ITEC 380 2008fall ibarland

home—info—lectures—exams—archive

course-info
ITEC380: Programming Languages

• sample final-exam questions.
• hw06—Writing a Simple Interpreter is released, due Dec.12 (Fri). (The Java version of L0 will be released by Dec.01 (Mon).)
• hw05—prolog exercises posted; due Dec.05 (Fri).
  hw05-soln.P
• prolog links
• hw-ec02—implementing objects: closures posted
• hw-ec01—Missionaries and Cannibals: breadth-first search posted
• hw04—grammar: hw04 posted; due Oct.20 (Mon). hw04-soln.html
• hw03—Scheme project posted; due Sept.26 (Fri). hw03-soln.ss
• hw02—Scheme warm-up posted; due Sept.19 (Fri); hw02-soln.ss
• hw01—Chpt 1 exercises posted; due Sept.12 (Fri).

ITEC380 is an introduction to the study of programming languages. Topics include:

• History and families of programming languages.
• Data abstraction, and first-class functions.
• Writing programs in various paradigms (incl. functional and declarative).
• Writing a small interpeter.

Course Information, 2008.fall

• Time/Place: Mo,We,Fr 12:00–12:50, Davis 216.
• Instructor info Ian Barland, , Davis 230, 540-831x5977.
  If you email me (rather than post on the Blackboard discussion board), please include “ITEC380” in the subject.
• Office hours:

  Mo,We	15:30-17:30
  Fr	15:00-16:00

  …or by appointment
  or skype ibarland, Tu,Th 09:00-11:00.
• Text:

  Robert Sebesta, concepts of Programming Languages (8ed) (publ. Addison Wesley, ISBN 978-0-321-49362-0).		You are welcome to buy the book used, including earlier editions, but you are responsible for correlating any assigned reading and problems with your edition.
  (Optional fun:) Joshua Bloch and Neal Gafter, Java Puzzlers: Traps, Pitfalls, and Corner Cases, publ. Addison-Wesley, ISBN 978-0321336781).		So, you think you know Java? Nearly 100 one-page puzzles, each illustrating how language design choices can have unintended consequences. Nice bedtime reading.

• Evaluation:

  Exams (2–3) & Quizzes	50%
  Assignments and Projects	50%

  Clarity counts in all work for this class (including spelling, grammar, and layout).

  You are expected to read the indicated sections of the book before coming to each lecture. There will some short quizzes in class; fair game for these quizzes include definitions and examples from the assigned reading, as well as any previous homework problems.

• Assignment details Some homeworks will be primarily written responses to book questions; others will be small programming projects. You will write programs in several paradigms: Functional programming (Scheme/Lisp), Declarative programming (Prolog), and scripting languages (Ruby or perhaps Perl). In each language, you'll have a small assignment to familiarize yourself with the language, and a larger one solving a typical problem. We will be contrasting our approaches with paradigms you're already familiar with (Procedural (Ada, C) and Object-oriented (Java, C++)).

  If you have your own computer, you will want to download DrScheme, for the functional programming part of this course. (DrScheme will also be made available on lab computers.)

• Late Policy: No late homework is accepted. All homework is due at the start of class on the due-date. If you know in advance you won't be able to turn in homework on time (e.g. participating in university sports) you must get permission in advance to turn the homework in late. For significant illness or family crisis without advance notice (but with later documentation), contact the professor as soon as possible to arrange to catch up on the work.

  However, you will be able to submit up to one “do-over” during the semester:

  • You may re-do a homework/project and re-submit it within one week from when that homework was returned. For example, if hw03 gets passed back on a Wednesday, you can re-submit it through the start of class the following Wednesday.
  • The maximum points possible on a do-over is 85% of the possible. (If you are already getting near 85% on assignments, there is no need to re-do them.)
  • You can submit a do-over even if you didn't submit the homework on-time.
  • While you can look at your graded assignment the posted solution before starting a do-over, you must write/type the do-over from scratch, without referring to the solution or your previous attempt.
  • You are encouraged to come to office hours before starting a do-over, to make sure you understand why you lost points originally.

• Honor Policy: As with all your RU classes, the university honor code governs all work turned in.

  You are encouraged to discuss and interpret the homeworks and general approaches to solutions with your fellow students. However, You must be the direct author of all your submitted work. If you had worked through a homework problem while talking with a friend, you must re-write it on your own, without referring to your draft version. If you got significant advice which you'd like to credit somebody for, cite them in your work.

• Other University Resources: Radford has many resources to help you in different ways, including the student counseling services (x5226), and the Learning Assistance Resource Center (“LARC”, x7704, www.radford.edu/~larc, ).

  If you need any special accomodations for a class, and have registered with the Disability Resource Office (x6350, Tyler Hall Suite 64), please contact the professor at the start of the semester.

home—info—lectures—exams—archive

©2008, Ian Barland, Radford University Last modified 2008.Dec.15 (Mon)

Please mail any suggestions (incl. typos, broken links) to iba�rlandrad�ford.edu