Software Systems is an intermediate class at Olin College that covers topics in Operating Systems, Networks and Databases. It is intended to give students an understanding of the software systems that underlie common application programmer interfaces, and to allow students to develop and apply tools of system analysis.

During the first 8 weeks, students work on series of exercises covering the memory hierarchy, caching, the process abstraction, indexing and address spaces, timesharing, scheduling, and allocation. During the next 6 weeks, students work in small groups on an extended project that applies techniques of performance evaluation to a problem of the students' choice. These projects might include workload measurement and modeling, simulation, modification of existing systems, or implementation of new operating system features.

Regular class meetings will be used for lectures, hands-on work and collaborative work, as well as written evaluations. The prerequisite for the class is Software Design or intermediate programming skills.

Class meetings: Tuesday and Friday, 1:00 to 2:50pm. For more information, contact allen.downey@olin.edu