Learning Outcomes

This page collects together all of the “outcomes” associated with individual modules. Outcomes identify what students will know and be able to do if they master the material.

The course-specific student learning outcomes (SLOs) this this course are:

Students understand the underlying principle behind machine-level data representations, computing, and programming.
Students are proficient with assembly programming for the x86 architecture, including register operations, control structures, bitwise operations, and subprograms.
Students understand the underlying principles behind compiling, linking, loading, and debugging.
Students gain some hands-on experience with developing a small compiler.

The student learning outcomes (SLOs) for this course that are part of the SLOs for the entire Computer Science program, are:

[A] Students can apply knowledge of computing and mathematics appropriate to the discipline.
[B] Students can analyze a problem, and identify and define the computing requirements appropriate to its solution
[C] Students can design, implement, and evaluate a computer-based system, process, component, or program to meet desired needs
[I] Students can use current techniques, skills, and tools necessary for computing practice

Understand basic computer architecture concepts

Understand the main components of the Von-Neumann model
Understand the concept of an ISA
Understand the Fetch-Decode-Execute cycle

Referencing modules: Computer Architecture Review

Understand the motivation for and basic design of operating systems

Understand the role of and design options for Operating Systems, in the context of past and current such systems.

Referencing modules: OS Overview and Structures

Understand process concepts and apply them to programming problems.

Understand the process abstraction and how the OS implements it
Understand process creation in Linux and gain hands-on experience with process creation in Java
Understand popular Inter-Process-Communication (IPC) abstractions
Gain hands-on experience with the Pipe abstraction

Referencing modules: Processes

Be able to program with threads

Understand the thread abstraction and how the OS implements it
Gain hands-on experience with thread creation in Java

Referencing modules: Threads

Understand synchronization issues and apply them to programming problems

Understand the race condition problem
Understand the lock abstraction
Understand the deadlock problem and some of its possible solutions
Be exposed to the condition variable abstraction

Referencing modules: Synchronization

Understand motivation for OS scheduling and how it is implemented

Understand the need for scheduling at the OS level
Understand how scheduling impacts system performance and reactivity
Know standard scheduling algorithms/strategies and be able to apply them to job mixes
Gain hands-on experience implementing a Scheduling simulation in Java

Referencing modules: Scheduling

Understand and apply basic algorithms for memory management

Be proficient with the needed discrete math skills to reason quantitatively about memory (addressing, counting)
Understand the memory management problem
Know standard bin packing algorithm for solving the “contiguous memory” management problem

Referencing modules: Main Memory

Understand the design and implementation of virtual memory

Understand the need for the Virtual Memory abstraction
Understand how Operating Systems implement Virtual Memory (paging, page tables, swapping)
Gain hands-on experience implementing a Virtual Memory simulation in Java

Referencing modules: Virtual Memory

Understand the design and implementation of storage and file systems

Know the salient characteristics of storage media
Understand the role of file systems
Understand how main file systems components are implemented

Referencing modules: Mass Storage, File System