General Information
Catalog description //
Who should take 6.828 //
Communication //
Grading //
Labs //
Code reviews //
Homework //
Collaboration //
Class meetings //
Staff //
TA office hours
MIT catalog description
Prereq.: C, 6.033, and 6.170 (and, by implication, 6.004)
G (H)
3-6-3
6 EDP
6.828 studies fundamental design and implementation ideas in the
engineering of operating systems. Lectures are based on a study of
UNIX and research papers. Topics include virtual memory, threads, context
switches, kernels, interrupts, system calls, interprocess
communication, coordination, and the interaction between software and
hardware. Individual laboratory assignments involve implementation
of a small operating system in C, with some
x86 assembly.
Students can use 6.828 to fulfill the engineering concentration
requirements for Computer Systems.
Who should take 6.828?
6.828 is primarily intended for seniors and M.Eng students who want to
learn about operating systems in detail. PhD students are also welcome,
but note that 6.828 is not a "core" subject for the TQE.
Communication
We will distribute assignments on the course web site, and make all announcements through piazza. The course web site has the schedule for the term.
Grading policy
Grades in 6.828 will be based on the results of one quiz during the term
(30%); lab exercises (30%); home-work assignments, code reviews, and class
participation (together 10%); and lab challenge problems and a final project
(together 30%). You must submit all labs in order to pass the class. There is
no final in finals week, but there are final project presentations in the last
week of classes.
Labs
To turn-in the labs, run make handin in your lab directory. The
handin must be received by 11:59pm on the day that the lab is due. You can
turning in as many times as you want. We will grade all your submissions and
email the result to you within a few minutes. Your final grade and late hours
(see below) are only based on the latest submission you made to a lab.
You have a total of 72 late hours to use throughout the semester, which you
can divide up among the lab assignments however you like; you don't have to ask
or tell us. Each day late in excess of 72 hours will incur a full letter grade
penalty on the lab exercise component of your overall grade. These late hours
are intended for cases where you fall behind due to illness, job interviews,
MIT athletic events, deadlines in other classes, etc. For extensions under
extenuating circumstances (e.g., you are sick for a week), we require a letter
from one of the student deans.
Code reviews
You will also be required to review other students' lab code, a
standard practice used to improve code quality. These reviews will
be randomly assigned 36 hours after the lab deadline and will be due
one week after the lab deadline. As soon as a review is submitted,
the author of the code will receive a copy. The review process is
double blind: both the author of the code and the reviewer are
anonymous. Reviews should be a few paragraphs that suggest three
possible improvements and identify one thing the reviewer learned
from the other student's code. Like the homework, we will check-off
that you put reasonable effort into them.
Homework
Most homeworks will be done in class and are due at the end of the class.
The homework is intended to make you think about the lecture topic and get your
hands dirty during We do not grade your answers for correctness, but
merely check-off that you put reasonable effort into them.
Collaboration
You may not collaborate on quizzes. You are welcome to discuss the homework
and labs with other students, but all of your written work and code must be your
own and must carefully acknowledge all contributions of ideas by others, whether
from classmates or from sources you have read. We encourage interactions on
Piazza.
Do not post your lab or homework solutions on publicly accessible web
sites (such as GitHub) or file spaces (such as your Athena Public
directory).
Class meetings
Lectures will be held on Monday and Wednesday from 1:00pm to 2:30pm
in 32-141.
Staff
Course mailing list:
Please use Piazza for communication with the class or staff.
TA office hours
Haogang: Wednesdays 3:00pm to 5:00pm in 26-142
Cam: Tuesdays 6:00pm to 8:00pm in 34-303
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