Click here to see a PREVIEW of important rules that was posted before the summer session started.

This is an undergraduate course on computer operating systems. (But only graduate students are permitted to be in this class. USC undergraduate students must take CS 350 in order to get credit for OS. If you are an undergraduate student, you cannnot be in this class and you cannot get credit for Operating System if you take this class. Please check with your adviser to see which Operating System class you need to take!) In addition to exploring concepts such as synchronization, virtual memory, processes, file systems and virtualization, students will develop elements of a fairly complete operating system during the course of the semester.

General Information
Instructor Bill Cheng (click to see office hours)
Email: <bill.cheng@usc.edu>
Time TuTh 9:30am - 11:30am 
Location OHE 122 
TA Zhuojin Li, Email: <zhuojinl@usc.edu>,
Office Hours: Fri 10:50am - 12:50am on on Zoom
Grader Anurag Sethuram, Email: <anuragse@usc.edu>.
(If needed, the grader will hold office hours the week after the announcement of each assignment's grades.)
Midterm Exam during class, (NEW) [9:30:00am-10:10:00am), Tue, 7/2/2024 (firm).
Final Exam (NEW) [9:30:00am-10:10:00am), Tue, 7/30/2024 (firm).
Class Resources
Description   :   textbooks, topics covered, grading policies, additional resources, etc.
Lectures   :   information about lectures (and lectures slides in PDF format).
Videos   :   information about DEN/D2L lectures and discussion sections videos.
Discussions   :   information about discussion sections and quiz schedule.
Projects   :   programming assignments (please also see important information about the class projects below.)
Forum   :   Google Group online forum for discussing course materials and programming assignments. You are required to be a member of this group. (This group is initially by invitation only.) Please do not send request to join this group until after the first lecture.
News
(in reversed chronological order)
  • 7/25/2024: Below is the link for starting the final exam (also known as the "DEN Section Final Exam"). Currently, it's inactive/invalid. It will become valid and active approximately 3 minutes before the exam start time and you can start working on the exam as soon as you have downloaded the exam.

    Plesae make sure you have done the following:

    • be familiar with the exam logistics covered during the primary live lecture on 6/25/2024 (since the final exam logistics is the same as the midterm exam logistics)
    • if you have opt'ed out of the midterm exam, make sure you use Quiz 8 as an exam rehearsal to try out various scenarios (for the real final exam, you cannot say that you submit late because you are not familiar with some of the exam procedure)
    • submit your signed final exam academic integrity honor code pledge (you will not be able to download your final exam if I don't have a signed pledge from you)
  • 7/24/2024: The final exam will be a 40-minute long take-home exam (open book and open notes), and it will be conducted in the same manner as the midterm exam (please refer to the primary live lecture on 6/25/2024 for the basic procedure and replace the date and time with what's appropriate for your final exam). No matter how late you start your exam, your exam must end at the same time as everyone else who is taking the same exam.

    The final exam will cover everything from slide 30 of the 2nd part of Lecture 13 to slide 53 of the 2nd part of Lecture 15, PLUS, from slide 43 of the 2nd part of Lecture 17 to the last slide of Lecture 29. Also included are discussion section materials from Discussion 8 through Discussion 13.

    Since the 2nd part of the course depends on stuff covered by the midterm, I cannot say that I will not ask anything covered by the midterm and you do need to know the material covered by the midterm. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to say that the final exam will focus on the material not covered by the midterm.

    Regarding what types of questions will be on the exam, please see the Exams section of the course description web page. Regarding regrade policy, please see the Regrade section of the course description web page.

    Please note that if you are asked to run the Stride Scheduling algorithm, to get any credit, you must run the algorithm described in Lecture 28 (and not the one in the textbook).

    Here is a quick summary of the final exam topics (not all topics covered may be listed):

    • Ch 3 - Basic Concepts
      • shared libraries
    • Ch 4 - Operating-System Design
      • devices
      • virtual machines, microkernels
    • Ch 5 - Processor Management
      • threads implementation strategies
      • threads implementations
      • interrupts
      • scheduler activations model
      • scheduling
    • Ch 6 - File Systems
      • the basics of file systems
      • performance improvements
      • crash resiliency
      • directories and naming
      • RAID, flash memory, case studies
    • Ch 7 - Memory Management
      • virtual memory
      • OS issues
    • Kernel assignments 2 & 3
      • discussion section slides
      • spec
      • FAQ
      • my posts to class Google Group
  • 7/22/2024: Please download, fill out, sign, and submit the Final Exam Academic Integrity Honor Code Pledge as soon as possible. Please understand that if I don't get a signed pledge from you, you will not be able to download your final exam because I need you to promise me that you won't cheat before you can participate in the final exam.
  • 7/16/2024: Quiz 8 will mainly focus on Discussion 13, Lectures 25part2, 26, 27, & 28part1. It will start at 12pm (USC time), on Friday, 7/19/2024. The starting point of your Quiz 8 is at:

    Currently, the above link is inactive/invalid. It will become valid and active around the Quiz 8 start time. The timestamp of your submission ticket must be at or before 11:59:59pm, 7/19/2024 or your submission is considered late and starting at 12:00:00am, you will lose 5% for every late minute.

    Please remember that the only timestamp that we are allowed to consider is a timestamp inside a ticket issued by my submission server.

  • 7/10/2024: Quiz 7 will mainly focus on Discussions 10, 11 & 12, Lectures 21, 22, 23, 24, & 25part1. It will start at 12pm (USC time), on Friday, 7/12/2024. The starting point of your Quiz 7 is at:

    Currently, the above link is inactive/invalid. It will become valid and active around the Quiz 7 start time. The timestamp of your submission ticket must be at or before 11:59:59pm, 7/12/2024 or your submission is considered late and starting at 12:00:00am, you will lose 5% for every late minute.

    Please remember that the only timestamp that we are allowed to consider is a timestamp inside a ticket issued by my submission server.

  • 6/28/2024: Below are the links for starting the midterm exams. Currently, it is inactive/invalid. It will become valid and active approximately 3 minutes before the exam start time and you can start working on the exam as soon as you have downloaded your exam.

    Plesae make sure you have done the following:

    No matter how late you start your exam, your exam must end at the same time as everyone else who is taking the same exam.

    If you would like to opt out of the midterm exam (and have your final exam account for 50% of your overall grade), please just send me an e-mail. If you miss the midterm exam, it would be treated as if yo have opt'ed out of the midterm exam.

  • 6/27/2024: In the primary live lecture this Tuesday, I went over the midterm logistics and I said that in case you need to send me a video proof that you don't have Internet connectivity when you are submitting your answers text file, the video must be in the .mp4 format. Since iPhone creates .mov files by default and I have no trouble viewing .mov files, the acceptable formats for a video proof are .mp4 and .mov.
  • 6/25/2024: Quiz 6 will mainly focus on Discussions 8 & 9, Lectures 18, 19, and 20. It will start at 12pm (USC time), on Friday, 6/28/2024. The starting point of your Quiz 6 is at:

    Currently, the above link is inactive/invalid. It will become valid and active around the Quiz 6 start time. The timestamp of your submission ticket must be at or before 11:59:59pm, 6/28/2024 or your submission is considered late and starting at 12:00:00am, you will lose 5% for every late minute.

    Please remember that the only timestamp that we are allowed to consider is a timestamp inside a ticket issued by my submission server.

  • 6/23/2024: Please download, fill out, sign, and submit the Midterm Exam Academic Integrity Honor Code Pledge as soon as possible. (Please note that submitting a signed pledge doesn't mean that you cannot decide to opt out of the exam later.) Please understand that if I don't get a signed pledge from you, you will not be able to download your midterm exam because I need you to promise me that you won't cheat before you can participate in the midterm exam.
  • 6/19/2024: Quiz 5 will mainly focus on Discussion 7, Lectures 15, 16, and 17. It will start at 12pm (USC time), on Friday, 6/21/2024. The starting point of your Quiz 5 is at:

    Currently, the above link is inactive/invalid. It will become valid and active around the Quiz 5 start time. The timestamp of your submission ticket must be at or before 11:59:59pm, 6/21/2024 or your submission is considered late and starting at 12:00:00am, you will lose 5% for every late minute.

    Please remember that the only timestamp that we are allowed to consider is a timestamp inside a ticket issued by my submission server.

  • 6/11/2024: Quiz 4 will mainly focus on Discussion 6, Lectures 12, 13, and 14. It will start at 12pm (USC time), on Friday, 6/14/2024. The starting point of your Quiz 4 is at:

    Currently, the above link is inactive/invalid. It will become valid and active around the Quiz 4 start time. The timestamp of your submission ticket must be at or before 11:59:59pm, 6/14/2024 or your submission is considered late and starting at 12:00:00am, you will lose 5% for every late minute.

    Please remember that the only timestamp that we are allowed to consider is a timestamp inside a ticket issued by my submission server.

  • 6/3/2024: Quiz 3 will mainly focus on Discussions 4 & 5, Lectures 8part2, 9, 10, and 11. It will start at 12pm (USC time), on Friday, 6/7/2024. The starting point of your Quiz 3 is at:

    Currently, the above link is inactive/invalid. It will become valid and active around the Quiz 3 start time. The timestamp of your submission ticket must be at or before 11:59:59pm, 6/7/2024 or your submission is considered late and starting at 12:00:00am, you will lose 5% for every late minute.

    Please remember that the only timestamp that we are allowed to consider is a timestamp inside a ticket issued by my submission server.

  • 5/28/2024: Quiz 2 will mainly focus on Discussion 3, Lectures 5part2, 6, 7, and 8part1. It will start at 12pm (USC time), on Friday, 5/31/2024. The starting point of your Quiz 2 is at:

    Currently, the above link is inactive/invalid. It will become valid and active around the Quiz 2 start time. The timestamp of your submission ticket must be at or before 11:59:59pm, 5/31/2024 or your submission is considered late and starting at 12:00:00am, you will lose 5% for every late minute.

    Please remember that the only timestamp that we are allowed to consider is a timestamp inside a ticket issued by my submission server.

    Please note that if I haven't received a signed Academic Integrity Honor Code Pledge For Quizzes from you, you will not be able to download your quiz and you will get a zero for your quiz.

  • 5/21/2024: Quiz 1 will mainly focus on Discussion 2, Lectures 2part2, 3, 4, and 5part1. It will start at 12pm (USC time), on Friday, 5/24/2024. The starting point of your Quiz 1 is at:

    Currently, the above link is inactive/invalid. It will become valid and active around the Quiz 1 start time. The timestamp of your submission ticket must be at or before 11:59:59pm, 5/24/2024 or your submission is considered late and starting at 12:00:00am, you will lose 5% for every late minute.

    Please remember that the only timestamp that we are allowed to consider is a timestamp inside a ticket issued by my submission server.

    Please note that if I haven't received a signed Academic Integrity Honor Code Pledge For Quizzes from you, you will not be able to download your quiz and you will get a zero for your quiz.

  • 5/16/2024: Please download, fill out, sign, and submit the Academic Integrity Honor Code Pledge For Quizzes as soon as possible. Please understand that starting with Quiz 1, if I don't get a signed pledge from you, you will not be able to download your quizzes because I need you to promise me that you won't cheat before I can send you a quiz.
  • 5/15/2024: Quiz 0 will mainly focus on Discussion 1, Lecture 1, and Lecture 2 Part 1. It will start at 12pm (USC time), on Friday, 5/17/2024. The starting point of your Quiz 0 is at:

    Currently, the above link is inactive/invalid. It will become valid and active around the Quiz 0 start time. The timestamp of your submission ticket must be at or before 11:59:59pm, 5/17/2024 or your submission is considered late and starting at 12:00:00am, you will lose 5% for every late minute.

    Please note that Quiz 0 is just a quiz rehearsal and it won't count towards your grade. The purpose of a quiz rehearsal is to get you familiar with the quiz procedure and getting familiar with a timestamped submission ticket (which you should get for everytime quiz, exam, and assignment submission). Please remember that the only timestamp that we are allowed to consider is a timestamp inside a ticket issued by my submission server.

  • 5/14/2024:
    • Watch this area for important announcements.

    • To get user ID and password for accessing protected area of this web site, please visit the request access page after summer session starts and submit the requested information. (You do not have to be registered for the course to get the password. You just need to have an USC email address.)

    • Please do not send request to join the class Google Group until after the first lecture.
Prerequisites
Some people mistakenly think that this is an introductory CS class! This class has CS prerequisites! In the official syllabus, it is listed that the prerequisites are:
(CSCI 201L or CSCI 455x) and (EE 357 or EE 352L)

Please see:

Apparently, they are the prerequisites for undergraduate students only. The CS department would waive these prerequisites for graduate students. Since undergraduate students are required to take CS 350 for OS credit, there should only be graduate students enrolled in CS 402. Therefore, these prerequisites are really not prerequisites. They should be considered recommended preparation for graduate students. The basic idea behind these prerequisites is that you are expected to know how to program and you are expected to know something about computer architecture (such as what a CPU does).
 
Important Information about Programming Assignments
The programming assignments of this class will be very demanding. You will be required to write C code. Since C is a proper subset of C++, knowing C++ well would give you enough background. However, some of the things that available in C++, such as strings and streams, are not be available in C. So, you need to know how to do things such as manipulating null-terminated array of characters (using functions such as strchr, strrchr, strlen, strcmp, strncpy, etc.) and performing console and file I/O (using functions such as printf/snprintf, fread/fwrite, read/write, fgets, etc.) in C. No other programming language will be accepted. We will not teach C in this class. You are expected to pick up C on your own if you are not familiar with it.

You should also get familiar with the Unix/Linux development environment (vi/pico/emacs, cc/gcc, make, etc.) You are expected to know how to use Unix/Linux. If you are not familiar with Unix/Linux, please read Unix for the Beginning Mage, a tutorial written by Joe Topjian. Unfortunately, looks like this book has just disappeared from the web. You can also visit UNIX Tutorial for Beginners or Learn tcsh in Y Minutes. If you already know how to use Unix/Linux before and just need a refresher, please review my summary of some commonly used Unix commands and my tcsh scripting tutorial.

All programming assignments must run on a "standard" 32-bit Ubuntu 16.04. The kernel programming assignments will only work on a 32-bit Ubuntu 16.04 system.. Therefore, you should install a standard 32-bit Ubuntu 16.04 on your laptop or desktop as soon as possible and start using it right away. If you do not have a personal laptop or desktop that runs Windows or Mac OS X, please contact the instructor as soon as possible. If you are considering buying a laptop, this class would work best with an Intel-based laptop that runs Windows or Mac OS X.

If the only computer you have access to is the new Mac running on a non-Intel/AMD CPU, then it may not be possible to install VirtualBox into your machine. If that's the case, please read here.

If a student registered late for this class or could not be present at the beginning of the summer session, the student is still required to turn all projects and homeworks on time or the student will receive a score of 0 for these assignments. No exceptions!