CS 105

CS 105: Computer Systems

This course provides a programmer’s view of how computer systems execute programs, store information, and communicate. It enables students to become more effective programmers, especially in dealing with issues of performance, portability, and robustness. It also serves as a foundation for courses on compilers, networks, operating systems, security, and computer architecture, where a deeper understanding of systems-level issues is required. Topics covered include: data representations, computer arithmetic, machine-level code and its generation, performance evaluation and optimization, memory organization and management, processes and concurrent computation, and networking technology and protocols.

Prerequisites: CS 54 and 62, or CS 60 and 70.

Lectures

Lectures take place on Mondays and Wednesdays 11am-12:15pm in Edmunds 114. See the schedule for details.

Labs

Labs will be Wednesdays 7-8:15pm in Edmunds 219/229.

Instructors

Eleanor Birrell Eleanor Birrell
eleanor.birrell@pomona.edu
Edmunds 221
Office hours: Tuesdays 1-2:30pm and Wednesdays 5-6:30pm. I also have a 105 mentor session Tuesdays 7-9pm.

I am generally in my office most afternoons, so feel free to drop by with quick questions or just to say hi.
The best way to contact me is by email. I try to respond to all messages within 24 hours.

TAs

Andy Han Mentor Hours: Mondays 3-5pm
Austin Zang Mentor Hours: Tuesdays 7-9pm
Chuck Rak Mentor Hours: Mondays 6-8pm
Christy Marchese Mentor Hours: Mondays 8-10pm
Josh Yum Mentor Hours: Thursdays 6-8pm
Zach Hinz Mentor Hours: Saturdays 10am-noon and Sundays 1-3pm

Assignments

There will be ten weekly assignments in CS 105. These assignments are supposed to be fun and challenging, and they should help you learn the material covered in this course. Assignments will generally be released on Wednesdays during lab and will be due the following Tuesday at 11:59pm PT. See the assignment page for details. The assignments are done in a pair programming paradigm. Adequate performance on all the assignments is required to get a passing grade in the course.

Assignments will be started in the laboratory sessions and will be completed with a partner. It is your responsibility to complete the assignments and turn them in on time. You get ten late days that may be used at your discretion to submit assignments after the deadline with no penalty. Both you and your partner must spend a late day available to use one. Further extensions after you have exhausted all your late days will be granted only in exceptional circumstances.

All laboratory exercises will be done—and graded—on itbdcv-lnx04p.campus.pomona.edu, a machine configured for this class Everyone registered should have an account when classes begin. This machine is remotely accessble when connected to Pomona campus wifi (or ethernet) or when connected to the Pomona VPN. I will try to make assignments compatible with other machines, but you might encounter some problems if you are unable to connect. If this becomes a problem for you let me know, and I will make accomodations as necessary.

Check-ins

There will be 5 check-ins this semester. Each check-in will be comprised of three questions about topics covered in the preceeding weeks (15 total topics).

You can improve your grade on any topic by answering a new question on that topic during the Extra Chance Checkin (scheduled during our final exam time). You may take as many or as few questions as you would like during the Extra Chance Check-in (including skipping it entirely), but I recommend that you plan to re-take no more than six topics.

Grades

Finishing all the assignments successfully is required to pass the class. After that, grades are computed on a point basis, as follows:

Assignments: 50%
Check-ins: 45%
Participation: 5%

Academic Integrity

In general, collaboration is encouraged in this course. This means that you may discuss approaches to solving problems with anyone in this class, including students, faculty, and TAs. As specified in the department policy, you may help, or receive help, in using systems and tools, in debugging code, and in working with high-level design issues. You may use the internet to look up error codes or other issues you encounter while debugging, but searching for solutions online, seeing help from people not in the class, or using ChatGPT to generate solutions is forbidden. The actual solutions to the laboratory exercises and the code you submit must be your own and your partner’s. Except for material from the textbook or lecture, you may not copy, retype, view, or share a copy of any file. If you have any questions about what is appropriate or inappropriate collaboration, please speak with the instructor. When in doubt, credit your sources.

Course materials provided to you, including graded papers and exam summaries, are for your use in the course. You are encouraged to use them to the fullest extent, but you are not to publish them or distribute them to other people or organizations.

Accomodations

I am committed to ensuring that everyone can successfully master the material in this course. If you have a disability (for example, mental health, learning, chronic health, physical, neurological, etc.) and expect barriers related to this course, it is important to request accommodations and establish a plan. I am happy to help you work through the process, and I encourage you to contact the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) as soon as possible. I also encourage you to reach out to the SDRC if you are at all interested in having a conversation. (Upwards of 20% of students have reported a disability.)