Operating Systems and Parallel Algorithms

What is this course about?

This course is an introduction to the design, use, and implementation of operating systems.  An operating system (OS) has two basic functions.  First, it provides an abstraction of the computer hardware for software applications to use.  Second, it manages the sharing of resources (such as the CPU and memory) among different applications.

We will also investigate strategies for designing parallel algorithms, which exploit the computational resources of multiple CPUs to solve problems faster.

• To identify the abstractions and functionality provided to application programmers by the operating system.  
• To understand problems and strategies in the design and implementation of operating systems, so that you can exploit this knowledge in building effective applications.
• To be familiar with models of parallelism, strategies for parallel problem solving, and classic problems in concurrency.
• To practice writing programs that explicitly use operating system abstractions---specifically, with Linux's C system call interface.
• To develop skills for critical reading of research papers.
• To begin to speak the language of operating systems and parallel programming.

Is this course for me?

YES! 

Seriously, you will find this course invaluable if you plan to go on to work or advanced study in computer science, if you want to build high performance computing applications someday, or if you just have a burning curiousity about how your computer can walk and chew gum at the same time (metaphorically speaking, of course).  Plus, programming with concurrency is fun and challenging---it will stretch your mind.

This course assumes you have taken CSC 201 and are reasonably adept at C programming.  It fulfills the Computer Systems requirement for CS majors and is recommended for all CS majors.

Janet Davis (davisjan@cs.grinnell.edu)