DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
Description: This course covers the principles of operating systems
theory and practice. Fundamental concepts such as processes, synchronization,
scheduling, memory management and distributed systems will be presented.
Prerequisites: CS 310 (Data Structures), CS 367 (Computer Systems and
Programming), and CS 465 (Computer Architecture), or equivalent. A solid
background in Computer Architecture (including Assembly Language) is required.
In addition, the students should be fluent in all aspects of the C programming
language in order to complete the course work, which includes substantial
programming projects.
Meeting Time and
Location: Wednesday 4:30 – 7:10 PM, Music and Theater Building 1006.
Required Textbook: "Operating System Concepts", by Silberschatz,
Galvin and Gagne (9th Edition, John Wiley & Sons 2012, ISBN 978-1-118-06333-0).
"Modern Operating Systems" (4th Edition, Pearson 2015, ISBN:
0-13-359162-X) by A. S. Tanenbaum is another good book on the principles of
operating systems.
As additional reference on distributed systems, the following book can be
recommended: "Distributed Systems: Concept and Design" (5th Edition,
Addison-Wesley 2012, ISBN 978013214301-1), by Coulouris, Dollimore and
Kindberg.
Office Hours: Wednesday, 2:00
– 3:00 PM, and by appointment (Office: Engineering Building, Room
5308)
Topics:
Tentative Exam Dates:
Course Home Page: Throughout the term, the course material (lecture slides, assignments, and announcements) will be posted to the GMU Blackboard system which can be accessed at http://mymason.gmu.edu.
Teaching Assistant (TA): Chaitanya Yavvari (cyavvari@masonlive.gmu.edu)
TA Office Hours and Location: Monday
4:30 – 6:30 PM; Thursday 11 AM – 1 PM (Location: TBD)
Grading:
The students must achieve a total score of at least 85 (out
of 100) to be considered for an A. No early exams will be given and make-up
exams are strongly discouraged. A
student should present an official and verifiable excuse to miss an exam (such
as a doctor's note). Final exam
will be cumulative.
All students must abide by the GMU
Honor Code and CS
Department's Honor Code and Academic Integrity Policies during the
semester. Collaboration will be allowed only for the group projects, within
each group. We reserve the right to use automated tools such as MOSS to detect plagiarism.
Violations of the Honor Code or a total score of 49 (or less) will result in an
F.
Computer Accounts: All students should have accounts on the VS&E
Unix cluster zeus.vse.gmu.edu
(Instructions and related links are here). Students
can work in VS&E computer labs for programming projects during the
specified hours.
Classroom Behavior: During the lectures, the students should avoid behavior that may distract others, including chatting, sleeping, playing games, surfing the web. All electronic communication devices (including laptops, PDAs, cell phones) should be either turned off or silenced during the lectures.
Disability Statement:
If you have a learning or physical difference that may affect your academic
work, you will need to furnish appropriate documentation to