Course Syllabus

CompSci 131 - Distributed Systems

WINTER 2009

Prerequisites: CS141 and 143 (or equivalent). A networking class is recommended.

Textbook: "Distributed Systems", 2nd edition, by Andrew Tannenbaum and Maarten van Steen

COURSE OVERVIEW

This course is an introduction to distributed systems. It examines major concepts involved in creating distributed systems and applications using a collection

of independent, communicating single-processor systems. Parallel programming of a single application on parallel or distributed systems is also covered.

The course assumes knowledge of basic operating systems' principles and builds on top of these.

Major topics covered in this course are:

Hardware and software parallel and distributed systems

Parallel Computation

Communication

Processes

Naming

Synchronization

Consistency and replication

The course is composed of three components: lectures, assignments, and quizzes. The objective of the lectures is to introduce and help you understand the concepts.

The assignments aim to strengthen and enhance your understanding. The assignments are based on lecture material and textbook readings and focus on putting the concepts to practice

and actual distributed programming.

ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS

Instructor: Professor A. Veidenbaum

Office Hours: Tu at 3:30 (immediately after class) or by appointment.

TA: Leila Jalali (jalalil-AT-uci.edu)

Office Hours: Wedn. 1-2pm

All assignments will be available on the web. Assignments are graded and need to be performed individually.
All programming assignments must be submitted electronically via EEE.

GRADING

There will be 6 assignments and a final exam.  Your grade in CompSci131 will depend on your performance on assignments and the exams.

The following approximate weights will be used:

Assignments - 30% (Individual assignments will carry different weights depending on the degree of difficulty)

Final - 70%

Late assignments will NOT be accepted (exceptions for illness or other cases may be made, in writing, as soon as possible and hopefully before the due date)

To have an assignment re-graded, you MUST write a cover sheet and hand it to the TA or the instructor. Explain why you believe a problem (or problems) was mis-graded.

The re-grades will only be considered for a period of 1 week following the date when the results have been posted.