Prerequisites:

1. A score of at least 560 on the SAT II Subject Test in Mathematics Level I or Level IC, or a score of at least 530 on the SAT II Subject Test in Mathematics Level IIC, or a grade of at least C in Mathematics 305G; 
2.  and one year of programming in high school, or a grade of at least C in CS 304P, CS303e, or consent of instructor.
3. and repeated enrollment in CS 307 requires the consent of a CS academic advisor. 
   
   Warning letters to students apparently not meeting these requirements will be issued by the CS undergraduate advising office and distributed in class. Failure to resolve issues involving prerequisites or repeating the course will result in you being dropped from the course.

Textbooks.
Required:  Mark Allen Weiss, Data Structures, and Problem Solving with Java (2nd edition)  (Addison-Wesley, 2002), ISBN 0-201-74835-5.

Recommended: Patrick Henry Winston, Sundar Narasimhan, On to Java, (2nd edition) (Addison-Wesley, 1998), ISBN 0-201-38598-8

Staff.

• Michael Scott, Instructor for all sections.
  11:00 a.m. Taylor Hall 2.106, 2:00 p.m. Taylor Hall 2.106, 3:00 p.m. Taylor Hall 2.106
  Office: Taylor Hall 5.140
  Office hours: Wed. 9 - 10 a.m. and 4 - 5 p.m., Fri. 9 - 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. - 2 p.m., and by appointment
  Email: scottm@cs.utexas.edu     
  Phone: 471-9785 (email is preferable)

• Graduate Teaching Assistants:  Mathew Alden, Sumit Garg, and John Thomas
  

• Undergraduate Section Leaders:

  This term the Computer Science Department is initiating a new program in which undergraduate Computer Science majors will be employed to teach small discussion sections of 10 - 12 students and grade these students program interactively (You know, like while sitting together and being able to talk about it.). 

  You will be assigned to a graduate student teaching assistant or an undergraduate section leader (USL), normally the student who teaches your small discussion section.  This person is your vital link to me in the course.  All questions regarding your grade should first be directed to your TA since they maintain your grade record until the very end of the course.  TAs and USLs will hold office hours in the Painter Hall computer lab to help with programming assignments and discuss problems and difficult aspects of the material.
  

• Proctors:  There are eight undergraduate proctors on the staff. The proctors are undergraduate students who have excelled in this course in a prior semester, and are now employed as consultants in the Painter Hall microcomputer laboratory. The proctors primary duty is to assist students in the Painter Hall computer lab. They have experience in Java, and can help students interpret error messages and unexpected behavior in their programs. They are not, however, supposed to provide solutions for programming problems or debug students programs -- their role is to help students find their own solutions.

Classes. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday class meetings will be lectures, with four small discussion sections meeting together with me in Taylor Hall 2.106. I may give quizzes during some of the lectures. Small group discussion sections meet on Tuesday or Thursday depending on the unique course ID for which you are registered and which small discussion section you sign up for. Each section meets separately with a graduate teaching assistant or USL to give students the opportunity to discuss supplementary material, get a head start on homework assignments, and allow students to ask questions. Handout will be given the Friday before discussion sections with some of the material to be covered in section. You shall complete this before coming to section although it will not be graded. Participation in lecture and discussion section is one thing that can help you move up if you are on the borderline of a grade break. This means if you are within 1 point of the next highest grade and I believe you have participated in class I reserve the right to move you up to the next highest grade. Short quizzes will be given and important examples will be worked during these discussion sections. You are responsible for any and all material presented at these small discussion sections. 

Web Site. A class web site http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/scottm/cs307 is maintained. Course materials and some announcements will be available here. Visit the web site and newsgroup (see below) frequently — at least every time you visit the lab or work on an assignment — to check for announcements, especially about assignments, between lectures. Assignments, review materials, and other materials will also be posted there. If you need anything, chances are it's on the website.

Class Newsgroup. Their is a class newsgroup, utexas.class.cs307-scott. If you do not have an email account get one as soon as possible.  There is information on the class web page explaining how to obtain an email account. Note, to access the utexas newsgroups via an off campus internet connection you will have to follow the instructions at www.utexas.edu/cc/usenet/extnews/  The name of the news server is newshost.cc.utexas.edu If you are using Outlook Express on campus you add a new news account with this news server address.  (Under Tools -> Accounts -> add account)  You can also see www.utexas.edu/cc/usenet/index.html for more information about reading from newsgroups. 

Painter Hall Microcomputer Lab. PCs are available for assignments in the CS Department microcomputer lab located  in  Painter Hall, room 3.06. Students must see the user assistant (UA) in Painter 3.12 to obtain an account for the microlab. These accounts are only for the CS microlab, and not any other labs or networks at UT. The TAs, USLs, and proctors will hold office hours in the lab to assist students with questions on programming assignments. Students may also use other computers available to them to do assignments.

Software. There is no official course software. You have many, many options for Java if you want to work at home. You will need a Java SDK. You probably also want an IDE that makes programming easier. One simple IDE is BlueJ, a non commercial Java IDE developed by educators for educational purposes.  BlueJ requires the Java SDK version 1.3 or later be installed first. If you wish to work outside the lab, you will have to download and install the Java Software Development Kit from Sun Microsystems web site along with BlueJ. The class web page has instructions on how to do this. 

Other options include JBuilder and JCreator, both free and available via the web. See the class software page for links to these products. 

Please note, working at home is optional and aside from the information on the web page you are on your own to download, install, and get the Java and BlueJ software up and running.  You will also be required to turn in most of your assignments electronically via the Turnin program, a piece of software that allows you to transfer files from other computers to your account on the microlab server. The instructor and TAs will not be able to help you with installation of software on your personal computer although you may be able to help each other via the class newsgroup.  Be warned, if you choose this route you are mostly on your own.  The time to try and download and install the software at home is NOT four hours before the first assignment is due.

Schedule. A schedule of lecture topics, reading assignments, and assignment distribution and due dates is given below.  The same information will be posted on the web page and any changes to the schedule will be announced in class, on the newsgroup and made on that page.  The schedule page will also contain links to slides from the lectures, assignments, and online readings. I expect you to complete the readings before class so we can have a discussion on the topic instead of a simple lecture. Assignments are always due by 7:59:59 p.m. on Fridays.

Exams and Grading. Your grade will be maintained by a TA or USL, normally the person who teaches your small discussion group.  If you have questions or concerns about your grade contact your TA at lab hours or via email.  Please do not contact Mike initially with grade questions or concerns else you will get a pithy reply reminding you to contact your TA.  

Course grades will be based on the following components.

Component	Date	Weight
Midterm 1	Wednesday, February 20, 7 - 9 p.m.	20%
Midterm 2	Wednesday, April 3, 7 - 9 p.m.	25%
Final Exam	Uniform date, to be determined, but could be as late as Tuesday, May 14	35%
Assignments and Quizzes	(Stated in each assignment) Normally on Friday evenings by 8. Twelve assignments planned. Lowest assignment score dropped. Unannounced quizzes will be given during discussion sections and lecture.	20%

Exam Topics: Exams will cover material from lecture, discussion sections, assignments, and the assigned readings.  Exams will be cumulative although they will be more heavily weighted towards material not yet tested.  Computer Science and programming is a very cumulative discipline (like Mathematics), so it is important to have mastered earlier topics in order to understand later topics.

Final Grades: Final grades will be assigned according to the following criteria:

Final Averages will be calculated to 2 decimal places.  I think the grading system at UT really stinks. I want more options such as + and - modifiers. To only have 5 grades to assign is almost criminal. The difference between a 79 student and an 80 student is not that much, but the grading system makes it seem there is a huge difference between the two. Alas, the line has to be drawn somewhere and no special allowances, other than a regrade of the final to ensure correctness, will be made for students whose final average falls near, but below the cutoff.  No curve for the final average will be used although the midterms and final may be curved if the instructor believes it is warranted. I expect to have the following break downs on tests. 18% As, 27% Bs, 35% Cs, 15% Ds, and 5% Fs. I will only curve grades up. If everyone gets an A on the test, no curve will be imposed to lower scores. If everyone passes the test on raw score I will not curve anyone down to an F. 

Nonacademic explanations for poor class performance have no bearing on the assignment of grades. 

Midterm exams. Two midterm exams will be held in the evening on the days shown above. These tests will be held from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the evening. Exams will cover all material up to and including material presented on the Monday just before the exam. Attendance at exams is required and missing an exam will result in a grade of 0.  However, students who present adequate proof of a conflict with the exam time to the instructor two weeks  before the exam may receive permission to take the exam at an announced alternate date and time, probably the next morning.  You must contact the instructor via email and provide the required information as listed on the class web page. Failure to meet this administrative deadline will result in a 10 point penalty on the exam.

With adequate proof of exceptional conditions, such as illness, the instructor may excuse a student from taking an exam. In this case, there will be no make-up exam; the missed exam grade will be replaced by the weighted average of the remaining midterm exam grade and the final exam grade.  

Final Exam. The final exam will be cumulative and must be taken by all students. It will be held on a uniform exam date, which will be established later, and not on the date announced in the schedule of classes. Students who present adequate proof of an exam conflict, or three or more  final exams on the exam day, or other exceptional circumstances, to the instructor at least one week before the last day of classes may receive permission to take the final exam at the alternate date and time. Failure to meet this administrative deadline will result in a 10 point penalty on the exam.

If you miss an exam because of an emergency or due to some other circumstance show up and take the alternate exam, but realize the 10 point penalty will be enforced except for verified emergencies.

Assignments. Assignments will be given every week. Each assignment will have a clearly stated due date and time. Assignments start out easy, but get harder very quickly.  Most assignments will require programming and may require substantial effort over several days with possible help from the TAs, USLs, and proctors. Budget sufficient time to complete assignments before the deadline. Model solutions to assignments will be handed out in class after the due date. The lowest assignment grade will be dropped.  This is to cover and allow for emergencies and unforeseen problems. Because one assignment is dropped, assignments will not be excused for any reason. 

Late assignments. No late assignments shall be accepted. Missing an assignment will not be excused for any reason. The dropping of the lowest assignment grade is designed to cover all reasons for missing an assignment.

Turning in assignments. All assignments must be submitted using the turnin program. See the class web site for instructions on finding and using the turnin program. The turnin program is installed on machines in the Microcomputer Lab. It may also be downloaded and run on any machine running Windows 95, 98, or NT after an internet connection is made. However, we do not guarantee that the turnin program will work outside the Microcomputer Lab. If it does not work on your machine or you are having a problem with your internet connection, you must use the turnin program installed in the lab. If you have trouble using the turnin program in the Microcomputer Lab you must follow the procedures and instructions below to turn in the assignment.

If you cannot get the turnin program to work for you in the Microcomputer Lab, then have a TA or proctor in the lab email the assignment for you to your TA, with a copy to you or another TA or proctor for proof of mailing. If we determine that turnin works for you in the Microcomputer Lab, we will notify you that further submissions by email will not be accepted. Assignments emailed by students themselves will not be accepted for grading.

Grading of Assignments. Assignments submitted via the turnin program are placed in your directory on the Microcomputer Lab server. Graded assignments will be returned by placing a copy of the graded assignment in the same directory. The copy will contain comments and your grade and will have a file name similar to the name of the file turned in. These files can be viewed with any text editor such as Notepad. If you have an USL instead of a graduate student TA you will arrange for a time with the USL to go over the assignment together to get feedback and discuss any problems you had.

Assignments will be graded on two major criteria, functionality and style. A program that works is not necessarily a perfect program. I want you to write programs that are well thought out and put together well. Each of these will count for half of the grade on your program. More on the two criteria:

• Functionality: Functionality means does the program do what is expected of it. Does it meet all the requirements on the assignment handout. Does it work for the test cases we give it. Normally I will provide one test program for you and then use another for grading purposes. When testing functionality the program is examined for its behavior from an external prospective, without looking at your code. 
• Style: Style means is your program designed in a straightforward and clear way that is easy to understand. Does it follow the principles of decomposition and Object Oriented Design? Does it follow the class style guide which covers things like indenting, identifier naming, the proper construct for the proper job (such as for vs. while loops and assigning boolean variables correctly.) Is your program easy to understand? Do comments appear to help explain complicated code? Would the program be easy to modify? Would it be easy to reuse? Are the classes and objects defined in such a way that they could be reused? For this facet of the grading we will look closely at the code and offer constructive choices on your programming style.

Each area of the program grade is assigned a bucket grade. There are 6 possible grades for functionality and 4 for style. The bucket grading system is used to try and eliminate the quibbling over a few points here and there and let us concentrate on giving positive feedback to help you learn how to program better. 

Functionality grading scale:

• +   An exceptional program. One that works correctly in all situations and truly exceeds are expectations, going above and beyond the assignment requirements. Really a top notch job. We cannot find anything wrong with this program and would like to show it to the class and all our relatives as a fine piece of work. Very rarely given and the style grade must also be a ü +. to earn this grade. Think of this as a 25 out of 20 points.
• ü +  An excellent program. One that meets all the requirements gracefully with no problems what so ever. Your section leader or grader might be able to provide you with some very minor suggestions or might have done things a little differently, but overall this program is very well done, works on all test cases and test programs. Think of this as a 20 out of 20 
• ü   A good solid program. One that is complete and meets the requirements of the assignment, although there may be a few minor quirks or errors. The program may fail on a few cases, especially boundary conditions. Your section leader or grader will provide feedback on how to make your program better in the future. Many, many programs will receive this grade. Think of it as a 19 out of 20.
• ü -  A program with room for improvement. The program does not meet all of the requirements of the assignment and does not work for some of the major or basic test cases. The program is incomplete in some way. A program that does not compile cannot get any higher than a ü -. Your section leader can help you see where you would go next to get the program working correctly or you could do it with some help from the model solution. Think of this as a 13 out of 20.
• -  A troubled program. The program exhibits serious problems, or does not compile and is not close to a solution. A program of this type would require serious work to move up to the next grade. A - is a clear signal you did not understand the assignment or did not put in the required effort. If you receive a - on a program you must get help from me, the TAs, the USLs, and the proctors immediately. Think of this as an 8 out of 20.
• 0  No program turned in at all by the deadline.

Style Scale:

• ü +    A well constructed and readable program. Outstanding work. Good job. Pat yourself on the back. The approach is straight-forward and easy to understand. Tasks and data are decomposed nicely and could be reused if necessary. The style guide has been followed to a tee. The algorithms are clear and well though out. Comments are clear and concise. Pre and post conditions are well thought out. A polished product. All students should be capable of getting this grade. Think of it as a 22 out of 20.
• ü   A program that exhibits reasonably good style and techniques. An effort was clearly made to make the program readable and the algorithm elegant, but their may be just a few minor problems. Your section leader will have just a few comments for you on how to improve your program. Most people should be able to get this grade for style on the assignments. Think of it as an 19 out of 20.
• ü -   A program with many problems. The program has numerous flaws such as a convoluted approach, poor decomposition, sloppiness, and failure to follow the style guide. Programs that are a - for functionality cannot get higher than this grade on style. This grade is a sign the student needs to be coached on the expectations of style. A file that is not given the correct name will automatically receive this grade. Every assignment will specify the name of each class in your program, and failure to meet this requirement will result in a ü - for the style grade. Think of this as a 12 out of 20.
• 0  No program turned in at all by deadline.