Objectives: An introduction to mobile computing with a strong emphasis on application development for the Android operating system. Students will complete a major project with the goal of releasing an app on the Android Market place. Topics will include the Android development environment, user interfaces, activities, intents, content providers / content resolvers, services, broadcast receivers, persistence, MBaaS, location, sensors, graphics, and other Android features, tools, and capabilities.

Prerequisite: Computer Science 313E, 314, or 314H with a grade of at least C-

Lecture: 87050 MWTh 1 - 2:30 pm  pm, GDC 4.304

Instructor, Mike Scott, email: scottm@cs.utexas.edu office: GDC 6.304 .

Office Hours: Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 3 - 5 pm. If you cannot make these hours email me to request an appointment.

Office hours are held in the 3rd floor public computer lab in the Gates CS complex, GDC 3.302

Teaching Assistant:  
Yajie (Doris) Niu, email:

Lab hours: Tuesday and Thursday 2:30 - 4:30  pm in third floor GDC public computer lab.

Website: http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~scottm/cs371m. We will also use Canvas for most course materials, grades, submissions, communicationm and some project related tasks.

Textbook (Strongly Recommended):

• The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development, by Mark Murphy, http://commonsware.com/Android/, previous versions available at this site for free.
  
  OR
   

• Android Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide (Big Nerd Ranch Guides)
  ISBN: 978-0321804334 / 1st ed.
  Publisher: Big Nerd Ranch Guides

Optional online Java course. Java Basics for Android Programmers: https://www.udemy.com/java-essentials-for-android/

Android Device: You are NOT required to have an Android Device. Development can be done on the Android Emulator. However there is no substitute for testing on a real device. I have multiple Android dev phones and tablets available for checkout. Please send me an email to request a device checkout.

If you do want to purchase an Android device past students have favored Android tablets over phones as they tend to be cheaper.

Software: Android development is done in Java.

You are strongly encouraged to work on your own computer. The following software is required and freely available.

• Java. I recommend version 8 or 10.
• Android SDK and AndroidStudio. I recommend downloading APIs levels 19 through the latest (27 as of June 2018). Link to instructions on installing the Android SDK.

Schedule: A schedule of lecture topics, reading assignments, and assignment distribution and due dates is available online, via the class web page, www.cs.utexas.edu/~scottm/cs371m/schedule.htm.  The schedule lists topics and readings. The schedule is subject to change.

Assignments and Projects (Listed by Due Date)

• Final grades are based on 1000 points. 1016 points available. 16 points of slack.
• The final letter grades will be assigned based on your total points. The grading systems consists of 1000 points. The grade cutoffs are: <600 = F, 600 - 699 = D, 700 - 799 = C, 800 - 899 = B, >= 900 = A. Plusses and minuses (+ and -) will be assigned to scores within 25 points of the cut offs. So for example total points 875 to 899 earn a B+ and total points 900 to 924 earn an A-.
• If teammate feedback indicates a member of a team contributed little to the semester app project, that members score may be reduced as appropriate..
• Assignments will be available on the class web site or Canvas.
• If you are dissatisfied with a grade you receive on an assignment or test, you must submit your complaint via email, along with supporting evidence or arguments, to me or the TA within one week of the date the teaching staff first attempted to return the assignment or test to you.
• Late work or work in the wrong format is not accepted and will receive a grade of 0.
  Travel for job interviews or other events are not valid excuses for missed classes or class assignments.

Academic Honesty: Taken from the CS department Code of Conduct.

"The University and the Department are committed to preserving the reputation of your degree. It means a lot to you. In order to guarantee that every degree means what it says it means, we must enforce a strict policy that guarantees that the work that you turn in is your own and that the grades you receive measure your personal achievements in your classes:

Every piece of work that you turn in with your name on it must be yours and yours alone unless explicitly allowed by an instructor in a particular class. Specifically, unless otherwise authorized by an instructor:

• Students may not discuss their work with anyone except the instructor and other members of the instructional staff (instructor, TA, lab proctor or partner on a pair assignment).
• Students may not acquire from any source (e.g., another student or an internet site) a partial or complete solution to a problem or project that has been assigned.

You are responsible for complying with this policy in two ways:

1. You must not turn in work that is not yours, except as expressly permitted by the instructor of each course.
2. You must not enable someone else to turn in work that is not theirs. Do not share your work with anyone else. Make sure that you adequately protect all your files. Even after you have finished a class, do not share your work or published answers with the students who come after you. They need to do their work on their own.

The penalty for academic dishonesty will be a course grade of F and a referral of the case to the Dean of Students. Further penalties, including suspension or expulsion from the university may be imposed by that office.

One final word: This policy is not intended to discourage students from learning from each other, nor is it unmindful of the fact that most significant work in computer science and in the computing industry is done by teams of people working together. But, because of our need to assign individual grades, we are forced to impose an otherwise artificial requirement for individual work. In some classes, it is possible to allow and even encourage collaboration in ways that do not interfere with the instructor's ability to assign grades. In these cases, your instructor will make clear to you exactly what kinds of collaboration are allowed for that class."

For CS329e I expect you to complete the tutorials on your own using the provided code when given.

For your projects I expect you to do significant work on your own.

You can use class examples and examples from the web, but these must be documented.

To be clear, a significant amount of work on your project must be your own, but it is okay to incorporate code samples and 3rd party libraries.

For more information on Scholastic Dishonesty see the University Policy on Scholastic Dishonesty
 

Important Dates for Changing Academic Status and Dropping the Course: Refer to the Registrar's academic calendar for the deadlines for changes in academic status. Highlights are:

• Friday, June 8. Last day of the official add/drop period; after this date, changes in registration require the approval of the department chair and usually the student’s dean.
• Tuesday, June 12: Last day to drop for a possible refund. Last day to add a course.
• Wednesday, June 27: Last day to change to pass/fail grading for class
• Friday, August 17: Last day an undergraduate student may, with the dean’s approval, withdraw from the University or drop a class (Q drop) except for urgent and substantiated, nonacademic reasons. Last day a student may change registration in a class to or from the pass/fail or credit/no credit basis. UT no longer requires instructor permission to drop a class. However, I am notified of the request to drop and if you are involved in an ongoing academic dishonesty case the drop will not be approved.
• After Friday, August 17, students must go to the academic advisors in their college Dean's office if they wish to drop or withdraw from the class.
• To be eligible for an incomplete (UT uses the symbol X to indicate incompletes) you must have a letter grade of C- or better and a written, verifiable excuse for missing the last test. This is a necessary but insufficient condition for receiving an incomplete. In general, I do not give incompletes (X's) so that you may make up large portions of course work.

See the College of Natural Science Guidelines and Procedures page for more information. (http://cns.utexas.edu/advising/guidelines-procedures)

Religious Holidays: By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, you will be given an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence.

Students with Disabilities: students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 471-6259, www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/.
 

Many thanks to Professor Frank McCown of Harding University and Professor David Janzen of Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo for sharing their Android app development materials with me.