Earning a Grade: A lot of you have one burning question on your mind as you start your MS program:

How am I going to get an A in this course?

We have some news for you: you are beyond college now. In the world of technical/professional programs, it really is about what you learn, not the grade you can show for it.

Class: Class consists of lectures (CS 5010) and labs (CS 5011). Profs. Felleisen (Monday) and Wand (Tuesday) will run the lectures.

The TAs will conduct (at most) two lab meetings to introduce you to the course software and to familiarize you with some basic conventions. The first lab session will be held on 17 (evening session) and 18 September 2009. Following this introduction, you will present some your homework solutions to a panel of assistants during lab sessions. The first panels will take place on 24 and 25 September 2009.

Computing Environment: We will use DrScheme 4.2.N. For most of the course, we will stick to the HtDP teaching languages plus the Universe teachpack. DrScheme is installed on the CCS computers. It is also freely available on the Web (see left) in case you wish install it on your own computer.

Problem Sets: The problem sets have three different purposes: to help you understand what you read; to learn to design programs systematically; and to help you maintain programs over a few weeks. See the Assignments page for details.

Pair Programming: You must work on all required problems in pairs. Your first partner will be chosen from your lab section, and your lab TA will assign you a partner. Every few weeks, you will get a new partner. Pair programming will be explained in the first lab; see the FAQ for a summary.

Theft: We will consider all collaborations outside of your assigned partnership as theft. We will report all incidences of theft to the administration. In the real world, thieving programmers can bring havoc on their companies, which in turn will suffer in court. Our strict and harsh course policies are intended to prepare you to function in a world that strictly enforces all property rights.

Grades: You will get one grade for each homework presentation. We will drop the lowest (as in "worst impact") score from this set. Thus, if you choose to skip an assignment set or if you just don't get it one week, nothing is lost. The story is different for the second or third or ... time.

We reserve the right to amend this grading policy during the semester.