Operating Systems

CISC 3320 3.0 17279 EW6

W 06:30-09:10PM 401 WHITEHEAD

Primary E-Mail: alex at NO SPAM the particle dot com
GoogleTalk: alex at NO SPAM the particle dot com

Prefix all email with "CISC 3320". Otherwise it might be dropped by the spam filter.

Books:
Operating System Concepts by Silberschatz and Galvin
[recommended] Understanding The Linux Kernel (O'Reilly) or another Linux kernel book

Objective:
Our goal is to learn what an operating system is, what its parts are, how each of those parts work, and to become familiar with the inner workings of mainstream operating systems like Linux, Windows, etc. Basically, the goal is to learn enough about operating systems so that you could write your own if you wanted to.

Office Hours:
I'll be around right before and right after class. Let me know, and we can setup an alternate time to meet.

Projects/Homeworks:
There will be a homework for nearly every class. Two of the homeworks will be `big' (project sized).

Tests:
You will have at least a midterm and a final exam. There will likely be a short quiz once or twice.

In This Class:
Peer cooperation is encouraged, however, everyone must submit their own work. You will be expected to answer detailed questions about your assignments/projects. (i.e.: if you didn't write them, I'll know.)

Attendance is not mandatory [I don't need to see doctor's note] but highly recommended. [you must attend at least a few times in the first six weeks, or you will be dropped from the class with a WU grade] Also, it would be VERY difficult to pass the class without regular attendence; you are responsible for catching up if you miss class. That being said, if you hardly ever show up (miss >= 4 classes) don't expect to get anything but a WU grade.

Grading:
Tentative grade breakup: ~25% for Midterm, ~35% for Projects/Homeworks/Quizes, ~40% Final - These may change slightly depending on how well the class does in any of the above.