Introduction to Computer Systems (CS 340)

Basics of computer systems. Number representations, assembly/machine language, abstract models of processors (fetch/execute, memory hierarchy), processes/process control, simple memory management, file I/O and directories, network programming, usage of cloud services. Credit: 3 hours.

CS 340: Introduction to Computer Systems is a modern approach to computer systems and one of the newest courses in the CS core curriculum, teaching students the foundational of computer architecture, systems progrmaming, and cloud computing. All CS students except CS/ENG can either take a dedicated architecture course (CS 233) and a dedicated systems course (CS 341) or take CS 340 to fulfill both requirements.

Final Project

One of the highlights of CS 340 is the final project. Each semester, you will be a part of an experience where you are developing a small but integral part of a complex software system. The final system runs with everyone single person in the class contributing code to the project. As part of this project:

1. You will contribute multiple different backend microservices to the final system,
2. You, and the microservices of everyone else, will run simultaneously during the deployment of the system at the end of the semester,
3. The middleware, frontend, and other components are designed collaboratively by the class, with the ability for you to contribute to the shared infrastructure!

Recent Course-Wide Projects

The final projects completed in recent semesters have been:

• 1989 Mosaics, in Spring 2023
• Shared Pixel Board, in Fall 2022
• The Infinite Maze, in Spring 2022
• MIX: Microservice Information eXchange, in Fall 2021

Topic Comparison Between CS 340 and CS 233/341

The question I get asked the most is “What is the difference between CS 340 and 233/341?” The answer is two-fold:

1. CS 340’s focuses on cloud-based systems, which involve all the systems concepts necessary to build systems that run on the cloud. This means we cover the majority of topics in CS 341, plus an additional set of cloud topics only covered in CS 340. You can find a detailed breakdown below.

2. CS 340 gives you the time (and credit hours) to focus on 400-level courses you’re personally interested in. I feel most of the very best courses we offer at Illinois are at the 400- or 500-level. By taking CS 340, you are able to spend the other 6 credit hours in 400-level courses instead of 200/300-level courses.

Detailed Topic Comparisons

Prepared in Summer 2021, based off the content taught Spring 2021.