Catalog description // Communication // Grading // Collaboration // Class meetings // Reading materials // Staff // TA office hours // Writing practicum
Prereq.: 6.004 Prereq: (and, by implication, 6.001 and 6.002)
U (2)
5-0-7
Topics on the engineering of computer software and hardware systems: techniques for controlling complexity; hard modularity; networks and distributed systems; atomicity and coordination of parallel activities; recovery and reliability; privacy of information; impact of computer systems on society. Case studies of working systems and outside reading in the current literature provide comparisons and contrasts. Two design projects. Enrollment may be limited. 4 Engineering Design Points.
Underground Reviews (require an MIT personal certificate): 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Final grade = 1/3 Recitation Participation + 1/3 Design Projects + 1/3 Quizzes
Since an important part of 6.033 is discussion of current literature, your recitation participation will influence your grade significantly.
Each week you are expected to complete two assignments. The first is a short reading report, called a "one-pager." It is a short (one page) written report due at the beginning of every Tuesday recitation. The specific topic to be addressed in the report will be given on the previous week's assignment page. In recitation you should be prepared to talk about the whole paper, not just the particular point of the writing assignment. Note that we strictly adhere to the single-side, one-page limit. This forces you to prioritize issues and write concisely.
The second is a hands-on experimental assignment, which you can usually complete at an Athena workstation, sometimes using the Web. The idea is to try and reinforce some of the abstract concepts from the lectures or papers that week by getting your hands dirty using software tools.
The hands-on projects and one-page papers contribute to your recitation participation grade.
The design projects are longer, 8-10 page papers in which you engage in a design exercise or consider a question in more depth than the weekly reading reports allow. Design projects will be handed out about two weeks before they are due. The first design project will be done individually; the second design project will be done in teams (the members of a team must have the same recitation instructor). You must hand in both design projects to pass 6.033.
The registrar's schedule reserves Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 2 p.m. for 6.033. We use some, but not all, of the Friday hours for special events. The most notable special events are two one-hour quizzes, scheduled for Friday March 8 and Friday April 19. Other special events are lectures by staff of the M.I.T. Writing Program, on February 8 and March 15. Sometimes we discover that an interesting visitor can be cajoled into giving us a guest lecture, in which case we will schedule it on Friday. And, finally, if winter gets any worse and we encounter a week of snowed-out lectures, we may try to get back on schedule by using the Friday lecture hour. Reserve the Friday hour in your calendar, even though it isn't going to be used every week; make sure the reservation is clearly marked for the two quiz dates.
| Time | Location | Instructor | TA
| ||
| Lecture | MW2 | 34-101 | Kaashoek and Morris | ||
| Special lectures | F2 | 34-101 | |||
| Recitations: | (#1) | TR10 | 34-303 | Balakrishnan | Chambers
|
| (#13) | TR10 | 34-302 | Kaashoek and Morris | Gnawali
| |
| (#11) | TR10 | 36-155 | Amarasinghe | Bhattacharyya
| |
| (#2) | TR11 | 34-303 | Balakrishnan | Salz
| |
| (#6) | TR11 | 34-302 | Kaashoek and Morris | Chambers
| |
| (#12) | TR11 | 36-155 | Amarasinghe | Gnawali
| |
| (#5) | TR12 | 34-303 | Ernst | Salz
| |
| (#14) | TR12 | 36-144 | Witchel | Bauer
| |
| (#3) | TR1 | 38-136 | Leiserson | Freedman
| |
| (#7) | TR1 | 34-303 | Saltzer | Vandiver
| |
| (#8) | TR1 | 34-302 | Ernst | Yip
| |
| (#10) | TR1 | 36-153 | Teller | Bauer
| |
| (#4) | TR2 | 38-136 | Leiserson | Vandiver
| |
| (#9) | TR2 | 34-303 | Saltzer | Freedman
| |
| (#15) | TR2 | 36-155 | Teller | Bhattacharyya
|
1. Brooks, Frederick P. The Mythical Man-Month, Addison-Wesley, 1995. (ISBN 0-201-83595-9, paperback) This book is now available at Quantum.
2. Readings for 6.033: a packet of stuff available from the EECS instrument room for $27.92. Follow this procedure to get the packet: Pick up a coupon sheet (copies handed out at the first recitation and available from the course secretary), fill it in, and take it together with cash or check to the cashier's office, 10-180. They will give you a receipt, which you can exchange for the reading packet in room 38-501 between 10 AM and 8 PM. A paper from this packet will be assigned for each recitation meeting (see schedule for details). The papers should be read prior to the section meeting.
3. Class Notes: Included in the reading list, you will find a coupon for a second installment of notes. With this coupon, you can get the class notes as soon as they are available (we hope by Feb 11). The class notes cover the material presented in lecture. For most lectures we will assign a section of the class notes to accompany the presented material. You will also find the notes helpful in preparing for quizzes.
| Lectures | |||
| Frans Kaashoek | NE43-522 | 3-7149 | kaashoek@mit.edu
|
| Robert Morris | NE43-509 | 3-5983 | rtm@amsterdam.lcs.mit.edu |
| | |||
| Recitations | |||
| Jerry Saltzer | NE43-512 | 2-2821 | Saltzer@mit.edu
|
| Hari Balakrishnan | NE43-510 | 3-8713 | hari@lcs.mit.edu
|
| Charles Leiserson | NE43-202 | 3-5833 | cel@mit.edu
|
| Michael Ernst | NE43-524 | 3-0945 | mernst@lcs.mit.edu
|
| Saman Amarsinghe | NE43-620B | 3-8879 | saman@lcs.mit.edu
|
| Seth Teller | NE43-252 | 8-7885 | teller@lcs.mit.edu
|
| Emmett Witchel | NE43-521B | 3-7328 | witchel@lcs.mit.edu
|
| | |||
| Teaching assistants
| |||
| Arnob Bhattacharyya | 24-312 | 8-5697 | bobz@mit.edu
|
| Steve Bauer | NE43-501 | 3-6079 | bauer@mit.edu
|
| Omprakash Gnawali | NE43-527 | 3-0003 | om_p@mit.edu
|
| Ben Chambers | NE43-520a | 8-6277 | bac@mit.edu
|
| Alex Yip | NE43-527 | 3-0004 | yipal@mit.edu
|
| Jon Salz | NE43-512 | 2-2281 | jsalz@mit.edu
|
| Amy Vandiver | E38-308 | 3-3496 | amyv@mit.edu
|
| Michael Freedman | NE43-527 | 3-0004 | mfreed@mit.edu
|
| | |||
| Course secretary | |||
| Neena Lyall | NE43-523 | 3-6019 | lyall@lcs.mit.edu
|
Course TAs mailing list:
6.033-tas@mit.edu
Use this mailing list to contact all the 6.033 TAs.
Course staff mailing list:
6.033-staff@mit.edu
Use this mailing list to contact all the 6.033 staff members.
All office hours will be held in the lounge in the 5th floor of LCS.
TA's will also be available by appointment.
| M 4:00-5:00 | Vandiver |
| M 4:30-5:30 | Bauer, Bhattacharyya |
| M 5:30-6:30 | Salz |
| T 5:00-6:30 | Gnawali |
| W 3:00-5:00 | Chambers |
| W 4:00-5:00 | Freedman |
| R 6:00-7:00 | Yip |
1. We will forward a copy of your first weekly writing assignment to the Writing Program for evaluation and comment. (These comments usually come back about three weeks later.) In addition, if you ask us to, we will forward to the Writing Program your paper for design project I, if your 6.033 grade is a B or better and which contains at least ten pages clearly identified as having been written by you. Assuming the evaluator in the Writing Program likes your stuff, you will receive credit for Phase II of the M.I.T. writing requirement. For more information, see the description.
2. The staff of the Writing Program will offer several sections of a 6.033 writing practicum. If you are a student in course 6 and receive a B- or higher in the practicum, you will receive credit for Phase II. Check out the practicum web site for more information.
Questions or comments regarding 6.033? Send e-mail to the TAs at
6.033-tas@mit.edu.
Questions or comments about this web page? Send e-mail to
6.033-webmaster@mit.edu.
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