Understanding the relationship between a programming language and the contemporary operating systems on which it executes is central to developing many skills in Computer Science. This unit introduces the standard C programming language, on which many other programming languages and systems are based, through a study of core operating system services including processes, input and output, memory management, and file systems.

The C language is introduced through discussions on basic topics like data types, variables, expressions, control structures, scoping rules, functions and parameter passing. More advanced topics like C's run-time environment, system calls, dynamic memory allocation, and pointers are presented in the context of operating system services related to process execution, memory management and file systems. The importance of process scheduling, memory management and interprocess communication in modern operating systems is discussed in the context of operating system support for multiprogramming. Laboratory and tutorial work place a strong focus on the practical application of fundamental programming concepts, with examples designed to compare and contrast many key features of contemporary operating systems.

Prerequisite: 6 points of programming-based units (this unit is not suitable for first-time programmers).

CITS2002 Systems Programming, Lecture 1, p1, 24th July 2023.