Advanced Single Semester Course

The following syllabus is designed for an undergraduate operating systems course covering advanced issues. Determining what content to involve in an advanced class can be  a difficult task as quite often the background constituting operating system fundamentals varies widely. However, it is our experience that introductory courses generally cover material through chapter 11 (File Systems). You may discover that you will need to adjust what we recommend in earlier chapters based upon the experiences students bring into your class. The projects at the end of certain chapters make excellent exercises.

Below are recommendations for the first 20 chapters of the text. We have attempted to offer solutions that are flexible enough allowing instructors to tailor the material based upon the specific backgrounds of students and goals of the class. We suggest covering at least one of the case studies to complement the material.

• Chapter 1: Introduction
  This chapter can be skimmed. Section 1.2 (Computer System Organization) can be skipped if students are familiar with computer organization.
  
  
• Chapter 2: Operating System Structures
  This chapter can be quickly skimmed, especially Sections 2.1 through 2.5. The end-of-chapter project makes an excellent exercise.
  
  
• Chapter 3: Processes
  Sections 3.1 and 3.2 can be skipped if students are familiar with the process model and process scheduling. The end-of-chapter project makes an excellent exercise.
  
  
• Chapter 4: Threads
  For students familiar with the concept of threads, Section 4. 1 (Overview) can be skipped. The end-of-chapter project makes an excellent exercise.
  
  
• Chapter 5: CPU Scheduling
  Sections 5.1 through 5.3 can be skipped for students already familiar with the notion of CPU scheduling. The secheduling algorithms make nice programming exercises.
  
  
• Chapter 6: Process Synchronization
  Section 6.3 (Peterson's Solution) may be omitted if you do not intend on covering software solutions to the critical section problem. The end-of-chapter project makes an excellent exercise.
  
  
• Chapter 7: Deadlocks
  Sections 7.1 through 7.3 may be covered quickly for students already familiar with deadlocks. The Bankers Algorithm makes an excellent programming exercise.
  
  
• Chapter 8: Main Memory
  Sections 8.1 through 8.4 may be covered quickly depending upon students' familiarity with main memory.
  
  
• Chapter 9: Virtual Memory
  Sections 9.1, 9.2, and 9,4 may be skimmed quickly depending upon students' familiarity with virtual memory.
  
  
• Chapter 10: Mass-Storage Structure
  Sections 10.1, 10.2, and 10.4  may be covered quickly depending upon students' background. The disk scheduling algorithms (Section 10.4) make nice  programming exercises.
  


• Chapter 11: File-System Interface
  Section 11.1 (File Concept) may be skipped depending upon students' background.
  
  
• Chapter 12: File-System Implementation
  Sections 12.1, 12.4, and 12.5 may be covered quickly  depending upon students' experience.
  
  
• Chapter 13: I/O Systems
  Section 13.1 and 13.2 may be omitted if students have an understanding of I/O hardware. 
  
  
• Chapter 14 Protection
  We recommend covering this chapter in its entirety in an advanced operating systems class.
  
  
• Chapter 15 Security
  We recommend covering this chapter in its entirety in an advanced operating systems class.
  
  
• Chapers 17 Distributed Systems
  We recommend covering this chapter in its entirety in an advanced operating systems class.
  
  
• Chapters 18 and 19 (Linux and Windows 7 Case Studies)
  Covering at least one of the case studies nicely complements the material covered in earlier chapters.