Summary

Introduction to Operating Systems is a graduate-level introductory course in operating systems. This course teaches the basic operating system abstractions, mechanisms, and their implementations. The core of the course contains concurrent programming (threads and synchronization), inter process communication, and an introduction to distributed operating systems. The course is split into four sections: (1) Introduction, (2) Process and Thread Management, (3) Resource Management and Communication, and (4) Distributed Systems.

Expected Learning

The goals of this course are three-fold.

1. Students will understand the rationale behind the current design and implementation decisions in modern OS’s (like Linux) by considering the historic evolution of various OS constructs
2. Students will be exposed to theoretical knowledge regarding operating systems principles and implementation
3. Students will gain knowledge via experimenting and evaluating various OS aspects in a practical manner

Syllabus

The Course Wiki serves as the syllabus for Introduction to Operating Systems. But, for a high-level view of the course, we have listed the lessons:

Part 1: Introduction

• Lesson 1: Course Overview
• Lesson 2: Introduction to Operating Systems

Part 2: Process and Thread Management

• Lesson 1: Processes and Process Management
• Lesson 2: Threads and Concurrency
• Lesson 3: Threads Case Study: PThreads
• Lesson 4: Thread Implementation Considerations
• Lesson 5: Thread Performance Considerations

Part 3: Resource Management and Communication

• Lesson 1: Scheduling
• Lesson 2: Memory Management
• Lesson 3: Inter-Process Communication
• Lesson 4: Synchronization Constructs
• Lesson 5: I/O Management
• Lesson 6: Resource Virtualization

Part 4: Distributed Systems

• Lesson 1: Remote Services
• Lesson 2: Distributed File Systems
• Lesson 3: Distributed Shared Memory
• Lesson 4: Data Center Technologies

Required Knowledge

To undertake this course, you should have taken an undergraduate level course on, or be otherwise familiar with, basic hardware and software aspects of computer systems organization. Prior programming experience with C is recommended, as C is required for the practical component of this course.

For other requirements, see Udacity's Technology Requirements.