CISC 370---OOP, Java, and the WWW
Syllabus Spring 2000

Instructor and TA

Sivaram Burra, 214 Smith Hall, email: burra@cis.udel.edu
Office Hours -- 10-12Noon, Mondays
All TA office hours will be held in 404 Wolf Hall, Ph: 831-2770

Textbooks

Java is a hugh software system consisting of the Java language, the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), and the Java Class libraries or APIs. The latter are very extensive and powerful. Consequently, no one book will cover all that one desires to learn about this magnificient software. Thus it is really necessary to have a Java Library instead of a Java textbook (my personal Java library consists of several dozen books). I suggest that you start with the following three books.

• Cay S. Horstmann and Gary Cornell, CORE Java 2: Volume I - Fundamentals, 4th edition, Prentice-Hall (1999) ISBN 0-13-081933-6.

• Horstmann and Cornell, CORE Java 2: Volume II - Advanced Features, 4th edition, Prentice-Hall (1999) ISBN 0-13-081934-4.

  There are several versions of the above texts. Make sure that you have the ones for Java 2.0 or Java 1.2. Here is a web page for these books. (There are now three major versions of Java, namely 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2. After the initial release of version 1.2, SUN decided to rename it version 2.0. Thus Java 1.2 and Java 2.0 are the same versions.)

  These will be our two primary textbooks.

• David Flanagan, Java in a Nutshell, A Desktop Quick Reference , 3rd Edition, O'Reilly (Nov 1999) ISBN 1-56592-487-8.

  This book will be used as a reference. It helps one navigate around in the huge Java class libraries. It is often very difficult to find the information that you need when using the Java class libraries without such a reference. Throughout we will use Java in a Nutshell as a handy reference. Unfortunately, this book has changed drastically from the 2nd to the 3rd edition due to the hugh increase in the size of the Java APIs from Java 1.1 to Java 2. It is no longer as useful by itself as the 2nd edition was.

  You will also need (in fact, buy this one first) Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell, A Desktop Quick Reference , 1st Edition, O'Reilly (Sept 1999) ISBN 1-56592-488-6.

  I hate to say it, but you will also need David Flanagan, Jim Farley, William Crawford, & Kris Magnusson, Java Enterprise in a Nutshell, A Desktop Quick Reference , 1st Edition, O'Reilly (Sept 1999) ISBN 1-56592-483-5. The links above are to the O'Reilly pages, but you may be able to buy these books a bit cheaper from other places like amazon.com .

Prerequisites

Course Objectives

• The Java virtual machine. This a computer that could be realized in silicon, but is usual implemented in software. It is the part of the Java system that gives Java its platform independence and its unique security features that are the keys to making Java so useful in a networked environment.

• The Java language. The language is purely object-oriented, but really contains no new ideas that do not already appear in existing languages. Java is what C++ might have been if C++ did not have the requirement of being backward compatible with C. Fortunately, Java as a language is much simpler than C++, but there are many similarities. As we study Java we will point out the similarities and differences between it and C++. Learning Java should have the side benefit of helping to make you a better C++ programmer as well.

• The Java SDK. Also know as the Java Class Libraries. This huge, powerful, thorough, and relatively easy (but still difficult to master) collection of class libraries contain much of what makes Java a masterpiece of design. The class libraries are difficult to master because of the their sheer size (a LOT to learn) and because that embody many sophisticated (and important) programming concepts. They are relatively simple in the sense that their design makes make many difficult programming tasks like client-server applications much easier to understand and implement than has previously been possible.

To begin to use Java effectively, it is necessary to learn the Java language (syntax and semantics) and how to make use of the extensive Java class library packages. Most of the details of the Java Virtual Machine can be ignored in a first Java course, but they add much to the full understanding of the overall Java system.

Fortunately (for C/C++ programmers), the syntax and semantics of Java borrows heavily from C++, but are much simpler than those of C++ (hurrah!). So those parts of Java that are quite similar to C and C++, we will cover rapidly with an emphasis on the differences between Java and C++.

We will learn by doing and many of the programs that we write will be for applets that can be displayed on the World Wide Web. Thus, we will learn enough about the WWW and HTML to enable display of the applets.

This will be a seminar-like course. Participants will be expected to be well motivated and to actively participate in all aspects of the course, to be prepared to actively take part in the class discussions by asking questions, answering questions, and generally making a substantive effort to further the primary objective of the course --- that is, to learn as much about this exciting new technology as possible.

By mid-semester we should be able to do some interesting things in Java. The semester will finish with a term project (instead of a final exam) that will entail a substantial design and implementation of a Java application or applet.

Grades

The TA, , will grade the daily homeworks. Prof. Caviness will grade the term projects. All grades will be posted online in a manner to be described later.

Tentative (very ambitious and subject to change) Schedule

Policies

• All questions about grades on any assignment must be presented in writing to the instructor within one week of when the assignment is returned to the class (if you are not present when the assignment is returned that is your responsibility). Otherwise all grades become finalized one week after an assignment is returned.

• All homework assignments are to be done by the individual students. You may ask questions, however, to the TA and instructor. We will make every effort to respond to email questions promptly.

  Homework assignments will normally be graded on a scale of 0-10. Homework that is n days late will be penalized 1 + 2 + ... + n points. So

  One day late	=	penalty of 1 point
  Two days late	=	penalty of 3 points
  Three days late	=	penalty of 6 points
  Four or more days late	=	no credit.

  The clock ticks forward one day each day at 12:30PM, the beginning of class hour.

• Term projects may be done in teams of two students. Term projects may also use Java code other than that written by the team and provided in JDK. In fact, you are encouraged to do this, but all such code (even if modified by the team members) should be clearly identified as to its original source. "Unless clearly stated otherwise, all work is expected to be prepared explicitly for this class and be the original work of the student submitting it. Plagiarism is the use of the words or ideas of others without proper attribution. It is your responsibility to know the proper way to cite your sources so that no misunderstanding as to origin will result." (This quote was taken from K. C. Brauchle, Plagiarism and the Internet: Cut and Paste Your Way to Success, The National Teaching & Learning Forum, Vol 10, No 1.)

  There will be more information provided about how term projects are to be carried out.

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Copyright 2000 B. F. Caviness