UMBC CMSC 421

CMSC421 -- Principles of Operating Systems

Syllabus

Instructor

Instructor: Gary Burt
Office: ECS 202B
Office Hours:

  Tuesday and Thursday 2:00 - 3:00
  or by appointment

Telephone: 410-455-3928 (email is preferred)
E-mail: burt@cs.umbc.edu

Class Time and Place

Monday and Wednesday 7:00 - 8:15 p.m., SS 409

Textbook

Operating Systems Concepts by Abraham Silbershcatz, Peter Baer Galvin, 1999

Course Homepage

This course has a homepage where assignments and grades will be posted. Many of the handouts will also be available off of the homepage.

The URL is:
http://www.cs.umbc.edu/courses/undergraduate/CMSC421/Fall00/Burt

Grading

a number of projects	200-300 points each
a number of pop-quizzes	5 points each
a number of homework assignments	100 points each
term paper	100 points
midterm	200 points
final exam worth	400 points

Your final letter grade is based on the standard formula:

90%+ A 80%+ B 70%+ C 60%+ D Below 60% F

Your grade is based on timely work accomplished during the semester; incomplete grades will only be given for medical illness or other such dire circumstances.

Project Submission and Grading

The critical skills cannot be learned simply by attending the class. You should budget enough time to work on the projects as well. Late assignments will be penalized 10 percent per day.

You will be turning in your projects electronically. Details will be announced in class before you need to submit projects. If an assignment is due on the 13th, as long as the computer time stamps it the 13th, it is on time.

I grade the Midterm, Final and written reports. Projects are graded by a grader. Grading for the projects will be done on the basis that you must precisely follow instructions on projects and exams. If it says you are to show sixteen bits and you only provide eight, it is wrong. You must comment the programs as required or you will lose points.

Project Policy

All projects must be completed by your own individual, creative effort. You should never have a copy of someone else's project either on paper or electronically under any circumstance. Also, you should never give a copy of your project, either on paper or electronically, to another student. This also means that you cannot "work" on the project together. Cases of academic dishonesty will be dealt with as severely as allowed by University policy.

If your project is turned in by someone else, both you and the person copying your project will receive a 0 for that project. This includes "substantially similar" projects. Furthermore, all parties concerned will have their prior projects checked for cheating. So, if you cheat on Project 4, you can lose all the points from Projects 1 through 3 as well, even though you may have done all the work and just "let" other people copy from you.

Communications

All communications with the instructor and the TA must have your name and the last four of your Social Security Number (last four). Too many of you have email that shows up with a fancy alias and we can't figure out who "Joe Snuffy" is! This includes all email, projects, homework, written reports, etc. Except for in-class work, all material must be typed (or printed on the computer). Too many of you have handwriting that would qualify you to be a medical doctor!

Lectures and Readings

You are expected to attend all classes. (Attendance is not a part of your grades.)
You are responsible for all material covered in the lecture, even if the material is not in the textbook. You are responsible for the material in the readings, even if they are not covered during lecture. (I recommend you have a study team and help each other with getting any material from lecture.)
There will be supplemental material on the course webpages that you are will have to master in addition to the material in the book.
You need to monitor the course web pages daily. All new material will be marked with a yellow icon and the word new, along with the date the material was modified. That icon will remain for at least one week. If it is on the web page for 48 hours, I will penalize you for not following instructions.

Exams

The exams will be closed-book and closed-notes.
There are quizzes, tests, a Mid-term Exam, and a Final Exam.
You must show a photo ID for the Mid-term and Final Exams.
I do not tolerate cheating in any form. Copy from any one is cheating. Likewise, copying from a book any any assignment is cheating! You must do your own work.

Written Report

The is one written report required for this class, due at the beginning of class when the midterm exam is given (10/20). For this report, you will locate an article (published on hard-copy or electronically) on some aspect of Operating Systems. Your report will summarize the article and you will present your analysis of the article. The report must be printed on the computer, using a font of 12 points and double spaced. It will be three full pages plus an additional title page which provides your name, SSAN (last four), title of the article and section number.

Out-of-Class Help

You will have some difficulties in this class and will need some extra help. This is normal. You can come to me or the TA for this help. The sooner you come to us for help, the easier it is for you to catch up. Don't wait until you are totally and hopelessly lost. Work the exercises in the book, even when it is not homework, because you can not learn this material only by reading it. You must write programs to learn all these concepts. The TA's primary responsibility in this course is to help you. Don't waste this opportunity.

In the past, I have had students who would visit me as much as four times a week for assistance. Then again, I have had former students come back and visit for assistance in other courses. Don't be afraid of upsetting me because you ask for help too much.

UMBC CMSC 421 CSEE | 421 | current 421