This page does not represent the most current semester of this course; it is present merely as an archive.
This course is intended to expose how computers actually work ranging from out-of-order execution to operating system features, with a focus on topics related to concurrency and security. At the end of it, you will be able to
Lecture is optional but strongly encouraged. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 2:00–2:50, in Olsson 005. There is no lab. I do not schedule review sessions or the like outside of usual class time.
The exact details of course assignments are still being determined. However, we do know you will be asked to
| Instructor | TAs | |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Luther Tychonievich | Anders Christoffersen, Rossi McCall |
| Location | Rice 208 | Thornton Stacks (A235) |
| Office Hours | Monday 10–11am; Thursday 1–2pm and 5–6pm; Friday 11am–12 | Monday 4–6pm; Tuesday 11–12pm; Thursday 11–12pm |
| Phone | 243-3789 | (none) |
| tychonievich@virginia.edu | use Piazza |
For most communication, Piazza is preferred to email. If you email, include “COA2” in the subject line to prevent your email from skipping my inbox and never getting read.
Although we have several textbooks we are considering for use, none of them were settled on in time for this pilot. Readings written by us or selected from articles or web pages will periodically be posted on the schedule. Some of these may have “reading quizzes” associated with them: quizzes to be taken based on the reading prior to the lecture in which they are discussed.
“If you really want to understand something, the best way is to try and explain it to someone else. That forces you to sort it out in your own mind. And the more slow and dim-witted your pupil, the more you have to break things down into more and more simple ideas. And that’s really the essence of programming. By the time you’ve sorted out a complicated idea into little steps that even a stupid machine can deal with, you’ve certainly learned something about it yourself.”—Douglas Adams
This course will involve multiple programming assignments in C (and maybe a bit of other languages).
Estimating how long it will take someone to complete a coding assignment is always difficult. The target difficulty is 5–10 hours of focused effort each week.
Grading is one of the aspects of a course that instructors enjoy even less than students. Still, we are stuck with them, so here goes.
Since this course has not been offered before, we may adjust these weights as the semester progresses. Any such adjustment will be discussed in class before being implemented.
| Task | Weight | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Quizzes | 10% | Drop lowest score |
| Assignments | 40% | |
| Exams | 50% |
Your final grade is computed based on the percentage of points you have earned and is designed to match the GPA value of each letter. For reasons I do not understand, that is not a linear scale: for example, A- − B+ = 0.4 grade points while B+ − B = 0.3 grade points. For reasons even farther from my ken, the most common grading scale I have seen is also not linear but differently spaced than the grade points (using _7 instead of _6 below). Following is a scale spaced like the grade point scale:
| You get | if you score | Which is worth |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | near the top | 4.0 |
| A | ≥ 93% | 4.0 |
| A− | ≥ 90% | 3.7 |
| B+ | ≥ 86% | 3.3 |
| B | ≥ 83% | 3.0 |
| B− | ≥ 80% | 2.7 |
| C+ | ≥ 76% | 2.3 |
| C | ≥ 73% | 2.0 |
| C− | ≥ 70% | 1.7 |
| D+ | ≥ 66% | 1.3 |
| D | ≥ 63% | 1.0 |
| D− | ≥ 60% | 0.7 |
| F | otherwise | 0.0 |
Quiz solutions are released the moment the quiz closes, and thus quizzes cannot be taken late. Your lowest quiz score is dropped.
Assignments may be submitted up to 48 hours late. They are given 90% credit between 0 and 24 hours late; at 80% credit between 24 and 48 hours late. If extensions beyond that time are needed, please see the professor to discuss why and if other accommodations are also needed.
Exams may not be taken late without special-case permission.
Behave professionally.
Never abuse anyone, including the emotional abuse of blaming others for your mistakes. Kindness is more important than correctness.
Let our TAs be students when they are not being TAs.
I always hope everyone will behave honestly. I know we all are tempted to do what we ought not; if you do something you regret, the sooner you tell me the sooner (and more leniently) we can correct it.
You must cite any and every source you consult, other than those explicitly provided by the course itself. Talked to a friend, saw an interesting video, consulted a website, had a tutor? Tell us! Put it in a comment in your code.
You must write your own code. Not just type it (though you need to do that too): compose it yourself, as your own original work. Beware of looking at other students code or code you find online: it is hard to unsee and can spoil your ability to compose your own solutions!
Working together can help you learn. But make sure you learned! We may ask you to explain aspects of a solution you turn in, and may dock points if it appears you simply copied someone else’s ideas (or just guessed a lot of things until one worked) without understanding them.
It would probably go without saying if we didn’t say it, but no assistance may be given or received on any supervised evaluation or online quiz unless specifically announced otherwise by the professor (or another proctor of the evaluation).
If I believe you have acted dishonestly, I will communicate this fact to you and propose a penalty. If you have information I lack, please share that with me; I may thereafter change my belief and/or proposed penalty.
If we are not able to come to an agreement, or if the case is particularly egregious and beyond my comfort level handling in-course, we will instead refer the case to the University Honor System and abide by their findings.
If you qualify for accommodations from the SDAC, please let me know, preferably in my office where we can discuss how your accommodations will interplay with the quiz- and assignment-based nature of this course.
As a religious person myself, I fully support the university’s stance on accommodating religious observances. If such observances or other religious beliefs impact or are likely to impact your work this semester, please let me know as soon as you are aware of this impact.
Bad things happen. People forget things and make mistakes. Bad days coincide with due dates. Etc.
If you believe that circumstances warrant an change in deadline, a second chance, or some other accommodation in order to more accurately synchronize grade with knowledge, come talk to me and we’ll resolve the situation as best we can.