logistics

main textbooks (1)

• Peterson and Davie, Computer Networks: A Systems Approach

  • available online https://book.asystemsapproach.org/, also paper version
  • focused on higher-level goals, not details of specific implementations

• Fall and Stevens, TCP/IP Illustrated: Volume 1, Second Edition: The Protocols

  • available via O’Reilly through library

    • link on schedule page, or search library catalog
    • make account with your UVa email

  • focused on details of the Internet and related systems

coursework

• weekly quizzes

  • approx 4 questions/week
  • mostly autograded, will manually adjust based on work/comments
  • 20% of overall course grade, lowest dropped automatically

• homework assignments

  • mostly programming-based, mostly Python
  • approx. weekly deadlines
  • 60% of overall course grade

• final exam

  • 12 December
  • 20% of overall course grade

homeworks preview (1)

• reliable1/2 — stream of messages with automatic resending
• P4 — forwarding messages locally
• AIMD — simulating variations on TCP
• packet scheduling — prioritizing network traffic
• DV routing — forwarding messages far
• DNS — mapping names to addresses
• webserver
• other application layer* (not made yet)
• wireless

assignment infrastructure

• most assignments in Python
• P4 — requires some VM setup
  • network/switch emulation software that really needs root on Linux
• AIMD — using C++ simulator
  • goal: tweak and measure working TCP implementation
  • mostly small modifications, shouldn’t need much C++ knowledge
  • (the other obvious simulator is mainly in Tcl, which seems worse idea)

notable changes

• framing assignment removed
• new application layer assignment(s), topic TBD, a possible short list:
  • SMTP (email)
  • HTTP proxy/reverse proxy
  • HLS (HTTP Live Streaming)
  • …
• may rework some assignments

due times/late policy

• assignments usually due Friday @ 11:59pm
  • 90% credit for submissions up to 72 hours late, no questions asked
• quizzes usually due Tuesday @ 12:15pm
  • done online, untimed, open notes/book
  • late submissions not normally accepted (may discuss during lecture)

• unusual circumstances — contact me

  • can often grant exceptions/alternate arrangements
  • more flexibility if contacted earlier

collaboration

• quizzes, homeworks are individual

• yes:

  • review examples in textbook/lecture/etc.
  • discuss high-level concepts (without detailed psuedocode for assignment, etc.)
  • lookup up syntax/standard library documentation

• no:

  • sharing code/detailed psuedocode/answers
  • getting code/etc. from web forums, LLMs, etc.

aside: selected standard python libraries

• bisect — search/insert within sorted list
• collections’s deque — ordered list with fast insertion/deletion at both ends
• heapq — priority queue (using a heap)
• struct — convert between integers and bytes and vice-versa
  • array — convert between integers and bytes in less flexible way

    ---

• not intending for you to reimplement common, non-networking tasks
• may grant exceptions to use other libraries/etc. for generic tasks