CIS 415 Operating Systems - Spring 2003

Syllabus

Course Information

Course Description

This course will introduce you to the concepts of operating system design. We will focus on traditional systems utilizing a single processor and the issues that arise when multiple processes must share memory and I/O resources. The course will discuss primarily software, assuming that you are familiar with the hardware issues covered in CIS 314. The programming assignments will involve using data structures such as those discussed in CIS 313. Before you take this course, you should also have had extensive programming experience.

Textbooks

For the lecture material, we will use: Operating Systems: Internals and Design Principles, Fourth Edition, by William Stallings, Prentice Hall, 1998, ISBN 0-13-031999-6.

For programming exercises, we will reference: Java Threads, Second Edition, by Scott Oaks and Henry Wong, O'Reilly, 1999, ISBN 1-56592-418-5.

The above two books are available at the UO Bookstore. If you prefer other reference materials, you may also be interested in: Operating System Concepts, Fifth Edition, by Abraham Silberschatz and Peter Baer Galvin, Addison-Wesley, 1998, ISBN 0-201-59113-8. A good reference for real operating system design is: The Design and Implementation of the 4.4 BSD Operating System, by McKusick, Bostic, Karels and Quarterman, Addison-Wesley, 1996, ISBN 0-201-54979-4.

Assignments, Group Work, Grading Policy

The assignments for this class will consist of homework, programs, and exams. Group work is permitted for homework and programs, but NOT for exams. Groups may consist of 2-3 students; no exceptions will be made. Programs must be written in the assigned language (typically Java or C++) and must compile and run in the department's Solaris environment.

Grading will be based on an scale of 0 to 100, with standard letter grades assigned. Your final grade will be computed by weighting the assignments as follows:

No late assignments will be accepted. Turn in partial work if you are not finished.

Academic Dishonesty

For this course, all work must be done individually. You are encouraged to generally discuss problems with other groups or students, but you may never use some other student's solution or code in any way. The use of sources (ideas, quotations, paraphrases) must be properly acknowledged and documented.

The student conduct code allows an instructor to impose an appropriate sanction for a student found guilty of academic dishonesty, up to and including an N or an F. I will impose an N or an F for any such offenses in this course.

For more information on academic honesty, please talk to me or see the following references: the Student Conduct web page, the Student Conduct Code, and the UO Dean of Students brochure on academic integrity.