1 Course Description

CS 382 is an introduction to the Java programming language for students who are familiar with programming in C++. Topics include basic language syntax, data structures, control flow, classes, exception handling, and basic elements of the Java API.

This is a web-based class requiring independent responsibility and online communication skills on the part of the student. There are no regularly-scheduled class meetings.

This course is self-paced. Work on it when you like. The only requirements is to complete the assignments by the last day of classes and to take the exam as scheduled.

2 Basic Information

2.1 Instructor

Steven J. Zeil	E&CS 3208
(757) 683-4928	Fax: (757) 683-4900
zeil@cs.odu.edu

2.1.1 Office Hours

Students may meet with the instructor in person, by telephone, or via internet-conferencing. A week-by-week schedule of available meeting times can be found by going to the instructor’s home page (http://www.cs.odu.edu/~zeil) and clicking on “Office Hours and Appointments”.

2.2 Location

This course is hosted at http://www.cs.odu.edu/~zeil/cs382/latest/.

2.3 Text

The textbook for this course is

• The Java Tutorials, 2011, Oracle Corp., available here

2.4 Course Prerequisites

• CS 250 or CS 333, CS 252

Students are also expected to be familiar with the use of standard Internet-based tools including email and web browsers.

3 Course Policies

3.1 Meeting Times

This is a self-paced Internet-delivered course. There are no regularly scheduled class meetings.

3.2 Computer Access

All students taking this course must have activated a login and e-mail account on the CS Dept’s Unix network. The account setup and password can be obtained at http://www.cs.odu.edu/ by clicking on “Account Creation”.

3.3 Communications

Because this course does not have traditional lectures, most communication between instructor and students will need to be conducted electronically.

Questions and discussion are encouraged.

General questions about course content and reports of website problems should normally be asked in the public course Forum on Blackboard. Questions about grades, how to solve assignments and other graded activities should be send to zeil@cs.odu.edu.

For more discussion on course communications, please refer to the Communications Policy.

3.4 Academic Honesty

Everything turned in for grading in this course must be your own work.

Students are expected to conform to academic standards in avoiding plagiarism.

The instructor reserves the right to question a student orally or in writing and to use his evaluation of the student’s understanding of the assignment and of the submitted solution as evidence of cheating.

Students who contribute to violations by sharing their code/designs with others may be found to be in violation of this policy. This includes showing material to other students in person and posting code and designs in any public area, whether physical or on the internet. Students are expected to use standard Unix protection mechanisms (chmod) to keep their assignments from being read by their classmates._

This policy is not intended to prevent students from providing legitimate assistance to one another. Students are encouraged to seek/provide one another aid in learning to use the operating system, in issues pertaining to the programming language, or to general issues relating to the course subject matter. The same guideline applies to discussions, whether face-to-face or on-line, with anyone other than the course instructor and TAs – general aid on the subject matter of the course is OK. Specific discussions of solutions to any graded activity are forbidden.

Students should avoid, however, explicit discussion of approaches to solving a particular programming assignment, and under no circumstances should students show one another their code for an ongoing assignment, nor discuss such code in detail.

Violations will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity.

3.5 Grading

Assignments	60%
Final Exam	40%

All assignments are automatically graded. Students can check their grade status at any time by using the Grades button on the course directory pages.

Additional details on grading can be found here and on the Grades page.

Assignments are due before the start of the final exam.

Exceptions to due dates will only be granted under the conditions defined by the ODU policy on incomplete grades: “exceptional circumstances beyond the student’s control”. I also expect that, if these circumstances were foreseeable, that students provide me with timely notice of the potential conflict.