Computer Science 60
Principles of Computer Science
Syllabus, Fall 2003
Professor: Ran ("RON") Libeskind-Hadas
Office: Olin 1245
Phone: x18976
E-mail: hadas@cs.hmc.edu
Office Hours: To be determined
Graders/Tutors (aka "Grutors"):
Aaron Becker, David Buchfuhrer, Ian Ferrel, Aja Hammerly, Jeffrey Hellrung,
Jeremy Kramer, Jeremy Lennert, Mjumbe Poe,and Keith Stevens.
Class Times and Place:
- Sections 1, 2, 3: Tuesday and Thursday, 9:35-10:50 AM, Parsons 1285
- Sections 4, 5, 6: Tuesday and Thursday, 1:15-2:30 PM,
Jacobs B132
Lab Times and Place: All labs will be held on Tuesdays
in the CS Terminal Room in Beckman 102.
- Sections 1 and 4: 4:00-4:50 PM
- Sections 2 and 5: 6:00-6:50 PM
- Sections 3 and 6: 7:00-7:50 PM
Course Homepage:
http://www.cs.hmc.edu/courses/2003/fall/cs60
Help via E-mail: You can send e-mail to
cs60help@cs.hmc.edu
with short questions related to homework. Ran and all of the grutors will
be checking this e-mail address frequently, so it is a fast way to get
your questions answered. For more extensive help,
please see a grutor or Ran in person. For help with the computing system,
please send e-mail to help@cs.hmc.edu.
What Is This Course About?
The objective of this course is to introduce you to some of the fundamental
principles of computer science. You will learn to use several different programming
languages including an object-oriented language (Java), a functional
programming language (rex), and a logic programming language (Prolog).
The course covers topics in data structures, algorithms, complexity
analysis, computability theory, logic principles, and computer architecture.
Is This Course for You?
The answer is YES! Alright, seriously, the prerequisite for this course
is CS 5. If you have not taken CS 5 at HMC or you have not officially placed
out of CS 5, please talk to Ran before enrolling in this course.
Attendance
On-time attendance at every lecture is absolutely required in order
to pass this course. If you are unable to attend class due to illness, please
contact Ran as soon as possible. If you must
miss class for any other reason, please let Ran know in advance.
Attendance at your assigned Tuesday lab hour is recommended but
not required.
Texts
Computer Science: Abstraction to Implementation by
Robert M. Keller.
This is the primary textbook for the course. This book is available
for purchase from Ms. Joyce Greene in the main CS office in Olin 1258.
The book is sold at the cost of production with no profit to any party at HMC.
You may also find it useful to have a textbook or reference book on the Java
language.
Assignments and Grades
There will be an assignment every week (with exceptions for holidays).
Unless explicitly stated otherwise, assignments will be due each
Monday at 11:59 PM. (Since we use an
automated procedure to determine submission time, if you submit
even slightly after midnight, it will be recorded as being submitted
the next day.)
In addition, you have two late days that you may use at your
discretion. A late day allows you to turn in an assignment 24 hours
late with no penalty. You may not use two late days on the same assignment.
Late homeworks will not be accepted once these late days have been used.
In addition to weekly assignments, there will be two midterm exams and
a comprehensive final exam.
Finally, there will be in-class worksheets in most lectures.
Worksheets will typically be a 5 minute exercise done in class. They
will be graded "full credit" or "no credit".
Any serious effort will receive "full credit". If you miss a class due
to illness or special circumstances, please send Ran e-mail on the day of
class.
The relative weighting scheme will be as follows:
- Weekly Assignments: 50 %
- Two Midterm Exams: 20 %
- Final Exam: 20 %
- In-Class Worksheets: 10%
Assignment Grading
The weekly assignments will involve programming and some
"paper and pencil" problems. For the programming assignments,
your program must compile. Thus, you are better off submitting
a solution that compiles and does something than a lot of code that
would be perfect if it would would only compile! Your best bet is to
build your program incrementally, adding features only after the
previous version compiles and runs correctly.
We will use the following guidelines in grading the programming assignments:
- 70% of the points will be given for a program that meets the
exact specifications of the assignment.
- 20% of the points will be given for good design, style, and
robustness. Good design and style means, for example, that your program
is divided into small logical functions, new classes are defined and used
when appropriate, and the program uses efficient algorithms and data
structures. Your program should also be robust in the sense that
it handles minor aberrations in user input.
- 10% of the points will be given for readable and well-documented
programs. Format your programs so that they are readable. Document
major functions, explaining what they do and generally how they work.
We will try to give you very clear feedback indicating what could be
done to improve the program. If the feedback isn't entirely clear to you,
please talk to Ran or to one of the graders.
Collaboration Policy
You are welcome and encouraged to discuss approaches to solving
homework problems. You may not share any written materials of any kind.
In particular, you may not send or receive code that is related in any way
to this course by e-mail, on the web, from
another person's file or printout, or in any other form.
All conduct in this course should
be conducted in accordance with the Harvey Mudd Honor Code. If you
have any questions or doubts about what is permissible, please talk to Ran.