Course meets:
Mon, Wed, Fri, 2 - 2:50, LC C2
[General Information] [Course
Grading] [Programs Grading] [Pair Programming]
[How to Succeed] [Academic
Dishonesty]
General Information
| Instructor:
| Reed.
|
| Office:
| SEO 917
|
| Phone:
| (312) 413-9478
|
| email:
| reed @ uic.edu
|
| On the Web:
| http://www.cs.uic.edu/~reed
|
| Office Hours:
| See above web page
|
| Prerequisites:
| Credit or concurrent registration in Math 180
|
Text:
|
Walter Savitch. Absolute Java, 3rd Edition, Addison-Wesley, 2008
ISBN-10: 0321487923
ISBN-13: 9780321487926
You will also need to purchase
a license to use CodeLab ~($25), which is required to do the
online exercises.
In the last 2.5 weeks of the course we will study a little bit of
C++. Though not required, if you plan on programming in C/C++ in the future
you may want to purchase a programming book in C++. There are good ones
that you can find online by Savitch, and another option is Deitel &
Deitel.
|
Make sure that you are on the class email list. I will be sending class email
to your UIC email, so if you read your mail somewhere else be sure to forward
your email. Please send email to me requesting to be added to the list if you
do not receive an email from me by the beginning of the second week of class.
I'm assuming students check email every day. All critical announcements, changes
to assignments, etc. will be distributed via email.
You will be given the opportunity to take a make-up exam only in cases of
medical or personal emergencies, which must be verified. If such an emergency
occurs, call me or leave a note (or phone message) with the department secretary
as soon as possible. If you will be out of town when an exam is scheduled, I
must be told in advance and may require you to take the exam early. Otherwise,
if you miss an exam you will receive 0 points.
You are responsible for all information (handouts, announcements, notes, etc.)
covered during class. You should ask fellow classmates for missed information,
not the instructor or the T.A.
No incompletes will be given for poor performance in the course. An incomplete
can only be given if there are extenuating circumstances and the student has
at least a 'C' average in the course. No extra work or extra credit will be
given.
If you feel that you deserve more points than you have been given on a quiz, assignment, or test, you must see the instructor about this within one week of the time the work in question is first returned to the class. After this deadline, no claims will be considered, justifiable or not.
Be sure to check the course web page for further information, handouts, programming
assignment descriptions, and hints.
Course Grading Criteria
| Programs (5)
| 35%
|
| Quizzes
| 5%
|
|
| Labs
| 5%
|
|
| CodeLab
| 10%
|
|
| Midterm # 1
| 10%
|
|
| Midterm # 2
| 15%
|
|
| Final
| 20%
|
|
| Total:
| 100%
|
|
Letter grades are assigned on a curve at the end of the semester.
The way the curve in this class historically usually works, the most you will likely be able to get is a "C" in the course if you turn in only 3 programs.
Quizzes will be given during the first few minutes of lab,
and will be closely based on the text's self-test exercises from the textbook
assigned readings. No makeup quizzes will be given, but the lowest quiz grade
will be dropped. Lab exercises will be assigned during lab and must be completed
during that lab session. Labs are graded on a 3 point scale (0: didn't do it,
1: some effort, 2: average, 3: outstanding). The lowest lab grade will be dropped.
CodeLab exercises are available on the web and must be completed before 11:59 pm on the
posted deadlines.
See the tests description for more information
on test format and examples of old tests.
Program Grading Criteria
- Programs are due by 12:00 noon on the day due unless otherwise stated. No late programs will be accepted.
Turning in a program consists of turning in your code using the UNIX turnin
program from your CS account (not your university icarus account).
The time stamp from turnin will be used to determine the submission time.
Time stamps on diskettes or your home computer files are invalid.
Your CS account name will likely be something like tempnnn where nnn is some number. This account is good for this semester only. Accounts are posted on the bulletin board to the south of the elevators on the 9th floor of SEO, as well as on the bulletin board inside the computer labs at SEL 2260. Please get this information before your first lab.
- The Java programs must run correctly in the BlueJ environment in order
to be considered for grading. The C++ program(s) must compile and run correctly
using the g++ compiler on the CS Dept. machines bert.cs.uic.edu or ernie.cs.uic.edu.
- Partial credit will be given only on programs that do compile and run
substantially according to program requirements (i.e. not just "Hello
World" or simple input and output). This is important: You will not
be graded on the effort you put into a program, but rather on the final
result.
- You do not need to turn in a hard copy of your program. The course TA's
will be printing out your programs in 2 column landscape mode with a header
using the enscript and lpr commands described here.
Be sure your program looks nice in this format.
I strongly urge you to restrict your typing to an 80 column line length.
Each program will be graded out of 100 points as follows. Note that some of
the criteria do not apply to early programs (e.g. functional decomposition)
since we will not have learned those topics yet.
| 55%
| Runs correctly: conforms to assignment description for input and output,
follows instructions given. Make sure to test your program thoroughly.
|
| 45%
| Programming style, further broken down as follows:
|
|
|
| 10%
| Meaningful Identifier Names. Identifier names should indicate their
purpose. Names should be words separated using capitalization, such
as gradesSum. Short loops of ~ 5 lines can use loop counter variables
such as i or j.
|
| 10%
| Comments. Every function must have a short description stating
the purpose of the function, what it receives, and what it returns.
Comments should be easily identifiable. I should be able to understand
your program by reading only the comments. Also include a header
at the top of your program (see example below) that must
include lab day and TA name.
|
| 10%
| Functional Decomposition. A segment of code that appears more
than once should be extracted to form a separate method (in Java)
or function (in C). Methods/Functions should be no longer than around
50 lines. This may not apply to early programs that don't use methods/functions.
|
| 10%
| Appropriate data and control structures: Global variables should
be avoided and used only when necessary. Method/Function parameters
should be used instead. Appropriate looping and decision structures
used.This may not apply to early programs that don't use methods/functions.
|
| 5%
| Code Layout. Different nested levels should have different indentation,
where statements at the same level should have the same indentation.
Indent at least 3 spaces. Use either spaces or tabs consistently, otherwise printouts will be messed up.
|
|
| 100
| Total Points
|
Each program should include a descriptive header at the top of the first page
which must have at least as much information as the following:
/** ---------------------------------------------
* This program implements a calculator that does
* addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
*
* Class: CS 107, Fall 2008
* Lab: Billie Joe Armstrong, Wed. 6:00 AM
* System: BlueJ 1.3, jsdk 1.5, Windows XP
*
* @author Dale Reed
* @version August 25, 2008
* ----------------------------------------------
*/
Additionally your program must print out your name, assignment number and
name, TA name and lab information. For instance, if your first program assignment
was called "Average the Numbers," then when you run your program the
first thing that should appear on the screen is something like:
Author: Dale Reed
Program: #1, Average the Numbers
TA: Englebert Humberdink, T 4-5
Do not modify your program after it has been turned in. In case of a turnin
problem, the last modification date of your original program can still be verified.
If you want to change it, make a copy first.
Experience has shown that students who develop their programs on PC's and
then port them over sometimes encounter mysterious problems. Plan ahead, since
no late programs are accepted.
Pair Programming
You will be asked to practice pair programming for one of the programming assignments. For this you must choose a partner ahead of time, communicating this by email to me at least 5 days before the program is due.
You must then take turns being the "designated driver" and the "non-driver." To do this you must also both read the article by Williams and Kessler entitled "All I Need to Know about Pair Programming I Learned in Kindergarten."
If doing pair programming, you will only turn in one program solution, with both of your names on in.
How to Succeed in this Class
My job in class is to organize the material coherently, give helpful lectures, provide a framework that combines enough challenge and support for success, and grade reasonably. For you to succeed my expectation is that you will do the following. Note that a reasonable academic expectation is that you spend 2 hours outside of class for every hour spent in class. For a few of your programming assignments you may go over this time estimate.
- Come to every class, unless you already understand the material very well and have no questions
- Read the book. If you are having difficulty, I expect you to read each chapter twice. This gives you the preparation to succeed on the lab quizzes.
- Do all the Code Lab assignments. This teaches you syntax, freeing you up when programming to think about problem-solving and design issues.
- Attend labs, taking quizzes and doing the exercises. If you already have many programming skills, then pair up with someone who needs the help. You will discover new insights when you have to explain things.
- Write the programs, working on them ahead of time and not at the last minute. This allows you to get help from the teacher and from TAs if you need it.
- See the teacher and/or TA when you don't understand something and have spent a reasonable time working on it yourself first.
Academic Dishonesty
Any student caught cheating on an exam or program will automatically fail the
course and may be referred to the department chair and/or dean.
When writing programs, you may consult with me or the TA at any stage of your
program development. It helps if you bring a current print-out. You may seek
help about the system or the editor from anyone at any time.
To avoid cheating via collaboration, do not show any other classmates your
code. If a classmate consults you for help after attempting to run his or her
program, you may assist in determining why his or her code doesn't work, but
refrain from suggesting specific new code. Do not lead your classmates
into temptation: guard your print-outs. We intend to use an automatic cheating-verification
program called MOSS
that is capable of detecting partial logical similarities. Don't even take the
risk.
You may not get help of any kind from anyone else for the midterm and final
exams. These exams must be exclusively your own work.
[CS Dept] [UIC]
[Prof. Reed]