Applied Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence

The Operating System (OS) is the key component of any modern computing device. Moreover, it very well represents a fundamental concept at the heart of any Computer Science curriculum, namely abstraction. More specifically, by virtualizing the physical resources of a computer system, OS allows programmers to develop software applications without worrying about the nitty-gritty of the hardware. Decoupling the software from the hardware guarantees more flexibility for the system developer as well as greater usability for the end user. It is, therefore, essential for any Computer Science student to have the ability to comprehend how to effectively and efficiently design and exploit the main functionalities of a highly complex software system, such as a modern operating system. To this end, in this course, we will deeply discuss the key responsibilities of so-called general-purpose OSs (i.e., those typically installed on our PCs and laptops). Amongst those responsibilities are: CPU scheduling, process/thread synchronization, memory management, and file systems, just to name a few. In addition, we will explore how OSs should adapt to resource-limited mobile devices (i.e., tablets and smartphones). All the concepts introduced are totally covered by the lecture materials provided during the course and will be treated independently from a specific operating system implementation. However, many examples will be taken from popular OSs available on the market, like UNIX/Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, etc.