CSC 435 Distributed Systems I
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Summary
This course covers the general principles and the fundamental concepts behind distributed systems. The focus is on issues and concepts that are critical to the application of distributed systems and computer networks, such as the definition and organization of distributed systems, distributed processing, inter-process communication, process coordination, distributed data consistency and replication, and fault tolerance; and on the practical aspects of distributed programming: multithreaded programming, socket programming, RPC/RMI and MPI. The course will be mostly devoted to basic concepts and techniques but will also include assorted topics in advanced distributed systems and in distributed programming. CSC 435 is a good foundational course for many other courses, such as: CSC 464 Virtualization and Cloud Computing, CSC5 36 Distributed Systems II and CSC 551 Distributed Database Systems.
Texts
Marteen van Steen and Andrew Tanenbaum, “Distributed Systems” 4th Edition.
Grading
Programming Assignments (5 + 1) 50% + 10% extra credit
Quizzes (8 + 1) 20% + 2.5%
Exam (1) 30%
Prerequisites
CSC 403 Data Structures II and CSC 407 Systems II.
Programming Assignments
There will be 5 programming assignments, each worth 10% of the total grade and each taking between 1 or 1.5 weeks to complete. There will also be 1 extra credit programming assignment, that is worth 10% of the total grade and takes 1.5 weeks to complete. The extra credit assignment deadline will overlap with the standard programming assignments, and it is a variation of one of the standard programming assignments. The assignments must be completed individually. They will require knowledge of C++ or Java (C++ is preferred), and it is expected that the students already know the basics of these languages. The solutions to the programming assignments must run on a Linux environment, on which they will also be graded.
Exams and Quizzes
There will be 8 quizzes (10-min long), each of them covering the lecture content of the previous week and each of them worth 2.5% of the total grade. There will also be an extra credit quiz in the last week of the quarter that will be worth 2.5% of the total grade and that covers all the contents of all the lectures. The quizzes must be completed individually. In-class students can take the quizzes in class at the end of the lecture (the last 10 minutes of the lecture will be used for quiz completion), or online. Online students and in-person students who decide to take the quiz online must take the quiz within a 5-day window once the quiz is announced. The quizzes are open note, open book and open Internet.
There will be 1 final exam, that will cover all materials covered throughout the entire quarter. The exam must be completed individually, and the students will be allowed to use their textbooks and any notes they have on paper. No electronic phones, eReaders, tablets or laptops are allowed during the final exam. Pocket calculators will be allowed, as long as they do not have a browser (e.g., phones, tablets, laptops). The final exam will be worth 30% of the total grade. In-class students must take the exam in class. Online Flex and Async students must register for a proctored exam and can take the exam at an official testing center, or in-class if there are enough seats available.
There will be no makeup exams or quizzes!
This syllabus is subject to change as necessary during the quarter. If a change occurs, it will be thoroughly addressed during class, posted under Announcements in D2L and sent via email.
Evaluations are a way for students to provide valuable feedback regarding their instructor and the course. Detailed feedback will enable the instructor to continuously tailor teaching methods and course
content to meet the learning goals of the course and the academic needs of the students. They are a requirement of the course and are key to continue to provide you with the highest quality of teaching. The
evaluations are anonymous; the instructor and administration do not track who entered what responses. A program is used to check if the student completed the evaluations, but the evaluation is completely
separate from the student’s identity. Since 100% participation is our goal, students are sent periodic reminders over three weeks. Students do not receive reminders once they complete the evaluation.
Students complete the evaluation online in CampusConnect.
This course will be subject to the university's academic integrity policy. More information can be found at http://academicintegrity.depaul.edu/ If you
have any questions be sure to consult with your professor.
All students are expected to abide by the University's Academic Integrity Policy which prohibits cheating and other misconduct in student coursework. Publicly sharing or posting online any prior or current materials from this course (including exam questions or answers), is considered to be providing unauthorized assistance prohibited by the policy. Both students who share/post and students who access or use such materials are considered to be cheating under the Policy and will be subject to sanctions for violations of Academic Integrity.
All students are required to manage their class schedules each term in accordance with the deadlines for enrolling and withdrawing as indicated in the University Academic Calendar. Information on enrollment, withdrawal, grading and incompletes can be found at http://www.cdm.depaul.edu/Current%20Students/Pages/PoliciesandProcedures.aspx.
Students who feel they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the instructor privately to discuss their specific needs. All discussions will remain confidential.
To ensure that you receive the most appropriate accommodation based on your needs, contact the instructor as early as possible in the quarter (preferably within the first week of class), and make sure that
you have contacted the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) at:
Lewis Center 1420, 25 East Jackson Blvd.
Phone number: (312)362-8002
Fax: (312)362-6544
TTY: (773)325.7296