Dr. David Reed
215 Old Gymnasium        x2583
DaveReed@creighton.edu

Office hours: M 1-4, TTh 2-4 or by appointment

Text: Programming Languages: Paradigm and Practice (2nd ed.), Appleby & VandeKopple, McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1997.

Course Description

This course will cover the concepts and practice of programming languages. The first part of the course will focus on general programming language concepts such as binding, type checking, and parameter passing. The implementation of these concepts in different languages will be examined, with special attention paid to C/C++ and Java. The second part of the course will focus on different programming paradigms: procedural, object-oriented, and functional programming. C++,Java,and JavaScript will be studied as hybrid languages, combining both procedural and object-oriented features with varying design goals. Scheme will be studied as an example of a completely different programming paradigm, one which focuses on functional composition as opposed to state transformation or object interaction.

The specific goals of this course are:

• To gain a basic understanding of the issues involved in designing, implementing, and evaluating programming languages.
• To become familiar with different programming paradigms, their strengths and tradeoffs.
• To develop a working knowledge of C++, Java, JavaScript, and Scheme.

Required Work

There will be approximately eight homework assignments, most of which will involve programming. Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the date specified. Late assignments will receive 75% of full credit if they are handed in within one week of the specified due date. After one week, no credit will be given. In addition, there will be weekly quizzes, two 60-minute tests and a cumulative final exam.

Grades will be determined as follows:

Policy on Collaboration

The college policy on cheating and plagiarism is spelled out in the Student Handbook. In addition to this, the following guidelines hold pertaining to programs. Programs are to be the sole work of the student -- collaboration on the design or coding of a program is not allowed. Students may seek debugging assistance or clarifications on assigments using the class mailing list ONLY.

Repeat: All student interactions regarding homework assignments must take place via the class mailing list!

Tentative Schedule