CS252: Systems Programming
Ninghui Li
Final Exam Review
Topic 1
Understand pointer usage and arithmetic&, *(p+i)
Understand argument passing behavior (especially those involving pointers)2d Array implementationUsing function pointers in generic functions that deal with data of different types
Topic 2
Static vs. shared libraryProgram sections: text, stack, heap, data, especially in the context of software security
Topic 3: Unix Systems OverviewHard link vs soft linkProcesses, setuid, how effective/real/saved uid changes
Topic 4: Regular ExpressionsUnderstand what kind of strings are matched by a regular
expression
Able to write a regular expression to match certain sets of strings
Topic 5: Unix Tools
Know the basic functionality of the UNIX commands in the slidesShell programming not required for final exam.
Topic 6: Flex/Bison
Nothing in particular required for final exam
Topic 7: Project 3Write grammar for YACC.
What is an open file object? What information does it include?What is the semantics for pipe, dup, dup2, especially how they affect the creation/deletion and reference count of open file object?How to implement pipe and redirection using pipe, dup, dup2?
Topic 8: Kernel Mode, System Calls, etc.User mode vs kernel mode
Poling (synchronous) vs asynchronous
Topic 9: Processes and Scheduling
What are non-preemptive scheduling and preemptive scheduling? What are the pros & cons of each? Which one is used in modern OS?
How does the round robin scheduling work? How response time and overhead are affected by
quantum length? What are factors for choosing quantum length?
Response time, overhead, CPU burst distribution
Topic 10: Threads
Why one wants to use multiple threads?What are the pros and cons of using threads vs. processes?What is an atomic section? Why does disabling interrupt ensure atomicity on a single CPU machine?What is a mutex lock? What is the semantics of lock and unlock calls on a mutex lock?How to use mutex locks to achieve atomicity?
Topic 11
How to implement recursive mutex locks (part of Project 4)?What is a race condition? (When given simple codes, should be able to come up with race condition scenario.)What happens when calling sem_wait(), sem_post? (Should be able to produce pseudo-code.)Different usage of semaphore when initiating it with different values. What are the key difference between binary semaphore and mutex lock?How to implement a synchronized list? Why we need both mutex and semaphore?
Topic 12
What are Condition Variables? What is the behavior of wait/signal on CV?How to implement semaphores using using CV and Mutex?How to implement bounded buffer using semaphores?What is a deadlock? How to prevent deadlocks by enforcing a global ordering of locks? Why this prevents deadlocks?
Topic 12
What are read/write locks? What is the behavior of read/write lock/unlock?How to implement R/W locks using semaphore?Why the implementation given in the slides can cause writer starvation?How to Implement a read/write lock where writer is preferred (i.e., when a writer is waiting, no reader can gain read lock and must wait until all writers are finished)?
Topic 13, 14
Nothing required for final exam
Topic 15
Packet switching networkingLayered architecture (application, transport, network, link)Addresses & translation services
MAC, IP, Domain namesARP and DNS
Additional services of UDP over IP: port numberAdditional services of TCP over IP: port number
Reliable (achieved using acknowledgement and retransmission), connection-oriented communication
Topic 16: Socket Programming
Server calls: socket, bind, listen, and acceptBehavior of accept, returns a new socket
Client calls: socket, connect
Topic 17: Project 5
Implementing five types of server concurrencyIterative ServerFork Process After RequestCreate New Thread After RequestPool of ThreadsPool of Processes
Topic 18: SQL
Writing basic SQL SELECT queriesSELECT … FROM … WHERE
Joining tables when neededUsing tuple variables when needed
No need for DISTINCT, ORDER BYGive query result when given query and tablesINSERT, DELETE not covered in exam
Topic 19: Software Security
Able to identify the following vulnerabilities in code, and necessary inputs to exploit them
Input validation, buffer overflow, format string, integer overflow
Understand stack overflow exploit that overwrite return address to point to injected shell code, and return-to-libc attacksUnderstand basic idea and limitation of non-executable stack
Topic 20: Computer Security Basics
Understand basic security goals: confidentiality, integrity, availability