CS 439: Syllabus

Instructor: Ronald Rockhold
Fall 2012. Sections 52965, 52970, 52975, 52980

Email: rockhold@cs.utexas.edu

This course builds on CS 429, introducing additional and higher-level abstractions built on top of computer hardware, with an emphasis on the connection of these abstractions to the underlying hardware. Key abstractions are threads, dynamic memory allocation, protection, and IO. A critical skill will be writing correctly synchronized multi-threaded programs.

Text Books & Supplies

• Computer Systems, A Programmer's Perspective
  ISBN:9780136108047, Bryant, O'Hallaron, Prentice Hall, 2nd Edition, 2011
• Operating Systems, Principles and Practice
  ISBN:9780985673512, Anderson, Dahlin, Recursive Books, Beta Edition, 2012
• Clickers: An iClicker is required for this course and must be brought to every lecture as participation on iClicker questions is part of your course grade. For this class, an iClicker is sufficient. However, an iClicker2 will also work.
  Register your iClicker at http://www.iclicker.com/registration/

Programming Languages

• C and C++
  We can't directly interact with an OS using Java.
• Java
  Some of the projects don't directly interact with the OS.
  For these, we'll use Java.

Teaching Assistants

• Nazneen Rajani
  Email: emailnazneen@gmail.com
  Office Hours and Location: M/W Noon-5PM. PAI 5th floor TA Room (next to computer lab.)
  Nazneen covers the 8AM and 10AM discussion sessions on Fridays.
• Seth Hoenig
  Email: seth.a.hoenig@gmail.com
  Office Hours and Location: Tu/Th 9AM-2PM. PAI 5th floor TA Room (next to computer lab.)
  Seth covers the Noon and 2PM discussion sessions on Fridays.
• Youngjin Kwon
  Email: fzheart@gmail.com
  Office Hours and Location: None (Youngjin spends his time grading.)

Communication

• Public Discussions and Announcements (Piazza)
  I will post course-related announcements and information on the board. You must read the discussion board, and you should post course-related questions and responses there. I expect you to make good use of the discussion group and of TA and proctor support when you have technical or administrative questions or problems.
  You can sign up at this link: http://piazza.com/class#fall2012/cs439 for
• Private
  Private email to the instructor/TAs must be related to personal issues (not of general interest to other students.)
  If it's not personal/private, Blackboard must be used. Please begin the "Subject" any emails with "CS439:".

You are responsible for checking your email and Piazza every 24 hours and the web page at least weekly.

Additional policies and expectations

Accommodations for students with disabilities. The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic adjustments for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259.

Department code of conduct The department's code of conduct outlines what is expected of you and what you can expect from classes in the CS

Prerequisite: Computer Science 429 or 429H with a grade of at least C-.

Acknowledgments and Copyright

In the preparation of this course, I used materials from Mary Eberlein, Mike Scott, Kathryn McKinley, Shyamal Mitra, Calvin Lin, Charlie Garrod, Jennifer Brown, Al Mok, Mike Dahlin, Emmett Witchel, Alison Norman, and Lorenzo Alvisi.

Copyright Notice: These lecture notes, homeworks, and projects are part of a course computer systems. You must ask me permission to use these materials.

I do not grant to you the right to publish these materials for profit in any form.