General Information

Catalog description // Who should take 6.828 // Communication // Grading // Labs // Text books // Homework // Collaboration // Class meetings // Staff // TA office hours

MIT catalog description

Prereq.: C, 6.033, 6.005, and 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 two quizzes (one during the term and one in finals week) (35%); labs 1 through 5 (40%); home-work assignments, paper questions and class/piazza participation (together 10%); and lab challenge problems and final project lab (together 15%). You must submit all labs in order to pass the class. Historically students do well in 6.828 with many students receiving an A (e.g., in 2017 a majority of students received an A).

Labs

To turn in each lab, 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 turn in as many times as you like before the deadline. The handin website grades your final lab submission and shows your final lab grade.

You have a total of 72 late hours for the semester. Each hour late in excess of 72 hours will penalize your total lab grade by 1%. We calculate your final lab grade using the configuration of late hours and lab submissions which results in the highest 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.

Homework

The homeworks are intended to make you think about the lecture topic and/or get your hands dirty. Programming homework and paper questions are due before the start of lecture (i.e., 1pm) on the specified due dates. We do not grade your answers for correctness, but merely check-off that you put reasonable effort into them.

Textbooks

6.828 relies on the following two books:

In addition, the class relies on tons of reference material on x86 instructions, PC hardware specs, etc. All that material is available on the reference page.

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. Please don't look at anyone else's code for the labs or homework. Please feel free to ask and answer questions on Piazza, about labs, homework, readings, and lectures.

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 32-123.

Staff

Lecturer
Adam Belay
Frans Kaashoek

Teaching assistants
Anish Athalye
Jonathan Behrens
Lef Ioannidis

Staff mailing list
6.828-staff@pdos.csail.mit.edu, but we would prefer that you use Piazza.

TA office hours

All OH are in the 32-G9 lounge.

Lef: Mon 4-6pm
Jonathan: Tue 2-4pm (starting week of 9/18)
Anish: Wed 3-5pm

Appointments with the TAs outside of the listed office hours can be setup via email.

Questions or comments regarding 6.828? Send e-mail to the TAs at 6828-staff@lists.csail.mit.edu.

Creative Commons License Top // 6.828 home // Accessibility // Last updated Wednesday, 22-Sep-2021 12:14:47 EDT