The third quiz will be on Wednesday, June 2nd. The first half of the quiz will cover the papers read since the second quiz and the second half will cover all of the papers. Note that this is still a standard 50 minute quiz and there is no other final exam.
Here are some sample questions and answers culled from the applicable parts of previous quarters' quizes. Note that you are responsible for figuring out which answers correspond to which questions (and not all questions have answers provided). Also, since half of this exam is cumulative, the sample questions from the prior quizes might also be helpful.
Quiz 3, with solutions, is now available here.
The second quiz will be on Wednesday, May 19th and cover the papers read since the first quiz.
Here are some sample questions and answers culled from the applicable parts of previous quarters' quizes. Note that you are responsible for figuring out which answers correspond to which questions.
Quiz 2, with solutions, is now available here.
The first quiz will be after we finish the VM (virtual memory) portion of the class. There will be an in-class review session on Friday, April 23rd and then the quiz will be on Monday, April 26th.
Here are some sample questions and answers culled from the applicable parts of previous quarters' quizes. Note that you are responsible for figuring out which answers correspond to which questions.
Quiz 1, with solutions, is now available here.
Students will study advanced operating system topics and be exposed to recent developments in operating systems research. This course involves readings and lectures on classic and new papers. Topics: virtual memory management, synchronization and communication, file systems, protection and security, operating system structure and extension techniques, fault tolerance, and history and experience of systems programming.
To contact the staff, please send email to cs240-spr0304-staff@lists.stanford.edu and prefix the subject line with "CS240" for a prompt response. Announcements from the staff will be sent via the cs240-spr0304-students@lists.stanford.edu mailing list to which any registered student will automatically be added.
The prerequisite for this class is CS 140 (previously CS 240A) or the equivalent. It is necessary to have this background before taking the class, as we'll read a lot papers quickly without much time for catching up on the basics. The course assumes an understanding of topics in operating systems such as synchronization, virtual memory management, scheduling, and file systems.
The other requirement is that students be able to send and receive email, access the class newsgroup, access the class web page, and download and print postscript from the class web page. There will be very few handouts in the course, since most of the notes and other materials will be available only on the class web page.
The course consists of lectures, readings, and three exams. As the quarter progresses there may be ways to get extra credit. The two most important things to know about the class: (1) the main goal is to have interesting in-class discussions and (2) we recommend you read each paper at least twice, preferably more than a day in advance so that it sinks in.
Most of the work in this course consists of reading journal and conference papers. We will cover one paper for each class meeting. This class will be primarily discussion based (rather than organized around lectures). Active discussion will (hopefully) give you a non-trivial understanding of the material. The only way this approach can work is if you read the papers carefully. To encourage this, 40% of your class grade will come from class participation: this includes talking in class, as well as how you do on pop quizzes and (possibly) pop presentations. Class time will not be used to rehash the material in the papers. Instead, it will be used to highlight the important points and discuss some of the more interesting features. There will be as much as 10-15 hours of reading per week. Do not take this course unless you are willing and able to do a lot of reading.
There is no textbook for this course. The course is based on a collection of journal and conference papers that describe the history and state of the art in operating systems. Papers will be discussed in class in approximately the order that they appear on the reading list. You must read the papers before class. At a minimum we recommend two close readings. We will provide most papers online; those that are only available in hardcopy will be provided about a week before they are needed.
The class is graded on a rough curve with an average grade being a B+. 40% of your grade will come from class participation, the other 60% will be based on the two midterm exam scores and the final exam score. All three exams count. Note this is different from previous years' grading policy where only the best two exams counted.
Two midterm exams and a final exam will be given in class. They will be open book . The midterm exams are not cumulative, but the final exam is cumulative. A sample exam will be available along with sample solutions. Review sessions will be held before each exam.
There is a class newsgroup, su.class.cs240, that can be used by members of the class to converse with each other. All course announcements will be put on to the class web page. The news group is a good place to advertise for study groups, ask questions of other students, etc.
This course makes no attempt to cover all the interesting topics in operating systems. Instead, we will cover a few topics in depth. The course is divided into the following general topic areas:
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