George Mason University

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
CS 475 Concurrent & Distributed Systems
Fall 2024

MW 12:00 - 1:15 pm, Blueridge Hall Room 129

Professor Sanjeev Setia
703-993-4098
setia at gmu.edu

OFFICE HOURS

Tuesday 2-3:30 pm, Room 5305, Nguyen (Engineering) Building

PREREQUISITES

CS 367 (Computer Systems & Programming)

This is a programming intensive course. You need to be comfortable with programming in C and Java to be able to do the programming assignments. (You will also need to learn to program in Go).  It is not a good idea to take this class if your course/work schedule is already quite full.

DESCRIPTION 

The class focusses on issues that arise in the design and implementation of concurrent and distributed applications. Course work will involve several programming assignments.

TOPICS

The following topics will be covered:


READINGS

Unfortunately there is no single textbook that covers all the material that will be discussed in this class. The following books are strongly recommended (but not required):


GRADING

There will be four or five programming assignments.. The software required for these projects is available on the computers in the CEC Labs but you can also do the projects on your own computer. (The programming assignments involve programming in C, Go, and Java on a UNIX/Linux platform).  The assignments will be graded on zeus (CEC Labs) so please make sure to test them on zeus before submission.

All programming assignments need to be done individually by each student


The final exam will be comprehensive in nature, i.e., it will cover all the topics discussed during the semester. All exams are closed book/closed notes.


Overall course grades will be generally based on the following scheme (but we may change the thresholds for various grades taking into account the performance of the class as a whole):


To pass the class, the weighted average of your midterm and final exams scores will need to exceed 20% of the overall course grade, irrespective of  your performance on the programming assignments and in-class activities. Since the midterm and final exams are collectively worth 50% of the overall course grade, this implies that the average weighted score of your midterm and final exams should be above 40%.


LATENESS

The late submission policy is as follows: you have  two slip days that you can use during the course of the semester, but at most one slip day per assignment. An assignment is considered late by one day irrespective of whether you miss the deadline by 1 minute or up to 24 hours. 

GTA

TBD


CLASS NOTES

Class notes, slides, handouts, etc. will be available on the class Blackboard page. Students should use Piazza for online discussions.

ABET COURSE OUTCOMES


HONOR CODE

GMU is an Honor Code university; please see the Office for Academic Integrity for a full description of the code and the honor committee process, and the Computer Science Department's Honor Code Policies regarding programming assignments. The principle of academic integrity is taken very seriously and violations are treated gravely. What does academic integrity mean in this course? Essentially this: when you are responsible for a task, you will perform that task. When you rely on someone else's work in an aspect of the performance of that task, you will give full credit in the proper, accepted form. When in doubt (of any kind) please ask for guidance and clarification.


ACCOMMODATIONS FOR DISABILITIES

If you have a documented learning disability or other condition that may affect academic performance you should: 1) make sure this documentation is on file with Disability Services (https://ds.gmu.edu; ods@gmu.edu; +1-703-993-2474; SUB I Suite 2500) to determine the accommodations you need; and 2) talk with me to discuss your accommodation needs.


PRIVACY

Students must use their GMU email account to receive important University information, including messages related to this class. See https://mail.gmu.edu for more information.


DIVERSITY

This class seeks to create a learning environment that fosters respect for people across identities. We welcome and value individuals and their differences, including gender expression and identity, race, economic status, sex, sexuality, ethnicity, national origin, first language, religion, age and ability. We encourage all members of the learning environment to engage with the material personally, but to also be open to exploring and learning from experiences different than their own.

This class abides by the GMU anti-racism statement.

NOUNS AND PRONOUNS

If you wish, please share your name and gender pronouns with me and how best to address you in class and via email. I use he/him/his for myself. You may address me as Prof. Setia in email and verbally.


OTHER USEFUL CAMPUS RESOURCES