1. EECE 315: Operating Systems
Lecture 0:
Course Orientation

2. What is this course about ?
Design and Implementation of Operating Systems (OS)
Role of the OS and interplay with applications and hardware
Algorithms and data structures of OS entities – Trade-offs and constraints

3. What I expect you to know already ?
Basic concepts
Programming in C/C++
Systems programming (system calls)
Hardware concepts such as interrupts, caches etc.
Software concepts such as compiling, linking etc.
Data structures such as Stacks, Queues, Linked Lists and Hashtables
Algorithmic concepts such as Big O notation

4. What will you learn in this course ?
How the different parts of an OS interact with each other to achieve the goals of the system
How the OS makes design tradeoffs between different imperative (performance, fairness)
How to write programs that can take advantage of OS features and facilities

5. Why should you take this course ?
Few of you will go onto write an OS in entirety
However, it is important to understand OSes
Area that is rapidly evolving with the mobile device and web application market exploding
Knowledge of OS internals can help you become a more rounded software engineer
At the core, the OS is a large, complex S/W system that we’ll systematically take apart and analyze

6. Grading Programming Assignments (45 %) Midterm Exams (20%)
Final Exam (30%)
Class Participation (5%)

7. Assignments Five programming assignments using C++, each 9 %
Will be done in teams of two (choose partner from same lab session by next week)
Need to be demonstrated in lab sessions on which they’re due to TAs (and also submitted ahead of time)
Both you and your partner must attend session
Other sessions are optional
You can split the work however you want; however, both of you are responsible for the solution you turn in.

8. Midterm Exams Two mid-term exams, each 10%
One in the first week of February
Other exam likely in first week of March
Will emphasize conceptual understanding and problem solving
No regurgitation of standard definitions etc.
100% based on conceptual understanding

9. Final Exam Similar to mid-term exams, but comprehensive
Will test understanding and synthesis of material from lecture notes and textbook
May also test you on concepts covered in the assignments and labs

10. Class Participation Counts for up to 5% of the marks
Includes both Piazza and in-class participation
Participation = Asking and answering (good) questions in class and on Piazza
Does NOT mean simply attending class

11. Lectures and Quizzes I’ll post all lecture slides online, before class
However, slides will be sparse and you’ll need to fill in the gaps based on our discussions
Every class will have a substantial activity
Exam questions will be very similar to these
Will post solutions to some, but not all activities
Activities will typically be done in teams of 2 or 3

12. To succeed in this course …
Make sure you understand everything we cover
Missing even a single concept can mean getting left behind. If in doubt, ask questions in class or on Piazza
Try all class activities in class and by yourself later
Do not look at solutions till you try them yourselves
Start assignments early and ask for help on Piazza
Time to start brushing up your C++ if you’re rusty on it