Course description and syllabus

Textbook and lecture schedule

We will generally follow the material covered in the textbook The Art and Science of C by Eric S. Roberts, Addison-Wesley publishers. The tentative schedule we will follow is available online.

Prerequisites

The only formal prerequisite for this class is Math 150, Precalculus Mathematics. However, many students have prior programming experience in a language such as Pascal. This course is designed for Computer Science Majors and will emphasize programming skills. Students who feel their background may be inadequate are urged to discuss their concerns with the instructor immediately.

Objectives

The objectives of this course are:

Grading

There will be five projects worth 8% each for a total of 40%; some number of unannounced quizzes worth a total of 10%; a midterm exam and a final exam worth 25% each. Your final letter grade may be curved above the standard formula:

0 <= F < 60, 60 <= D < 70, 70 <= C < 80, 80 <= B < 90, 90 <= A <= 100.

Under no circumstances will the grades be curved downward. Your grade is based on timely work accomplished during the semester; incomplete grades will only be given for medical illness or other such dire circumstances.

Project Submission and Grading

The critical programming skills cannot be learned simply by attending the lectures. You should budget enough time to work on the projects as well. Projects are due by midnight of the due date. If you fail submit a project on time, late penalties will be applied at the rate of a 10 point reduction of the score per day. Projects that are more than 5 days late will not be accepted. Projects will be graded according to five equal parts: correctness, design, style, documentation and efficiency.

You may turn in incomplete projects for grading. Late penalties apply as usual. A project that runs incorrectly will receive no more than 75% of the grade. A project that does not compile will receive no more than 50% of the grade. These guidelines are for incomplete projects where a good effort was made. Garbage will receive 0%.

You will be turning in your projects electronically. Details will be announced in class.

Project Policy

All projects must be completed by your own individual effort. You should never have a copy of someone else's project either on paper or electronically under any circumstance. Also, you should never give a copy of your project, either on paper or electronically, to another student. This also means that you cannot "work" on the project together. Cases of academic dishonesty will be dealt with severely.

If your project is turned in by someone else, both you and the person copying your project will receive a 0 for that project. This includes "substantially similar" projects. Furthermore, all parties concerned will have their prior projects checked for cheating. So, if you cheat on Project 5, you can lose all the points from Projects 1 through 4 as well, even though you may have done all the work and just "let" other people copy from you.

Lectures and Readings

You are expected to attend all lectures and your weekly discussion session. You are responsible for all material covered in the lecture, even if they are not in the textbook. You are responsible for the material in the readings, even if they are not covered during lecture. There will be some number of unannounced quizzes which may be given either in the lecture or the discussion, so you should keep up with the assigned readings during the semester.

Exams

In general, the exams and quizzes will be closed-book and closed-notes. The final exam will be comprehensive and cover the material from the entire course.
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