Contact Information
Textbooks
Operating System Concepts with JAVA (OSC) (Sixth Edition) Siberschatz/Galvin/Gagne 2002 Wiley ISBN 0-471-48905-0 |
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Unix for Programmers and Users (UPU) (third edition) Graham Glass, King Ables 2003 Prentice Hall ISBN 0-13-046553-4 |
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Course Objectives:
The objective of this course is to familiarize you with the
fundamental
concepts and algorithms that are applicable to a variety of modern
operating
systems. You will learn how an operating system manages both system
resources
and asynchronous concurrent events. Topics include:
processes/threads,
cpu scheduling, synchronization, deadlocks, memory management,
virtual
memory, file systems, I/O systems, distributed systems. You
will also learn about the UNIX (Linux) operating system from basic user
level skills to use of advanced operating system features.
Prerequisites
The prerequisite courses are CS226 Computer Organization and
Architecture
and CS232 Data Structures. The knowledge
you
obtained about data structures, in CS232, will help you understand the
fairly elaborate database used to record the status of activities being
managed by an operating system. An understanding of computer
organization,
as taught in CS226, is important since hardware resource management is
a primary function of an operating system.
Course Policy:
Attendance at all classes and laboratories is expected, however I understand that a perfect attendance record is difficult to achieve. If you miss a class you are responsible for getting any assignments that may have been made, or if any work is due you must get it to me prior to the class. All homework is due on the date specified (at the beginning of class). Homework submitted late will receive a penalty of 5% per day (unless you have made prior arrangements with me). I expect everyone to take the exams on the scheduled dates, however if you are unable to do so you must make other arrangements with me before the exam is given. I expect that all assignments, papers and exams to represent individual effort. While the amount of time required of the student to successfully complete this course varies from student to student plan on spending at least 8-10 hours per week outside of class.
Reasonable accommodations will be provided for students with documented physical, sensory, systemic, cognitive, learning and psychiatric disabilities. If you have a disability and anticipate that you will need a reasonable accommodation in this class, it is important that you contact Lesola Morgan, Director of the Academic Support Center, at 617 521-2471, or lesola.morgan@simmons.edu, early in the semester. Students with disabilities are also encouraged to contact their instructors to discuss their individual needs for accommodations.
Course Format
We will meet twice a week, Monday and Wednesday, for lecture and on
Friday for a closed lab. Lab activities will be varied and
include,
but not limited to, homework discussion and review, exams,
and
exploration
of the Linux operating system. Occasionaly we will use lab time
for a lecture. Since this is an uppper level
class I will expect much more from students. This course will be
conducted as a seminar, rather than strickly a lecture class. I
will assign
reading for each class and expect that everyone has completed it. I
will be asking questions about the material each class and expect
everyone to participate. The calendar will be updated weekly to
reflect departures from the tentative schedule, as well as to post
actual
homework assignments. Therefore, I expect that you will consult these
WEB
pages frequently (at least once a week). Solutions to all homework
problems will
be given. If you have any questions after reviewing these solutions
please
ask them.
Grade Determination:
Your final grade will be determined from the weighted average as
described
above. The average weighted average will be a B and I will then assign
letter grades working up and down from the average.
Course Calendar
Please see the calendar choice under
WebCt