CS 1651: Advanced Systems Software
Spring 2018

Prof. Daniel Mosse

Computer Science Department
University of Pittsburgh


NEWS:

Meeting Times and Office Hours

Class: TH 6:00-7:15pm, SENSQ 5129
Instructor: Prof. Daniel Mosse
Office Hours: 6423 SENSQ, TH 2:00-3:45pm, 7:15-8:00pm

TA: TBD
Office Hours:

NO Required Text: Selected Papers to be provided during the course


Mailing List Announcement

All announcements will be made through courseweb or PeopleSoft maling lists


Course Objectives

The purpose of this course is to understand and use advanced concepts in operating systems. This will include new kernel and OS paradigms, given the plethora of types of OSes existing nowadays. The programming projects component of the course will take up a fair proportion of the class.


Grading

  • 40% Personalized rogramming projects (come up with your own)
  • 30% Exams (take home) or Presentation
  • 20% Class Participation
  • 10% Assignments (including reading, summary, documentation, and reports)


    Due dates and lateness:
  • Late work will be accepted with a 10% penalty per business day (no penalty over weekends)


    Attendance

    Class attendance is mandatory. Homeworks, assignments, and important dates will be also probably posted on the course web page, but this is provided as a complementary means of communication and is not always complete. Do not miss anything important because you skipped class, did not check your email, or did not look at the coursewebsite on a regular basis.

    Office hours are optional. They are your chance to ask the professor and the TAs questions about the material being covered, the programming assignments, etc. There is a lab also, where more practical discussions will take place.


    Academic Honesty: Collaboration vs. Cheating

    This really should not be an issue, specially for a senior-level, honors course. We use the reasonable person principle: if everyone is reasonable, there is no need for rules.  But to make things as clear as possible the following is necessary. 

    You are encouraged to discuss the course material and concepts with other students in the class. However, all work that you submit must be your own. Except for group projects, you may NOT allow anyone else's to code for you or show anyone else your code to help them. You may discuss the concepts used in the programming assignments, you may also discuss clever implementation details of the assignments themselves.

    If you are caught copying or otherwise turning in work that is not solely your own, you will fail the course.

    The bottom line is that you are expected to conduct yourself as a person of integrity: you are expected to adhere to the highest standards of academic integrity. This means that plagiarism1 in any form is completely unacceptable. As a (soon to be) computing professional, I encourage you to consult the code of ethics appropriate to your discipline2.

    Plagiarism will be assumed (until disproved) on work that is very similar or essentially the same as that of other students. This includes identically incorrect, off-the-wall, and highly unusual duplicate answers where the probability of a sheer coincidence is extremely unlikely. All parties to this unacceptable collaboration will receive the same treatment.

    You should bring a picture identification with you to all examinations and be prepared to show it upon request.

    If you are unsure of what is and is not allowed by this policy, talk to the instructor.

    1 pla-gia-rize vt. to steal and pass of as one's own (the ideas or words of another) to present as one's own an idea or product derived from an existing source - pla-gia-riz-er n. (source: Webster's New World Dictionary).
    2 The Association for Computing Machinery is http://www.acm.org/, the IEEE is http://www.ieee.org/ and the IEEE Computer Society is http://www.computer.org/.


    Getting Answers to your Questions (not necessarily in that order):

  • Attend class
  • Check the class web page frequently - we will post as much information as we can
  • Talk to the TA (see info above)
  • Meet with the professor during office hours
  • Email the professor