CS 438: Advanced Operating Systems

Welcome to the Johns Hopkins University, Fall 2008 edition of 438.

This is a rough port-over to JHU from the CMU version of this course, namely 15-410. So if you see references to that laying around, you can blame me (I'm hiding behind the "staff" button to the left.)

The textbook is Operating System Concepts, by Silberschatz, Galvin, and Gagne. While the official text will be the new seventh edition, you can probably get by with the sixth or even maybe the fifth. We will not cover all of the text, and some topics (such as synchronization) will be taught in a different manner.

You may also find useful the CMU 15-213 textbook, Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective; the K&R C book; and perhaps C Traps and Pitfalls. An excellent source of suggestions for programming style and structure is Rob Pike and Brian Kernigan's The Practice of Programming, especially the first few chapters.

Until the semester actually begins, here is a self-assessment/warm-up exercise. This exercise is mandatory for incoming 438 students who have not passed Computer Systems Fundamentals, Unix Systems Programming, or Operating Systems, and is not a bad way for all incoming students to get back up to speed. In particular, this class assumes some level of comfort with X86 assembler that is not otherwise part of the JHU curriculum; however, familiarity with assembler in general should transfer pretty well.

Self-assessment exercise

Intel's Instruction Set Reference

Virtutech graciously supports our educational mission by providing us with a free Simics license (more info).
This website, the course mailing list ( http://lists.acm.jhu.edu/mailman/listinfo/cs438) and the local installation of Simics are generously hosted by the JHU ACM chapter.

[Last modified Thursday September 04, 2008]