ITEC 120 2008fall aaray, ejderrick, ibarland, jmdymacek

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course-info
ITEC120: Principles of Computer Science I

More concretely, here is a partial list of topics; see also a more complete list (arranged by topic) and the syllabus.

• designing classes; deciding on appropriate data representation
• references and aliasing; pass-by-value
• objects which contain (references to) other objects
• using and processing lists
• class fields and methods (Java's “static”)
• polymorphism, inheritance, overriding

• Time/Place: Lectures (Mo,We,Fr); all Labs (Tu,Th) held in Davis225 (jmdymacek).

  09:00–09:50	Davis 216	ibarland	(Sect. 01)
  10:00–10:50	Davis 201	ejderrick	(Sect. 02)
  11:00–11:50	Davis 216	aaray	(Sect. 03)
  12:00–11:50	Davis 201	ejderrick	(Sect. 04)

• Course Staff & office hours: These hours are subject to change; see the class web page for the most up-to-date times.
  

  Dr. Ian Barland		Mo,We 15:30-17:30 Fr 15:00-16:00 …or by appointment or skype ibarland, Tu,Th 09:00-11:00	Davis 230	540-831x5977
  Joe Derrick		Mo,Fr 13:00-14:00 Tu 10:30-11:30 Tu,We 14:00-15:00 …or by appointment	Davis 211	540-831x5368
  Andrew Ray		Mo,We,Fr 09:30-11:00 We 14:00-17:00 …or by appointment	Davis 109	540-831x5759
  Julian Dymacek (labs)		TBA …or by appointment	Davis 115	540-831x5415
  Peer Instructors
  Eric Thomsen		See all tutor/PI hours
  JJ Porter		See all tutor/PI hours
  Twyner Jones		See all tutor/PI hours
  Taylor Paschal		See all tutor/PI hours

  If you email class staff (rather than post on the Blackboard discussion board), please include “ITEC120” in the subject.
• Text (required):

  Cay Horstmann Big Java (3rd ed.) (publ. Wiley, ISBN 978-0470105542).

  If you buy this at the bookstore, it comes with a registration code so that you can access the book from the web. You are welcome to buy the book used, including the 2nd edition (but not the first edition, which is significantly out-of-date). However, this won't come with the registration code for web access to the book. For listed reading assignments, section numbers refer to the 3rd edtion. For homeworks, problem-numbers will be given for both editions, but you'll have to figure out the reading assignments yourself.

  Cay Horstmann Big Java (2nd ed.) (publ. Wiley, ISBN 978-047169703).

• Evaluation:

  Exams (3) & Quizzes	55%
  Homework & Lab Assignments	40%
  Attendence	5%	(More than one unexcused absence every three week results in these points being lost)

  Your instructor will let you know of any additional policies.

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

  The material in this course is extremely cumulative; nearly every lecture and homework requries understanding previous lectures. Do not fall behind! You are expected to read the indicated sections of the book before coming to each lecture. There will be frequent short quizzes in class; fair game for these quizzes include the book's self-review problems from current or previously assigned sections, as well as any previous homework problems.

• Late Policy (Your instructor will let you know of any additional policies).
  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 three “do-overs” during the semester:

  • You may re-do a homework 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. You can freely access all material on any 120 web page, and general web references (for example, Java language features, or Java library documentation). And of course, you can always interact freely with the professor, other faculty, and tutors.

  However, you cannot show your code to other 120 students for help, or have others type in any code for you. You must be the direct author of all your submitted work. If you got significant advice which you'd like to credit somebody for, cite them in your work.

  The gray area is when you are stuck with a particular small error which is preventing progress. You can always ask what a compiler message means, including (if needed) the one line causing the problem. (The class discussion board is a particularly good place for this.) You may also show your code to a lab assistant, and receive specific, short advice. Otherwise you should come ask during office hours. If you start your assignments early (just enough to get a feel for exactly what the assignment is asking, and what approach you'll need), you'll have better opportunity to come by office hours for any clarification.

  If you aren't sure whether a certain level of help is acceptable, stop—don't give/receive it until you've clarified it with the instructor.

• 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.

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©2008, Ian Barland, Radford University Last modified 2008.Sep.06 (Sat)

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