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Software Performance

People

Hauswirth M.

Course director

Blicha M.

Assistant

Description

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Learn to reason about performance across system layers. Understand, with the example of Java, how language, compiler, virtual machine, operating system, and computer architecture work together.

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course teaches how the various layers of a computer system interact and affect the resulting performance. It performs two cuts down the system stack: one about the 'state' and the other about the 'behavior' of a system. The discussion of 'state' investigates memory usage of applications, leak detection, garbage collection, virtual memory management, and cache performance. The discussion of 'behavior' investigates call graphs, dynamic class loading, shared libraries and dynamic linking, control flow graphs, exception handling, compiler optimizations, and branch prediction.

 

LEARNING METHODS

Participation in class session and solution of lab/homework assignments (mostly programming in Java).

 

EXAMINATION INFORMATION
Written in-class final exam (if possible).

 

REFERENCES
No textbook is required. The material will be distributed in class (e.g., via slides, videos, and other material made available on the course web site). This course uses Informa as a learning platform. Check the "Software Performance" course site, with course themes, topics, skills, labs, readings, and more at https://informa.inf.usi.ch/courses

Education