Welcome to the Spring 2023 edition of 15-410/605.
Prep work
The following are productive things to do before the semester
begins:
If you've forgotten how to modify your shell startup files
(e.g., so that your PATH environment variable includes a specific
directory automatically when you log in, or how to add a command
alias), please refresh your memory.
If you don't know how to use grep, it is probably wise
to look into that.
For example, if given a large source tree, know how to use grep
to find all mentions of a function. There are other ways to do this!
Some people might prefer cscope, in which case
it's ok to know how to use both of them.
As another example: list name of all the files in a source tree
that contain the string "increment", the string "decrement", or both,
without regard to capitalization of those strings.
If you don't know how to use find, it is probably wise
to look into that.
For example, list assembly-language files in a source
tree whose file name contains the string "tree".
It is probably useful to install an X server on your personal
machine. To make sure you have it working, SSH into LINUX.ANDREW
and run xrefresh
, xeyes
,
and/or xclock
.
The textbook information includes some optional additional
readings.
If you are proficient at banging out code that runs ok but gets
complaints from project partners,
it would probably be productive to read
The Practice of Programming,
at least the first few chapters.
Again, this is optional!
But some students do start the semester writing code exhibiting
features which are not best practices in any programming language.
This is a good semester to write good code,
and there are books that discuss how to do that.
Speaking of textbooks, if your relationship with 15-213/513
didn't involve a lot of textbook time,
please be aware that we expect you to be able to apply
a 213-level understanding of relevant 213 topics,
including files and directories, file I/O, signals,
and virtual memory,
in addition to the absolutely core machine-model material
on instructions, registers, and caches.
If you are fuzzy on any of this,
the 213 textbook contains excellent refresher material!
Speaking of 213, it is probably a good idea for you to
re-read most of the code you submitted.
Probably the Malloc lab and the Shell lab are the most
directly applicable.
If there is anything in the code you submitted that you no longer
understand, please remedy that!
It is a good idea to be familiar with C conventions.
For example, it is generally not the case that a void *
is a pointer.
If seeing a
void *
parameter,
or a void **
parameter,
in a function prototype would be confusing,
this would be a good area to look into.
You should know what sizeof()
is for,
and be prepared to use it.
If you like to watch videos, this one might be interesting:
SREcon14 - Keys to SRE, Ben Treynor,
Jun 26, 2014.
And if you like to read papers, this might be eye-opening:
A Few Billion Lines of Code Later: using static analysis to find bugs in the real world.
If you are interested in writing small amounts of dangerous
code, these may be of interest:
From Debugging to Integrity in Coding (Dan O'Dowd, Fall 2017);
Software That Never Fails and Can't Be Hacked (Dan O'Dowd, June 11, 2021).
Warm-up
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.
Textbook
The traditional textbook is Operating System Concepts, by
Silberschatz, Galvin, and Gagne.
We provide a table mapping reading assignments to
the 6th through 10th editions of the book.
The newer editions are more up-to-date on some topics,
but they are also more expensive.
What you get out of the textbook
depends more on how much time you spend with it than on
which edition you have,
though you probably want to avoid
some of the stranger sub-editions, e.g., "Essentials" or "with Java".
We will not
cover all of the text, and some topics (such as synchronization)
will be taught using additional material.
Rumor has it that the OSC text is available (purchase or rental)
as an e-book from at least one major e-book vendor.
As we have no experience with this format, if you try it,
please let us know whether you like it.
The experimental textbook is
Operating Systems: Principles and Practice, Second Edition, 2014, by Anderson and Dahlin:
You may also find useful the 15-213 textbook, Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective, Third Edition; the K&R C book; and perhaps
C Traps and Pitfalls.
An excellent source of suggestions for programming style and structure
is
Brian Kernigan and Rob Pike's
The Practice of Programming,
especially the first few chapters.
Final exams
You are responsible for checking
the
official CMU final exam schedule and immediately notifying
instructors of all affected courses about any conflicts.
Wind River
graciously supports our educational
mission by providing us with a free
Simics
license (more info).
Some of the library software used in this class is used
under license
(more info).