Contact Information
Course Description
Textbook and Supplies
Reading & Tutorial Assignments
Assignment Guidelines
Attendance
Grading System

Course Schedule of Activities
    updated 8/20 (pdf version)

Coding Style Guide

Software Installation Instructions

Datafiles and Instructor Files
Useful Websites
Useful Books

Course Competencies
Academic Calendar
Withdrawal and Incomplete
Academic Dishonesty Procedure
Student Code of Conduct

Steps to success!

EMERGENCY NUMBERS:
      CAMPUS SECURITY: (305) 237-2100
      M-DCC EMERGENCY HOTLINE: (305) 237-7500 (Hurricane and Weather Warnings)

INSTRUCTOR OFFICE HOURS: See Prof. Ballinger's Home Page

C.I.S STUDY CENTER, ROOM 9103: Students can use the computers in the classroom only during their class time. When you wish to work additional hours on a computer, you should go to the Study Center in Room 9103. You will be asked to provide a current MDCC ID and validated schedule when you enter the Study Center. The hours of operation will be posted on the door of Room 9103 and on the Computer Department web page located at http://www.cis.kendall.mdc.edu/About/Center.asp

C.I.S. DEPARTMENT Home Page:  http://www.cis.kendall.mdc.edu

This course is an intermediate programming course using the Java computer language.  Students are required to code, compile and execute programs.  The course will briefly review fundamental programming concepts, introduce some advanced programming concepts and present object oriented programming and design concepts and principles. This is a VIRTUAL COLLEGE course. Prerequisites: COP 1220. Laboratory fee (3hr. lecture; 2hr lab).

The "official" Virtual College Syllabus is located within the Angel course management system and is only available to students registered in the course. The following information is correct as of the update date listed above.

 Purchase options:       

1. Purchase printed book (includes WileyPLUS) at the MDC bookstore or the link provided by Virtual College ISBN: New for Fall '09: 9780470112090
   or
2. Purchase WileyPLUS only (includes eText)  at the MDC bookstore or the link provided by Virtual College ISBN: 9780470111130
   or
   
3. Purchase WileyPLUS separately ONLINE (includes eText)
   Note:  Online purchase must be made at an URL specific for your class – to be provided

 Highly Recommended: Home computer with high speed internet access  

Students will be responsible for all material covered in the modules and all chapters assigned in the textbook. While some course content will be available in ANGEL a significant portion of the course content will be in the assigned readings, both in the text and elsewhere. You are responsible for completing each of the assigned readings and/or tutorials.

Assignments will be due by a specific date and time. Late assignments will lose 10% of their grade and will only be accepted no more than one week past their due date. Each assignment will have specific submission guidelines. All assignments will be submitted via the internet to either the ANGEL or WileyPLUS web sites.

All coding assignments must follow professional coding style guidelines. See the Coding Style Guide.

While I encourage discussion about assignments, ALL CODE MUST BE YOUR OWN unless otherwise specified. Since it is impossible to determine who the author was and who was the plagiarizer, all assignments submitted with duplicate code will receive a failing grade. Do not leave copies of your work on laboratory computers; other students may submit it as their own.

Students must make up a missed exam within one week or zero (0) points will be assigned as the exam grade. Contact instructor during office hours to make the arrangements. Make arrangements in advance as there will be limited opportunities following the test.

Course Timeline (revised 1/02/09)

Printable version (PDF)

"Putting off an easy thing makes it hard.  Putting off a hard thing makes it impossible."
-- George Claude Lorimer

This is a web-based course and all files will be available to download from ANGEL or WileyPLUS or other web sites.

• Sun Java Technology: http://java.sun.com/
• ANGEL: https://mycourses.mdc.edu/
• WileyPLUS: http://www.wileyplus.com/
• BlueJ IDE: http://www.bluej.org/
• The Java Tutorial: http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/index.html
• comp.lang.java FAQ: http://www.ibiblio.org/javafaq/javafaq.html
• developerWorks : Java technology: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/java/ 

• Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates, Head First Java (2nd Edition) , O'Reilly. A highly regarded alternative textbook. Good alternative explanations and illustrations; a limited preview is available at books.google.com.
• Peter van der Linden. Just Java™ 2 (6th Edition). Prentice Hall. Good reference/alternative textbook.

Every working programmer should read these

• Effective Java Joshua Bloch "shares 57 "nuggets"--rules and code examples showing what works, what doesn't, and how to use the language and its libraries to best effect." I still review this from time to time -- this is the ideal follow-up to a Java course.
• Code Complete This is a book that every professional programmer should read. It covers topics that should be in every programming course but often isn't. McConnell's claim "The research and programming experience collected in this handbook will help you to create higher-quality software and to do your work more quickly and with fewer problems." is absolutely true. While the website is informatinve, there is no substitute for actually reading the book. Highly recommended!

Advanced Readings

• Martin Fowler, Kent Beck, John Brant, William Opdyke, Don Roberts. Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code. Addison-Wesley Pub Co. “Refactoring is the process of changing a software system in such a way that it does not alter the external behavior of the code yet improves its internal structure.” (Fowler, et al) It was while reading this book the I really "got" object-oriented programming.
• Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, and John Vlissides. Design Patterns, Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software, Addison-Wesley Professional. Very influential book about designing object oriented systems. A “book of design patterns that describes simple and elegant solutions to specific problems in object-oriented software design.” (Gamma, et al) AKA “The Gang-of-4 book”

Course Competencies: <- click to view competencies

Computers are good at following instructions, but not at reading your mind.
- D. Knuth

The college academic calendar is available at http://www.mdc.edu/academic_calendar/. View this web page to determine the last day to drop with a grade of W and other important information.

After registering, students may change their schedules during the drop / add period. The dates for this period are listed on the Academic Calendar that may be found as a link on the Miami Dade College homepage.

If you decide to drop this course and you desire a full refund, you must do so before the last day to withdraw with a full refund (see College Academic Calendar for date). If you stop logging on to class without officially withdrawing through the Registrar's Office, the instructor may withdraw you for nonattendance. If you continue to log on but do not participate in the class and complete assignments, the instructor may withdraw you for inactivity.

All your log on and course activity are recorded by the ANGEL system. The instructor notifies absent / inactive students of his / her intent to withdraw them via e-mail and / or phone; if the student does not respond in the amount of time allotted, the instructor may withdraw the student. Once a student is withdrawn, course access will be denied.

An Incomplete is given only where extenuating circumstances exist, such as documented medical problems or a death in the family, and is issued solely at the discretion of the instructor. You will be only considered for an incomplete grade if it is beyond the course withdrawal date and you are passing the course at the time of the request.

If the instructor agrees to grant an Incomplete, a written agreement must be completed between the instructor and the student, specifying the coursework to be completed, in what manner, and by when. Failure to fulfill the terms of the contract by the end of the next major term will result in an "F" for the course. A student may not remove an Incomplete by registering in a subsequent term to re-take the course.

For more information on Incomplete grades, please refer to the Student's Rights and Responsibilities Handbook.

Please carefully review the Academic Dishonesty policies in the Student's Rights and Responsibilities Handbook.

The Handbook identifies "cheating on an examination" as one of the actions included under academic dishonesty. In this course, you are expected to complete quizzes and exams independently and without access to the course's online content or your own study notes. Having multiple browser windows open, accessing previous quizzes or course readings, and using your course notes while taking a quiz or exam constitute cheating. All your course activity is recorded by the ANGEL system; activity logs during the times when you are taking quizzes / exams that demonstrate access to other course components constitute evidence of cheating, and may result in a failing grade for the corresponding quiz or exam.

Plagiarism is another action identified as academic dishonesty in the Handbook. Presenting the work or ideas of someone else as one's own constitutes plagiarism, which is why students are always expected to cite their sources.

The college policy on the Student Code of Conduct is located at http://www.mdc.edu/pdf/procedures/4071.pdf.  Please familiarize yourself with it.

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