Changes

|<div style="background:#ffff00">[[Fall 2014 Current SPO600 Weekly Schedule|Weekly Schedule]]</div>[[Fall 2014 Winter 2018 SPO600 Participants|Participants and Project Table]]<br />[http://www.senecacollege.ca/ssos/findWithoutSemester/spo600/sict Course Outline]<br />[[SPO600 Course Policies|Course Policies]]<br />[http://linaro.org Linaro]<br /><!--[http://performance.linaro.org Linaro Performance Challenge]<br /> -->[http://zenit.senecac.on.ca/~chris.tyler/planet/ Planet CDOT]<br />

<!--{{Admon/tip|Who can take this course?|This course is open to both '''CTY''' (system and network administration) and '''CPA''' (software development) students. Each group brings unique but overlapping skills: CTY students have a strong understanding Thinking of operating systems and administrative procedures, and CPA students have a strong understanding of programming. This course provides a range of project opportunities requiring different combinations of skills from each program of study.}} {{Admon/tip|Why take taking this course?|In this course, you'll learn about the internal details of computer architecture and the lowest levels of programming [[SPO600 - the instructions that a compiler produces from your code. You'll also learn how to port code to work on a new architecture (or on a range of architectures), benchmark software performance, improve software performance by changing the code or the way it is built, and debug code. This is a project-based course, and you will gain experience working directly with one or more open source communities on software that Information for Prospective Students|Here is in everyday use.<br /><br />After completing this course, you will understand the fundamentals of computer architecture and operation and be able to build and/or write software that performs well, work with multiple computer architectures, and participate in open source projects. This is a challenging course but it should be rewarding some information for prospective students interested in the details of computer architecture and software optimization.}} {{Admon/note|Questions about SPO600?|Please contact Professor [[User:Chris Tyler|Chris Tyler]] (via email at [mailto:chris.tyler@senecacollege.ca chris.tyler@senecacollege.ca]).}}--> 

Software is sometimes written to work on a specific computer architecture (type of computer), such as on Intel-compatible x86_64 PCs, or IBM Z9 Z-series mainframes. This course deals with the challenge of making software compatible with a new architecture in one of two ways:

== SPO600 in Fall 2014 2017 == A new computer architecture has appeared: 64-bit ARM systems (also known as "ARM64" or "AArch64"). While AArch64 is showing up in cell phones and tablets, it is also poised to pounce on the datacentre. Most of the work of porting core software to AArch64 has been completed, and at this point, just about everything that runs on x86_64 Linux systems will run an AArch64 systems. However, the x86_64 architecture has been around for many years, and software has been well-optimized to work on that architecture; but AArch64 is new, and it may be possible to get better performance with additional tuning and optimization.

In this semester, the SPO600, you'll course will be working directly with open source communities to port focused on optimizing softwareon AArch64 systems, using the [http://leapproject. This semesterca LEAP], we'll be collaborating with a project set up by Jon "Maddog" Hall and [http://linarofedoraproject.org LinaroFedora] to port , and optimize software which doesn't currently run on 64-bit ARM (aarch64) computers[http://centos. This project has identified around 1400 software packages that need workorg CentOS] projects as a starting point. (As a bonus, completed projects may We will be eligible benchmarking the performance of open source software stacks on AArch64 relative to the raw performance of the hardware and searching for recognition and possibly prizes from Linaro)optimization opportunities.

Note that, unlike some other project-based courses, the results of the projects done in SPO600 will be incorporated into the actual "upstream" open source projectssoftware, and have a real impact on other people. For this reason, projects must be completed in collaboration with the relevant open source communities, using relevant [[SPO600 Communication Tools|communication tools]]. Work performed in this course will be licensed using the relevant open source licenses used by the associated community.

* Course information and labs are online- no textbook is required. '''Required:'''* You '''must''' be able to [[SSH]] to [[SPO600 Servers|computer systems]] at Seneca (CDOT). You can do this using an SSH client program, included with or available for almost all platforms. '''Strongly Recommended:'''* Classes are held in an [[Active Learning Classroom]]. You '''should''' have a mobile device of some type (laptop, smartphone, tablet) with a wireless network connection (WiFi or mobile) and a video output (VGA or HDMI). If your video output is of a different type (DP/Miracast/MyDP/MiniDP/MiniHDMI/other) you will require need an appropriate adapter.* For productivity, you '''should''' have access to a personal Linux installation on a 64-bit (x86_64) computer(see [[SPO600 Host Setup]]). This * '''If available''', students in the SPO600 course may be on your own laptop, on want to purchase a large64-bit [https://www.96boards.org/fast virtual machine on your laptop, on an SSH-accessible system 96Boards] computer (such as a home desktop computer), [https://www.96boards.org/products/hikey/ HiKey] or on a SATA disk pack or USB drive for use with the Seneca computers[https://www.96boards.* You will need to be able to ssh to computer systems at Seneca (CDOTorg/products/dragonboard410c/ DragonBoard 410c]).

2. '''Blog.''' Tell your professor, your colleagues, the community, and everyone else what you're doing. <u>Write a lot </u> and write well, include good technical content, and incorporate links to all relevant resources and the product of your work, and write often. Almost all of your work in this course is submitted by blogging. 3. '''Be ambitious.''' In this course, you will need to be the driving force behind your project. The community will help you, but it's up to you to supply the energy. 

3. '''Be ambitious.''' In this course, you will need to be the driving force behind your project. The community will help you, but it's up to you to supply the energy. '''It's best to plan to make a bit of progress each day.'''

See the [[Fall 2014 Current SPO600 Weekly Schedule]] for specific dates and topics.