CIS 210 Fall 2007

Introduction to Computer Science

Last updated 2007/10/09 11:11:53

Class Details

Class Times There are two separate sections of this class. Please attend the lecture and labs of the section for which you are registered.
- Lecture Section 1: MWF 9:00 - 9:50, 105 Esslinger
- Lecture Section 2: MWF 1:00 - 1:50, 112 Lillis
- Labs: All labs are in B26 Klamath Computer Lab (basement of Klamath Hall), except for the last one, which is in 101 McKenzie.
  Thursday 9:00 (GTF: Toby)
  Thursday 10:00 (GTF: Yibo and Chen)
  Thursday 1:00 (GTF: Victor)
  Thursday 2:00 [101 McKenzie] (GTF: Victor)
Instructor: David Atkins
- Office: Deschutes 358, phone 346-4413
- Office Hours: MWF 2:30 - 3:30 and by appointment
- Email: datkins@uoregon.edu

Graduate Assistants:

Toby Ehrenkranz	Phone: 346-0199, Office: Deschutes 360, email: tehrenkr@cs.uoregon.edu
	Open Lab (KLA B13): Tuesday 10-12:30, Friday 1:30-4


Victor Hanson-Smith	Phone: 346-1371, Office: Deschutes 205, email: victorhs@cs.uoregon.edu
	Open Lab (KLA B26): Monday 9-11:30
	Office Hours: Monday 2-4


Wei Chen	Phone: 346-1373, Office: Deschutes 228, email: thomas@cs.uoregon.edu
	Open Lab (KLA B13): Tuesday 2-5, Friday 8-11
Yibo Wang	Phone: 346-0199, Office: Deschutes 360, email: wangyibo@cs.uoregon.edu
	Open Lab (KLA B13): Wednesday 3-5
	Office Hours: Wednesday 10-1

Reference Material

Required Text: Introduction to Java Programming: Fundamentals First, 6th edition, by Y. Daniel Liang, Prentice Hall, 2007.
This is the required book for the course. Source code for all of the examples in the book can be found at the book web site.
Grading and Policy
- Approximate grade weighting: Assignments 30%, Class/Lab Participation and Quizzes 15%, Midterm 25%, Final 30%
- Lab attendance is required and will count toward part of your grade.
- CIS pre-majors must take CIS 210 graded; others may take it graded or P/NP.

Course Objectives

The primary objective of this course is to introduce the basic concepts and practices of computer science. The core ideas of computer programming will be explored using the Java programming language. We will cover fundamental approaches to problem solving and the creation of software solutions as well as introduce the notions of data abstraction and object oriented programming. You will learn about Java programming in this course, but more importantly, you will learn how to identify the abstractions in problems and design good software to implement solutions.
CIS 210 is a required core course to become a CIS major.

CIS 210 Academic Honesty Policy

All assignments turned in for the course must be your own work. Copying from other class members or other sources is not acceptable. If you collaborate with someone else on any assignment, you must indicate such on the work you turn in, and partial credit may be given. Pair programming will be used for most of the programming assignments, so collaboration of the pair is expected and acceptable. In this case, the work turned in is the pair's work - any source outside of the pair must be cited.
Academic honesty is expected and cases of suspected dishonesty will be handled according to university policy. In particular, copying someone else's work (including material found on the web) will not be tolerated. If solutions to assignments are obtained from outside sources, the source must be cited.
You are also responsible for protecting your work. That is, you must take reasonable precautions to prevent your work from being copied. This means that if you store your assignment solutions on gladstone, the file permissions must be set to keep others from accessing your files. If you are working on assignments in the lab, you must remove any of your files on the lab machine before you leave.

CIS 210 Do's & Don'ts

Here are some suggestions for a strategy to pass this class:
DO'S (a recipe for success in this course:)
1. Read the textbook. The chapters we will cover are listed in the course syllabus. The text provides good core information - if you read over the material before class, you will get more out of the lectures and be able to ask questions. Come to lecture with questions.
2. Read through the entire homework assignment as soon as it is assigned so you know what to be looking for in lectures and the readings. Do not wait until the topic is covered in lecture to start thinking and working on the assignment. Lectures will give you a deeper understanding of concepts and go through examples. Lectures are not your sole source of information, the discussion/lab sessions are geared toward the assignments.
3. Do your own work. You can discuss the problems with classmates, but then start over and work them out yourself. Otherwise it is very easy to fool yourself into thinking that you understand the material well enough to do it yourself. The exams are worth over 50% of your grade and you will be on your own in the exams, so learn to work on your own. (Also remember our strict rules about cheating.)
4. Go to labs. They give you a head start on your homework and can save you many hours. Lab attendance is required and contributes to a portion of your grade.
5. Ask for help if you are still stumped after you have made a sincere effort to figure something out. When you have an idea for solving a homework problem feel free to run it by the professor or GTFs. We will try to give you a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on your strategy. This can save you enormous amounts of wasted time. Again, you want to do this early, not the night before the due date when we will not be as sympathetic.
6. Document your code with comments. Pay attention to coding style and strive to make your code neat and easy to read. Write all software as if it will be seen by experts and be around for a long time. Comment your code as you are writing it or even before you write the actual code. If you can't write meaningful comments, then you probably don't have a clear understanding of your design.
7. Experiment. If you wonder whether or not some code is legal or does what you want, try it out. Learn from the compiler by trying small chunks of code to see whether it compiles and works the way you think it should.
8. Use the Java API documentation. Become familiar with how to read the API. The holy grail of software development is re-use, so learn how to find and use existing classes and methods (except when the assignment asks you to implement your own version).
9. Aim for elegant solutions. Don't be satisfied with a "quick and dirty" program to produce the correct results, but refine your work to the best solution possible. After you think you are done, go back over your code and double check and polish it.
10. Debugging tips we introduce can save you vast amounts of time and frustration. Watch for them.
DON'T (Each of these, alone or in combination, usually leads to failing this course.)
- Do not wait to start homework
- Do not spin your wheels for hours before you get help from 210 staff
- Do not work in groups
One last point: it is possible that this course may not be for you. If you follow all the suggestions above and still find yourself putting 15+ hours a week just into assignments, then you should come talk to the professor. There are other options.

Last updated 2007/10/09 11:11:53