CSE307 (Spring `12)
Principles of Programming Languages

[ General Information | Lectures | Handouts | Other Resources | Requirements ]
[ Announcements ]

General Information

Course description: This course is an introduction to programming language design and implementation. From the design point of view, we will study language features as tools for expressing what and how to compute. From the implementation point of view, we will discuss interpreters for understanding language features and discuss compilers as tools for mapping language features onto computer hardware. The course will touch on a variety of languages in different programming paradigms. Rather than dwell on the features of any particular language, we will focus instead on understanding the commonalities and differences among languages, the reasons for them, and the implications of them. Students will do programming assignments, mostly in Python, to better understand language features and language processing. | Prerequisites: CSE219 and CSE220. | Credits: 3. | Official description.

Instructor: Annie Liu | Email: liu@cs.stonybrook.edu | Office: Computer Science 1433 | Phone: 631-632-8463. | Office hours: Mon 10:45-11:15AM and 1:30-2PM, Tue and Thu 9:30-10AM and 11-11:15AM, email for an appointment, or stop by any time I'm around.

TA: Rik Bose | Email: rbose@cs.stonybrook.edu | Office hours: Mon 12-12:30PM, Wed 1-2PM, CS 2110.

Lectures: Tue Thu 11:20AM-12:40PM, in Computer Science 2120.

Textbook: Programming Language Pragmatics by Michael Scott. Third Edition, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2009. This is an excellent recent textbook that covers both language design and implementation.

Grading: Assignments, quizzes, a midterm, and a final, worth 40%, 10%, 20%, and 30%, respectively, of the grade. Extra credit work will be given as appropriate. Partial credit will be given for partial work. Reduced credit for late submissions, 25% off per day.

Course homepage: http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~liu/cse307/

Lectures

Week 1 (01/24,01/26): Introduction. Ch.1. Assignment 1

Week 2 (01/31,02/02): Python. Python Tutorial.

Week 3 (02/07,02/09): Syntax. Ch.2. Assignment 2

Week 4 (02/14,02/16): Semantics. Ch.4,14.3.1.

Week 5 (02/21,02/23): Names. Ch.3. Assignment 3

Week 6 (02/28,03/01): Python, extra help, and enrichment.

Midterm (03/06,03/08): Review and in-class exam. You can prepare one hand-written personal "crib sheet".

Week 8 (03/13,03/15): Control flow. Ch.6. Assignment 4

Week 9 (03/20,03/22): Data types. Ch.7.

Week 10 (03/27,03/29): Control abstraction and functional languages. Ch.8,10. Assignment 5

Week 11 (04/10,04/12): Data abstraction and object-oriented languages. Ch.9.

Week 12 (04/17,04/19): Logic languages. Ch.11. Assignment 6

Week 13 (04/24,04/26): Scripting languages. Ch.13.

Week 14 (05/01,05/03): Concurrency. Ch.12. Final review. Assignment 7 (Bonus)

Final exam (05/08): 2:15-4:45PM, in CS 2120. You can prepare two hand-written personal "crib sheets".

Handouts

Questionnaire

Assignment 1: Processing data --- Reading and analyzing tables

Assignment 2: Syntax analysis --- Parsing programs

Assignment 3: Semantic analysis --- Analyzing names

Assignment 4: Control abstraction --- Evaluating programs

Assignment 5: Object abstraction --- Organizing everything

Assignment 6: Logic programming --- Adding power

Assignment 7: Building interface --- Facilitating use (Bonus)

Quiz 1

Quiz 2

...

Preparation for Midterm Exam

Midterm Exam

Solutions to Midterm Exam

Midterm Questionnaire

Preparation for Final Exam

Final Exam

Solutions to Final Exam

Other Resources

Interactive Site of This Course, for students in the class

Computer Science Department Windows Computing Facilities

Requirements

Learn all information on the course homepage. Check the homepage periodically for announcements and other dynamic contents.

Attend all lectures and take good notes. This is the most efficient way to learn the course materials, because we will both distill and elaborate textbook materials and discuss other important materials. We will start promptly on time, with quick reviews every time, followed by exercises or quizzes. We will have every student participate in solving problems and presenting solutions in class.

Do all course work. The readings are to help you preview and review the materials discussed in the lectures. The assignments are to provide concrete experiences with the basic concepts and methods covered in the lectures. The quizzes are to help check that you are keeping up with the lectures and the assignments. The exams will be comprehensive.

Your handins, whether in electronic form or on paper, should include the following information at the top: your name, student id, course number, assignment number, and due date, and should be submitted in a neat and organized fashion.

Your programming assignments should always be submitted with a README.txt file explaining where things are, what you did and found for the assignment (that is not described in the assignment handout), and how to run and test your code. This file is worth a non-trivial portion of the grade.

Your approach to solving problems is as important as your final solutions; you need to show how you arrived at your solutions and include appropriate explanations. Always include good explanations in your README file and good comments in your code.

If you feel your grade was assigned incorrectly, please bring it up no later than two weeks after the assignment was returned to the class.

Ask questions and get help. Ask questions in class, visit the TA during office hours, and visit the professor with any remaining questions. Talk with your classmates, and share ideas (but nothing written or electronic).

Academic Integrity: All assignments, quizzes, and exams must be done individually, unless specified otherwise; you may discuss ideas with others and look up references, but you must write up your solutions independently and credit all sources that you used. Any plagiarism or other forms of cheating discovered will have a permanent consequence in your university record.

Each student must pursue his or her academic goals honestly and be personally accountable for all submitted work. Representing another person's work as your own is always wrong. Faculty are required to report any suspected instances of academic dishonesty to the Academic Judiciary. For more comprehensive information on academic integrity, including categories of academic dishonesty, please refer to the academic judiciary website at http://www.stonybrook.edu/uaa/academicjudiciary/

Americans with Disabilities Act: If you have a physical, psychological, medical or learning disability that may impact your course work, please contact Disability Support Services, ECC(Educational Communications Center) Building, Room 128, (631)632-6748. They will determine with you what accommodations, if any, are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation is confidential.

Critical Incident Management: Stony Brook University expects students to respect the rights, privileges, and property of other people. Faculty are required to report to the Office of University Community Standards any disruptive behavior that interrupts their ability to teach, compromises the safety of the learning environment, or inhibits students' ability to learn. Further information about most academic matters can be found in the Undergraduate Bulletin, the Undergraduate Class Schedule, and the Faculty-Employee Handbook.