CMSC335 (Spring 2026): Web Application Development with JavaScript (Syllabus)

Web Application Development with JavaScript provides an introduction to modern ways of developing Web Applications/Services using JavaScript for both front-end and back-end. The course covers topics on fundamental JavaScript language constructs, server-side JavaScript, back-end data persistence, and client-side JavaScript to build Web Applications that interact with Web services and back-end databases.

Minimum grade of C- in CMSC216 and CMSC250.

Credits → 3

Nelson Padua-Perez, Office: IRB 2210

No required textbook.

Students will demonstrate the ability to:

• Understand and develop web pages using HTML and CSS features.
• Use JavaScript language constructs for developing dynamic web pages.
• Understand the behavior (interaction with web pages) of code written in JavaScript.
• Use JavaScript to develop web services that interacts with 3rd-party services via web APIs.
• Understand the mechanism to provide data persistence in the back end (e.g., MongoDB).
• Use client-side JavaScript framework/libraries to develop single page applications (SPAs) interacting with web APIs.

• Lectures will be recorded (if this represents a problem for you contact your instructor). Keep in mind that technical problems may prevent us from creating a recording. You are still responsible for any material covered in lecture.
• No pop quizzes.
• Lecture session attendance is NOT required, however, you are responsible for any material covered in lecture and lab/discussion session.
• You do not need to notify your instructor if you will be missing lecture, unless graded material (e.g., exam) takes place on that particular lecture.
• We may have a limited number of online office hours in addition to on-campus office hours.
• The course has several programming assignments (projects/exercises). There will be no semester-long projects.
• All programming assignments will be individually developed, unless specified otherwise.

• Email (to both instructor and TAs) should be used for urgent matters and not to address project questions, lecture material questions, etc.
• Please wait 24 hours to get a response to an email message sent Monday through Thursday. Messages sent on Friday or weekends will be answered on the following Monday.
• Please keep your email messages as short as possible.
• Before emailing TAs or the instructor, check the Piazza announcements and old_announcements folders.
• It is your responsibility to check your email during the week (Monday thru Friday) in case your instructor needs to contact you.

• HTML
• HTML APIs
• CSS
• Page Layouts (CSS Grid Layout, CSS Flexbox Layout)
• JavaScript
  • Variables, data types, expressions, operators
  • Conditional, iteration, statements
  • Functions, arrays
  • Prototypes, inheritance and Object-Oriented JS
  • DOM, events, events handling
  • Modules
  • JavaScript standard library
  • Iterators and generators
  • Asychronous JavaScript
• Server-Side JavaScript
  • Introduction to Node.js
  • Express
  • Data persistence with MongoDB
• Miscellaneous

It is your responsibility to address grading concerns by the deadline specified at Grading Concerns. If you don't address a grading concern by the specified deadline, we will assume you have reviewed the graded work and are satisfied with your current grade. We will not address grading concerns after the specified deadline.

• Deadlines - Unless otherwise specified, assignments are due at 11:55 pm and you have until 11:55 pm of the next day to submit your work with a 12% penalty. You will not receive any credit (a score of 0) for any submission after the late deadline. The submit server will use 11:56 pm as the deadline, otherwise assignments submitted exactly at 11:55 pm will be considered late. A submission that is one minute late is considered a late submission. You need to plan to submit at least one hour before the official deadline.
• Submit Server - You must submit your work using the submit server. Work submitted by any other means (e.g., email) will not be accepted.
• Which Assignments Gets Graded - Your last submission. If you have both an ontime and late submission only the late one will be graded after a 12% penalty is applied (we cannot select the highest scoring one between on time and late or a specific submission).
• Closed Assignments - All assignments in this course are to be written individually (unless explicitly indicated otherwise). You may discuss assignments only with TAs or the instructor.
• Projects and exercises are posted by 6 pm on the day specified on the schedule.

The use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Google Gemini) for the completion of graded work (e.g., assignments) is not allowed and represents an academic integrity violation. Although we recognized that you will use AI tools in the future, we need you to master the fundamentals first without AI tools. Using AI tools to learn about class concepts is OK as long as you don't try to find answers to problems or tasks that are part of an assignment. Using AI on an assignment description is not allowed.

• Posting of any assignment solution (even after the course is over) in a publicly available online location (e.g., GitHub, Chegg) is prohibited under the Code of Academic Integrity (facilitation of academic dishonesty). Any student responsible for publicly posting assignments' solutions will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct and risks the sanction of an "XF" in the course.
• Posting of your assignments in a private repository where only selected people (e.g., potential employers) have access is OK.

Office hours get extremely busy the day before an assignment deadline and help during office hours is not guaranteed. TAs/instructors cannot stay holding office hours after the office hours period ends because students are waiting for help (this applies to online/virtual office hours). The sooner you start working on a project, the better your chances of getting help.

Keep in mind that if you wait until the due date to finish classwork, you may face problems that TAs or Nelson would not be able to help you with (no, email the day a project is due is not an option to address problems as you are too many and we cannot help everyone). If you need help, you need to see us during office hours. No extensions will be granted because you waited until the due date and could not get the help you needed. Also, office hours help is not guaranteed. If you wait until the due date, and there are too many students, you may not get the help you need (and no extension will be granted). Please keep this mind for all classwork. Plan to finish classwork so you will be able to see a TA or Nelson if you need help.

You are responsible for creating backups of your work as you complete an assignment. No extensions will be granted if you lose your work and you had no backups. Keeping backups will also help you in case you submit the wrong work to the submit server. Using the submit server to backup your work is OK.

We use (Piazza) for class communication. Posting of any kind of code in Piazza is not allowed.

You are responsible for checking announcements (at least twice a day) we post in the announcements Piazza folder Monday through Friday. An old_announcements Piazza folder will have old announcements. We recommend you check messages around 11:30 am and after 5:00 pm.

See the section titled "Attendance and Missed Assignments" available at Course Related Policies. Regarding extensions:

1. You need to provide official documentation to receive an assignment extension or makeup.
2. We expect you to start working on projects immediately after they are posted and to work on them at least every other day. If you wait until a few days before an assignment is due to start working on it, and get sick, we will not provide a period of time that assumes you have not worked on the project. You will only be granted an extension that corresponds to the days you have been sick.
3. It is your responsibility to immediately notify your instructor if you are sick and cannot complete class work. Ask someone to get in touch with the instructor if you cannot do it yourself.
4. If you receive an extension, you must provide a progress update at least every three days. If you cannot provide an update yourself, please ask someone to provide an update on your situation. Failure to provide a progress update without a valid justification will invalidate any provided extension.

See the section titled "Accessibility" available at Course Related Policies.

If you are an ADS (https://counseling.umd.edu/ads) student (others ignore this information):

ADS students: you are responsible for reserving a space at ADS to take exams (we cannot provide that support). Keep in mind ADS has deadlines regarding by when to schedule a day/time to take exams.

Please read this information carefully. We take academic integrity matters seriously. Before you continue reading the syllabus, watch the following video: Academic Integrity Video.

1. Academic dishonesty includes not only cheating, fabrication, and plagiarism, but also includes helping other students commit acts of academic dishonesty by allowing them to obtain copies of your work. All submitted work must be your own. Cases of academic dishonesty will be pursued to the fullest extent possible as stipulated by the Office of Student Conduct.
2. The Office of Student Conduct is responsible for handling academic integrity matters. After a report is submitted by an instructor, the case is evaluated by the office and it could result in an XF grade, degree revocation, or dismissal from the university.
3. Situations that often lead to academic integrity violations:
   • A student's friend/roommate shares an assignment's code. Once you provide your code to another student, you are a facilitator, even if you indicate to the student "not to copy-paste" any of it.
   • Students use online resources (GitHub, Chegg, etc.) to find assignments' solutions. The solutions are found by several students and all will be involved in an academic case.
   • Students assume we don't have tools that check for similarities among all students' submissions.
   • Students get desperate and don't want a 0 in the assignment.
   • Students are not aware of the expectations regarding academic integrity.
   • Students assume we don't take academic integrity matters seriously.
   • You should only receive assistance from instructors/TAs. We have seen cases in which the use of tutors have led to academic integrity violations (e.g., tutors looked for assignment's solutions online).
   • Students use AI tools.
4. One of the most negative consequences of academic integrity violations is the emotional burden an academic integrity case has on a student. We have seen students extremely distraught as a result of an academic integrity violation. In many cases students chances for recommendations, TA positions, and other opportunities are negatively affected.
5. Please read the section titled "Academic Integrity" available at Course Related Policies and the information available at Academic Integrity.

If you or your parents have any class concerns, feel free to contact the instructor. If an issue arises with the instructor, report it using the form available at https://www.cs.umd.edu/classconcern.

Notice of mandatory reporting of sexual assault, sexual harassment, interpersonal violence, and stalking: As faculty members, a course instructor is designated as a “Responsible University Employee,” and must report all disclosures of sexual assault, sexual harassment, interpersonal violence, and stalking to UMD’s Title IX Coordinator per University Policy on Sexual Harassment and Other Sexual Misconduct.

If you wish to speak with someone confidentially, please contact one of UMD’s confidential resources, such as CARE to Stop Violence (located on the Ground Floor of the Health Center) at 301-741-3442 or the Counseling Center (located at the Shoemaker Building) at 301-314-7651.

You may also seek assistance or supportive measures from UMD’s Title IX Coordinator, Angela Nastase, by calling 301-405-1142, or emailing titleIXcoordinator@umd.edu.

To view further information on the above, please visit the Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct's website at ocrsm.umd.edu.

Make sure you have an alternate device or option to authenticate (Duo) to school, as submitting classwork requires authentication. Some students use an iPad or another phone number (e.g., home phone) to authenticate. You should test your alternate device/approach before you have an emergency. Additional information at Multi-Factor Authentication. No extensions will be provided due to lack of an alternate device for authentication.

If your computer is experiencing problems, you can borrow one. See https://www.lib.umd.edu/equipment?search_api_fulltext=laptop for additional information.

• We only use ELMS for videos (Panopto).
• Buying Domain - We may ask you to buy a domain if you don't have one. It should not be expensive, but everyone has different financial situations.
• At the end of the semester visit (www.courseevalum.umd.edu) to complete your course evaluations.
• Contact your instructor, the Counseling Center , or both, if you are experiencing difficulties that affect your performance in your courses. Do not wait until the end of the semester to look for help.
• UMD Course related policies are available at http://www.ugst.umd.edu/courserelatedpolicies.html.
• Information about the CS undergraduate office advising ELMS page can be found at https://www.cs.umd.edu/~nelson/classes/csugradofficeelmspage/.
• Lost&Found - Visit Iribe 2140.

All course materials are copyright UMCP, Department of Computer Science © 2026. All rights reserved. Students are permitted to use course materials for their own personal use only. Course materials may not be distributed publicly or provided to others (excepting other students in the course), in any way or format.

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