- International Fees
International fees are typically 3.25 times the domestic tuition. Exact cost will be calculated upon completion of registration.
Course Overview
Following on from “Procedural Programming with C" and “Computer Architecture and Organization"; students are introduced to the basic concepts, terminology and leveraging operating systems for concurrent software applications. COMP 4737 replaces COMP 4731 in the CST/PTS Diploma. Participants focus on using concurrent programming: processes and threads, inter-process communication (IPC), synchronization and mutual exclusion, deadlock and starvation with an introduction to memory organization. Theoretical topics include: overall operating system structure, operating systems services, how these services are used, and kernel architecture. Labs and exercises reinforce concepts with examples of using these operating system services within application programs. This course is equivalent to COMP 4736 in the Full-time CST Diploma. Upon successful completion, students will be able analyze, design and implement concurrent software applications. COMP 4737 is required for the Computer Systems (CST/PTS) Diploma and is offered twice per year the Winter (January) and Spring (May) terms.
Credits
4.0
Domestic fees
$593.96 - $608.62 See individual course offerings below for actual costs.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Describe the role of an operating system.
- Analyze how the operating system is structured (layers and components).
- Describe the operating system interface (system calls, shells).
- Use POSIX system calls in C.
- Describe synchronization concepts such as mutual exclusion, critical sections, and race conditions.
- Solve synchronization problems using constructs such as spinlocks, mutexes, semaphores, condition variables, and monitors.
- Compare and contrast synchronization of threads with semaphores and monitors.
- Discuss the consequences of concurrency: deadlock, starvation and livelock.
- Describe how to prevent, avoid, detect and recover from deadlock.
- Design and implement concurrent applications using processes and kernel-level and user-level threads.
- Solve IPC problems by implementing applications using methods such as signaling, messages, pipes, and shared memory.
Effective as of Fall 2022
Related Programs
Introduction to Operating Systems for CST (COMP 4737) is offered as a part of the following programs:
- Indicates programs accepting international students.
- Indicates programs eligible for students to apply for Post-graduation Work Permit (PGWP).
School of Computing and Academic Studies
- Computer Systems
Diploma Part-time
Course Offerings
Winter 2026
Below is one offering of COMP 4737 for the Winter 2026 term.
CRN 90572
Dates
Jan 08 - Mar 26 Loading
- CRN 90572
- $608.62 Domestic fees
Class meeting times
Duration
12 weeks
Instructor
TBD
Course outline
Course outline TBD — see Learning Outcomes in the interim.
Important information
- Departmental approval needed
- International fees are typically 3.25 times the domestic tuition. Exact cost will be calculated upon completion of registration.
- Please email cstflex@bcit.ca for Departmental approval. Include your Student number (A0#) and COMP__ and preferred CRN __ and Program Declaration____. Course is 48 hours - 36 hours on campus and 12 hours asynchronous activities/labs. The class meets once per week for 3 hours on campus and requires an additional 1 hours per week asynchronously. Please Note: Attendance, participation in class and the BCIT Learning Hub are mandatory. You should prepare to spend 2-3 hours on homework for every 1 hour of class time. This course may require an average total time commitment of 13-16+ hours per week. 3 hours of synchronous class, 1-hour asynchronous class time and 9-12+ hours per week for homework. Late registration is not permitted. BCIT Computing is primarily a Microsoft Windows environment. Students must provide their own current model Windows-compatible PC with microphone and video camera. i5 or higher equivalent processor, with 8 GB of RAM minimum, and 256 GB minimum storage. Highspeed internet access is needed for online sections and for homework. Mac users must have the ability to manage and support their iOS computer. They may need to create a virtual Windows environment using Parallels or VMWare Fusion. COMP instructors may not be able to assist Mac users with software compatibility issues. BCIT does not provide access to Parallels or support for students to use a Mac to run Windows.
Status
Spring/Summer 2026
Below are two offerings of COMP 4737 for the Spring/Summer 2026 term.
CRN 68757
Dates
May 26 - Jul 28 Loading
- CRN 68757
- $593.96 Domestic fees
Class meeting times
Duration
10 weeks
Instructor
Rahim Oraji
Course outline
Course outline TBD — see Learning Outcomes in the interim.
Important information
- Departmental approval needed
- International fees are typically 3.25 times the domestic tuition. Exact cost will be calculated upon completion of registration.
- Please email cstflex@bcit.ca for Departmental approval. Include your Student number (A0#) and COMP__ and preferred CRN __ and Program Declaration____. Course is 48 hours - 30 hours on campus and 18 hours asynchronous activities/labs. The class meets once per week for 3 hours on campus and requires an additional 1.5 to 2 hours per week asynchronously (as assigned by the instructor). Please Note: Attendance, participation in class and the BCIT Learning Hub are mandatory. You should prepare to spend 2-3 hours on homework for every 1 hour of class time. This course may require an average total time commitment of 13-16+ hours per week. Late registration is not permitted. BCIT Computing is primarily a Microsoft Windows environment. Students must provide their own current model Windows-compatible PC. i5 or higher equivalent processor, with 8 GB of RAM minimum, and 256 GB minimum storage. Highspeed internet access is needed for online sections and for homework. Mac users must have the ability to manage and support their iOS computer. They may need to create a virtual Windows environment using Parallels or VMWare Fusion. COMP instructors may not be able to assist Mac users with software compatibility issues. BCIT does not provide access to Parallels or support for students to use a Mac to run Windows.
Status
CRN 68759
Dates
May 27 - Jul 29 Loading
- CRN 68759
- $593.96 Domestic fees
Class meeting times
Duration
10 weeks
Instructor
Rahim Oraji
Course outline
Course outline TBD — see Learning Outcomes in the interim.
Important information
- Departmental approval needed
- Important course information will be sent to you prior to your course start date. Check your myBCIT email account to access this information.
- International fees are typically 3.25 times the domestic tuition. Exact cost will be calculated upon completion of registration.
- Please email cstflex@bcit.ca for Departmental approval. Include your Student number (A0#) and COMP__ and preferred CRN __ and Program Declaration____. This course is delivered online with exams on-campus. The course is 48 hours - 30 hours synchronous online classes and 18 hours asynchronous activities/labs. The class meets once per week for 3 hours online and requires an additional 1.5 to 2 hours per week asynchronously (as assigned by the instructor). FINAL EXAM: July 29, 1800-2100, at the Downtown campus Rm 362. Please Note: Attendance, participation in class and the BCIT Learning Hub are mandatory. You should prepare to spend 2-3 hours on homework for every 1 hour of class time. This course may require an average total time commitment of 13-16+ hours per week. Late registration is not permitted. BCIT Computing is primarily a Microsoft Windows environment. Students must provide their own current model Windows-compatible PC. i5 or higher equivalent processor, with 8 GB of RAM minimum, and 256 GB minimum storage. Highspeed internet access is needed for online sections and for homework. Mac users must have the ability to manage and support their iOS computer. They may need to create a virtual Windows environment using Parallels or VMWare Fusion. COMP instructors may not be able to assist Mac users with software compatibility issues. BCIT does not provide access to Parallels or support for students to use a Mac to run Windows. Class in session July 1 (Canada Day).
Status
Programs and courses are subject to change without notice.