Computer Science 330
Operating Systems

Fall 2025, Siena University

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Changes to this syllabus are not anticipated, but if they become necessary will be announced in class and updated in the online version of the syllabus.

Course Objectives

From the course catalog: "A study of processor, memory, device, and information management of contemporary computer systems. Emphasis is placed on the models and algorithms for multi-programming computer operating systems. Discussion will include classic problems such as the concurrency problems of mutual exclusion, deadlock and synchronization, and memory management concepts such as paging, working set and segmentation. The laboratory includes an introduction to the UNIX operating system and experiments designed to confirm or extend the principles developed in lecture. Lab fee. (ATTR: ARTS)"

This 3-credit course satisfies upper-level elective requirements for all tracks of the major in Computer Science. It also is an option to satisfy the "CSIS-330 or CSIS-335" requirement for students in the Game Development track.

The course is about the design and implementation of operating systems. We will consider

• Historical aspects of operating systems development
• Process scheduling
• Synchronization of concurrent processes
• Memory management and virtual memory
• I/O and file systems
• System security

We will use Unix-like operating systems as a model to help understand operating system concepts and consider other operating systems of historical or modern interest at times as well.

Course Goals

1. Develop an understanding of computer operating system software.
2. Develop an understanding of concurrency, including the problems that can arise and solutions to manage those problems.
3. Learn about resource management in the context of computer resources such as processing power, physical and virtual memory, persistent storage, networks, and non-sharable resources.
4. Learn to use Unix system calls in C programs, including those for process (fork, semaphores) and thread (pthreads) management.
5. Understand the overall design of modern operating systems for devices ranging from handheld computers to supercomputers.

Prerequisites

• Computer Science 210, Data Structures.
• Computer Science 301, Programming Unix in C. May be taken concurrently.
• Computer Science 220, Assembly Language and Computer Architecture.

Texts

The required text for the course is CSIS 330: Operating Systems (Zyante, Inc. (zyBooks.com), 2025, ISBN 979-8-203-09623-4) which includes content from Bic (Operating Systems) and Silberschatz, Galvin, and Gagne (Operating Systems Concepts). This is a custom book with content taken from two books. See your email or Canvas for information about how to purchase your access.

Other readings may also be assigned from freely available sources.

Readings and Activities

You will be responsible for reading the content and completing all of the assigned participation activities and challenge activities in the OS zyBook. Class meetings will include a discussion, presentation of some additional material, and some exercises about the current chapter.

The schedule for readings and assignments is included in the lecture and reading schedule.

Class Meetings

Everyone is expected to attend class at the scheduled times and participate in discussions, labs, and other in-class activities. Although our meetings are listed as a lecture each Monday and a lab each Friday, a variety of class activities will take place in nearly every meeting regardless of the day of the week. Be prompt, prepared, and ready to focus on the day's topics. Work in class will assume you have completed the assigned readings and activities so we can study the topics in greater depth through class presentations, lab assignments, and/or other in-class activities.

There is no formal attendance policy, but a lack of regular attendance is certain to result in lower grades on assignments and exams. Do not expect sympathy if you are struggling due to multiple unexcused absences. Your questions in class, by email, or during office hours are always seen as evidence that you care about your work and are engaged in the course. There will be in-class activities submitted for credit, and these can only be made up in the event of an excused absence.

The lecture and reading schedule lists the readings, and has a link to a web page for each lecture highlighting the day's topics, listing class examples, and upcoming due dates. Some notes will be available as PDF files linked from the lecture and reading schedule. You are responsible for everything covered in class, whether or not you are physically present.

Labs and Projects

Lab assignments will have a written and/or a programming component. The number of points available will vary with the complexity of the assignment. Programs will be graded on design, documentation, style, correctness, and efficiency. Answers to questions included in lab assignments are expected to be well-written.

Some lab assignments are "standalone" and are intended to give you experience with a particular concept, and should be able to be completed substantially during class time. Others will serve to get you started on one of the larger projects, and could require additional time. There will be 3 or 4 projects during the course of the semester for which you will develop larger programs.

You may develop programs for the lab and programming project assignments anywhere (in the lab, your own computers, etc.) but grading will be done using a specified grading platform unless otherwise specified. It is your responsibility to ensure that your program works on the grading platform. Unless otherwise specified, you are permitted (and are in fact, encouraged) to get help from your instructor. Artificial Intelligence assistance is prohibited unless explicitly permitted on a particular lab or project (this will sometimes be the case). You may discuss the labs and projects with your classmates, but the work you submit must be your own (and that of your teammates, for work done in groups).

Your submissions for lab and project assignments will include several types of items, normally submitted as part of your repository for the assignment. Different requirements apply to each, as described below. It is important that you adhere to file format and naming requirements to facilitate grading. Submissions that do not meet these requirements will not be accepted.

Lab Questions

Responses to all "lab questions" should be included within the README.md file for the repository, formatted using GitHub Markdown for readability.

Note: for lab questions that ask you to draw a memory diagram, you have a few options. You may attempt to represent the memory with plain text, but that is difficult to construct and read. Ideally, you would use a drawing program and submit a PDF file, but you are also permitted to draw the diagram on paper and submit a scan or photograph, as long as the diagram is legible in that form.

Output Captures

You will sometimes be asked to capture the output of an existing Unix command or one of your programs in a file for submission. The file name to use for each such task will be specified in the question.

Practice Programs

Your submissions for practice programs are graded primarily on correctness, but you will be required to include your name at the top of the program, and you must use the file name specified.

Programming Assignments

These are the most formal submissions and will be graded on design, documentation, style, correctness, and efficiency (where appropriate). A good design will use an appropriate algorithm, data structures, and language constructs to solve the problem. A well-documented program will include a comment at the top of each file that includes your name, the assignment, and a description of the contents of the file. There should also be comments for each structure definition, each function definition (including a brief description of the function's purpose, its parameters, and return value), each variable or group of related variables, and any section of code whose purpose and/or behavior is not obvious from context or the code itself. Style requirements include appropriate formatting (sufficient and consistent indentation, spacing, and punctuation, wrapping long lines of code), good use of constants, meaningful and appropriate names for variables, functions, constants, and parameters, and good use of version control (frequent commits with meaningful messages). Correctness, of course, requires the expected output be produced. Efficiency will be more important in some assignments than others, and requires that the program does not do any unnecessary computation or use any more memory than needed. This includes returning memory to the system when using dynamic memory management. And, of course, you must use the file name specified.

Unless otherwise specified, late lab assignments and programming projects may be turned in with a penalty computed as 1.08^h%, where h is the number of hours late. Extensions will only be granted in serious situations. You can find a C program that prints out a table of the late penalties here. Work turned in after solutions have been made available cannot receive credit.

Exams

There will two in-class exams during the semester, tentatively scheduled for October 6 and November 14. The final exam will take place as scheduled by the registrar during the final exam period. Students wishing to take advantage of any approved accommodations on an exam should make arrangements at least one week ahead of time.

Grading

Grades for individual assignments and exams are not scaled. Any scaling deemed appropriate will take place at the end of the semester by adjusting the thresholds. The following thresholds may be adjusted downward (thereby raising grades) but will never be adjusted upward.

Attendance

Please be sure you are familiar with the Siena University Student Class Attendance Policy.

Every college student should be motivated to attend every class meeting for all the right reasons (e.g., desire for knowledge, getting your money's worth, etc.). You surely understand that regular attendance is essential to your ability to master the course material.

Therefore, there is no formal attendance policy. You are expected to attend regularly, and should contact the instructor about any absences. Absences for which accommodations may be provided include any of the following:

1. A documented athletic or academic event that conflicts with a class meeting. The required paperwork must be presented in person at least one week prior to the event.
2. Bereavement or other family emergency. These must be documented through the Office of Academic Affairs, who will then contact your instructors.
3. Medical leave. Health Services or the Counseling Center will submit a recommendation to the Dean of Students Office and a medical leave will be initiated for absences of five or more days. The Dean's Office will contact your instructors.
4. Other personal illness. You should not attend class when you are ill, especially if you may be contagious.

If you must miss a class meeting, you can request that a meeting be live-streamed and/or recorded on Zoom. These options are better than missing the meeting altogether, but are a poor substitute for in-person attendance.

While there is no formal penalty, missing class regularly, frequent tardiness, or being distracted in class (e.g., checking your phone) will be considered a sign that you are not taking the course seriously. Attendance is taken daily, with late arrivals and evidence of distraction or inattention noted as needed. Common sense suggests and experience validates that students who are frequently absent, late, or inattentive do not learn the material, and this is reflected in poor grades. Do not expect compassion when final grades are assigned or extensive extra help if you do not understand a topic that was covered while you were absent without good reason.

Disability Accommodations

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, Siena University is committed to ensuring educational access and accommodations for all its registered students.

The Office of Accessibility allocates reasonable academic accommodations to students with documented disabilities. If you need assistance due to a disability, please contact accessibility@siena.edu or drop by Foy Hall 109A to discuss further.

Complaints about services provided or not provided may be brought to the attention of Public Safety at 518-783-2376 or Ms. Lois Goland, JD, Title IX Coordinator and Equal Opportunity Specialist (SSU 235, 518-782-6673).

Academic Integrity

You are encouraged to discuss the concepts related to course assignments and exams with your classmates. This is an essential part of a healthy academic environment. However, work submitted for grading must be your own (or the combined work of group members, for group assignments). Any unauthorized copying, collaboration, or use of generative artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT, Copilot, and other platforms that generate text, code, artwork, etc. (except where explicitly permitted on an assignment or exam), is considered a breach of academic integrity and will not be tolerated. Academic dishonesty cases are unpleasant and uncomfortable for everyone involved. You are responsible for reading and understanding the University's Academic Integrity Policy and the Computer Science Department's Academic Integrity statement. The minimum penalties for a first violation will include failure (0 grade) for the assignment or exam in question and the filing of an Academic Integrity Violation Accusation Form. A second violation will result in failure of the course and a formal letter describing your misconduct will be sent to the head of the Computer Science Department and the Office of Academic Affairs. Students suspected of violating academic integrity will be referred to the Academic Integrity Committee for final determination.

If there is any doubt about the degree of collaboration allowed or the permitted sources for a particular assignment, please ask for clarification before collaborating or consulting the source. Any such collaborations or sources must be cited properly.