CS 100 General Information
Computer Science, Cornell University
Summer 1999
This is a general description of CS100 and contains reference material that you should refer to throughout the summer. You are responsible for this information. Look here first to answer questions about the course. Please also refer to the course website at: http://www.cs.cornell.edu/cs100-su99/
CS100, a 4-credit course, introduces computer programming and problem-solving concepts using the programming language Java. The course also includes a short introduction to Matlab and C. CS100 assumes no prior knowledge of computing and has no prerequisite CS courses. However, in recent years, a majority of the students have had some programming experience prior to taking CS100.
Instructor:
Lynette I. Millett, Upson 5141, 255-1181, millett@cs.cornell.edu. Office hours Monday and Wednesday, 11:15-12:15 and by appointment.
Teaching Assistants (For office hours, check the course website):
Wei Tsang Ooi, weitsang@cs.cornell.edu
Alan Renaud, ajr5@cornell.edu
David Welte, dcw6@cornell.edu
Undergraduate Office: Upson 303, 255-0982. Open 9:30—4:30, Monday—Friday.
Lectures: Lectures for CS100 meet Monday through Friday from 10:00 to 11:15 in Hollister 110.
Computing Facilities: The consultants will be staffing the lab in the basement of Carpenter. CodeWarrior should be installed and accessible on all the machines there.
Consultants (For consulting hours, check the course website):
Rocky Chen, pjc4@cornell.edu
Young Ho Cho, yc102@cornell.edu
Amanda Waack, amw18@cornell.edu
Java Software Solutions: Foundations of Program Design by John Lewis and William Loftus
Getting Started with Matlab 5 by Rudra Pratap
These texts should be on reserve in the Engineering Library.
Readings in the texts are suggested to help you follow the lecture material. You are responsible for this material; however, the exams will be based primarily on material covered in lectures and in the homework.
Handouts: Handouts are distributed in class. You can also download them from the course website.
Website: http://www.cs.cornell.edu/cs100-su99/
Software: Programming assignments are done using CodeWarrior and Matlab. Cornell Information Technologies (CIT) provides this software in its public labs. Anyone may use CodeWarrior. To access Matlab, you will be given a user name and password (all students in CS100 use the same user name and password). Do not give this password to others. Do not forget the password. The course staff has been instructed not to give the password to anyone. If you forget it, you need to see your instructor.
Refer to the course syllabus for the assignment schedule. Any changes to this schedule will be announced in class and posted to the website. Assignments are to be turned in at the beginning of class on the day they are due. No Late Assignments Will Be Accepted. Programming assignments are given two grades: one for correctness and one for program organization and style. Each written assignment will indicate how it will be graded.
Program listings and output should be printed and separated into pages with any perforated edges removed. Assignments should be stapled together. Every assignment must include your name and Cornell ID#. For programs run on the computer, this information must be included in a comment at the beginning of the program and cannot be written by hand. You should also turn in a disk with your programs when you turn in your printouts. For assignments that do not require programming, we strongly encourage you to type the answers to your questions. If you do not choose to do so, we require that your handwriting be clearly legible. The TAs can refuse to grade illegible or hard-to-read handwritten homework.
Working with Partners: Each assignment will indicate to what extent you may work with others. We expect that you will be allowed to work with a partner on programming assignments, however, you should check the instructions at the beginning of each assignment to be sure. If you work with a partner, you and your partner together should submit one assignment. The assignment must contain both of your names and ID#s. For programming assignments, this information must be included in the first comment at the beginning of the program.
For assignments where working with a partner is allowed, we encourage you to do so. Working with a partner can be helpful in getting the assignments to work and in clarifying your understanding of the course material. Be sure, however, that you and your partner share in the work equally and that both of you understand it. You cannot take the exams with a partner.
Quizzes: There will be at least 0 (zero) quizzes given at the beginning of class each week. They should take no more than 3-5 minutes.
Exams: There will be two exams in this course. We will announce their locations in class and on the website. The prelim is currently scheduled for: Monday, July 19. The final exam is currently scheduled for Tuesday August 10. Review sessions are indicated in the course syllabus.
Regrades: If you think that an exam or an assignment has been incorrectly graded, you may request a regrade. Be advised that a regrade request can cause your grade to go up or down – the exam/assignment will be regraded from scratch. A regrade request must be submitted to your instructor or a TA in person within 3 days (72 hours) of when the assignments are returned to the class. These strict rules are necessary due to the compressed timeframe in which this course is run. Please follow them.
Grades for CS100 will be computed as follows:
Assignments & Quizzes: 50%
Prelim: 25%
Final Exam: 25%
Assignments and quizzes may be weighted differently to account for the relative difficulty of some assignments. Your final letter grade will be based on your total score. The actual cutoffs between letter grades won’t be decided until the end of the course. Further, we reserve the right to make adjustments both up and down based on our knowledge of each student and their situation.
As already stated, you may work with one other person on some assignments. In the following, a group refers to either an individual or a pair of students working together on an assignment. The work you submit in CS100 must be the result of your group’s effort only. The use of a computer in no way modifies the standards of academic integrity expected under the Cornell University code of conduct. You may discuss work with students not in your group (e.g. you may discuss general strategies). However, cooperation should NEVER involve one student having possession of a copy of all OR part of aprogram or assignment written by someone not in that students’ group, regardless of whether that copy is on paper or on a disk. In addition, any output submitted with your program must have been produced by your program by running it as described in the assignment. The penalty for violating the Code of Academic Integrity can include failure in CS100, University disciplinary action, and a permanent mark on your transcript.
ASK FIRST if you have questions about whether a particular behavior violates our integrity expectations or the University Code.