Operating System Concepts

Catalog description

Theoretical and practical issues of operating systems design and implementation, process management, concurrent programming, memory management, scheduling, I/O, and security. CMPSC 472CMPSC 472 Operating Systems Concepts (3)A course on operating systems is an essential part of a computer science education. This course is intended as an introduction to study the concepts, structure and mechanisms that underlie operating systems. A tremendous range and variety of computer systems exist for which operating systems are designed. Rather than focus on individual operating systems, this course discusses the key mechanisms of modern operating systems, the types of design trade-offs and decisions involved in operating system design and the context within which the operating system functions.After completing CMPSC 472 the student should be able to:(1) describe and understand the four major components of an operating system: process management (including synchronization, scheduling, mutual exclusion, deadlocks and concurrency), input/output (including disk scheduling and disk 1/0), memory management (including virtual memory, paging, segmentation and addressing) and management of the file systems(2) describe and understand how a centralized operating system functions(3) describe and understand the various components of an operating system(4) describe the various goals of protection and the security problem in general(5) compare centralized operating systems with distributed operating systemsStudents will be evaluated on homework (35% of grade), semester exams (35%), and a final comprehensive exam (30%).This course is required in the computer science (COMP) BS curriculum. It is intended for seniors to take this course in their fall semester. This course is also an admission requirement for the (COMP) MS program.No special facilities are required for this course. The software necessary is available in the computer labs or for students to use at home. This course will be offered once per year, with an expected enrollment of 80.