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Course Overview

Welcome to CSCI 330, Operating Systems!

Catalog Description: Procedure initiation, environment construction, reentrancy, kernel functions, resource management, input/output, file structures, security, process control, semaphores and deadlock, and recovery procedures. The laboratory includes the opportunity to examine and modify the internals of an operating system.

The objectives of this course are:

Structure
Classroom work will consist of lecture, discussion, and lab experimentation. Written work will consist of homework and programming assignments, two exams, and OS development projects.

Objectives
After successfully completing the course, you should be able to:

Instructional Staff

Sara Sprenkle
Office: Parmly Hall 410
Office Hours: T 2:30-4, W 3:30-4:30, R 3:30-5, and by appointment
E-mail Address:
Phone Number: (540) 458-8309 (it is better to email me than to call)

Course Information

CSCI 330, Section 01
Lecture: MWF 11:15-12:10

Textbook

Operating System Concepts Essentials, Siberschatz, Galvin, and Gagne. Second Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2013. ISBN: 978-1-118-80492-6

Course Policies

Student Responsibilities

Instructor Responsibilities
I will try to make this course and its material as exciting for you as it is for me. I will be respectful of student questions and misunderstandings. I will give prompt, constructive feedback from assignments. I will be available during office hours and by appointment. I will do my best to respond to questions via email within 24 hours.

Honor System
You may discuss individual programming assignments informally with other students. However, sharing a solution, in the form of experimental results or the design or implementation of a program, is an honor violation. Students should know where to draw the line between getting legitimate outside assistance with course material and outright cheating. Students who obtain too much assistance without learning the material ultimately cheat themselves the most. If you have any uncertainty about what this means, consult with me before you collaborate. All written assignments should be done individually.

Participation and attendance
To receive full credit for class participation and attendance, you must be actively engaged in the classroom by answering and asking questions each class when appropriate and by being respectful of other students. The average grade for participation is a B-.

If you cannot make an exam, you must arrange a time prior to the scheduled exam to take the exam. If you miss the exam period, you will receive a 0 for the exam. If you are ill, you must email me with a phone number where you can be reached and speak with me in person. An email informing me that you are not taking the exam is NOT acceptable. In fairness to your peers taking the exam early or at the scheduled time, you must provide a note from the health center.

Academic Accommodations
Washington and Lee University makes reasonable academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. All undergraduate accommodations must be approved through the Office of the Dean of the College. Students requesting accommodations for this course should present an official accommodation letter within the first two weeks of the term and schedule a meeting outside of class time to discuss accommodations. It is the student’s responsibility to present this paperwork in a timely fashion and to follow up about accommodation arrangements. Accommodations for test-taking should be arranged with the professor at least a week before the date of the test or exam.

Grading

Grades for the course will be computed as follows:

General grading policies
Programs turned in with syntax errors will receive no credit. "Roll back" your program (using version control management software) into a state where it does not have syntax errors.

Late policy
All assigned work is due on the date specified. Any assignment turned in after the due date/time but on the same day will be penalized 10%. Any assignment turned in after the day on which it is due will be penalized an additional 10% for each late day. No assignment will be accepted that is more than three school days late. If you turn an assignment in late, you must indicate this somehow (in comments, on paper, etc.).

Portions of this class have been drawn from/inspired by courses by Grant Braught, Michael D. Black, Emily Hill, Jeff Chase, and Rance Necaise.