Course description

This course is an introduction to the art and science of computer programming and related computer science principles. Through programming students will develop fundamental skills such as abstract reasoning and problem solving. Students will master programming techniques using the Java programming language, and will develop good program design methodology resulting in correct, robust, and maintainable programs.

Prerequisites

This course requires no previous background in programming, only dedication and hard work.

Course instructor

Antonella Di Lillo (dilant [at] cs dot brandeis dot edu)
Office: 124 Volen Center for Complex Systems
Office hours: Monday and Thursday 2:30pm-3:30pm, or by appointment

Class meetings

Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 1:00pm-1:50pm
Location: Gzang 123

Textbook

Building Java Programs - A Back to Basics Approach (2nd Edition) by Stuart Reges and Marty Stepp, Addison Wesley.
ISBN:978-0-13-609181-3.

Lecture notes and sample programs will be posted on the class website.

Grading

The final grades for the course will be determined using the following weights:
Participation means taking part in the class discussions and meeting with your TA for the one-on-one interactive grading session. For each programming assignment, you must make an appointment with your TA for an interactive 10 minute grading session.

Homework

Homework consists of programming assignments given roughly every week.

Late Policy

Each student begins the semester with 6 free "late days":
  1. A late day allows you to submit a program up to 24 hours late without penalty. For example, you could use 2 late days and submit a program due Monday 9pm on Wednesday by 9pm with no penalty.
  2. Once a student has used up all the late days, each successive day that an assignment is late will result in a loss of 2 points on that assignment.
  3. Regardless of how many late days you have, you may not submit a program more than 4 days after it is due.

Academic Honesty

As stated in the Rights and Responsibilities handbook, "Every member of the University community is expected to maintain the highest standards of academic honesty. A student shall not receive credit for work that is not the product of the student's own effort."