CS 107 Intro. to Programming

CS 107 (Spring '04)
[Schedule] [Examples] [Programs] [Notes & Reference] [Syllabus] [Lab & TA] [Tests] [Grades]

Course meets: Mon, Wed, Fri, 2 - 2:50, LC F6

[General Information] [Course Grading] [Programs Grading] [Academic Dishonesty]

General Information

Instructor:	Reed.
Office:	SEO 917
Phone:	(312) 413-9478
email:	reed @ uic.edu
On the Web:	http://www.eecs.uic.edu/~reed
Office Hours:	See above web page
Prerequisites:	Credit or concurrent registration in Math 180
Text:	Walter Savitch. Absolute Java, 1st Edition, Addison-Wesley, 2004. ISBN 0-321-20567-7. UIC Bookstore price: $79.75. You will also need to purchase a license to use CodeLab ($25 I think), which is required to do the online exercises. In the last 4 weeks of the course we will study C, with a little bit of C++. Though not required, if you plan on programming in 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 most you can get is a "C" in the course if you turn in only 3 programs, regardless of where your standing is otherwise in the curve. You will automatically get an "E" in the course if you turn in 2 or less programs.

Quizzes will take the form of brief pop-quizzes and will be given during lab, most likely during the first few minutes, 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 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 PM on the day due. No late programs are 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.
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.

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

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, Spring 2004
 * Lab: Englebert Humberdink, Wed. 6:00 AM
 * System: BlueJ 1.3, jsdk 1.4.2, Windows XP
 * 
 * @author  Dale Reed
 * @version January 16, 2004
 * ----------------------------------------------
 */

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.

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]