CS414 Programming Projects

Over the course of CS414 you'll implement some core features of an operating system: a preemptive threads package, concurrency control mechanisms, a scheduler, and a file system. We'll be using the Minithreads software which has been developed and used in the main CS414/415 course over the past 2 years. Minithreads runs on top of Windows NT/2000 and provides an emulation of raw hardware for you to build on (e.g. interrupts, devices, atomic instructions).

The Projects

Project 1: Threads and Synchronisation. Due Monday, 6/9. There was a section on the project on 6/2 and the slides are available. This project has been graded and comments are available.
Project 2: Preemption and Scheduling. Due Thursday, 6/19. There was a section on the project on 6/11 and the slides are also available.
Project 3: Filesystem. Due Monday, 30 June. There was a section on the project on 6/20 and the slides are also available.

Hints and Tips

There was a section about C programming on Tuesday, 5/27, and the slides are available here. The section will cover C-specific features, and traps to avoid, but do not have a lot of detail about library functions or exact syntax. Other references worth looking at:

The C Programming Language, Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie ("K&R"). Several copies are available on reserve in the Engineering Library, but if you intend to do any serious C programming, we recomment you buy a copy.
A tutorial on C programming which might be useful; there are plenty of other ones available on the web, just use a search engine.

There's an FAQ about Minithreads which includes some general questions and questions related to specific projects. divider line

Copyright 2003, Rimon Barr and Ben Atkin, Cornell University CS414-su03: projects.spy