Instructor: Gordon S. Novak Jr., GDC 3.824; Office Hours: MTWTh 3:30 - 4:30 PM via Zoom. novak at cs dot utexas dot edu
TA: Haitao Yang
yanghtr@outlook.com
Office Hours: Thursday 4:30 pm - 7:30 pm on Zoom:
https://utexas.zoom.us/j/92095727750
Classes will be offered both in-person and on Zoom (your choice of which to attend). Given the Covid situation, we will adapt as needed. COVID-19 Information is the UT page for Covid information and links.
Lecture Notes:
These will be available in printed form from
UT Document Solutions in GSB 3.136.
online by Contents
online by Index
PDF
Extra slides on Resolution, PDF
Directory for Program Files also in /projects/cs378.novak/ on the CS Linux machines.
clojuredocs.org clojuredocs.org Quickref
Lisp / Clojure Functions Clojure Functions Cheatsheet (pdf)
Using Emacs with Clojure Emacs Command Summary Using Xpra Remotely
Tracing in Clojure Testing and Debugging
Clicker Questions with answers are a useful source of multiple-choice questions to study; some of them might appear on an exam.
If you do not have access to the things you need (housing, food, computer, etc.) to continue your education, the University considers that to be an emergency. If you need resources or have other problems, contact Student Emergency Services, or studentemergency@austin.utexas.edu or Natural Sciences Emergency & Life Supports.
Students who need accommodations may request them from Disability and Access.
If you become sick or have other problems, be sure to notify the instructor promptly; timely notification is required. Any problems with grading of assignments or exams must be raised within a week of when the grade is posted.
This syllabus is subject to change, and it may be updated during the semester. Be sure to check this page regularly.
We will have an interactive office hour meeting as shown above on Zoom. This meeting is optional, come-and-go as you wish.
Please be aware that during the start of online Zoom sessions, your image and anything in the background of your camera view may be recorded and could be visible to others. You should not share the online recordings with people who are not in the class, for copyright and privacy reasons.
Student microphones will be muted during lecture to reduce the background noise level. The Zoom chat room option will allow you to ask questions at any time.
Suggestions for improving the lecture and materials will be welcome.
There are due dates shown for each assignment. UT rules prohibit any assignments from being due after the last class day. There will be a deadline for turning in all assignments soon after the last class day. It is important for you to keep up with the assignments; if you get behind, the result will be that you will not be able to complete all of the assignments, or parts of them. Remember that a partially completed assignment gets a much better grade than no submission. Assignments must be turned in within 4 days of the stated due date unless you get prior permission. A late penalty of 10% per day late may be assessed.
The assignments will get more interesting for the second half of the semester; the key to making a good grade is to start your assignments early.
We will support you with office hours (both instructor and TA), Discussions, and email consultations when needed.
Optional Text: Daniel Higginbotham, Clojure for the Brave and True (free online).
Programming assignments Turn in via Canvas
Programming projects must be your own individual work. Students may discuss concepts or help with specific problems in another student's code. However, sharing code, working together on program design or flowcharts, or reading someone else's code is not allowed. All code that is given in the class directory may be used as part of your programs.
Beware of Github! If you keep your code on Github, be sure to file-protect it; otherwise somebody may copy it and you may get into trouble. Do not even look at someone else's code on Github; those who do are likely to copy it and get caught.
Program files are provided, in http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/novak/cs378/ and in /projects/cs378.novak/ for use with the assignments. The files are described by Program File Descriptions. It is legal to use any of these files as part of your programs.
Attendance counts as 10% of your grade. Attendance can be in one of two forms (your choice for each lecture):
I Ask: that those who are not fully vaccinated attend the Zoom version instead.
ASTM Level 3 masks will be available free at each class.
Lectures will be recorded by Zoom and can be accessed (with drawings) at Lectures. There is also a recording from the classroom system, available through Canvas.
You can choose whether to attend in person or on Zoom on a day-to-day basis; the attendance scores will be combined. Those who cannot attend at the regular time may watch lectures later than the regular class time by special permission (e.g. for students who are located in China or India). Of course, if you are sick, you should attend via Zoom and not come to campus. If you are in a far-away time zone or must miss class for other reasons, watch the online videos and then email the instructor to get attendance credit.
Symbolic Programming involves the manipulation of symbolic data such as programs, equations, rules, and natural language (human languages such as English). Symbolic programming is increasingly being used in real applications by large companies such as Bloomberg and Walmart.
Symbolic programming provides several advantages:
Topics to be Covered:
Grades are kept on Canvas. It is your responsibility to check your grades often to make sure that your assignments have been received and graded.
Course grades are assigned on the scale A = 93-100, A- = 90-93, B+ = 87-90, B = 83-87, B- = 80-83, etc. provided that the Final Exam grade is at least 65; if the Final Exam grade is below 65, a lower course grade may be assigned at the instructor's discretion. Grades are averaged using the following weights:
| Midterm Exam | 20% | Tuesday, October 22, at class time, on Canvas | |
| Final Exam | 30% | Friday, December 13, 1:00 - 3:00 PM, on Canvas | |
| Attendance | 10% | ||
| Programming Assignments: | 40% |
References:
Sharing of Course Materials is Prohibited: No materials used in this class, including, but not limited to, lecture hand-outs, videos, assessments (quizzes, exams, papers, projects, homework assignments), in-class materials, review sheets, and additional problem sets, may be shared online or with anyone outside of the class unless you have my explicit, written permission. Unauthorized sharing of materials promotes cheating. It is a violation of the University's Student Honor Code and an act of academic dishonesty. We are well aware of the sites used for sharing materials, and any materials found online that are associated with you, or any suspected unauthorized sharing of materials, will be reported to Student Conduct and Academic Integrity in the Office of the Dean of Students. These reports can result in sanctions, including failure in the course.