UNIVERSITY OF GUAM

UNIVERSITY OF GUAM

COURSE OUTLINE

Course Number: CS360 College (or sponsoring unit): CAS.

Course Title: Introduction to Operating Systems Credit Hours: 4.

Catalog description: This course covers the following concepts: Operating system history and services; file systems; memory management; process management-concurrent processes, communication, semaphores, monitors, deadlocks; resource management processor and disk scheduling; security and protection systems. It meets for three hours lecture and three hours laboratory weekly. Prerequisite: CS202.

Course Content: Learning operating systems involves:

I. INTRODUCTION.

History of Operating Systems. Operating System Concepts. System Calls. Operating System Structure.

II. PROCESSES.

Introduction to Processes. Interprocess Communication. Classical IPC Problems. Process Scheduling.

III. INPUT/OUTPUT.

Principles of Input/Output Hardware. Principles of Input/Output Software. Deadlocks. Ram Disks. Disks. Clocks. Terminals.

IV. MEMORY MANAGEMENT.

Memory Management Without Swapping or Paging. Swapping. Virtual Memory. Page Replacement Algorithms. Design Issues for Paging Systems

Segmentation.

V. FILE SYSTEMS.

Files. Directories. File System Implementation. Security. Protection Mechanisms.

Rationale for the course: The study of the design of operating systems is crucial for computer scientists, since every computer is inoperable without an operating system. The ACM includes the study of operating system design as part of its recommended computer science curriculum.

Skills and background required or expected: Students expecting to take operating systems should have completed at least two semesters of programming.

Teaching methodologies and anticipated class size: The course will consist primarily of lectures and in-class discussion. 15 to 20 students are expected.

Additional course descriptors: none.

Learning objectives for students: Upon course completion, students will

Demonstrate knowledge of basic operating system principles.

Construct algorithms for process management.

Develop working operating system programs.

Modify existing operating system kernels.

Exhibit a working knowledge of operating system design.

Methods of evaluation: Methods of evaluation may be based on:

Weekly homework assignments

A midterm and final examination

Attendance and participation in in-class discussions.

Required and recommended texts and/or study guides: Operating Systems: Design And Implementation, 2/e, Andrew S. Tanenbaum , Vrije University, The Netherlands, & Albert S. Woodhull , Hampshire College, published 1996, Prentice-Hall.

Subsequent courses: None.