Department of Computer Science
The University of Texas at Austin

CS 329E - Elements of Web Programming (Summer 2021)
Unique No: 86615, MWF 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM, Zoom on Canvas

Instructor: Dr. Shyamal Mitra
Office Hours: MWF 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM or by appointment
Location: Zoom on Canvas
E-mail: mitra@cs.utexas.edu

Required Text: Web Programming
Authors: Lysecky, Vahid
Publisher: Zyante
ISBN: 978-1-394-11956-1

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Prerequisites for CS 329E

The is an upper division course in the Elements of Computing Certificate series. You should have taken CS 303E and CS 313E or approved equivalent programming courses with a grade of C or better.

Online Lectures and Office Hours

All our lectures and office hours will be delivered online on Zoom in Canvas. Be sure that you have Zoom 5 and Duo. Login to Zoom using your ut_eid@eid.utexas.edu. The lectures will be recorded. These recordings are confidential and are only for educational purposes. The recordings must not be shared in any form. Any dissemination of the recordings is a violation of the University policies and will be subject to Student Misconduct proceedings through the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity. All our office hours will be online through Zoom in Canvas. The office hours will not be recorded.

Scope of the Course

This is an elective course in the Elements of Computing series. I assume that you know Java or Python at the level taught in CS 303E and 313E. Experience using HTML or other packages to develop web pages is not required. This is an introductory course in understanding the technologies involved in developing a web application. We will be writing programs to build our web applications rather than use a content management system like WordPress or Drupal. This is where your programming knowledge from CS 303E and CS 313E will be extremely helpful.

Not only will we learn the technical details of building a web application, we will also discuss and think about design issues. We will interleave our lectures on design with discussions on technical topics during the first half of the course. The second half of the course will be mainly technical topics.

Learning Objectives

In this course you will do a full stack development of a web application. You will learn how to develop both the client and server software.

Assignments

There will be reading assignments before each lecture. The readings will be from the text book or you might be asked to research the web. I expect you to come to class having read the material. The class period will be taken up in discussing the material. There will be regular exercises that will go along with the discussion.

There will be homework assignments that will consist of problems posted on the web. These programming assignments you can complete in the CS Lab. You may also choose to use your own computer to work on these assignments.

The only way to learn web development is to program. Doing the programming assignments is crucial to performing well in class. Assignments will be given almost every week. Each assignment will have a clearly stated due date and time. Assignments start out being easy but get harder over the semester. If you are having considerable difficulty with Assignments 2 and/or 3, please see me immediately. The assignments will require a substantial time commitment over several days (an average of 10 to 15 hours per week should be expected). Be sure to budget sufficient time to complete assignments before the deadline.

The goal of some of these homework assignments will be to build sub-components of your final project. It will be to your benefit to save all your homework assignments.

There will be a clearly stated deadline for each assignment. This permits grading to start promptly after the submission deadline so that assignments maybe returned promptly. If you do not finish an assignment by the deadline you have a maximum of two days to turn your assignment in. However, there is a penalty of 10 points (out of 100 points) per day. Your assignment is one day late until the midnight of the day after it is due, two days late from then until midnight of the second day. If you still have not completed your assignment after the second day, you need to talk to me about your particular situation.

Final Project

The final project will involve building a web site. You will be given temporary accounts on the CS machines to store and host your web site. You will be working in groups of 2 or 3 for the final project. You will decide on the content of the web site after discussing with me. The technical specifications for the web site will be given to you. The final project will be due on the last day of class.

Exercises

There will be assigned readings from the text and exercises that follow the readings and exercises by the due date and time. There are no extensions to the reading assignments.

Tests

There will be three tests and no final examination. The tests will be take home tests but with a finite time limit of 3 hours. They will be in the evenings and will have to be done on your computer or a computer in the CS lab. Make-up exams will be given ONLY for an official UT conflict, and you must submit a written make-up request with proof of conflict to the instructor one week before the tests.

Test Schedule
Test Date Time
Test 1 Fri, 02 Jul 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Test 2 Fri, 23 Jul 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Test 3 Sun, 15 Aug 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Due Dates and Times

All deadlines are expressed in US Central Time. Do not wait till the last hour and then try to beat the clock. There are times systems are taken down for maintenance and will be unavailable for you. Be aware of this as you schedule your work.

Grades

Your performance in this class will be evaluated using your scores for the reading exercises, homework assignments, three tests and the final project. The weights of each of these components are listed below:

You can earn 5 points extra credit on the total sum of the three tests for filling out the electronic evaluation for the class. To obtain those extra credit points you must take a screen shot of the fact that you completed the survey and then upload the screen shot to the appropriate slot in Canvas.

Your final grade will be assigned after we obtain the weighted average according to the weights as given above. Note that the average on Canvas is not your true weighted mean. Your grade will be based on the traditional scheme:

We do assign grades on the +/- system. But those finer cutoffs will be determined at the very end after the weighted average and standard deviation of the class are computed.

Study Groups

Please organize yourselves into study groups of ~5 students who will meet once a week to discuss the course. Typically, you will review the lectures, do the reading, and attempt the homework independently before your weekly meeting with your study group. Studying for tests together is permitted and encouraged. You may discuss solutions to problems in simple English but you cannot exchange code for any assignment. If you are unsure about how to work together with your friend in a legal, helpful manner, do come and talk with us. Remember, it is always ok to "work together" with your professor or TA!

Academic Misconduct Policy

While you are free to discuss the course material with your classmates and are encouraged to form study groups for the exams, collaboration on homework or programming assignments is not permitted. You will however, be working on the project together.

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, tests, and project must be the work of students turning them in. University policy (see Dean of Students' policies on academic integrity) will be followed strictly. We will be running a sophisticated program on all submitted assignments to detect plagiarism. If we do detect any cases of academic dishonesty, we will assign a failing grade to all students involved and refer the cases to the Dean of Students.

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

We urge everyone in the class to take appropriate measures for protecting one's work. You should protect your files, homework solution sheets, etc. as deemed reasonable.

Your Responsibilities in This Class

University Time Table

General Policies

If you are absent from class or examination for the observance of a religious holy day you may turn in your assignment or take the examination on an alternate date provided you have given me written notice fourteen days prior to the class absence. For religious holy days that fall within the first two weeks of class notice must be given on the first class day.

Students with disabilities who need special accommodations should contact the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) Office (471-6259 or 471-4641 TTY).