Operating System from the Scratch: A Problem-based Learning Approach for the Emerging Demands on OS Development

Abstract In recent past history of computer systems industry, for decades, the hegemony of a few de facto standards dictated by major proprietary commercial products dominated the Operating Systems (OS) field. In such technological context, conso- nantly to this trend, the knowledge objective focused by academical and training courses on OS-related disciplines has often been addressed more from the stand point of essential theoretical background than of the technical skills for actuation on de- sign and development field. Emerging paradigms, nevertheless, have been rapidly changing this scenario. Among them, the establishment of Open Source concept is boosting the growing diversity of new operating systems; concomitantly, evolution of embedded hardware architectures has make it possible to run sophisticated operating systems where only bare rudimentary, ad hoc system-software were once practical. Aligned along this perspective, this paper introduces a new platform for teaching and training programs on OS development founded on a project-based approach which guides the student throughout the process of designing and programming a sufficiently simple, but yet realistic and fully functional, OS from the scratch. The differential of the present proposal regarding related works is that, instead of either merely inspecting example-code or experimenting with simulators, the apprentice is guided across the challenge of coding an entire new instance of a didactic system specification. A comparison of the companion OS-example with existing alternatives brings out a less complex implementation structure which maps conceptual modules with implementation blocks in an intuitive correspondence and with reduced function cou- pling. Moreover, the learning platform comes with a courseware material consistently linked to the laboratory practices, and aimed at the systemic comprehension of the many related multidisciplinary aspects.