View source for Courses/Computer Science/CPSC 457.S2016

= Principles of Operating Systems (Spring 2016) =

You may also be interested in the wiki pages for the past versions of this course:
* Winter 2012 
* Winter 2013 
* Fall 2013
* Fall 2014


This course is a curiosity-driven cross-layer introduction to the principles and design decisions reflected in modern commodity operating systems with a special focus on the Linux/x86 platform to ground the discussion in real technical detail.

The [http://www.ucalgary.ca/pubs/calendar/current/computer-science.html#3642 university calendar] entry for CPSC457 describes the course as:

''"An introduction to operating systems principles. Performance measurement; concurrent programs; the management of information, memory and processor resources. Prerequisite(s): Computer Science 319 or 331 and one of Computer Science 325 or Computer Engineering 369.''"

The course overview page is located at: http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tjkendon/cpsc457/

== How This Class is Taught ==

* '''Curiosity''' - This class is driven by seemingly simple questions about what a computer system is in a practical sense. This is not a class where you blindly memorize charts and pictures drawn by other people. It's a hands-on exploration of what makes digital hardware actually do interesting things for us.
* '''Cross-layer''' - layers of abstraction become boundaries of competence. This class deliberately bridges the semantic gap to give multiple aspects of the same concept, component, or primitive.

Although this courses focuses on Linux, it is not a course on Linux. We will use Linux for practical examples of the principles and concepts of operating systems.

== Announcements, Policies, and Metadata ==

Please read the official [http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tjkendon/cpsc457/handouts/cpsc457sp2016_outline.pdf Course Outline].

This section includes the syllabus, textbooks, course policies, grading scheme, midterm and file exam policies, and submission instructions.

[[Courses/Computer_Science/CPSC_457.S2016/Policies]]

Communication and grades will be handled through the [http://d2l.ucalgary.ca D2L]. 

= Assignments =

Assignments: 

[http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tjkendon/cpsc457/assignments/assignment1.html Assignment 1] has now been posted. It is due at 2:00pm on Friday, May 20, 2016. It has a [http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tjkendon/cpsc457/assignments/A1rubric.pdf Rubric].

[http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tjkendon/cpsc457/assignments/assignment2.html Assignment 2] has now been posted. It is due at 2:00pm on Friday, June 17, 2016. It has a [http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tjkendon/cpsc457/assignments/A2rubric.pdf Rubric]. It also has a [http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tjkendon/cpsc457/assignments/a2demo.html Demonstration Procedure].
* If you handed in work for assignment 2, you may receive the better of your a2 mark or the average of your a1 and a3 marks. This is to compensate for the technical problems we experienced.

[http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tjkendon/cpsc457/assignments/assignment3.html Assignment 3] has now been posted. It is due at 2:00pm on '''Thursday, June 30, 2016'''. It has a [http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tjkendon/cpsc457/assignments/a3rubric.pdf Rubric].

= Exam Schedule =

This course will have two exams.

*The '''Midterm''' will be '''in class''' on Monday June 13. It will be in '''ICT 102''' to give us more space. We will write the Midterm '''starting''' at 9:00 am. We will then take a break and return to normal lecture after that.
**The midterm will be worth 15% of your total grade.
**A review of questions asked on the midterm is here: [[Courses/Computer_Science/CPSC_457.S2016/Midterm]]

*The '''Final''' will be '''registrar scheduled''' on  Monday, July 4 at 8am in ICT 121.  [http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tjkendon/cpsc457/handouts/cpsc457_finaltopics.pdf Here] is a list of topics that will be covered on the final.
**The final will be worth 35% of your total grade.
**You may use a non-programmable calculator and bring a 8 1/2 x 11 page of notes.

= Lecture Schedule =

Please see the [http://www.ucalgary.ca/pubs/calendar/current/academic-schedule.html University Academic Calendar] for important add/drop dates, holidays, etc.

[[Courses/Computer_Science/CPSC_457.S2016/Lecture Notes]]

This section contains the class session notes.

= Tutorial Schedule =

Here is the (tentative) schedule of tutorial topics.

[[Courses/Computer_Science/CPSC_457.S2016/Tutorial_Schedule]]

= Links & Miscellaneous Resources =

[[Courses/Computer Science/CPSC 457.W2012/Links and Other Resources]]

CPSC LXR mirror for this kernel version: [http://lxr.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/lxr/#linux/]


= Things We Won't Cover =

* A full consideration of multiprocessor architectures and machines (we only touch on this in the context of concurrency and synchronization)
* Advanced I/O architectures and multimedia
* Networking
* cluster computing
* other operating systems like *BSD, Windows, OS X, GNU Hurd, or Minix