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Welcome to the website for Computer Systems Fundamentals (Fall 2024) at Johns Hopkins University!

The course is about computer systems from the programmer’s perspective. We’ll be making a fairly deep dive into topics such as data representation, memory, assembly language, CPU architecture, networks, and concurrency. By the end of the course you’ll know a lot about how modern computers really work and how to take advantage of their advanced features.

All public information about the course (readings, assignments, etc.) will be posted on this website.

Use the links above to navigate the site. The Syllabus describes course policies. The Schedule is the schedule of readings and exams. The Assignments page has links to the programming assignments and indicates when they are due. The Resources page has links to useful resources.

Important links

• Courselore (ask questions here!): https://courselore.org/
• Gradescope (assignment submission): https://www.gradescope.com/

Check out the Gradescope Information page for information about logging into Gradescope. (Unless you added the course after the semester started, you’re likely already registered, and you can use these instructions to log in.)

Please email daveho@cs.jhu.edu if you need to get access to Courselore or Gradescope.

News

• Dec 6 — To allow some extra time to finish, the due date for Assignment 5 MS2 has been changed to Saturday, Dec 7th at 11 pm. Please be aware that opportunities to get help on Saturday will be very limited.
• Nov 22 — Room change for Exam 3 (2pm on Dec 17th): it will take place in Shaffer 3 (not Olin 305).
• Nov 18 — Exam 3 will take place Tuesday, Dec 17th at 2 pm in Olin 305 Shaffer 3. The exam format is similar to Exams 1 and 2, but you will have 90 minutes to work on it. Review materials are available on the Resources page. Class on Friday, Dec 6th will be used as a review session.
• Nov 8 — Assignment 5 has two milestones, due Wednesday, Nov 20th and Friday, Dec 6th, respectively. Note that late hours will not be allowed for MS2.
• Nov 5 — Assignment 4 has been updated to correct and improve the description of how to use waitpid.
• Oct 30 — Assignment 4 is due on Friday, Nov 8th.
• Oct 23 — Exam 2 will take place in class on Monday, Nov 4th. Review materials are available on the Resources page.
• Oct 3 — Assignment 3 has three milestones, due Wednesday, Oct 9th, Wednesday, Oct 23rd, and Wednesday, Oct 30th, respectively.
• Sep 23 — Exam 1 will take place in class on Monday, Sep 30th. The exam is closed book/closed notes, no electronics. Review materials are available on the Resources page. Class on Friday, Sep 27th will be used as a review session (please bring questions!)
• Sep 20 — In order to give you time to consider feedback from Assignment 1 MS2 grading (which will be released soon), we have moved the due date for Assignment 2 MS1 to Monday, Sept 23rd. Note that the due dates for MS2 and MS3 will not change, so you are still expected to start working on those milestones ASAP.
• Sep 15 — Assignment 2 has been updated to correct the image processing program command line syntax and examples (i.e., how to run the c_imgproc and asm_imgproc programs.)
• Sep 10 — Assignment 2 has three milestones, due Friday, Sep 20th, Friday, Sep 27th, and Friday, Oct 4th, respectively.
• Aug 26 — Assignment 1 has two milestones, due Wednesday, Sep 4th and Wednesday, Sep 11th, respectively.
• Aug 21 — Welcome back! If you would like to borrow an iClicker remote for the semester (you will need one), please fill out and submit the iClicker loan form and pick up your iClicker at either of the following times/locations:
  1. Sunday, Aug 25th, 1–3 pm, Malone 240A
  2. Monday, Aug 26th, 7-8:30 am, outside Hackerman B-17