later runs, you can make new observations without having to discard or
verify your old observations. This property is called
``reproducibility.'' The simulator we use, Bochs, can be set up for
-reproducibility, and that's the way that @command{pintos} invokes it.
+reproducibility, and that's the way that @command{pintos} invokes it
+by default.
Of course, a simulation can only be reproducible from one run to the
next if its input is the same each time. For simulating an entire
doesn't give you any greater confidence in your code's correctness
than does running it only once.
-So, to make your code easier to test, we've added a feature to Bochs
-that makes timer interrupts come at random intervals, but in a
-perfectly predictable way. In particular, if you invoke
-@command{pintos} with the option @option{-j @var{seed}}, timer
+So, to make your code easier to test, we've added a feature, called
+``jitter,'' to Bochs, that makes timer interrupts come at random
+intervals, but in a perfectly predictable way. In particular, if you
+invoke @command{pintos} with the option @option{-j @var{seed}}, timer
interrupts will come at irregularly spaced intervals. Within a single
@var{seed} value, execution will still be reproducible, but timer
behavior will change as @var{seed} is varied. Thus, for the highest
degree of confidence you should test your code with many seed values.
+On the other hand, when Bochs runs in reproducible mode, timings are not
+realistic, meaning that a ``one-second'' delay may be much shorter or
+even much longer than one second. You can invoke @command{pintos} with
+a different option, @option{-r}, to make it set up Bochs for realistic
+timings, in which a one-second delay should take approximately one
+second of real time. Simulation in real-time mode is not reproducible,
+and options @option{-j} and @option{-r} are mutually exclusive.
+
@node Tips
@section Tips
could potentially be used more profitably by another thread. Your
solution should not busy wait.
-The argument to @func{timer_sleep} is expressed in timer ticks, not
-in milliseconds or another unit. There are @code{TIMER_FREQ} timer
+The argument to @func{timer_sleep} is expressed in timer ticks, not in
+milliseconds or any another unit. There are @code{TIMER_FREQ} timer
ticks per second, where @code{TIMER_FREQ} is a macro defined in
@code{devices/timer.h}.
+Separate functions @func{timer_msleep}, @func{timer_usleep}, and
+@func{timer_nsleep} do exist for sleeping a specific number of
+milliseconds, microseconds, or nanoseconds, respectively, but these will
+call @func{timer_sleep} automatically when necessary. You do not need
+to modify them.
+
+If your delays seem too short or too long, reread the explanation of the
+@option{-r} option to @command{pintos} (@pxref{Debugging versus
+Testing}).
+
@node Problem 1-2 Join
@section Problem 1-2: Join
You only need to implement priority donation when a thread is waiting
for a lock held by a lower-priority thread. You do not need to
-implement this fix for semaphores, condition variables, or joins.
-However, you do need to implement priority scheduling in all cases.
+implement this fix for semaphores, condition variables, or joins,
+although you are welcome to do so. However, you do need to implement
+priority scheduling in all cases.
You may assume a static priority for priority donation, that is, it is
not necessary to ``re-donate'' a thread's priority if it changes
projects / pintos-anon / blobdiff