Week 1
CS5600
9/10 2021
https://naizhengtan.github.io/21fall/

0. Lecture policies
1. Introduction and goals
2. What is an operating system?
3. Why study systems?
4. How will we study systems?
5. Mechanics and admin

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0. Lecture policies

  --mask on, no laptop, chocolate & willpower

1. Introduction and goals

  --Introduce staffs

  --Goals

    a. think as a system developer by learning how systems work

    b. learn abstractions and concepts in operating systems
    which are useful beyond OSes

    c. learn a set of skills and tools that are useful for
    developing systems

  --Non-goals

    a. not a programming class

    b. not a interview-driven class

  --Assumptions

    a. know how to program: have used some programming languages
    (e.g., Python, Java)

    b. understand basic algorithms and data structures

    c. feel comfortable with C and Linux

    d. willing to learn

    [ask if these are true; 
      --who have taken OS courese?
      --how many have used Linux? C? git? vim/emacs?]


2. What is an operating system?

  [draw picture of hardware
    (memory, CPU, disk, NIC, GPU), OS, user-level programs]

  [OS includes OS services: processes, virtual memory, file system
  (file contents, directories and file names), security, networking,
  inter-process communication, time, terminals, etc.]

  --Purpose of OS: provide services to user-level programs

  --Definition: An operating system creates, for processes, a machine
  that is easier to program than the raw hardware would be.

  --this software is classically described as doing two things:

  a. managing the resources of the machine 

    --example: scheduling: give every process some of the CPU

    --example: virtual memory: give every process some physical memory

    --resource management means that one bad program doesn't
    screw up another. OS does:
        --multiplexing
        --sharing
        --isolation, protection

  b. abstracting the hardware 

    --hide details of hardware (OS gets dirty; programmers don't)
      --hardware is nasty to program directly!
      --consider what is involved in getting things to the disk
        this provides essential convenience and portability.

    --you really don't want applications to have to program
    the bare hardware

      --would lead to lots of repeated code

      --unclear how to run more than one application at once,
      particularly more than one that are mutually distrustful.

      --hide details:

        --"All problems in computer science can be solved by another
        level of indirection [abstraction]."  --Butler Lampson

        --why? abstraction allows the operating system to make
        changes to the underlying hardware without impacting applications.

        --example: switching between WiFi and cellular networks.

        --example: switching between heterogeneous CPU/GPU cores
        for saving energy.

    --what are examples of managing resources and providing abstractions?

      many, for example, file systems, memory, and scheduling

      * file systems:

        --abstraction: illusion file is continuous array of bytes; it's not

        fd = open("/tmp/foo", O_WRONLY)
        rc = write(fd, "abc...z", 26)

          [ask the meaning]

        abstractions here:
          --files
          --file descriptors
          --location of the file: applications can be entirely unaware of
          whether the file they are writing to goes on a hard disk inside
          the computer, a USB stick attached to the computer, a remote
          storage service like Dropbox or iCloud, etc.

        --isolation: user program can't write to a file unless
        it has permission. 

          in some cases, for example, smart phones, the system goes even
          further and gives each application the impression that it is
          the only one who can change the file system. This has become
          particularly important in order to ensure that applications
          cannot stomp on each other's data, and reduce the kinds of
          errors the programmer must consider when writing programs.

      * memory:

        movl 0x1248, %rdx   [means "get contents of 0x1248 and put in %rdx"]

        --abstraction: user program thinks it is reading from
        0x1248; it is not

        --more generally, user program thinks it has a linear,
        contiguous address space; it does not

        --isolation: user program can't write to another user's
        memory

        -- programmers use even higher abstractions
        (than user program):

            int a = 1;     [assign value "1" to an variable "a"]
            [Java vm -> OS -> hypervisor]

      * scheduling:

        --abstraction: process has the illusion that it is running
        continuously; it is not

        --isolation: user program that is hogging CPU gets switched
        out in favor of another user's program


3. Why study systems?

    "My Future Is In Deep Learning!"

      --10x speedup by understanding the GPUs
      --MIG helps save 50% of GPUs

    "Doing systems means being at ease with the machine" --Brad Karp

    a. It's essential to know "how things work."

    --doesn't matter what types of programs you work on,
    knowing what is happening under the hood is essential to
    debugging and improving performance.
        --phone applications, understanding what is going on in the OS
        helpful with improving performance and battery life.
        -- DNNs (deep neural networks), some of the concerns from
        OSes impact how you batch things, how you schedule, etc.

    b. The ideas are everywhere: resource management and abstraction,
    for example.

    c. There are design trade-offs that are fundamental

      --code must be efficient (so low-level?) ...
      --...but abstract/portable (so high-level?)

      --code must be powerful (so many features?)
      --...but simple (thus a few composable building blocks?)

      --another trade-off: between security and convenience

    d. new challenges that will affect you

      --OS security and privacy remains a problem area.

      --multicore and manycore: yes, the operating systems run,
      but there's an argument that perhaps the abstractions
      should be different
      (interaction between caches and address space abstractions)

    e. Skills building

      --have a holistic view of a system
      --have the confidence to address hard problems


4. How will we study (operating) systems?

    a. Learn how stuff works
      --sometimes through case studies

    b. Learn specific techniques
      --time-tested solutions to hard problems
      --avoid "hacks"
          --examples: concurrent programming

    c. Learn how to approach problems
      --fundamental issues
      --concept of a design space
        --design choices vs. implementation details

    d. this class:
      --focus on "science" part (as in "computer science")
      --lots of discussion of OS/HW boundary and process/OS boundary
      (interfaces). Less attention to detailed implementation of OS.
      --not a priority: details of deployed OSes (e.g., details of
        Linux), but we may sometimes use these as examples

5. Mechanics and admin

    a. communication

      us-to-you:
        --homepage, announcements: check this every day
        --your NEU email (seldom)

      you-to-us:
        --piazza: questions that are not sensitive
        --staff email list for admin/sensitive things

    b. components of the course:
      --lectures
      --labs
      --exams
      --reading
      --homeworks

    c. lectures

      --attending: no roll call, but...will randomly pick students
      to answer questions

      --notes will be published, but will be hard to understand if
      you miss the lecture

      --please ask questions

    d. labs:

      --key piece of the course

      --labs could/should actually be fun 

      --often: not much code to write (relatively speaking),
          but lots to learn!

      --"Start early"
        "When is early?"
        "Earlier than you think"

      --Regardless, you need to allocate time. 

      --I'm expecting you to feel challenged by the labs. The concept
      of "no pain, no gain" applies to learning. let's dive into
      that...

        --The building of systems cannot be learned by lecture or
        reading a textbook, nor by reading others' code.

        --Indeed, programming is where the real learning happens,
        that's the whole point

        --Independent effort is essential

        --Debugging is hard and time-consuming, but it's an
        essential skill

        --Only by producing working solution code yourself (without
        looking at others’ solution code) will you learn to build
        systems that solve problems you haven't seen before
          (the blind alleys may feel like wasted time, but they
          are teaching you how to avoid problems in the future,
          how to be independent)

        --Don't think of labs as having a grade.

          (people sometimes think that they need to get all the points,
          they get frustrated with the staff and TAs for not telling
          them how to get the points. But that misunderstands
          the purpose.)

          The purpose is to cause you to learn.
            [compare to exams: personal growth rare on an exam]

    e. exams:
      -- midterm and final
      -- closed book
      -- will cover lectures, homeworks, readings, and labs

    f. reading & homework

    g. integrity policies:

      --Here are some questions:

       Looking at a classmate's solution and then coding it by yourself afterward
       Showing your code to a classmate who has questions
       Modifying code that you find on StackOverflow
       Modifying code for a similar assignment that you find on GitHub
       Looking at code for a similar assignment on GitHub, but not taking notes, and then coding it by yourself afterward

      The correct answer: ALL of these are ruled out by the policy.

      --Please see the policy page, and let me say here:

       --The collaboration and academic integrity policy is real

       --please make sure that you've really thought through your
       question on your own before you ask for help

       --Exams will have questions about labs; and
       "If there are inexplicable discrepancies between exam and lab
       performance, we will overweight the exam, and possibly
       interview you." (see the policy page)