To develop a detailed understanding of computer systems from a system programmer's point of view, that is, from machine and assembly languages up to operating system services. Students will become fluent in assembly language programming on the IA-32 platform (using standard, floating-point, and multimedia instructions) and learn how instructions are encoded and decoded. Students will understand object and executable file formats, linking, system calls and memory protection schemes. Students will also learn how to do mixed language programming, exploit security flaws such as buffer overflows, and write device drivers.
Moderate proficiency in Java or C programming.
Readings for this class include portions of the following sources, and perhaps a few other papers and reference materials chosen along the way:
Additional papers and readings will be assigned throughout the course (including my own course notes, practice problems, and sample code). If you have projects or papers to work on, you'll have to find some additional readings on your own. Use judgment when researching on the web; a fair amount of information is often wrong, and much of the so-called sample code is especially atrocious. Regardless, you must take the time for effective self-study that includes practicing the craft of programming.
You'll have several homework sets containing in-depth theoretical questions and non-trivial programming problems, and quizzes and a final exam with less difficult material. To help prepare you to meet industry expectations for college graduates, most assignments will take the form of open source software products. Unless otherwise specified, you are required to keep all work in your CVS repository and prepare all homework solutions with LaTeX document preparation system. Exams will cover material from lectures not previously assigned for homework: don't whine about this.
Generally, coursework may be done in groups of no more than two students; however, while only one solution set is turned in per group, both students are responsible for understanding all of its content and may be asked at any time for an oral explanation of any solution. Collaboration with other groups is fine but must be limited: you may share ideas and approaches but nothing resembling a solution (not even pseudocode). You must also acknowledge any help received. Academic dishonesty may result in expulsion; be certain your work meets the standards set forth in the LMU Honor Code.
Your final grade will be weighted as follows:
Letter grades are figured according to the usual scale: 90% or more of the total points gets you an A, 80% a B, 70% a C, and so on. These are minimal requirements; for example, if you get 82 points you are guaranteed a B- or better, though you might still get an A since 82 may be the top score.
Homework
is due at the beginning of class; late assignments are docked
30% per class. Missing class just to get an assignment done on time
will not be tolerated; the only good excuses for missing class are
excellent surf conditions, family problems, sickness, and personal
emergencies. Skipping class just puts your fellow students
at an advantage: we often spend class
time going over things that will be "on the exam".
Your programming style will play a huge part in determining your score on the programming assignments. I will not hesitate to assign D's or F's to working programs which are poorly structured, under-commented, have poor identifier names and abbreviations, contain inappropriate hard-coded values, or are not easily maintainable. Appearance of the grading policy in this syllabus constitutes fair warning of the consequences of poorly written code.
All students will want to acquaint themselves with the useful information found in the following sources: