Instructor: Prof. Michael S. Branicky, Glennan 517B, mb [æt] case [daat] edu
Phone/Fax: 368-6430 / 368-6039; Office Hours: M 2-5pm (with changes announced on the course webpage)

Prerequisites and Outcomes: There are no course prerequisites. "In this course students will develop an

• Ability to formulate an algorithm to solve a problem.
• Ability to translate an algorithm into a Java program.
• Ability to find and correct errors in Java programs through testing.
• Understanding of the basic constructs of the Java programming language."

Brief Syllabus (a detailed syllabus appears on the course webpage):

Introduction: General Programming: Object-Oriented Programming: Applications:

1 Week 7 Weeks 4 Weeks 2 Weeks

Lab Sections: This course requires a one hour lab session per week, starting in the first week. You must attend your assigned lab slot. Each lab is limited to 25 students. Lab instructors are listed on the course webpage. The lab is accessible 24/7 with your Case ID card.

Grading (A: 90-100%, B: 80-90%, C: 70-80%, D: 60-70%, F: 0-60%)

In-Lab Assignments: Problem Sets: Midterms: Final (comprehensive): Pop Quizzes:

10% 25% 30% 25% 10%

There will be about 12 Problem Sets (roughly one per week, typically due by the beginning of lecture on Tuesday). Late assignments will not be accepted from students who are absent unless the absence has been excused in advance. Please note that the following circumstances are not valid for extension requests: problems with your personal computer, compiler, printer, IDE, etc.; Case sponsored trips (sports, academic, extra-curricular).

There will be two midterms and a comprehensive final exam. Midterms cannot be made up except for excused absences. Make up finals are only available in rare and extreme circumstances; they require approval of an Undergraduate Studies Dean.

Pop-quizzes will be used to assess reading and understanding of the material. There will be no make-ups of missed quizzes (those missed due to excused absences won't be averaged over). In-lab exercises missed due to an excused absence may be made up after approval from Prof. Branicky.

Important dates:

October 18: October 23: November 20: November 22: December 06: December 13:

Midterm (in class) No class (Fall Break) Midterm (in class) No class (Thanksgiving) Last day of class Final, 4:00-7:00pm

Course Website and Blackboard: http://dora.case.edu/msb/131-F07/index.html   (dora/msb/131-F07)
Contains all general course information. Will contain an Announcements section. Will be used to distribute problem sets, handouts, solutions, and reading assignments. Bookmark it. Check it early and often. We will use Blackboard for grades and communication (e.g., Digital Dropbox).

Tutoring: Each student is permitted five hours of complimentary tutoring each week through ESS Peer Tutoring services. To sign up, go to http://studentaffairs.case.edu/education/, and click on the Peer Tutoring link.

Course Ethics and Policies: All work that is turned in should be your own, including program formulation, writing, debugging, testing, and output.

You are encouraged to liberally discuss lecture material, readings, and items that have already been turned in by all involved. Collaboration is allowed on in-lab exercises during lab (if known to and deemed appropriate by your instructor). As for problem sets, you may help each other understand the general language constructs and ideas and provide related examples not assigned as demonstrations, but you are not to explicitly reveal algorithms, code, or even tell someone their code is right or wrong. Therefore, your algorithm and code should be derived independently; you should also be able to independently produce a compilable program that you can verify or convince yourself is correct.

Both copying and letting others copy will be considered infringements. Sanction is failure in the work in question. The foregoing also applies to the use of previous years' assignments, web resources, books, etc. Always provide proper attribution to any material that is not your own. Cheating on quizzes/midterms/final will not be tolerated. Sanction is failure in the course.

All academic integrity violations will be dealt with according to the University's Academic Integrity Standards: http://www.case.edu/provost/ugstudies/acintegrity.htm Other CWRU policies at http://www.case.edu/provost/ugstudies/instrman/highlights.html
Of particular note: regular attendance is required at both lecture and lab sessions; Sanctions for inordinate, unexcused absences is lowering of final grade, possible failure.

Course Language/Software: We will use Java throughout and the DrJava IDE in lecture/lab. Download instructions/links are on the course webpage.

In-Lab Assignment #0 (starting in lab this week) and Problem Set #0 (due next Tuesday before lecture) are posted on the course webpage.