Course Information for CSCI 480

Spring, 2020

Principles of Operating Systems

Course Organization

We have a web site for this section of the course. The URL for the main page is: http://faculty.cs.niu.edu/~hutchins/csci480/main.htm

We also have a Blackboard site for the course. You can reach it through this URL: https://webcourses.niu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp

Most information for the course will be on the web site. You will need the Blackboard site to submit most of the assignments. You can also find the grades on the assignments there.


Required Textbook

Operating System Concepts, 9th edition, by Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne, ISBN 978-1-118-06333-0, from John Wiley & Sons.

You can download a copy (free) from pdfdrive.com. Search for "Silberschatz".


LINUX Accounts

Each student in the class should have an account on the host "turing.cs.niu.edu". Your login name for the account is your z number (with a lower-case 'z'). The password on your LINUX account is independent of your NOVELL network password and must be changed separately.

If you have never used the turing system, you need to activate your account. Instructions on how to do this can be found at this URL: http://www.cs.niu.edu/resources/resources.shtml


Assignments

We will have about 7 programming assignments.

Assignments must be done individually (no collaboration) and are due at the time and date specified. Most assignments will be submitted through Blackboard, which keeps a record of the submission time. In general, there may be a number of files to submit for an assignment, and these will be bundled together into one archive file. The assignment documents contain instructions on this.

There will be a penalty for late homework of 10% per day (or portion of a day) for late assignments. We will count weekends as one day. We will count weekends as one day. If you want to turn in an assignment more than 5 days late, there is no guarantee that it will be graded at all, and you should consult with the TA.

This is not a beginning course. We expect program code that is well-written and well-documented.

There will also be a couple of optional extra-credit assignments.


Tests

We will have three tests. The dates for the tests will be announced in class and on the web site well in advance.

If a student has three final exams on one day, the student may request an alternate time for his/her exam in the highest-numbered of the three courses. If this is your situation, please notify the instructor as early as you can.


Final Grade

The course grade will be calculated as 40% for assignments and 20% for each of the three tests. The scale will probably be very close to the following:

     90--100   A  
     80--89    B
     70--79%   C
     60--69%   D
     below 60  F

There is no rounding up to the nearest letter grade.


Accommodations

Some students, for any of a number of reasons, may need some kind of accommodation (alternate exam conditions, note-taking assistance, sign-language interpretation, etc.). If you need an accommodation for this class, please contact the Disability Resource Center as soon as possible. The DRC coordinates accommodations for students with disabilities. It is located in Suite 180 of the Campus Life Building, and can be reached at 815-753-1303 (voice) or drc@niu.edu (e-mail). Also, please contact me privately as soon as possible so we can discuss your accommodations. The sooner you let us know your needs, the sooner we can assist you.

If you have special needs such as required military service, major illness or religious observations, please talk with the instructor as soon as you can. Bear in mind that simply being busy does not constitute a special need.


Attendance Policy

You are responsible for everything said and handed out in class, including any modification of assignments or course requirements. If you should miss a class, be sure to get notes from one or more classmates, and see your instructor for any handouts you may have missed. There will be no private repeat performances of lectures from your instructor. Reasonable questions, of course, will be answered.


Academic Misconduct

You are to do your own work in this course. Cheating in any form will not be tolerated. Any student caught cheating on homework will (at the minimum) receive a grade of 0 on the assignment in question and may be subject to university disciplinary action. Both "loaning" material to and "borrowing" material from a fellow student are considered cheating. Some discussion of assignments and mutual assistance normally are acceptable, but the discussion or assistance should not be so detailed and extensive that it begins to resemble collaboration. If you feel even the slightest possibility that what you are doing might be considered cheating, do not do it! Any assistance needed should be sought from the teaching assistant or the instructor.

You should realize that the test questions are to some extent based on what was in the homework. If you cannot do the homework assignments for yourself, you probably will not do well on the tests either.

The penalty for academic misconduct is at least a score of zero on the homework assignment or exam. There is also the chance of other penalties as determined by the University Judicial Office.

The Department of Computer Science has recently adopted a strict set of rules for conducting exams. There is a document about this on the web site. Please read it and pay attention to it.