Start of classes.

The first set of lecture notes, Topic Study list, and course information will be posted in the course directory /cs/course/4221.

The list of suggested topics has been posted in the course directory on Red in the file: /cs/course/4221/4221_topics

The topics are divided into two groups: Topic Study 1 should be chosen from the first group and should be presented on or before Wednesday October 28, 2009; Topic Study 2 should be chosen from the second group and should be submitted on or before Wednesday November 25, 2009. Students may also suggest other topics related to the project and course material in consultation with the instructor. Topics are “First-Come-First-Served”. Please send e-mail to the instructor in order to reserve a topic. If you are the first to reserve a topic, your name(s) will be appear below the topic title.

The project, and two alternative projects, as well as two alternative assignments, have been posted in the course directory. One may do one of the two alternative assignments instead of doing Topic Study 1. One may also do one of the alternative projects instead of doing the project.

COSC4221 Test 1 will be held on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 19:00-21:00.

Test 1 will include:

a) Material covered in the lectures from the beginning of the term up to and including the lecture on Wednesday October 21;

b) Material in the files OSD.1.pdf, OSD.2.pdf, OSD.3.pdf, and slides 1-80 of OSD.4.pdf (up to and including the slide on Pathname Lookup in Linux' VFS), in the course directory;

c) Material in Chapter 10 and Chapter 11 of the book “Operating System Concepts”, 7th Ed;

d) Material in Chapter 12 of the book “Understanding the Linux Kernel”, 3rd Edition related to the material in the slides listed in item b above.

(Please make sure that you have the most up-to-date version of the slides in the above mentioned files, as some of the slides may have been updated since you last downloaded them.)

It is possible that Test 1 may include true/false questions, questions that require short answers, questions that may require the drawing of diagrams, questions that require slightly longer answers, and other possible question formats.

MAKE SURE YOU READ AND UNDERSTAND ALL THE MATERIAL IN THE SLIDES.

ALSO NOTE THAT DRAWING THE SAME KIND OF DIAGRAMS AS ILLUSTRATED IN THE SLIDES, WILL BE AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF TEST 1. For example, if you are given a diagram similar to that on slide 9 of OSD4.pdf, “Example of a Small File System Tree in Unix”, then you should be able to draw the corresponding diagram on slide 10, “Internal Structure of Small File system Tree in Unix”, as well as the corresponding diagram on slide 24, “In Memory VFS Objects and On Disk Objects”.

The due date for Assignment 1 has been extended to Wednesday November 4, 2009, 19:00.

Several students in the class asked that Thang Minh Le's very interesting and excellent presentation and report on the Windows Mobile OS be made available to the class, so they are now available as “/cs/course/4221/Study1_WMOS.pdf” and “/cs/course/4221/WMOS.ppt” in the course directory on Red.