OPERATING SYSTEMS ICOMS W4118, Dept of Computer Science, Columbia University
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GENERAL INFORMATION - http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~nieh/teaching/w4118
Meeting Times and Location: Fall 2023 TR 4:10-5:25pm NWC 501
Prerequisites: COMS W3134 Data Structures and Algorithms, COMS W3157 Advanced Programming (or good working knowledge of C), and CSEE W3827 Fundamentals of Computer Systems

Description: Design and implementation of operating systems. Topics include process synchronization and interprocess communication, processor scheduling, memory management, virtual memory, interrupt handling, device management, I/O, and file systems. Hands-on study of Linux operating system design and kernel internals. Experience with commercial virtualization tools and open source software. The course was the first to introduce virtualization as a tool for teaching computer science, specifically operating systems. For more information, see Dr. Dobb's Journal.

INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF
Instructor: Prof. Jason Nieh, office hours: T2-4PM CSB 518
TA: Kyle Edwards, office hours: TS12-1PM (Sat on Zoom)
TA: Denzel Farmer, office hours: R9-11AM
TA: Brett Jia, office hours: F10AM-12PM
TA: Peter Ma, office hours: W1-3PM
TA: Emma Nieh, office hours: Su1-3PM Zoom
TA: Chelsea Soemitro, office hours: M6-8PM
TA: Sarah Yang, office hours: MW12-1PM
All office hours are in the TA Room unless otherwise indicated. For office hours on Zoom, see Course Info section on Courseworks for Zoom meeting IDs and passwords. To email the instructional staff, please use the w4118 staff mailing list, w4118@lists.cs.columbia.edu.
COURSE MATERIALS
Required Text: Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces, Remzi H. Arpaci-Dusseau and Andrea C. Arpaci-Dusseau, Arpaci-Dusseau Books, 2018.
Required Linux Reference: Linux Kernel Development (3rd Edition), Robert Love, Addison-Wesley Professional, New York, NY, 2010 (available from Amazon.com). Also available online.
Required Linux Reference: Bootlin Elixir Cross Referencer (Linux Source Code).
Optional Text: Operating Systems: Principles and Practice (2nd Edition), Thomas Anderson and Michael Dahlin, Recursive Books, West Lake Hills, TX, 2014 (available from Amazon.com).
Optional Linux Reference: Linux Insides, 0xAX.
Optional Linux Reference: Understanding the Linux Kernel (3rd Edition), Daniel P. Bovet, Marco Cesati, O'Reilly & Associates, Sebastopol, CA, 2005 (available from Amazon.com). See also Errata. See also Google Book Search.
Computing Requirements: You should also have your own computer to take this class, on which you will install either VMware Workstation for Windows or Linux, or VMware Fusion for macOS.
COURSE GRADE
50%: Homework Assignments: There will be six homework assignments. Your lowest homework assignment grade will be dropped in calculating your grade. Each assignment will have programming problems that involve the Linux operating system.
20%: Midterm: The midterm is one class period. The midterm will cover all material discussed in the course through Homework 3 and is scheduled for 10/24.
30%: Final: The final exam is scheduled at the normal final exam time for this class period on 12/19. The final is cumulative and will cover all material discussed in the course.
0%: No "extra credit" work
All students in all sections MUST take the exams at the scheduled times. There are no make-up or alternate exams. If you cannot make any of those exams, please take the course another time. Kostis Kaffes will teach the course in Spring 2024.

HOMEWORK POLICY
All work is due by the date and time specified in the respective assignment; there are no extensions. It is much better to submit partially complete homework on time and get partial credit for your work than to submit late homework for no credit. Homeworks submitted after the respective deadlines when they are due are considered late. Late homeworks will not be accepted unless there is a valid medical or family condition with appropriate documentation submitted to the instructor.

Submissions should be made electronically using Git, a distributed version control system. You should use Git for version control of all your code for this class, and we will monitor code check ins to see how your work is progressing and who is doing the work. Each submission will be time stamped. Proper submission is your responsibility; we strongly urge you to make sure you understand the submission process and submit early. We also urge you to check out your submissions and test them to make sure the submissions are complete. You can always submit again up until the deadline, so we strongly urge you to submit well before the deadline and then submit again if you have a more updated assignment to submit later.

GRADING POLICY
If you disagree with any homework or exam grade, submit your grievance via email to the w4118 staff mailing list, documenting the merits of your case. The grader responsible will respond likewise via email. If you are still dissatisfied you may appeal in like manner to the instructor, who will only examine the email record of the dispute, and will respond via email. For a grade dispute to be considered, the written grievance must be submitted in writing within two weeks of when the respective assignment or exam is returned.

PROGRAMMING POLICY
For your convenience, all programming can be developed on any Linux machine. However, only those programs which compile using the gcc compiler in the virtual machine (VM) you are given to work with will be graded. Furthermore, it is critically important that all submitted program listings and executions be thoroughly documented.

All programs must compile and all kernels you modify must also boot; programs and kernels that do not compile and boot will receive a grade of zero. Usually the homework assignments will only state the major objectives of the program to be written; it will be often up to you to make design decisions about things like I/O, efficiency, error handling, and so on. Make sure you provide adequate test cases to indicate the correctness and robustness of your approaches.

COLLABORATION / COPYING POLICY
We encourage you to help one another in understanding the concepts and principles needed to do the homework assignments for this class. However, what you turn in must be your own, or for group projects, your group's own work. Copying any part of other people's code, solution sets, or from any other sources not provided as reference materials for this class is strictly prohibited. The homework assignments must be the work of the students turning them in.

You must explicitly cite ALL sources of information that you reference as part of your homework submissions. For each citation, you should describe how that source was referenced. You do not need to cite conversations with instructional staff or the course textbooks, but you should cite everything else, including any conversations with other students related to the homework assignments, and any websites used. Referencing any uncited sources other than the course materials is considered cheating.

All students or groups who are determined to submit homework that violates the class collaboration policy will receive a zero on the respective homework assignment for the first offense, and will receive an F for the course for the second offense. More serious cases of cheating, such as copying someone's work without their knowledge or cheating on exams, will result in the person cheating receiving an F for the course. In addition, offenses will be reported to the Dean's office, which may result in further disciplinary action, including suspension or expulsion from the program. Penalties will be given without discussion or warning; the first notice you receive may be a letter from the Dean. Note that you are responsible for not leaving copies of your assignments lying around and for protecting your files accordingly.

OPEN DOOR POLICY
We would like the course to run smoothly and enjoyably. Feel free to let us know what you find just, good, and interesting about the course. Let us know sooner about the reverse. See us, leave us a note, or send us email.