Start of classes.

The first set of lecture notes, Topic Study list, and course information will be posted in the course directory /cs/course/4221.

The list of suggested topics will be posted in the course directory on Red in the file: /cs/course/4221/4221_topics

COSC4221/5421 Test 1 will be held on Wednesday, October 23, 2013 19:00.

COSC4221/5421 Test 2 will be held on Wednesday, November 27, 2013 19:00.

It is possible that Test 1 and Test 2 may include true/false questions, questions that require short answers, questions that may require the drawing of diagrams, questions that require slightly longer answers, and other possible question formats.

The CSE4221 Assignment will be due on Wednesday November 6 (that is the Wednesday following the Co-Curricular Days), at 19:00.

(1) For students who have chosen to do a programming assignment, the programming assignment should be handed in on Wednesday November 6. (Students who have chosen to do a programming assignment, are required to complete one Topic Study in addition to the programming assignment - the Topic Study must be presented to the class on the dates indicated in the file /cs/course/4221/4221_topics. (The order of the topic study presentation dates will be in the same order as the times at which topics were reserved.)

(2) Students who have chosen to do a non-programming assignment, are required to complete two Topic Studies - the Topic Studies must be presented to the class on the dates indicated in the file /cs/course/4221/4221_topics. (The order of the topic study presentation dates will be in the same order as the times at which topics were reserved.)

(3) Note that both Topic Study Report 1 (which is separate from the Presentation) and Topic Study Report 2 can be handed in on the last day to hand in term work, that is, Friday December 6.

(4) Please also note that all Topic Study presentation slides, Topic Study reports, Programming Assignment reports, Project reports, must also be submitted electronically to the appropriate subdirectory a1, topic1, topic2, or project, under the course directory /cs/course/4221/submit on or before the respective due dates.

Please note that the date for CSE4221/5421 Test 2 has been changed to Wednesday, November 27, 2013 19:00.

Please do NOT use the Linux Virtual File System as a subject for the CSE4221/5421 Non-Programming Project, as the Linux Virtual File System will be studied in detail in the course lectures.

COSC4221 Test 1 will be held on Wednesday, October 23, 2013 19:00-21:00.

Test 1 will include:

a) Material covered in the lectures from the beginning of the term up to and including the lecture on Wednesday October 16;

b) Material in the files OSD.1.pdf, OSD.1.1.pdf, OSD.2.pdf, OSD.3.pdf, and the slides numbered 1-45 in OSD.4.pdf (from the beginning up to the slide 45 titled “The VFS Inode Operations in Linux (cont.) in OSD.4.pdf)”, in the course directory;

c) Material in Chapter 10, “File-System Interface” and Chapter 11, “File-System Implementation” of the book “Operating System Concepts”, 8th Ed; (Chapter 11, “File-System Interface” and Chapter 12, “File-System Implementation” of the book “Operating System Concepts”, 9th Ed);

d) Material in Chapter 12 “The Virtual Filesystem” of the book “Understanding the Linux Kernel”, 3rd Edition related to the material in the slides listed in item b above.

(Please make sure that you have the most up-to-date version of the slides in the above mentioned files, as some of the slides may have been updated since you last downloaded them.)

It is possible that Test 1 may include true/false questions, questions that require short answers, questions that may require the drawing of diagrams, questions that require slightly longer answers, and other possible question formats.

MAKE SURE YOU READ AND UNDERSTAND ALL THE MATERIAL IN THE SLIDES.

ALSO NOTE THAT DRAWING THE SAME KIND OF DIAGRAMS AS ILLUSTRATED IN THE SLIDES, WILL BE AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF TEST 1. For example, if you are given a diagram similar to that on slide 9 of OSD4.pdf, “Example of a Small File System Tree in Unix”, then you should be able to draw the corresponding diagram on slide 10, “Internal Structure of Small File system Tree in Unix”, as well as the corresponding diagram on slide 24, “In Memory VFS Objects and On Disk Objects”.

Also please note that, unfortunately, I am unable to provide individual answers to individual student questions regarding what kind of questions may be included, or not included, in the tests, beyond what I had said during the lectures and what has been posted on the course website above.

The reason is because doing so will be unfair to other students in the class who do not receive the same information.

For all questions regarding tests, please ask me during the lectures so that everyone in the class would have equal opportunity to know my answers to any questions regarding any test.

Thank you for your understanding.

Please note that the CSE4221 Test 1 marks can be accessed by logging in to red.cse.yorku.ca, then typing the following command:

courseInfo 4221 2013-14 F

COSC4221 Test 2 will be held on Wednesday, November 27, 2013 19:00.

Test 2 will include:

(a) Material covered in the lectures, with emphasis on material covered in the lectures since Test 1 and up to and including the lecture on Wednesday November 20;

(b) Material in the slides 46-83 of OSD.4; all the slides in OSD.4.1.pdf, OSD.5.pdf, OSD.6.pdf in the course directory;

(Although there are no books that cover all the material in the slides in OSD.5, however, reading Chapter 5, “Kernel Synchronization”, of the book, “Understanding the Linux Kernel”, 3rd Edition, may help understand some of the material on synchronization in the slides in OSD.5.pdf. Reading Chapter 1 to Chapter 3 of the book “MicroC/OS-II The Real-Time Kernel”, 2nd Edition, may help understand some of the material on μC/OS-II in the slides in OSD.6.pdf. Both books have been put on reserve for 2-hour loans at Steacie Library)

It is possible that Test 2 may include true/false questions, questions that require short answers, questions that require calculations, questions that may require the drawing of diagrams, questions that require writing short programs using pseudo C code similar to that used in the slides, questions that require slightly longer answers, and other possible question formats.

MAKE SURE YOU READ AND UNDERSTAND ALL THE MATERIAL IN THE SLIDES. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALTHOUGH THE EMPHASIS OF TEST 2 WILL BE ON MATERIAL THAT HAS NOT BEEN TESTED SO FAR, THE MATERIAL IN TEST 2 MAY STILL DEPEND ON KNOWLEDGE OF PREVIOUS MATERIAL.

PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE USING THE MOST RECENT/UP-TO-DATE VERSION OF THE SLIDES/LECTURE-NOTES TO PREPARE FOR TEST 2, AS THE SLIDES/LECTURE-NOTES MAY HAVE BEEN MODIFIED TO IMPROVE CLARITY OR TO REMOVE ERRORS.

ALSO NOTE THAT DRAWING THE SAME KIND OF DIAGRAMS AS ILLUSTRATED IN THE SLIDES, WILL BE AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF TEST 2.

Please note that, as announced in class, for the assignment, topic studies and the project, both hard copies and electronic copies of the PowerPoint slides and reports must be submitted.

The unofficial final grades are available by first logging into your CSE account on the Red machine, then typing the following command:

courseInfo 4221 2013-14 F