An Interactive, Graphical CPU Scheduling Simulator for Teaching Operating Systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces a web-based graphical CPU scheduling simulator designed for educational purposes, enabling interactive learning and demonstrations of operating system concepts for both students and instructors.

Contribution

It presents a new interactive visualization tool for teaching CPU scheduling, including its development and pedagogical applications, accessible online for educational use.

Findings

The simulator effectively demonstrates CPU scheduling concepts.

Students found developing the engine enhances their understanding.

The tool is freely available for educational use online.

Abstract

We present a graphical simulation tool for visually and interactively exploring the processing of various events handled by an operating system when running a program. Our graphical simulator is available for use on the web and locally by both instructors and students for purposes of pedagogy. Instructors can use it for live demonstrations of course concepts in class, while students can use it outside of class to explore the concepts. The graphical simulation tool is implemented using the React library for the fancy ui elements of the Node.js framework and is available as a single page web application at https://cpudemo.azurewebsites.net. Assigning the development of the underling text-based simulation engine, on which the graphical simulator runs, to students as a course project is also an effective approach to teach students the concepts. The goals of this paper are to showcase the demonstrative capabilities of the tool for instruction, share student experiences in developing the engine underlying the simulation, and to inspire its use by other educators.