CS332 Past Announcements for Fall 2020 (A. V. Gerbessiotis)

Past Announcements

(12/16) Final Exam Grading The grading has been completed. It is possible that grades will be posted to Banner on Friday (late afternoon). Statistics for the final in Section C.4
(12/10) Email issues Expect delays if you plan to send an email to us or you expect to receive an email from us today. (To put things into perspective i received an email right now (9:25@12/10) that was sent from within NJIT on Nov 24...)
(12/9) ProctorU announcement: Review+ is Record+. ProctorU announced that what was known as ProctorU Review+ (that all of our exams utilize) has been rebranded and renamed as ProctorU Record+. Do not get surprised if you see the new name!
FINAL EXAM INFORMATION The CS 332 final exam is EXAM 3 (350pt). The CS 332 final date (and time) is set by the Registrar. Check the registrar's web-page for information about the final. This semester it will take place in canvas with proctoring by ProctorU Review+, just like EXAM 1 and EXAM 2. It is a cumulative exam.
The material to be covered in class is Subjects 0 through and (inclusive of) Subject 13. Subject 1 through Subject 12 map to Chapters 1-12 of the designated textbook but not directly (eg Subject 5 draws from Chapter 9). Subject 13 maps to Chapter 15. Subject material supplements the textbook, it does not replace the textbook. Parts of Subject 13 covered in Subject 10 already (eg permissions) may appear in the exam. The other material of Subject 13 not previously covered will not appear in the exam. No questions from Subject 11 (Chapter 5) and Subject 12 (Chapter 6) in the exam if the material for such a question was covered only in the last three lectures (December 3 and onwards). Also note that the Subjects have additional material not covered in the textbook at all or only covered in the textbook in less detail (eg forks). Read the textbook first, then in a second review, check the subjects for material that was missed.
(12/09) Final Exam (aka Exam 3) Info : Update 3 and no more According to the NJIT exam schedule, http://www.njit.edu/registrar/exams/finalexams.php. the Final, aka Exam 3, is currently (as of 12/09/2020, 11:00) scheduled to start at half past seven in the morning (7:30am) of Tue 15 December, 2020. Double check with the registrar's web-page. Note a clarification about submit and auto-submit. Canvas submit means you press the submit button yourself. Just as in Exam 1 and Exam 2 no multiple submit attempts are allowed. However based on canvas information when your time expires, canvas AUTOSUBMITS your work. Furthermore if availability of the exam ends canvas AUTOSUBMITS as well. Under normal circumstances you are going to run out of time before exam availability ends. Note that canvas also uses a "Due date" feature. The "Due date" of canvas is cosmetic.
(12/05) HW5 solutions Posted in section C.

(12/04) Final Exam (aka Exam 3) Info : Update 2

half past seven in the morning (7:30am) of Tue 15 December, 2020

(11/30) Final Exam (aka Exam 3) Info : Update 1 The Final aka Exam 3 is currently (as of today Mon 30 November, 14:20) scheduled to start according to the NJIT exam schedule at half past seven in the morning (7:30am) of Tue 15 December, 2020. Double check with the registrar's web-page (Exam Schedule section). The Exam 3 canvas quiz details (exam instructions) are available in section C. And so are the first and last problems that have to do with scratch space (pages, sheets) and camera activity. The number 13 or 11 is just a placeholder and might change between this draft and the actual text. Everything else will remain intact. Familiarize with the instructions now; saves exam time later. Note the exam URL or link will be visible 10-12 hours ahead of the starting time i.e. you should be able to see the link Monday night at around 7:30-9:30pm. Ignore due dates: Exam 3 is not a homework, it is an exam. Logistics-wise set up is similar to Exam 1 and Exam 2 except for points and duration.

(11/23) (11/16) November 30 onwards

(11/19) Self Assessment 4 Today was the projected deadline for Self Assessment 3. Currently there is a HW5 running due in roughly two weeks from today (11/19) i.e. before noon of Thu 12/3. At the same time I published one more self assessment, Self Assessment 4.
(11/16) November 30 onwards NJIT President Bloom announced that starting November 30 NJIT will only offer online instruction. What this means for you: not much will change except that the @NJIT hours will become also Webex hours. I will utilize unfortunately another meeting number. Info will be posted soon in Section C ONLY of the course web-page. You are going to see a 2ndWebexR1.txt that would contain prior but also new information related to Tue 1-2:20pm for Tue 1 December and Tue 8 December 2020. All other meeting numbers remain the same (and untouched by me).
(11/16) Canvas Behavior When you review your Exam in canvas, canvas shows your answers first. It might also show the correct answers as well (i don't have your view available as an instructor.) But when you compare such answers with solutions beware of the order of the questions in YOUR exam to the order of the answers in the .txt file. Sometimes questions get rearranged by canvas. This might affect question 1.
(11/12) Exam 2 sample solutions In section C.

(11/09) Exam 2 grading

(11/08) Midterm Class Performnace In Section C.1 you may find midterm class performance expressed as a percentage of points earned. You may use as a guidance before Exam 2 grades are published, or after they are published. They are in line with the description in the syllabus.
~~(10/29) Exam 2 Message 2~~ (11/05) Exam 2 Message 3 The exam was published in Canvas at 11:45 ahead of the preannounced time of 13:00; it is not available though before 14:29. The exam ~~next week~~ Thu 5 Nov will cover Subjects 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 and the corresponding chapters 3,4,9,10,7 from the designated textbook. Subject 0 is also (implicitly) in the exam in the sense that you need to know some fundamentals; moreover it covers some info on paging. Subject 8 that is currently being covered in class is NOT in the exam. Solutions for HW4 ~~will be~~ were posted. Exam 2 will utilize ProctorU Review+ and will be a Canvas Quiz with a name Exam2(Ex2)-Gerbessiotis. Other than that it is setup identically to the first quiz. (4 pages in 2 sheets; scientific calculator are ... hopefully ... allowed.) The exam structure and details will be audited by IST. The typo in the description in canvas re 7 vs the correct 6 problems has been fixed.
(10/27) Self assessment 2 It is available in canvas under quizzes. (If you saw something saying right to left, it has been fixed to read left to right...)
(10/22) HW4 clarification Question 13(c) asks for the wait time. If it is not clear, it is for RR(q=2u).
(10/19) HW4 posted Available in Canvas Quizzes.

(10/6) HW 3 posted

(10/7)(10/5) Exam 1 grading The second round of grading has been completed. The grades for Exam 1 have been released in canvas. Exam 1 should be viewable in canvas. Solutions have been posted on the course web page section C. Exam statistics are available in C.4. The first round of grading has been completed. The exam was graded by the instructor. The grader will go through a second round of debugging. The grades for the exam will be released in Canvas either on Wed or early Thu. Solutions for the exam will be posted in section C.2 afterwards.
(10/1) Exam 1 If you forgot to show the 2 sheets in front of the camera, at the start or end of the exam or both, do not send me an email... And if ProctorU did not prompt you for your ID, ... oh well...
(10/1) Exam 1 published in Canvas Exam 1 was 'published' @ 12:55. 'Published' does not mean it is available or doable! This will wait until 2:30pm or so. The exam will be available through 4:15pm; so even if ProctorU authentication gets you detailed 20 plus minutes and you start the exam in canvas at 3pm (or may be 2:59pm) you still will get 75mn of exam time. Do not forget: 1 attempt. I'll be monitoring interaction with ProctorU starting @ 2:20pm, and both the class Webex Meeting will be active 2:30-3:50pm, and Webex hours from ~3:55pm through 5:20pm. (But not other non CS332 might jump in the Webex hours.)
(9/29) Practice0CreditTest URL is visible I published the link (URL) a few minutes before 11am. You won't be able to see the problems even at 3:50pm, unless prior to that you connect and authenticate through ProctorU. See/Hear the Kaltura voiceover @canvas as well.
(9/25) Blocked I/O vs Programmed I/O They are synonyms. There is no difference. If this is the method of communication it means there is no interrupt mechanism. On the other hand, if there are interrupts it means they are disabled and thus an instruction cycle executes only the fetch stage and execute stage. (Compare figure 1.7 to 1.2 of the designated textbook.) In the textbook in Chapter 1 the latter term is being used but later, the former term is being used.
(9/29) (9/25), (9/21) Exam 1 Update 3 The material for the exam includes Chapters 1 and 2 of the textbook, plus Subjects 0-2 but not the new material covered in class on Tue 9/29. On exam day (a) I will have the 'class meeting active' through 3:50, and (b) i will have the Webex hours active from 3:55 or so through 5:20pm, as scheduled. Moreover I would be logged to ProctorU monitoring student interaction with ProctorU. ProctorU have been provided with my NJIT contact information. But in the extreme event that something happens, contact ProctorU support THROUGH the BLUEOWL of your CHROME BROWSER. The Exam1 is not publicized yet in Canvas. It will be known as Exam1(Ex1)-Gerbessiotis. In ProctorU it will be listed most likely as CS332005-Principles of OS-Exam1(Ex1)-Gerbessiotis. But note: you probably do not need the latter info: according to the NJIT Google doc document in section C.0 after you authenticate with ProctorU through the plugin you may click on the exam at canvas (assuming you already have logged on canvas, using your NJIT credentials).
(9/26) and (9/25) Self-Assessment 1 not visible any more Apparently the self-assessment has been locked by canvas after the due date. I have tried to 'publicize' the answers but what i did does not seem to work. I have contacted IST to see if they can offer any advice. Update: it seems that students who took the self-assessment can view the solutions after it; only those who did not submit solutions might have an inability to view their answers and solutions.
Back 2 classroom link To be used in the contexted of a converged mode class.

(9/24) By popular demand: Practice Quiz through proctorU On Tue 9/29 @3:50pm after class I will run a Practice Quiz on canvas through ProctorU. Behave as if it is exam 1 (and it is not). Note three fundamental differences: (a) it is on Tue not Thu, (b) it starts at 3:50pm not 2:30pm, (c) it is not for credit (even if it says 6pt). The exam is listed in ProctorU as CS332005-Principles Of Oper Sys - Practice0CreditExam and in Canvas/Quizzes as Practice0CreditExam Other than two silly questions, the rest is a variation of a HW2 problem. All of it is multiple choice; note that Ex1 is primarily NOT multiple choice. Given that it counts for nothing it is optional. But do not complain on Thu if you do not take it, or do not take it seriously. The PracticeQuiz is not published yet in canvas. This will take place on Mon or as late as Tue before 11:30am, to simulate Thu-Exam1 behavior. Pay attention to the difference between publishability, accessibility (through ProctorU) and visibility.

(9/23) ProctorU confirmation email during Student registration ProctorU confirmation Email Link Info NJIT has informed me that this is indeed the case: a confirmation email is being sent to everybody (students or instructors). Check the URL above for some info if you have not received one. I have been told by some students that they DID receive an email.
(9/19) and (9/23) Subject 2 typos Three typos were corrected; both the old and new versions are available. Use the corrected version for the class. I modified Example-5 on Multitasking so a new version of Subject is now available.
(9/22) Final Exam date The final exam date has been posted in the Registrar's web-page. If you have a tendency to oversleep and wake up late, start getting you sleep pattern adjusted. The FINAL exam is scheduled to start at 7:30am in December. For the first exam of the class, see item re Exam 1 below.
(9/21) Exam 1 Update 1 By now i expect that each one of you have created a tester account with ProctorU and thus already tested your equipment for ProctorU compliance. The document 3rdProcUr1.txt, an update of the document made available in Canvas Announcements, is available in section C.0 of the course web-page. The Exam1 is not publicized yet in Canvas. It will be known as Exam1(Ex1)-Gerbessiotis. In ProctorU it will be listed most likely as CS332005-Principles of OS-Exam1(Ex1)-Gerbessiotis. As noted in the .txt file even if the exam is published, even if you click on it you won't be able to see the problems (and hopefully some answers:-) unless two events occur: (a) it is the time for the exam to start, and (b) you have logged on with ProctorU, ProctorU authenticated you and ProctorU used a password they generated to unlock the exam.
(9/19) HW2 clarification (i)Do not include interrupt handling (CPU time) as CPU time in CPU utilization. For elapsed time the start time of all jobs is t=0, as indicated, not when the page is ready for printing. Every page's completion triggers an interrupt from the device. (ii) The term elapsed time is what we defined in Subject 2 as turnaround time. (iii) Question (f) in interrupt-based I/O asks about CPU utilization yet previously it was processor utilization (or the other way around). They are the same of course! (iv) Blocked I/O or Programmed I/O is the same thing.

(9/17) HW2 and SA1

(9/16) HW1 grading and grades HW1 grades have been released in canvas. A solution key is available through section C of the course web-page. Some among you submitted multiple submissions; some of them have answers say to the first 4 questions, some of them to problem 5, and some of them to problem 6. Canvas gets confused and uses and grades and records grades ONLY OF THE LAST SUBMISSION. Though this problem WAS MANUALLY FIXED, if you plan to review your homework review ALL of your submissions! IN HW2 and thereafter, ONLY the last submission will be graded; thus make sure it also contains all your prior work, from prior submissions.
(9/13) Canvas, grades, and grading totals (or not) The grades in canvas for Homeworks will be made available about one week after the due date. Thus if a due date is Wed before noon, expect that grades would be revealed the following Wed sometime after noon. Anything before then might be unreliable or unviewable. Moreover, Canvas percentage points or cumulative scores are unreliable; as already noted in Announcements, Canvas has no idea what the grading scheme for this course is.
(9/11) Section C.0 The ProctorU related document 3rdProcU.txt has been made available through section C.0. This was originally available only through canvas (Announcements) as an attachment. Moreover there is an updated version 3rdProcUr1.txt in C.0 that contains some additional NJIT information in an Appendix. Those additional links point to canvas space and you need to provide canvas authentication (i.e. login to canvas) to access them.

(9/7) Links to media

(9/4) Homework 1 The Homework (aka HW1) appears under Quizzes by default. It might appear in other areas as well but Quizzes is the default area. Grading starts after the due date (a Thu).
(9/4) NJIT'S IST ProctorU Review+ link A file has been made available by NJIT's IST that shows the steps from firing up the browser to using the ProctorU plugin. It's the last link of section C.0.
(9/4) Webex Recordings For both classes, Webex Recordings are now available in canvas (Modules).
(9/4) Verification of Presence The third round was completed before 10:10am. All VoP quizzes completed have been verified in Banner. Note that there are plenty of students who still need to be verified.
(9/3) Assistant Info Sai's info is available in the Introduction prior to this section. Moreover Webex info is in section C.0 both in 2ndWebex.txt and also in a separate file 6TAWebex.txt
(9/2) Verification of Presence The first round was completed by 9:39am. All VoP quizzes completed have been verified in Banner.
(8/31) Email today An email was sent earlier today to all currently registered students with information about the Webex class session. This info is also available in canvas Announcements and elsewhere.
(8/28) Subjects 0 and 1 Minor typos fixed.
(8/27) Instruction Description In section B the pdf file prior to Handout 0 explains and summarizes the 6 announcements (and their 6 .txt files) found in Canvas Announcements.
(8/24) Canvas issues Canvas misbehaves and sometimes reports 'high traffic' issues. You might have better luck if you go to Files and navigate its folder/file structure or Assignments or Quizzes instead (later in the semester). The VoP link in modules (or Quizzes) won't work until the first day of the semester. Try also the Files pane on the left column, it worked for me.
(8/20) Tue 8 September NJIT follows a Monday schedule. No classes no contact/office hours.
(8/20) Webex info for classes All classes utilize Webex. Info for Webex meeting numbers and passwords is available in canvas. GO to canvas announcements and locate the announcement that deals with Webex. Check its text (.txt) attachment for details.
(8/20) Canvas area for course The canvas area for the course has been 'published'. It contains materials in primarily three areas: Announcements, Modules, and Quizzes. Yet the first Quiz (Verification of Presence) pops up as an Assignment (an alias for a HW). You are also going to see it (VoP) under the area 'Syllabus' of canvas.
(8/18) Exam taking (Fall 2020) All exams will be in canvas utilizing ProctorU Review+.
(8/17) Section B The syllabus has been posted. And so have some other handouts in Section B.
Under Preparation Web-page material changes frequently for Fall 2020. If you are a past semester student, click the link below.
No announcements Info will start flowing in after the start of the semester.

Last updated on Dec 17, 2020 at 14:45

Disclaimer The material of this web-page is purely optional. It is not required to study it. It is provided as is. Classroom attendance is strongly recommended, and so is studying the designated textbook.