Course Objectives

To understand the basic operation of computing systems. Upon completing this course, students should have a high-level understanding of the role played by each major component of the system, including compiler, operating system, assembler, instruction set, and hardware. 

Student Evaluation

 Your performance in this class will be evaluated through homework assignments, programming assignments, two exams, and a final. The weights of each of these components is listed below:

• Two Midterms:  40%
• The Final: 20%
• Discussion Section Participation 5%
  
• Best score of the two exams and the final: 15%
• Homework and Programming Assignments: 20%

• Exam 1: Monday, October 6, 7-9p.m. WEL 2.224.
  
• Exam 2: Monday, November 10, 7-9p.m. WEL 2.224.
  
• Final: you may take either of the two finals at their official scheduled times:  Fri Dec 12th 2-5p.m, Sat Dec 13th 7-10p.m.
  

Interaction with your TA

Feel free to attend any/all of the CS310 office hours.

Your TA will conduct 50 min. discussion sections each Thursday to provide extra time for questions, to present additional examples of problem-solving techniques, to review the assignments, and to present new material.

The grading of assignments and tests will be shared among myself, the TAs, and the proctors but your contact point for grades will be your TA.  Assignments and tests will be returned by your TA. Any grading problems should be turned in to your TA for resolution first, before appealing to me. You have one week to turn in a written appeal, after the TA returns the assignment.

Academic Misconduct Policy

You are free to discuss the course material with your classmates and are encouraged to form study groups for the exams. However, collaboration on homework or programming assignments is not permitted. Helping a friend understand the intent of a homework or programming assignment specification is permitted. Students who work together too closely (e.g. design their solution together) should be aware that this is a form of cheating called COLLUSION and is subject to academic penalties.  Penalties for academic misconduct include a failing grade in this course.  

The homework, programs, and exams must be the work of students turning them in. University policy (see Dean of Students' policies on academic integrity) will be followed strictly.

Acts that exceed the bounds defined by the approved collaboration practices will be considered cheating. Such acts include:

• Copying solutions, code, or programs from someone else or giving someone else your solutions, code, or programs
• Participation in a discussion group that develops a solution that everyone copies

Studying for tests together is permitted and encouraged. Please come talk to me if you are unsure about how to work together with your friend in a legal, helpful manner. Remember, it is always ok to "work together" with your professor or TA!

Your Responsibilities in This Class:

• Your performance in this class will be determined by you! It will require a strong dedication to learning the material and may require a substantial time commitment to complete the programming assignments.
• You are expected to show up on time for lecture and discussion sections, with your cell phone turned off.
  
• You are responsible for all material posted to the class web site or emailed to your address that you registered with UTDirect.  (To make this easy on you, we will not post required information any later than 48hrs before 'an assignment is due' or 'the exam date'). Ignorance of such material is no excuse.
• You are responsible for obtaining departmental Unix accounts, and learning the Unix operating system sufficiently well to meet the demands of the course. The CS department provides several sessions of a 1 hour introduction at the beginning of every semester.
• You are responsible for all material presented in lecture and in discussion sections. Note: lectures will include some material that is not available elsewhere.  We advise you to attend all discussion sections so as not to miss out on material that will be covered in assignments and on exams.
• You are expected to attend the discussion section for which you are registered. This is important to allow all students equal access to the TAs. Furthermore, all assignments and exams will be returned in discussion sections by your TA.
• You are responsible for turning in your own work on all assignments. Unauthorized collusion is not allowed and constitutes a violation of the university's policies on academic integrity. See above guidelines for more information on what is or is not allowed.
• You are responsible for protecting your work from being copied by others.
• I support the CS code of Conduct for CS310 faculty, TAs, proctors, and students; please read and adhere to it.

 The programming assignments will require use of the Department of Computer Sciences instructional computing resources. All CS students who meet the prerequisites for CS310 are eligible for a CS departmental Microlab account and undergraduate Unix account. Important links:

• Unix Account home page
• Linux Labs (Painter 1.44)
• Microlab homepage

You will perform your programming assignments on software that runs on Windows or Linux. This can either be done in the departmental microlab, in the department Linux Labs, or at home on your own computer. The software will be made available for download later in the semester.