COMP 173: Operating Systems (Spring 24)

Course Description

Students are introduced to the fundamental concepts of modern operating systems. Topics include an overview of the computer hardware that supports the operating system, process management, threads, and CPU scheduling. Students also study process synchronization that uses primitive and high-level languages, virtual memory management, file systems, system protection, and distributed systems.

Prerequisites: Completion of all Fundamental Skills; COMP 053; COMP 175 or ECPE 170 with a "C-" or better or permission of instructor.
When enrolling in this course, you should already understand the basics of binary numbers, digital electronics, and serial and parallel digital communications. Further, you should be comfortable programming in a high-level language such as C, C++, Python, or Java and understand the basics of loops, arrays, structures, pointers, and function calls.

Website: Syllabus, Canvas LMS

Credits: 4 units

Course Catalog: http://catalog.pacific.edu/search/?P=COMP%20173

Semester: Spring 2024

Administration

Instructor: Sepehr Amir-Mohammadian
Email:
Lecture: MW 15:30-16:45, CTC 114
F 15:30-16:45, on Zoom

Office hours: MW 14:00-15:15, CTC 122
Students need to request alternate meeting times outside of scheduled office hours through email.

Teaching Assistant: John Lam
Email: j_lam31@u.pacific.edu

Learning Objectives

The vision for this course is: What do I, as a computer scientist, need to understand about the fundamental concepts of modern operating systems and what are the the strategies that the operating systems implement to manage computer hardware resources in an effective way?

You will have many different opportunities to gain this knowledge through:

After taking this course, you should be able to:

University of the Pacific Core Competencies: This course reflects the following university-wide core competenceies in the undergraduate program:

Outcomes for COMP program: The assessment plan for this course comprises the following outcomes identified by ABET:

Collection of Work for Assessment: Student work may be retained to assess how course learning objectives are being met and for accreditation purposes.

Course Material

We will use the following zyBook along with additional resources that are referred through the semester. In order to use the zyBook follow these steps:

The slides, assignments, supplementary material, etc. will be provided through Canvas LMS.

Major topics that will be covered in the course are:

Grading and Attendance Policy

Grades for the course are assigned on the scale below:

A	A-	B+	B	B-	C+	C	C-	D+	D	F
[93,100]	[90,93)	[87,90)	[83,87)	[80,83)	[77,80)	[73,77)	[70,73)	[67,70)	[60,67)	[0,60)

Final grades will be assigned based on several performance factors. These factors and their quantitative contribution to the final grade are as follows:

Attendance: Class attendance and participation is highly recommended. There will be numerous labs in class, and doing the labs in the class boosts the quality of learning. Participation requires that you are properly prepared for classroom discussions and activities, and have completed all reading assignments before the relevant class.

Assignment Guidelines

Release and Submission

Solutions: Solutions to homework assignments and labs will be submitted via Canvas.

Late submission policy: Deliverables for homework assignments and course projects will be accepted up to three weekdays late, with a 5% per day penalty.
All assignments will be considered individual efforts unless otherwise specified, and will be treated as such under the Academic Honesty Policy.

Academic Honesty

The Honor Code at the University of the Pacific calls upon each student to exhibit a high degree of maturity, responsibility, and personal integrity. Students are expected to:

Violations will be referred to and investigated by the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards. If a student is found responsible, it will be documented as part of her or his permanent academic record. A student may receive a range of penalties, including failure of an assignment, failure of the course, suspension, or dismissal from the University. The Academic Honesty Policy is located in Tiger Lore and online.

Course-specific Honor Code Policy: Engineering is generally a cooperative endeavor and collaborative learning can be a valuable experience for all involved. However, proper assessment (i.e., grading) requires that work be done by individuals. To balance these two requirements, the following policy will apply:

Marginal cases will be resolved by oral examination of the student(s) involved. If they each understand the material in the assignment, it will be considered honest collaboration. If they do not, then it will be considered academic dishonesty.

In many cases, it may be possible to identify reusable source code from textbooks, web sites or other resources that can help you with assignments. You are permitted to use such references provided that:

You are responsible for understanding the theory behind all algorithms or source code used, regardless of their source.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

The Office of Services for Students with Disabilities is located in the McCaffrey Center, Second Floor. Phone: 209-946-3221. Email: ssd@pacific.edu. Online: pacific.edu/disabilities

Nondiscrimination Policy

The University of the Pacific does not discriminate in the administration of any of its educational programs, admissions, scholarships, loans, athletics, or other University activities or programs on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin, handicap, sexual orientation or preference, sex or age.