Systems Programming

COURSE OBJECTIVE
The goal of this course is to prepare students for lab assignments and scientific research in computer systems (operating systems, compiler construction, network programming, computer networks, parallel programming, etc.) After attending this course, students should be able to develop, test, and debug "systems" programs written in C under Linux or BSD.

COURSE CONTENT
The course is a combination of lectures and lab assignments. During the course, the student is taught how to program in C, use POSIX APIs for process control and networking, understand memory management, use low-level debugging and verification tools, and use performance profiling tools.

TEACHING METHODS
Lectures in combination with several lab assignments to be returned during the study period. Extensive help will also be provided by ways of questions and answers sessions, and a discussion mailing list.

TYPE OF ASSESSMENT
The student will be graded based on the lab assignments he or she handed in (i.e., a Practicum). Exact grading scheme announced at the start of the course. There is a resit opportunity later in the year.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
- must have studied algorithms (incl. sorting, basic graph processing) and data structures (incl. lists, trees, priority queues);
- must have basic understanding of Unix concepts (directory tree, file permissions,terminal).

RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
Prior experience with another language from the C family (eg. Java, Arduino-C, C++, Objective-C, C# or D) is strongly recommended.