Operating Systems

CMSC 421: Operating Systems

Fall 1996 Course Syllabus, Section 0101

Instructor: Dr. Howard E. Motteler
Class Time: TuTh 2:30-3:45, in SS 409
Office Hours: TuTh 4:00-5:00, 6:00-7:00, in ECS 225-C
Text: Modern Operating Systems, by Andrew S. Tannenbaum
TA: to be announced

Course Outline

         Processes               Chapter 2       3 weeks
         Memory Management       Chapter 3       3 weeks
         File Systems            Chapter 4       2 weeks
         Input/Output            Chapter 5       1 week
         Deadlocks               Chapter 6       1 week
         Distributed Systems     Chapter 9       3 weeks

All times are approximate. We will cover the Unix case study (Chapter 7) and most of the DOS case study (Chapter 8) concurrently with the material listed above.

Grading

"Points" are given for projects, exams, homework, and class participation, with your final grade depending on the total number of points you have accumulated. Points are divided up as follows:

         Projects                200  points
         Midterm                 100  points
         Final                   100  points
         Homework                 90  points
         Class Participation      10  points
                                 -----------
         Total                   500  points

There are two moderate-sized projects, to be done in C. Projects are assigned at least three weeks before they are due and there are no extensions of project due dates, though at the instructor's option partial credit may be given for late work. No incompletes will be given, except as required by university policy for truly exceptional circumstances. General information about programming projects is available, and more detailed information is provided with individual assignments.

The midterm exam is given after the end of Chapter 3, the chapter on Memory Management. The final exam covers material from Chapter 4 through 9 and is not explicitly cumulative, though the material in the latter chapters in not entirely independent from that in the former. There are four or five homework assignments, one every two or three weeks. Students are encouraged to ask questions both in class and during office hours, though "class participation" consists in part simply of showing up and being reasonably well behaved, and in particular in not disrupting class for others.

Further Information

Course material, including class announcements, project and homework assignments, a list of due dates, and a partial set of lecture notes are available online at the URL http://umbc.edu/~motteler/teaching/os/os.html .