Instructor: Jim Jones
Office hrs: 2-3 p.m. daily and
other times as available
Office: Room 19 Library (Phone x5294)
Text: Modern Programming Languages: A Practical Introduction, by Adam Brooks Webber (www.webber-labs.com/mpl.html)
Course Description:
A study of programming language concepts including
syntax and semantic specification, program control structures,
memory and data structures for implementation, and data abstraction.
Topics include: recursive functions, data typing, inheritance,
distributed processing, functional programming, logic programming,
script languages, text processing languages, and parsing issues.
Representative languages are studied and projects in several of
them are performed. The objectives for this course are:
Course Schedule:
The pace of this course depends somewhat on the nature of the class,
discussion, and unplanned circumstances. I intend to procede through
the chapters in the order appearing in the textbook.
It is my intent to cover 2 chapters a week for most weeks.
Chapters 13, 15, and 17, will receive less attention since Java should be
familiar to students in this class (but you are expected to read them).
Chapter 23 will not be covered (but you should read it if you intend to
go on to graduate school or take the GRE specialty exam in CS).
Assignments and exams will be announced in class. In as much as possible
I will also announce them by email (using the cpsc3400-L listserv) and on
the class website
(http://csit.graceland.edu/~jsjones/cpsc3400).
Grading:
I assign points to assignments, projects, and quizzes that reflect
their value relative to each other without being weighted
in any special way. Thus, a 20 pointer has twice the value of 10 pointer
no matter whether it is an exercise or an exam. One's score is simply
computed from the sum of all scores earned divided by the total possible.
I also assign points so that no one item would be
seen as meaningless or overly significant (typically no assignment, project, or
exam counts less than 5% or more than 30% of the final grade).
Attendance and participation is expected throughout the course.
Perfect attendance will earn the student a 3% bonus. Any excused
absence will have to be made up in order earn this bonus credit
(typically a 3-page paper or presentation).
Whenever I am concerned that some students are relying too much
on others for help, not doing the reading, or not being engaged in the topic
my attention shifts to writing exams in order to be fair to those who are.
Expect two to four exams (including final) and regular assignments.
Grade threshold follows:
A: 90% and above | B: 80% and above | C: 70% and above | D: 55% and above | F: below 55% |
I generally do not "curve" grades, but I sometimes look at how class scores are clustered to get a truer sense of where the actual grade categories lay.
Final Exam:
Wednesday, May 13, 2009, 10 a.m. to noon
Mark your calendar NOW since there is a strict
Graceland policy on final examinations.
Only those having three or more finals on the same day can
seek changes. You can go to
http://csit.graceland.edu/~jsjones/finals
to determine all your final exam times to see if you will face this and need to talk with
your teachers (FYI- this webpage is a Python CGI based form).
Plagiarism and Cheating:
So much of what we do is electronic in nature, easy to transmit and copy.
Take special care to stay honest when seeking help and facing a deadline.
Protect your work from those who might copy it and do not get
so involved in helping someone that you are merely doing their work
(an easy trap to fall into).
When in doubt about what is appropriate, ask me. See also the
Graceland policy on academic integrity.
Any student who, because of a disabling condition, may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements should contact the instructor as soon as possible to make necessary accommodations.