CSCI 339
Distributed Systems
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| Semester: | Fall 2026 |
| Instructor: | Jeannie Albrecht |
| Email: | jeannie@cs.williams.edu |
| Office: | TCL 305 |
| Office Hours: | Tu 1-2:30, F 10-11:30 |
| Class Meeting Times: | MTh 1:10-2:25pm in Schow 030A |
| TAs: | MTu: Dimitri 7-9, WTh: Nathan 8-10 in TCL 312 |
| Optional Textbook: |
Distributed Systems,
by M. van Steen and A.S. Tanenbaum, 4th ed., 2023. You can obtain an updated free digital version using the above link. |
Course Description
This course studies the key design principles of distributed systems, which are collections of independent networked computers that function as single coherent systems. Covered topics include communication protocols, processes and threads, naming, synchronization, consistency and replication, fault tolerance, and security. Students also examine some specific real-world distributed systems case studies, ranging from the Internet to file systems. Class discussion is based on readings from the textbook and research papers. The goals of this course are to understand how large-scale computational systems are built, and to provide students with the tools necessary to evaluate new technologies after the course ends.
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