15-213/14-513/15-513 Intro to Computer Systems Assignments
There will be weekly written assignments, starting in the second
week of classes. Each written assignment consists of 1-3 questions
that require students to write single paragraph answers.
They are released and collected via Canvas.
Written assignments are always due at 11:59pm (Pittsburgh time)
on Wednesday evenings. No late submissions are accepted.
Canvas will generally accept only one submission.
Written assignments are graded by your peers: three other students
will read what you wrote and provide short, constructive feedback
and a score (1-10).
Each assignment is worth 15 points, total.
You receive the maximum of your peers’ scores,
plus five points for completing the peer reviews you are assigned.
There will be 12 written assignments in all, and we will drop your
two lowest scores. The 10 remaining are each worth 2% of your course
Written Topic Out Due Peer Review
W1 Bits, Bytes, Integers Jan 25 Feb 1 Feb 8
W2 Machine Programming (Basics, Control) Feb 1 Feb 8 Feb 15
W3 Machine Programming (Procedures, Data) Feb 8 Feb 15 Feb 22
W4 Machine Programming Advanced, Memory Hierarchy Feb 15 Feb 22 Mar 1
W5 Cache Memories, Design and Debugging Feb 22 Mar 1 Mar 15
W6 Dynamic Memory Allocation Mar 1 Mar 15 Mar 22
(Mar 6-10: Spring Break)
W7 Code Optimization and Linking Mar 15 Mar 22 Mar 29
W8 Virtual Memory Mar 22 Mar 29 Apr 5
W9 Exceptional Control Flow Mar 29 Apr 5 Apr 12
W10 System Level I/O, Network Programming Apr 5 Apr 12 Apr 19
W11 Network Programming, Concurrent Programming Apr 12 Apr 19 Apr 26
W12 Synchronization, Parallelism Apr 19 Apr 26 No peer review
We will provide you with a model solution and a grading rubric after
an assignment is due, to guide you in your peer reviews. This
two-part (writing and evaluating) sequence has been shown to improve
student learning. As your peers are grading these anonymously, you are
not required to include your name either in your submission or
feedback. If you disagree with the feedback from your peers, you can
make a private post on Piazza within 7 days, as per any other regrades
in the course.
If the feedback you received is offensive or otherwise not in
support of a welcoming and inclusive climate, please email your Professor.