The prerequisites for this course are a C- or better in both CMSC 216 and CMSC 330.
The goal is to foster discovery, experimentation, and exploration, but in a safe, ethical, and respectful fashion, always. If you have an idea and want a safe environment to try it out, then let me know, and I'll try to set something up. If you have any questions or concerns, then do not hesitate to contact me or your TAs directly.
The following list of lecture topics will vary in terms of pace and project emphasis:
| Website | Various course materials will be made available on the class website, which can be accessed at http://www.cs.umd.edu/class/spring2017/cmsc414/ |
|---|---|
| Piazza | Class help and details will also be posted on Piazza. This provides a forum for you to post questions (and answer those from others), as well as share insights and engage on all things security. Keep in mind, however, that even though this is a class-specific forum, cheating or facilitating cheating is not allowed there (or anywhere): do not post project code or pseudocode. This particular section's Piazza page can be found at https://piazza.com/umd/spring2017/cmsc414/. |
Submission instructions will be provided with the projects.
You are responsible for all material discussed in lecture and discussion section and posted on the class web page, including announcements, deadlines, policies, etc. During the semester we may provide ungraded practice homework exercises and solutions. While we will not collect these exercises, completing them is essential preparation for exams. You may work together on these ungraded homeworks, and you may of course come to office hours for additional help.
Your final course grade will be determined according to the following percentages:
| 4 Programming Projects | 50% (10% projects 1-3, 20% project 4) |
| 2 Midterms | 15% each |
| Final | 20% |
Final course grades will be curved as necessary, based on each student's total numeric score for all coursework at the end of the semester. Important: Completing the programming assignments is an essential part of the course. Therefore, we may fail any student who does not make a good-faith attempt on all course projects, regardless of the student's performance or scores on the other coursework.
Projects may be submitted up to 48 hours late for a 20% penalty. (For example, a project that would have earned 90 points for an on-time submission will earn 72, that is, 90 times 0.80.) If you submit both on-time & late, your project will received the maximum of the penalty-adjusted scores.
Project extensions will not be granted due to system problems, network problems, power outages, etc., so do not wait to submit a project until the night it is due. You may submit multiple times up to the deadline, and only your last on-time submission is graded. Similarly, if you submit late, only your last submission before the deadline will be graded. No consideration in grading will be made for errors made in transferring files or submitting the wrong version of your project. Having a working, unsubmitted version will not count; only submitted code will be be counted.
Finally, any "hard coding" in a project assignment may result in a score of zero for that project, and is considered a bad-faith effort. Hard coding refers to attempting to make a program appear as if it works correctly, when in fact it does not. One example of hard coding would be printing the desired output instead of computing it. This is only one example, and if you have any questions as to what constitutes hard coding, be sure to ask ahead of time.
If these dates need to change for some reason, we will let you know as soon as possible.
You are, however required to attend scheduled exams. There are several excused absences from an exam: illness, religious observation, participation in required university activities, or a family or personal emergency. We will work with you to make sure that you have a fair amount of time to make up for excused absences. The best way that we can help is if we know about absences as well in advance as possible.
Please note that, because exams are considered "Major Scheduled Grading Events," a self-signed note may not be sufficient: For medical absences, you must furnish documentation from the health care professional who treated you, which must verify the timeframe that the student was unable to meet academic responsibilities. In addition, it must contain the name and phone number of the medical service provider to be used if verification is needed. No diagnostic information will ever be requested.
It is the University's policy to provide accommodations for students with religious observances conflicting with exams. You must inform the instructor prior to the end of the first two weeks of the class if you have a religious observation that conflicts with an exam,
For missed exams due to excused absences, the instructor will arrange a makeup exam. If you might miss an exam for any other reason other than those above, you must contact the instructor in advance to discuss the circumstances. We are not obligated to offer a substitute assignment or to provide a makeup exam unless the failure to perform was due to an excused absence.
The policies for excused absences do not apply to project assignments. Projects will be assigned with sufficient time to be completed by students who have a reasonable understanding of the necessary material and begin promptly. In cases of extremely serious documented illness of lengthy duration or other protracted, severe emergency situations, the instructor may consider extensions on project assignments, depending upon the specific circumstances.
Besides the policies in this syllabus, the University's policies apply during the semester. Various policies that may be relevant appear in the Undergraduate Catalog.
All arrangements for exam accommodations as a result of disability must be made and arranged with the instructor at least three business days prior to the exam date; later requests (including retroactive ones) will be refused.
Programming projects are to be written individually, therefore cooperation or use of unauthorized materials on projects is a violation of the University's Code of Academic Integrity. Any evidence of this, or of unacceptable use of computer accounts, use of unauthorized materials or cooperation on exams or quizzes, or other possible violations of the Honor Code, will be submitted to the Student Honor Council, which could result in an XF for the course, suspension, or expulsion.
Violations of the Code of Academic Integrity may include, but are not limited to:
If you have any question about a particular situation or source then consult with the instructors in advance. Should you have difficulty with a programming assignment you should see the instructional staff in office hours, and not solicit help from anyone else in violation of these rules.
It is the responsibility, under the honor policy, of anyone who suspects an incident of academic dishonesty has occurred to report it to their instructor, or directly to the Honor Council.
Every semester the department has discovered a number of students attempting to cheat on project assignments, in violation of academic integrity requirements. Students' academic careers have been significantly affected by a decision to cheat. Think about whether you want to join them before contemplating cheating, or before helping a friend to cheat.
Students are welcome and encouraged to study and compare or discuss their implementations of the programming projects with any others after they are graded, provided that all of the students in question have received nonzero scores for that project assignment, and if that project will not be extended upon in a later project assignment.