CS 884 Advanced Topics in Programming Languages

Course Objectives

Prerequisite

Course Description

The primary focus of this course is  the design and specification of the Object-Oriented language Java. 

Course Load

The course load includes a term-paper and presentation worth 20 points, programming assignments worth 30 points, a midterm worth 20 points, and a final worth 30 points.  Exams are typically open book.

Texts

References

Relevant Websites

Grading

The letter grades will be assigned using the following scale: A[90-100], B[80-90), C[70-80), D[60-70), and F[0-60). However, I reserve the right to adjust the scale somewhat to utilize the gaps in the distribution. 

Attendance Policy

All registered students are expected to attend all lectures. In case a student is absent from a lecture due to unavoidable circumstances, the student is still responsible for the material covered in the class, as it is typically available from the course web-page well in advance. Furthermore, the student is expected to find out about in-class announcements from their colleagues/instructor.

Class Schedule and Syllabus

Topic 
Class 0  The Aesthetics of Simplicity  
Class 1  Motivation for Formal Semantics 
Class 2  Java: Design Goals 
   Java Constructs   ;   Examples  ;  Java 5
Class 3  Values, Variables, and Types 
Class 4  (cont'd)  
Class 5  Names : Scope, Access; Packages 
Class 6 (cont'd)  
Class 7   Classes : Inheritance, Polymorphism 
Class 8   (cont'd)  
Class 9  

Midterm

Class 10  Interfaces; Exceptions
Class 11  Expressions; Statements; Finalization 
Class 12  Concurrent Programming with Threads
Class 13  (cont'd)
Class 14   Java Virtual Machine  
     (Oak IR (pdf))   (GC)
Class 15  Inner classes and Reflection ; Examples  
Class 16  Presentation 
Class 17  Presentation 
Class 18  Presentation 
Class 19  Presentation 
Class 20  Presentation 

Final  

Assignments ( Spring 2008 )

Sample Exams ( Old )

T. K. Prasad   (  30 Apr 2008   )