writing to a simulator.
A real-time kernel based on POSIX threads.
The ER and KeyK OSs from U. Penn.
And let us not forget the dearly departed: OS/2, VMS, multics.
And let us welcome the newcomers: V2, the Gemini nucleus, the NewOS, and AtheOS.
And let us know how they all stand, each to the others.
This page last modified on 15 December 2003.