Stanford University
Computer Science 249a: Fall 2009

Object-Oriented Programming from a Modeling and Simulation Perspective

Overiew | Details | Materials | Assignments | Exams | Project | Policies

Announcements

Overview

This course examines object-oriented programming techniques and issues, emphasizing programming as modeling and simulation. We will explain the role of programming conventions, style and restrictions in surviving object-oriented programming for class libraries and programming-in-the-large.

The objectives of the course are to:

• inform students of the issues involved in developing large-scale object-oriented software systems;
• teach how programming style conventions and language restrictions can ease object-oriented software development; and
• provide students with insight into class library interface design.

Students will design and implement a simulation in C++ in several stages, applying the techniques covered in the course. Students may also elect to do a project. There will be an in-class midterm and a final exam.

For more background information, see the email sent out to advertise the course last year.

Details

Lectures:

Tuesday and Thursday, 11:00AM-12:15 PM, Skillings 193 and broadcast on SCPD)

Review sessions:

Friday 3:15-4:05 PM Gates B01 (when scheduled, also available on SCPD)

Instructor:

Prof. David Cheriton <cheriton@cs.stanford.edu>
Gates 439
(650) 723-1131
Office hours: Tuesday and Thursday: 1:30-2:30 in Gates 439 and by appointment.

Teaching assistants:

Michael Chan <mcfchan@stanford.edu>
Gates B24B
(650) 736-1816
Office hours: Monday 4:00-6:00, Thursday 12:15-2:15 in Gates B24B

David Pursell <dpursell@stanford.edu>
Gates B24B
(650) 736-1816
Office hours: Tuesday 12:15-2:15, Wednesday 12:00-2:00 in Gates B24B

Prerequisites:

Knowledge of C and basic programming methodology as developed in CS 106B or 106X, 107, basic knowledge of C++. CS 193D is recommended.

Units:

3 (with optional project: 4 or 5)

Instructor/TA email address:

Send email to cs249a-aut0910-staff@lists.stanford.edu. Whoever sees your email first will respond to it.

Course email list:

Only urgent announcements will be sent to the course email list. You will be subscribed to this list automatically after you add the course to your study list in Axess.

Newsgroup:

You are welcome and encouraged to use the su.class.cs249a newsgroup to ask questions or discuss issues with the entire class. Questions posted here will be responded to within 24 hours.
The Stanford news server is accessible only from within the stanford.edu domain. To access the newsgroup from outside, please SSH to one of the pod workstations and use tin, trn or pine to subscribe to the newsgroup. Further instructions can be found at: Connecting to Stanford Usenet Newsgroups.

Grading:

40% assignments, 15% midterm, 45% final exam.

Materials

Required Readings

• Chapter 1: Software Husbandry and Software Development pdf ps
• Chapter 2: Attribute-based Interface Design pdf ps
• Chapter 3: Events, Notifications, and Callbacks pdf ps
• Chapter 4: Objects: Entities, Values, and Descriptions pdf ps
• Chapter 5 and 6: Reference and Resource Management with Smart Pointers and Garbage Collection pdf ps
• Chapter 7: Exceptions and Exception Handling pdf ps
• Chapter 8: Naming, Introspection, and Modules pdf ps
• Chapter 9: Inter-Object Relationships: Components to Dynamic Discovery pdf ps

Review Slides

• Review #1: Course Info and Assignment 1
• Review #2: Assignment 2
• Midterm Review
• Review #3: Assignment 3

Midterm Grading Rubric

Sample Midterms

We won't be posting solutions to the midterms, as all of the needed information can be found in the class readings. If you have a question, you are welcome to email the TAs or come to office hours.

• 2004
• 2005
• 2007

Sample Finals

Optional readings

• Last year's offering of CS249
• Appendix A: Introduction to C++ pdf ps
• Appendix B: C++ Programming Style pdf ps
• Booch, Object-Oriented Analysis and Design With Applications, Addison-Wesley, 1994, ISBN: 0-805-35340-2
• Cargill, C++ Programming Style, Addison-Wesley, 1992, ISBN: 0-201-56365-7
• Eckel, Thinking in C++ html
• Ellis, Annotated C++ Reference Manual, Addison-Wesley, 1990, ISBN: 0-201-51459-1
• Lippman, C++ Primer, Addison-Wesley, 1998, ISBN : 0-201-82470-1
• Meyer, Object-Oriented Software Construction, Prentice Hall, 2000, ISBN: 0-13-629155-4
• Meyers, Effective C++: 50 Specific Ways to Improve, Addison-Wesley, 1997, ISBN: 0-201-92488-9
• Stroustrup, Design and Evolution of C++, Addison-Wesley, 1994, ISBN: 0-201-54330-3

Interesting articles

• They Write the Right Stuff: a look at how software is designed at NASA

Example code

Lecture slides

Assignments

Assignment 1

Due: Monday, October 12, 11:59 PM.
Review Session: Friday, September 25th. 3:15-4:05 in Gates B01. Also broadcast on SCPD.

Assignment 2 (Group) (Individual)

Due: Monday, November 9, 11:59 PM.
Review Session: Friday, October 16th. 3:15-4:05 in Gates B01. Also broadcast on SCPD.

Assignment 3

Due: Monday, November 30, 11:59 PM.
Review Session: Friday, November 13th. 3:15-4:05 in Gates B01. Also broadcast on SCPD.

Collaboration

We expect the programming assignments to be done individually. This may seem odd since the techniques and approaches covered in this course are useful for team projects. However, we want to ensure a uniform experience for all students, i.e. to avoid the usual situation in team projects where one student does the bulk of the work and the others make only a minor contribution.

Of course you are permitted and encouraged to discuss design strategies with one another, but there should be no sharing of code or header files, and all assistance (other than from the TA or instructor) must be cited. See this link for more detailed explanation of what is permitted and what is not.

Working on assignments

You may work on the assignments on any Unix machine with a modern C++ compiler and debugger. But since we will evaluate your assignment on one of the pod machines in the Terman Hall computer cluster, we strongly recommend that you develop and test your code on one of these machines.

You should receive an additional 100 MB of disk quota on your afs drive within two days after registering for the course in Axess. Email us if the extra quota proves insufficient.

Exams

Midterm: Monday, October 26, 7pm-8:15pm (Venue: Bldg. 200 Rooms 303, 305)
Make-up midterm: Wednesday, October 28, 2pm-3:15pm (Venue: Gates 463a)

Final: Monday, December 7, 3:30-6:30pm (Venue: Skilling Auditorium - right below the classroom)

Exams are closed book, closed notes. Remote SITN/SCPD students may take the exams at their company sites; please have your local tutor send us email to make arrangements.

Project

The project option associated with this class has been discontinued, due partially to administrative and scheduling problems. If you wish to pursue a project using the techniques discussed in CS249a, you are encouraged to take CS249b in the winter, also taught by Prof. Cheriton, which will have a project component.

Policies

Late assignment policy

Assignments submitted past the due date will be accepted and will be penalized 10% for each 24-hour period (including weekends).

Since lectures are made available via SCPD on the same day they are taped, SITN/SCPD students are expected to follow the same schedule as the rest of the class. This means that the above late assignment policy applies to SITN/SCPD students as well; exceptions are not granted due to students' work obligations.

Honor code

It should go without saying, but because computer science project courses have a long and ugly history of honor code violations, we will say it anyway:

The Stanford honor code applies to all work done in this course. All work you submit must be your own. Suspected violations of the honor code will be investigated and referred to the Office of Judicial Affairs.

Honor code violations are a serious matter, and being found guilty of one can ruin your academic career. Review the honor code. If you ever find yourself uncertain about how it applies to your situation, ask. Asking what you might think is a silly question is better than risking your career.

(This section is based on a handout for CS 244A.)

Incomplete policy

No incompletes will be given in this course, so make sure you determine before the drop deadline whether you can complete it satisfactorily.