Prof. Matthew Hertz WTC 207D /

Objectives Met in CSC212  Develop solution over entire software lifecycle  Implement & test computational solutions  Describe which data structure to use & explain why  Describe execution of fundamental data structures  Know theoretical foundations of computing  Trace & analyze iterative and recursive algorithms  Identify & describe limits of computational power

High-level Objectives  Become programmers, not just “code monkeys”  Working on your own, develop solutions from scratch  Explain your decisions and why they were best choice  Learn common real-world development techniques  Master basic tools needed for all future work  Have fun

Expectations of Me  Lectures prepared and organized  Give interesting, thoughtful, fun problems  Be (reasonably) available to answer questions  Be honest and forthright

Why Most Classes Suck

Teaching Style  Reasoning more important than answer  Rarely asked question over-and-over again  Lucky guesses are not meaningful  Explaining how & why demonstrates mastery  Class participation is vital  Need to understand problem to adjust approach

Adult Learning  Students read material before class  Answer initial questions at start of class  (Short) lecture explains key ideas  Provides 2 nd opportunity to see material  Limits long, boring droning  Students work in teams to solve problems  Make sure you actually understand material  Easy to correct when mistakes made early

Expectations of You  Work hard  Come to class prepared  Support & help all your teammates  Ask for help early and often  Let me know what you are thinking

Attendance  Attendance is mandatory  Talk to me when you know you must miss class  You are responsible for every class  Missing class is never acceptable excuse  Best way to earn a poor grade: skip class

Deadlines  Have 2 virtual “extensions”  Each used to get 1 day extension on assignment  Can use both on 1 assignment  Late work not accepted without extension  If you know you cannot make a deadline, talk to me  Earlier we talk, the better we can find a solution

Grading Philosophy  Grades reflect student's demonstrated ability  Not a competition where grades are relative  I will quite happily give "A" to entire class if all earn it  "A" not automatically given to highest score in class  Remain fair for students past, present, & future  When in doubt, I consider what would be most fair  Hard work alone insufficient to raise a score  Working efficiently important life skill to be rewarded

Course Grading Midterms34% Final27% Projects18% Weekly Assignments6% Daily Activities7% Program Portfolio8%  Grades available via Angel  Midterms given on Sept. 28 th & Oct. 28 th  3 programming projects during semester

Course Grading Goals  Build skills used by “real” programmers  Lots of opportunities to learn & improve  Present material in variety of ways  Develop understanding needed for later classes  Catch and correct problems early

Weekly Assignments  Posted on web/Angel each week  Usually due by 5PM following Tuesday  Virtual extensions okay to use on all but first one  Before submitting, ask me questions you still have  Several goals for these assignments  Provide additional programming opportunities  Reinforce material from each lecture  Questions should seem easy & take under 10 min.  Means you are doing well

Programmer’s Notebook  Take notes on readings’ important details  Course webpage contains helpful templates to use  Notes written by you so easy to understand  (Don’t care where you get information from)  Use notebooks during labs & tests  Without notebook, no answers to related questions  Can also use book, but book less useful than own notes

PowerPoint Slides  Students need to take notes on their own  Writing increases odds of remembering ideas  Really, really bad idea to not take notes  Trapped me into specific way of lecturing  Limited opportunities to use clever memory tools  Lectures often resembled

Students During Lecture

Workings of My Slides  Slides contain many pictures, little text  Lectures interesting & fun (or at least better)  Provides you with good way to reinforce lessons suck  Will suck as actual notes  Print slide handout & take notes on the side  Write down what the steps shown in animations  Slides (with notes) usable on tests, labs, class…  Win-win proposition  (Except for the lazy ones of you…)

Collaboration  Fellow students are a great resource  Provides multiple viewpoints & understandings  Get together, discuss material, and study  Can have them answer lingering questions  Clarify assignment and what it requires  Learn and practice some basic social skills

Collaboration  Work you submit must be done by you  When discussing homework or projects  Leave conversation with memories only  Wait 15+ minutes before starting on your own  Solutions always unique after waiting  Once started, each student should work alone  When in doubt, ask me

Coding Help  Will work on testing & debugging skills  To get debugging help in CSC212  Method(s) must be commented (javadoc)  Must use a trace or similar to look for bug  Students find own solution once they start doing this  If problem not fixed, gives us starting point to work  Learn to fix your own errors & not rely on the Professor

Textbooks  Goodrich & Tamassia, Data Structures and Algorithms in Java, 4 th Edition, Wiley, GT  Readings from book listed as " GT " in schedule  Available at bookstore & online (Amazon, etc.)  Will cover about 50% of the textbook  CSC213 looks at other half of the book  Only new textbook for the year

Textbooks  Anderson & Franceschi, Java 6 Illuminated, Jones & Bartlett, AF  Readings from book listed as " AF " in schedule  Textbook from CSC111 over last several Springs  Using it to review concepts early  But also introduce new Java concepts as we go  Useful as

Course Website  Pages for course found on Angel  Handouts, slides, assignments posted before class  Can also find solutions after work is due  May not include everything said in class  Better than nothing, but worse than being here!

For Next Lecture  Mourn summer’s end & start of homework  There is reading for Wednesday  Reading is from book used in CSC111  Chapters listed on Angel & in syllabus