Introduction To Computer Science

Instructor: Chris Fischer
E-mail: cfischer@cis.udel.edu
Office hours: By Appointment
Web: http://www.cis.udel.edu/~cfischer/

Teaching Assistant: Ankit Bhatt
E-mail: ankits@udel.edu
Office: Pearson 115
Office hours: Tuesdays, 1-3pm

Grades

You can also expect that I will provide you a LOT of resources to succeed in this course. I will provide as many outside references and sample code as I can. I will also make myself available for questions as much as possible. If possible, reach me by email, during the week. I will usually get back to you very quickly. However, I do have two rules.

1. I am not here to debug your programs. That is a part of the assignment. Do not email me your program saying "It doesn't work, what's wrong?". However, if you are really stuck, email me the lines in question and the compiler error message and I'll help you out, just please use it as a last resort, not a first.
2. I get very unsympathetic to questions the night before/day of/after the project due date. They should really be done by then.  I also am unsympthetic towards people that email questions but don't come to class.

Coding conventions: I'm going to cover this in class, but generally, your source code should

Have a comment block at the top of each source file you create, listing the authors name (you), the date, and a description of what is in the file.
Use consistent indentation  Use 3 spaces. DO NOT USE TABS.
Have comments throughout your code, especially where there may be some complicated algorithms or calculations.
Have variable names be descriptive.  With few exceptions, one-letter (such as "x") variable names must be avoided.

Lateness: Assignments are due by the end of class on the date they are due. After that, they lose 10%/day, up to a maximum of 7 days late. Labs can be turned into my or the TA's mailbox, with the DATE and TIME of submission clearly marked on it.  Programming Projects MUST be handed to either myself or the TA.  If you place it in either of our mailboxes, you will receive a ZERO on it.

Academic Dishonesty: DO YOUR OWN WORK. You as specifically NOT permitted to discuss solutions to problems with other students or share code.

I haven't been out of school long enough to forget how rampant cheating is. So before you think about sharing solutions, know this much going in.

1. I am a professional Software Engineer - I stare at code all day long. I've also TA'ed this course 3 times, so if anyone can spot copied code/cheating, I can.
2. The tests will have a large amount of the material that comes straight from the homeworks/projects. This will make them fairly easy for students who have completed and understood the projects on there own, and very difficult for those that haven't.

Cheating will be dealt with per University guidelines. I really don't want to waste everyone's time by doing this, but I will. Please do your own work.

Grading Policies: I'm going to grade on the standard curve (>93=A, >90=A-, >87 B+, etc.). This is guaranteed. Depending on class performance or other factors, I might adjust this scale down (to help everyone) I will never adjust it up.
 

Your grade for the semester will be based on:
 

Tests:		50% of final grade
Projects:		30% of final grade
Labs + Homeworks		20% of final grade

Class participation can positively affect a borderline grade. 

Textbooks

Required: C++ How To Program, 4th Edition, by Dietel and Dietel    ISBN: 0130384747

Required: Unix Unbounded,4th Edition, by Azfal,   ISBN: 0130927368

Required: CISC 181 Laboratory Manual

Schedule

Resources