Syllabus and general information for MCS-178: Introduction to Computer Science II (Fall 2001)

Overview

Office hours

World Wide Web

Prerequisites

Text and readings

There's also an on-line Java Tutorial at http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/, and copies of several Java books in the MCS Lab monitors' room, any of which you are welcome to use as a supplement to the material on Java in our book.

Course structure

Tests

Mastery homework

• You must have submitted an initial attempt by the original due date.
• No revision will be accepted for homeworks 1 and 2 after October 9th, for homeworks 3 and 4 after November 6th, or for homeworks 5 and 6 after December 12th. These cutoff dates are intentionally synchronized with the tests; the point of the homeworks is to prepare you for the tests.

Note that if you turn in each homework problem as soon as you can do it, rather than saving them for the assignment due dates, you will have more opportunity for revision and resubmission before the cutoff dates listed above. Particularly for the last homeworks before each cutoff date (and test), I can't guarantee you'll have time for a revision cycle otherwise.

I may also announce an earlier cutoff date for any individual problem I consider important for us to discuss in class.

The homework portion of your course grade will simply be determined by the fraction of the homework problems you eventually mastered.

Attendance policy

With regard to the class days, you are responsible for all course material, whether or not you are present when it was covered or distributed.

Honor

Any substantive contribution to your solution by another person or taken from a publication should be properly acknowledged in writing. Failure to do so is plagiarism and will necessitate disciplinary action.

The same standards regarding plagiarism apply to team projects as to the work of individuals, except that the author is now the entire team rather than an individual. Anything taken from a source outside the team should be be properly cited.

One additional issue that arises from the team authorship of project reports is that all team members must stand behind all reports bearing their names. All team members have quality assurance responsibility for the entire project. If there is irreconcilable disagreement within the team it is necessary to indicate as much in the reports; this can be in the form of a "minority opinion" or "dissenting opinion" section where appropriate.

Late lab assignments

If you are too sick to complete an assignment on time, you will not be penalized. Simply write "late due to illness" at the top of the assignment, sign your name and hand it in. Other circumstances will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Grade changes

Grading

• 35% lab assignments (7 @ 5% each)
• 17% homework (see above)
• 48% exams (3 @ 16% each)

Style guidelines

• Use full English sentences where appropriate (namely almost everywhere, including in mathematical proofs or derivations).
• Word-process or type your homework if you can. In any case, make sure it is legible.
• Use diagrams, tables, programs, and calculations as supporting components of English writing, not in isolation. Remember that your goal is to communicate clearly, and that the appearance of these technical items plays a role in this communication process.
• Be sure your assignments are always stapled together and that your name is always on them.

Accessibility

Syllabus

This is my best guess as to the rate at which we will cover material. However, don't be shocked if I have to pass out one or more revised syllabi.

Date	Reading	Topic	Due
9/5	10.1-10.2	EBNF
9/6	10.3	Micro-Scheme (class instead of lab, OHS 321)
9/7		More on Micro-Scheme
9/10	10.4	Global definitions: Mini-Scheme
9/11		Lab 1: Extending evaluators
9/12	10.5	Adding explanatory output
9/13		Lab 1 (continued)
9/14		More on explanatory output
9/17	11.1-11.2	The SLIM architecture	HW 1
9/18		Lab 1 (continued)
9/19	11.3	SLIM's instruction set
9/20		Lab 1 (concludes)
9/21		Lab report writing workshop
9/24	11.4	Iteration in assembly language	Lab 1
9/25		Lab 2: Assembly language programming
9/26	11.5	Recursion in assembly language
9/27		Lab 2 (continued)
9/28		More on assembly programming
10/1	11.6	Memory in Scheme: vectors
10/4		Lab 2 (concludes)
10/5		Review; catch-up	HW 2
10/8	12.1-12.2	Revisiting tree recursion	Lab 2
10/9		Test 1, 7:00-8:30pm, OHS 103; no lab
10/10	12.3	Memoization
10/11		Lab 3: Formatting paragraphs
10/12	12.4	Dynamic programming
10/15	12.5	Comparing memoization and dynamic programming
10/16		Lab 3 (continued)
10/17		More on memoization and dynamic programming	HW 3
10/18		Lab 3 (concludes)
10/23	13.1-13.2	Arithmetic expressions revisited (class, not lab; unusual room: OHS 320)	Lab 3
10/24	13.3	RA-stacks and rep. invariants
10/25		Lab 4: Robots
10/26		More on RA-stacks and rep. invariants
10/29	13.4	Queues
10/30		Lab 4 (continued)
10/31	13.5	Red-black trees	HW 4
11/1		Lab 4 (concludes)
11/2	13.6	Dictionaries
11/5		Review; catch-up	Lab 4
11/6		Lab 5: Dictionaries; Test 2, 7:00-8:30pm, OHS 321
11/7	14.1-14.2	Object-oriented programming
11/8		Lab 5 (continued)
11/9		More on object-oriented programming
11/12	14.3	Extensions/variations on compu-duds
11/13		Lab 5 (concludes)
11/14	14.5	The Land of Gack	Lab 5
11/15		Lab 6: Adventures in the Imaginary Land of Gack
11/16	14.4-p. 529	Implementing object-oriented programming
11/19	14.4	More on implementation of o-o programming	HW 5
11/20		Lab 6 (continued)
11/21		Lab 6 (continued) (lab instead of class)
11/26	15.1-15.2	Java
11/27		Lab 6 (concludes)
11/28		More on Java	Lab 6
11/29		Lab 7: Java and Concurrency
11/30	15.3	Event-driven GUI programming in Java
12/3		More on event-driven GUI programming
12/4		Lab 7 (continued)
12/5	15.4	Concurrency
12/6		Lab 7 (continued)
12/7		More on concurrency
12/10		Lab 7 (continued) (lab instead of class)	HW 6
12/11		Lab 7 (concludes)
12/12		Review and evaluation	Lab 7
12/15		Final, 1-3pm, OHS 321