OpenCSF: An Online Interactive Textbook for Computer Systems Fundamentals (Abstract Only)

The goal of the OpenCSF project is to develop an on- line, interactive textbook focused on the Computer Systems Fundamentals (CSF) Core Tier 1 teaching objectives of the ACM 2013 Computing Curriculum. This area includes material that would traditionally be taught in courses such as Computer Organization, Operating Systems, Computer Networks, and Parallel & Distributed Systems. The CSF Knowledge Area highlights the most vital concepts and themes for these courses, emphasizing that this material should be core for all CS graduates. OpenCSF is built on the OpenDSA framework. This framework includes built-in capabilities for interactive activities designed to assess student reading comprehension. Furthermore, as a web-based resource, the intention of OpenCSF is to use HTML5 features to support interactive illustrations and exercises embedded along with the readings. Additionally, the OpenDSA framework supports integrating these activities with the Canvas Learning Management System to track student reading completion; this feature is not currently enabled in OpenCSF. At the time of this writing, drafts of five chapters have been written: Processes and OS Basics; Concurrency with IPC; Multithreading; Synchronization Primitives; Synchronization Problems. The goals for this lightning talk are to demonstrate these initial chapters, to discuss plans for future interactive components, and to gather feedback from those present. OpenCSF is publicly available at https://opencsf.org/.