Introduction to Computer Systems
Fall 2024

Syllabus

The goal of the course is to convey the fundamental concepts that enable programs to execute on real hardware. Those concepts include how the operating system virtualizes the hardware to provide basic services and abstractions to enable a user program to effectively use the available hardware resources. The course also addresses how different programming constructs and idioms work.

The basic abstraction of a program running as one or more threads of control in a single flat address space (a Unix process) is the key to the course. Emphasizing that abstraction as the underlying model for understanding how a program works, from both the user program and hardware perspective (with the OS in between), run as a theme through all topics in the course. Examples include C pointers (to data and functions), function calls and runtime stack management, dynamic memory management in the heap, and the fork/exec system calls.

This class will be on campus, and exams and quizzes need to be taken on campus (they cannot be taken online (no exceptions)). The class format is similar to my other courses: we will record lectures and labs, no pop quizzes, no attendance required, old semester exams available, and Piazza as the class bulletin board.

Prerequisite → C- or better in CMSC132 and MATH 141

Credits → 4

Nelson Padua-Perez, Office: IRB 2210

You do not need the recommended textbooks to be successful in this course. We believe we provide all the information you need in lecture and lab. In addition, there is ton of information about C/systems programming online. We provide the references below as some students prefer to have a textbook. The following notes (written by a former student/TA) can help you: Lecture Notes.

• Lectures will be recorded (if this represents a problem for you contact your instructor). Keep in mind that technical problems may prevent us from creating a recording. You are still responsible for any material covered in lecture.
• No pop quizzes.
• Lecture session attendance is NOT required, however, you are responsible for any material covered in lecture and lab/discussion session.
• You do not need to notify your instructor if you will be missing lecture, labs, unless graded material (e.g., exam) takes place on that particular lecture.
• We may have a limited number of online office hours in addition to on-campus office hours.
• The course will have approximately seven programming assignments (projects/exercises). There will be no semester-long projects.
• All programming assignments will be individually developed, unless specified otherwise.

• Email (to both instructor and TAs) should be used for urgent matters and not to address project questions, lecture material questions, etc. Due to the large number of students in the instructor classes, email should only be used when necessary.
• Please wait 24 hours to get a response to an email message sent Monday through Thursday. Messages sent on Friday or weekends will be answered on the following Monday.
• Please keep your email messages as short as possible. Thank you.
• Before emailing TAs or the instructor, check the Piazza announcements and old_announcements folders.

• Unix Memory Model
• Moving from Java to C
• Pointers and dynamic data structures in C
• I/O
• Standard Libraries
• Testing
• Assembly Language
• Process control
• Systems programming
• Program measurement and optimization
• Multithreaded programming with pthreads
• Libraries and linking
• Dynamic memory management

It is your responsibility to submit regrade requests by a specified deadline; no regrade requests will be processed afterward (even if there are grading errors). If you don't address a grading concern by the specified deadline, we will assume you have reviewed the graded work and are satisfied with your current grade. Deadlines to address any grading concerns will be available at Grading Concerns.

• Deadlines - All assignments are due at 11:55 pm and you have until 11:55 pm of the next day to submit your work with a 12% penalty. You will not receive any credit for a submission after the late deadline. The submit server will use 11:56 pm as the deadline, otherwise assignments submitted exactly at 11:55 pm will be considered late. The actual deadline for assignments is 11:55 pm. A submission one minute late is considered a late submission. You need to plan to submit at least one hour before the official deadline.
• Submit Server - You need to use the submit server to submit you work. We will not accept work submitted otherwise (e.g., email, etc.). You need to make sure that your assignment solution works in the submit server, otherwise you may lose most or all of the assignment credit.
• Which Assignments Gets Graded - For programming assignments the one with public/release/secret tests that scores the highest in the submit server after a late penalty (if any) has been applied. We only use public/release/secret tests scores to select the submission to grade. Other assignment requirements (e.g., style, methods you must implement, etc.) are not considered. We will evaluate those requirements on the selected submission. We cannot select a particular submission to grade. We will grade the highest scoring submission as described above. Keep in mind you may get a total score lower than expected if the highest scoring submission is missing requirements a lower scoring submission satisfies.
• Closed Assignments - All programming assignments in this course are to be written individually (unless explicitly indicated otherwise).You may discuss assignments only with TAs, instructor or via Piazza.
• No Pop Quizzes/Pop Lab Work - There are no pop quizzes nor pop lab exercises. We will announce in advance (at least one day) if there is any work you need to submit for a grade.
• Projects and exercises are posted by 6 pm on the day specified on the schedule.

Every class project and the debugging quiz have a good faith attempt (GFA) requirement. The good faith attempt represents the minimum functionality you need to implement for a project. For each project you don't satisfy the good faith attempt, your class letter grade will be reduced by at least one letter grade. For example, if you have an A+, and missed one GFA, your class letter grade will be B+. The goal of the GFA is to guarantee you have the basic skills needed for upper level courses. You have until the last day of classes (Monday, Dec 9, 11:55 pm) to satisfy any missing GFA.

The use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Bing AI, etc.) for the completion of graded work (e.g., programming assignments) is not allowed and represents an academic integrity violation (see information below).

• Posting of any assignment solution (even after the course is over) in a publicly available online location (e.g., github, Chegg) is prohibited under the Code of Academic Integrity (facilitation of academic dishonesty). Any student responsible for publicly posting assignments' solutions will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct and risks the sanction of an "XF" in the course.
• Posting of your assignments in a private repository where only selected people (e.g., potential employers) have access is OK.

Office hours get extremely busy the day before an assignment deadline. Help during office hours is not guaranteed. TAs/instructors cannot stay holding office hours after the office hours period ends because students are waiting for help (this applies to online/virtual office hours as well). The sooner you start working on a project, the better your chances of getting help. Please, leave the TA room once you have received help and do not use the TA Room as a working area.

You are responsible for creating backups of your work using any approach (make sure your work is not accessible to others). No extensions will be granted if you lose your work and you had no backups.

We will be using (Piazza) for class communication. You will not be able to register to Piazza yourself. Your instructor will register you using the email address you have in the school system. Posting of any kind of code in Piazza is not allowed.

Feel free to stop e-mail messages Piazza sends by updating the email settings. You can change the settings by selecting the wheel that appears in the right upper side of the Piazza interface and selecting "Account/Email Settings". You can select "No Emails" for our course. Notice that your instructor can still send messages through Piazza, regardless the settings you have chosen. If you change your email notifications, make sure you visit Piazza often for announcements and project clarifications we have made.

You are responsible for checking announcements (at least twice a day) we post in the announcements Piazza folder. An old_announcements Piazza folder will have old announcements. We recommend you check messages everyday around 11:30 am and after 5:00 pm.

See the section titled "Attendance and Missed Assignments" available at Course Related Policies.

See the section titled "Accessibility" available at Course Related Policies.

If you are an ADS (https://counseling.umd.edu/ads) student (others ignore this information):

ADS students: you are responsible for reserving a space at ADS to take quizzes/exams (we cannot provide that support). Keep in mind ADS has deadlines regarding by when to schedule a day/time to take exams. If your main accommodation is extra time in exams and quizzes, you don't need to meet your instructor (just bring to lecture any form that needs a signature).

Please read this information carefully. We take academic integrity matters seriously.

1. Academic dishonesty includes not only cheating, fabrication, and plagiarism, but also includes helping other students commit acts of academic dishonesty by allowing them to obtain copies of your work. All submitted work must be your own. Cases of academic dishonesty will be pursued to the fullest extent possible as stipulated by the Office of Student Conduct.
2. Nelson takes academic integrity very seriously. If you violate academic integrity rules, he will submit a case to the University, and at least ask for a 0 in the assignment and a reduction of your course grade by two letter grades (e.g., If you have an A+, you will receive a C+). There will be no exceptions. Please carefully read the information below and watch the following video Nelson recorded: Academic Integrity Video.
3. Situations that often lead to academic integrity violations:
   • A student's friend/roommate shares an assignment's code. Once you provide your code to another student, you are a facilitator, even if you indicate to the student "not to copy-paste" any of it. Actually we had a case in which a student CS degree was revoked for this reason.
   • Students use online resources (github, Chegg, etc.) to find assignments' solutions. The solutions are found by several students and all will be involved in an academic case.
   • Students assume we don't have tools that check for similarities among all students' submissions.
   • Students get desperate and don't want a 0 in the assignment.
   • Students are not aware of the expectations regarding academic integrity.
   • Students assume we don't take academic integrity matters seriously.
   • You should only receive assistance from instructors/TAs. We have seen cases in which the use of tutors have led to academic integrity violations (e.g., tutors looked for assignment's solutions online).
4. The Office of Student Conduct is responsible for handling academic integrity matters. After a report is submitted by an instructor, the case is evaluated by the office and it could result in an XF grade, degree revocation, or dismissal from the university.
5. One of the most negative consequences of academic integrity violations is the emotional burden an academic integrity case has on a student. We have seen students extremely distraught as a result of an academic integrity violation. In many cases students chances for recommendations, TA positions, and other opportunities are negatively affected.
6. Please read the section titled "Academic Integrity" available at Course Related Policies and the information available at Academic Integrity

If you or your parents have any class concerns, feel free to contact the instructor. If an issue arises with the instructor, report it using the form available at https://www.cs.umd.edu/classconcern.

Notice of mandatory reporting of sexual assault, sexual harassment, interpersonal violence, and stalking: As faculty members, a course instructor is designated as a “Responsible University Employee,” and must report all disclosures of sexual assault, sexual harassment, interpersonal violence, and stalking to UMD’s Title IX Coordinator per University Policy on Sexual Harassment and Other Sexual Misconduct.

If you wish to speak with someone confidentially, please contact one of UMD’s confidential resources, such as CARE to Stop Violence (located on the Ground Floor of the Health Center) at 301-741-3442 or the Counseling Center (located at the Shoemaker Building) at 301-314-7651.

You may also seek assistance or supportive measures from UMD’s Title IX Coordinator, Angela Nastase, by calling 301-405-1142, or emailing titleIXcoordinator@umd.edu.

To view further information on the above, please visit the Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct's website at ocrsm.umd.edu.

• Contact your instructor, the Counseling Center or both, if you are experiencing difficulties that affect your performance in your courses. Do not wait until the end of the semester to look for help.
• If you are experiencing difficulties contact your instructor immediately otherwise no extensions, incomplete or late work will be accepted as on time.

If your computer is experiencing problems, you can borrow one. See https://www.lib.umd.edu/equipment?search_api_fulltext=laptop for additional information.

Make sure you have an alternate device or option to authenticate (Duo) to school, as submitting classwork requires authentication. Some students use  an iPad or another phone number (e.g., home phone) to authenticate. You  should test your alternate device/approach before you have an emergency. Additional information at: Multi-Factor Authentication.

• There is no extra credit in this course (this is often asked at the end of the semester).
• You are expected to develop your work using the Grace environment and one of the supported editors (vim/emacs/nano). No extensions will be granted for problems associated with development environments (e.g., Visual Studio) not officially approved for class use.
• We only use ELMS for videos (Panopto).
• At the end of the semester visit (www.courseevalum.umd.edu) to complete your course evaluations.
• UMD Course related policies are available at http://www.ugst.umd.edu/courserelatedpolicies.html.
• Lost & Found - Iribe 2140

All course materials are copyright UMCP, Department of Computer Science © 2024. All rights reserved. Students are permitted to use course materials for their own personal use only. Course materials may not be distributed publicly or provided to others (excepting other students in the course), in any way or format.

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