@menu
* Project 4 Background::
+* Project 4 Suggested Order of Implementation::
* Project 4 Requirements::
* Project 4 FAQ::
@end menu
can use the Unix @command{tar} program to examine them. The tar file
for test @var{t} is named @file{@var{t}.tar}.
+@node Project 4 Suggested Order of Implementation
+@section Suggested Order of Implementation
+
+We suggest implementing the parts of this project in the following
+order to make your job easier:
+
+@enumerate
+@item
+Buffer cache (@pxref{Buffer Cache}). Implement the buffer cache and
+integrate it into the existing file system. At this point all the
+tests from project 2 (and project 3, if you're building on it) should
+still pass.
+
+@item
+Extensible files (@pxref{Indexed and Extensible Files}). After this
+step, your project should pass the file growth tests.
+
+@item
+Subdirectories (@pxref{Subdirectories}). Afterward, your project
+should pass the directory tests.
+
+@item
+Remaining miscellaneous items.
+@end enumerate
+
+You can implement extensible files and subdirectories in parallel if
+you temporarily make the number of entries in new directories fixed.
+
+You should think about synchronization throughout.
+
@node Project 4 Requirements
@section Requirements
sectors in size.
You must implement a cache replacement algorithm that is at least as
-good as the ``clock'' algorithm. Your algorithm must also account for
+good as the ``clock'' algorithm. We encourage you to account for
the generally greater value of metadata compared to data. Experiment
to see what combination of accessed, dirty, and other information
results in the best performance, as measured by the number of disk
Operations on different directories should take place concurrently.
Operations on the same directory may wait for one another.
+Keep in mind that only data shared by multiple threads needs to be
+synchronized. In the base file system, @struct{file} and @struct{dir}
+are accessed only by a single thread.
+
@node Project 4 FAQ
@section FAQ