CS 140 Syllabus Spring 2008

Instructor

  • Ed Harcourt
  • Office: Valentine 210
  • Phone: x5444
  • edharcourt@stlawu.edu
  • Office hours: Monday - Thursday 10AM - 11AM. I am usually in the office all morning Monday through Thursday. I will be unavailable on Fridays.

Course Info

CS 140 - Introduction to Programming

This is a first course in computer programming. There is no prerequisite for this course. The course web site is here.

Required textbook: Introduction to Computing & Programming with Java; A Multimedia Approach by Mark Guzdial and Barbara Ericson.


Required Software

If you want to be able to do the programming assignments on your own computer you'll need the software listed below. Install them in the order listed.

  1. The Java SDK (Software Development Kit). There is a copy of this in T:\harcourt\Spring2008\CS140\downloads\jdk-6u3-windows-i586-p.exe. Copy this to your desktop and double click on it. It is big and may take a while to install. Once it is done installing you can remove the file you copied to your desktop.
  2. DrJava. There is a copy at T:\harcourt\Spring2008\CS140\drjava.exe. Simply copy this to your desktop. Double click on it to make sure that DrJava comes up. Be patient, it might take a few seconds to come up.

If you have a Mac stop by and see me.


Grading

Grades are based on a 100 point scale and are derived from the following.

The 100 points above translate to the following GPA points.

Click here to toggle displaying the grade table.

In Class Labs

Just about every class period will have an in class lab for you to work on. You may work with a partner if you wish. You do not have to. There is only one two possible grades for a lab, its either done or not done. You must be present in class to get credit for the lab. You can not make them up.

Exams

There will be two mid-term exams and a final exam each worth 20%.

  1. Exam 1: Monday February 25
  2. Exam 2: Monday March 31
  3. Final exam: Saturday May 11 at 8AM.

Homework

You will have regular homework assignments. Assignments come in two varieties. You will generally have some short assignment due at the beginning of every class. These assignments are designed to reinforce something you learned in a previous class and also to prepare you for the next class.

You will also have three or four larger programming projects that are designed to take one to two weeks to complete.

Attendance

Attendance is mandatory. You will be allowed two absences during the semester. After that your final grade will be reduced by two points per absence.


Topics

In this course we teach introductory programming use Multimedia (image and sound) as a context. For example, we'll learn how to write a Java program to process an image to turn it into black and white, rotate it, or enlarge or shrink the image. We'll cover much of the textbook in order.


Academic Integrity

Please read the university's academic integrity policies in your student handbook. For in in class labs you may work with a partner but this is the only time when you can work with someone. Every out of class assignment must be entirely your own work.