Operating Systems
CSCI-GA.2250-001, Summer 2013

General Information

Course Description

• OS histories, i.e. types of operating systems and what which one stuck,
• protected kernels,
• processes and threads,
• concurrency and synchronization, deadlocks and preventions,
• memory management, virtual memory and computer architecture facilitating it (pagetables, segmentation),
• file systems,
• secondary storage.

Examples will be from Unix/Linux and Windows. Programming assignments will be based on C or C++.

Textbook

Author: Andrew Tannenbaum
Title: Modern Operating Systems
Edition: 3rd
Publisher: Prentice Hall
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-6006663-2
ISBN-10: 0-13-600663-9

Computer Accounts and Mailman Mailing List

• You are entitled to a computer account on one of the NYU sun machines. If you do not have one already, please get it asap.
• Sign up for the Mailman mailing list for the course once it is setup. You can do so by clicking mailing_list
• If you want to send mail just to me, use my-last-name AT nyu DOT edu not the mailing list.
• Questions on the labs should go to the mailing list. You may answer questions posed on the list as well. Note that replies are sent to the list.
• I will respond to all questions; if another student has answered the question before I get to it, I will confirm if the answer given is correct.

Several labs (programming assignments) across the semester will provide practical implementations of operating system concepts such as processor scheduling and memory management. These assignments are accepted in C or C++.

homeworks and Labs

I make a distinction between homeworks and labs. Both are required and form part of your grade.

Labs (aka programming assignments) are

• Due several lectures later (date given on assignment).
• Graded and form part of your final grade.
• Penalized for lateness. The penalty is 2 points per day and it is enforced. That is the best you can do with one week late is an 86/100. Start your lab early and finish on time !!!
• Computer programs you must write.

Homeworks are

• Due the beginning of Next lecture.
• Not accepted late.
• Mostly from the book.
• Collected, graded and returned in next class.

Doing Labs on non-NYU Systems

You may solve lab assignments on any system you wish, but ...

• You are responsible for any non-nyu machine. I extend deadlines if the nyu machines are down, not if yours are.
• Be sure to test your assignments on the nyu systems. In an ideal world, a program written in a high level language like Java, C, or C++ that works on your system would also work on the NYU system used by the grader. Sadly, this ideal is not always achieved despite marketing claims that it is achieved. So, although you may develop your lab on any system, you must ensure that it runs on the nyu system assigned to the course.
• If somehow your assignment is misplaced by me and/or a grader, we need a to have some timestamp ON AN NYU SYSTEM that can be used to verify the date the lab was completed. So once the lab is completed and safely located on an NYU system, do not touch it since that will change the time stamps on the file. Best is
• When you complete a lab and have it on an nyu system, email the lab to the grader and copy yourself on that message. Keep the copy until you have received your grade on the assignment. I realize that I am being paranoid about this. It is rare for labs to get misplaced, but they sometimes do and I really don't want to be in the middle of an I sent it ... I never received it debate. Thank you.

Obtaining Help with the Labs

Good methods for obtaining help include

1. Asking me during office hours (see web page for my hours).
2. Asking the mailing list.
3. Asking another student, but ...
   Your lab must be your own.
   That is, each student must submit a unique lab. Naturally, simply changing comments, variable names, etc. does not produce a unique lab.

Grades

Grades are based on the labs, the midterm nad final exam, and the class participation, each being important. The weighting will be approximately:

Homeworks	10%
Lab Assignments	45%
Final	45%

This is a graduate level class, so I am looking for lively interactions during the class and not just presence. The final will be given on 8/12, there is no midterm exam.

Class Materials, Handouts, Lectures and Assignments

See also