Operating Systems

What it covers

• Processes and CPU scheduling (FIFO, SJF, priority, round-robin, multi-level feedback queue)
• Threads, concurrency and synchronization (mutexes, semaphores, condition variables, deadlock)
• Memory management: paging, the TLB, page replacement (FIFO, LRU, Clock)
• I/O, disk scheduling, RAID, and file systems (inodes, block allocation, links)
• Protection, security basics, and virtualization (VMs, containers)

Assessment

Mandatory pass/fail lab (C, POSIX/pthreads, FUSE, submitted on WebLab) plus a closed-book digital exam. Failing the lab caps your final grade at 1 regardless of exam score. If the lab is passed, the final grade is simply the exam grade, which needs to reach 5.8 to pass overall.

Worth knowing

• The lab is mandatory and pass/fail — you must pass it even if you passed an equivalent lab in a previous year, because it changes significantly each year.
• Labs are individual; code sharing is explicitly disallowed, though discussing approach and ideas with peers is fine.
• Sign-offs require explaining your solution to a TA in person, not just passing the automated spec tests.