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Bit off-topic but my friend uni’s RTOS course was all about train scheduling, which seems like a fun way to teach it (not sure if it was Hornby 00 Gauge like th

by vba 7y ago

Bit off-topic but my friend uni’s RTOS course was all about train scheduling, which seems like a fun way to teach it (not sure if it was Hornby 00 Gauge like this)

ink_13 7y ago
Sounds like the infamous Trains of CS452 at the University of Waterloo. There's a class the ruins people; it seems they do nothing but live in a lab for three months. They walk away having written a bare-metal real-time operating system, so I guess that's something. I stuck to the less soul-destroying classes.
- MisterTea 7y ago
  Soul destroying? Learning to write a bare metal RTOS that controls a model railway sounds hella fun.
  - karlding 7y ago
    If you're interested in reading more, there's a student's write-up of the course here: * Impressions [0] * Optimizing The Kernel [1] * The 72-hour bug [2] * Train Tracking [3] Notably, QNX started as a CS 452 project. I'm not too sure about the future of that course. The last I heard (Winter 2019), the professor, Bill Cowan, had decided to stop teaching. Last term, they were clearing out the CS 452 lab and were moving the trains elsewhere. I had wanted to take the course then, but unfortunately the course wasn't being offered, and it was my last term before graduating. [0] https://www.taylorpetrick.com/blog/post/cs452-impressions https://www.taylorpetrick.com/blog/post/cs452-impressions [1] https://www.taylorpetrick.com/blog/post/cs452-optimization https://www.taylorpetrick.com/blog/post/cs452-optimization [2] https://www.taylorpetrick.com/blog/post/cs452-72-hour-bug https://www.taylorpetrick.com/blog/post/cs452-72-hour-bug [3] https://www.taylorpetrick.com/blog/post/cs452-train-tracking https://www.taylorpetrick.com/blog/post/cs452-train-tracking
    - elsurudo 7y ago
      Thanks for these links. As a UW CS alum who didn't take the CS452 and now regrets it a little bit, this was fascinating reading – especially when he gets to the modelling aspects (last link).
  - trayced 7y ago
    I took the course in 2018 and can say it was my favourite CS course I've taken. It's considered "soul destroying", not because it's hard or not fun but because of the sheer amount of hours you have to spend in the lab. Unless you're experienced in the domain or really smart (neither for me), you're probably spending many many hours in the lab almost everyday if you're trying to do well in the course. For me personally, I wouldn't say it was soul destroying and I'd say the skills you learn from the course are invaluable.

by vba 7y ago

Bit off-topic but my friend uni’s RTOS course was all about train scheduling, which seems like a fun way to teach it (not sure if it was Hornby 00 Gauge like this)

ink_13 7y ago

Sounds like the infamous Trains of CS452 at the University of Waterloo. There's a class the ruins people; it seems they do nothing but live in a lab for three months. They walk away having written a bare-metal real-time operating system, so I guess that's something. I stuck to the less soul-destroying classes.

MisterTea 7y ago
Soul destroying? Learning to write a bare metal RTOS that controls a model railway sounds hella fun.
- karlding 7y ago
  If you're interested in reading more, there's a student's write-up of the course here: * Impressions [0] * Optimizing The Kernel [1] * The 72-hour bug [2] * Train Tracking [3] Notably, QNX started as a CS 452 project. I'm not too sure about the future of that course. The last I heard (Winter 2019), the professor, Bill Cowan, had decided to stop teaching. Last term, they were clearing out the CS 452 lab and were moving the trains elsewhere. I had wanted to take the course then, but unfortunately the course wasn't being offered, and it was my last term before graduating. [0] https://www.taylorpetrick.com/blog/post/cs452-impressions https://www.taylorpetrick.com/blog/post/cs452-impressions [1] https://www.taylorpetrick.com/blog/post/cs452-optimization https://www.taylorpetrick.com/blog/post/cs452-optimization [2] https://www.taylorpetrick.com/blog/post/cs452-72-hour-bug https://www.taylorpetrick.com/blog/post/cs452-72-hour-bug [3] https://www.taylorpetrick.com/blog/post/cs452-train-tracking https://www.taylorpetrick.com/blog/post/cs452-train-tracking
  - elsurudo 7y ago
    Thanks for these links. As a UW CS alum who didn't take the CS452 and now regrets it a little bit, this was fascinating reading – especially when he gets to the modelling aspects (last link).
- trayced 7y ago
  I took the course in 2018 and can say it was my favourite CS course I've taken. It's considered "soul destroying", not because it's hard or not fun but because of the sheer amount of hours you have to spend in the lab. Unless you're experienced in the domain or really smart (neither for me), you're probably spending many many hours in the lab almost everyday if you're trying to do well in the course. For me personally, I wouldn't say it was soul destroying and I'd say the skills you learn from the course are invaluable.