15-410, Operating System Design and Implementation

Welcome to the Fall 2009 edition of 15-410.

Please take this opportunity to read the syllabus. It really does answer questions you will have later in the course.

The textbook is Operating System Concepts, by Silberschatz, Galvin, and Gagne. If you are buying a new book, it makes sense to get the new eighth edition, which should be available in CMU's bookstore, since the retail prices for the seventh and eighth editions are currently the same. If you are buying a used book, however, you will probably find the seventh and sixth editions cheaper. Either one may be used (what you get out of the textbook depends more on how much time you spend with it than with which edition you have). We will not cover all of the text, and some topics (such as synchronization) will be taught in a different manner.

You may also find useful the 15-213 textbook, Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective; the K&R C book; and perhaps C Traps and Pitfalls. An excellent source of suggestions for programming style and structure is Rob Pike and Brian Kernigan's The Practice of Programming, especially the first few chapters.

Until the semester actually begins, here is a self-assessment/warm-up exercise. This exercise is mandatory for incoming 410 students who have not passed 15-213 and is not a bad way for all incoming students to get back up to speed.

Virtutech graciously supports our educational mission by providing us with a free Simics license (more info).

[Last modified Monday August 24, 2009]