COMP 321: Introduction to Computer Systems

Course Schedule For Spring 2026

Note: This schedule is subject to change.  Also, the lecture topic dates are approximate, as the topics do not divide exactly into a whole number of class days each.

Date Lecture Reading Laboratory Assignments
Out Due
Tue 1/13 Overview;
Kernel vs. Processes		 B&O Chapter 8 C Refresher
Wed 1/14
Thu 1/15 Programs and Processes B&O Chapter 8
Tue 1/20 Some fork() "Puzzles";
Environment Variables		 Environment Variables: PATH
Wed 1/21
Thu 1/22 System-Level I/O: Basics B&O Chapter 10
Tue 1/27 Signals B&O Chapter 8 Signals Shell
Wed 1/28
Thu 1/29 Class Canceled (Jury Duty)
Tue 2/3 Introduction to Networking B&O Chapter 11 Networking
Wed 2/4
Thu 2/5 I/O Multiplexing and Non-blocking I/O;
Threads		 B&O Chapter 10, 12
Tue 2/10 Threads;
System-Level I/O: File Descriptor State Sharing		 B&O Chapter 12, 10 Thread Context
Wed 2/11 Shell
Thu 2/12 No Lecture (Spring Recess)
Tue 2/17 System-Level I/O: File Descriptor State Sharing;
Dynamic Memory Allocation: Introduction		 B&O Chapter 10, 9 Event-driven Concurrency Threads
Wed 2/18
Thu 2/19 Dynamic Memory Allocation: Introduction;
Dynamic Memory Allocation: Implicit Free Lists		 B&O Chapter 9
Tue 2/24 Dynamic Memory Allocation: Implicit Free Lists;
Dynamic Memory Allocation: Explicit Free Lists		 Midterm Review
Wed 2/25 Midterm Exam (7-9pm)
Thu 2/26 Virtual Memory: Paging
Tue 3/3 Virtual Memory: The Page Table Implicit Free List Memory Allocator
Wed 3/4
Thu 3/5 Virtual Memory: Demand Paging B&O Chapter 9 Malloc Threads
Tue 3/10 Other Uses of Paging Support Memory Allocator Profiling
Wed 3/11
Thu 3/12 Some Other Topics in Demand Paging
Tue 3/17 No Lecture (Spring Break) No Lab (Spring Break)
Wed 3/18
Thu 3/19 No Lecture (Spring Break)
Tue 3/24 Review: File Descriptor Behavior;
Viewing Mapped Memory Regions		 Mmap
Wed 3/25
Thu 3/26 Additional I/O Functions Checkpointing Malloc
Tue 3/31 Advanced Signal Handling;
Introduction to File Systems		 B&O Chapter 9 Mprotect and SIGSEGV
Wed 4/1
Thu 4/2 Representing Files in File Systems OS:TEP
Chapter 39 and
Chapter 40
Tue 4/7 Persistence and Consistency in File Systems File Systems
Wed 4/8
Thu 4/9 Naming in File Systems KVStore Checkpointing
Tue 4/14 File System Kernel and Library Calls Software Caching
Wed 4/15
Thu 4/16 Protection Concepts and Methods OS:TEP
Chapter 53,
Chapter 55, and
Chapter 56
Tue 4/21 Security Attacks and Lessons Final Exam Review
Wed 4/22
Thu 4/23 Introduction to Cryptographic-Based Security KVStore

"OS:TEP" is "Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces", a free online operating systems textbook by Remzi H. Arpaci-Dusseau, Andrea C. Arpaci-Dusseau, and Peter Reiher.