CPS 104, Fall, 1999, Important Information


General Information

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Name:
Office:
Phone:
Instructor
Dietolf Ramm
D226 LSRC
660-6532
Graduate TA
Satish Govindarajan
D208 LSRC
660-4008
Head UGrad TA
_______________
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Hours:
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Mon 10:10, Thu 10:00
or by appointment.
Mon 1:30, Tue 10:00
or by appointment.
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or by appointment.
Email: ramm@cs.duke.edu gsat@cs.duke.edu _____@acpub.duke.edu>

Course Overview

This course naturally follows CPS 100 or CPS 100E. It will provide the connection between the high level, C++ view of the machine and the computer hardware. In some ways the course will try to take the "magic" out. Everything that happens at the high level should be traceable to low level machine actions.

Texts

Reading

In general you should read the text in order to be prepared to ask and answer questions in class. If you've looked at material before it's discussed in class you'll get much more out of the class discussion. This is especially true once class has been going for a while.

Computing

Sparc Clusters are found in 106 Teer, 139 Hudson Hall, 133 Soc/Psych, 002CC Bio-Sci, and 125 Carr. All programs/projects will be submitted electronically. You are responsible for ensuring that all files are submitted on time.

Collaboration

On programming assignments, you may consult with the TA's and the instructors as many times as you want want but should limit collaboration otherwise to one or two other students. This means you can discuss the programs before writing code, and get help with debugging your program, but you must write your own code. Writing one program and making multiple copies of it is not acceptable! For each assignment and program you are expected to include a list of the people with whom you have consulted (including students, TA's, tutors, professors). Finally, it's not a good idea to to work with the same students all of the time. Get to know several people and the way they work and think!

Quizzes and Tests must be entirely your own work.

Newsgroup

You should regularly read the newsgroup duke.cs.cps104 as it may contain announcements, hints, and information relevant to this class. The Introduction to the Public Unix Clusters at Duke explains how to read newsgroups.

Grading

Homework Assignments 50%
Midterm Exams (2) 30%
Final Exam 20%

Grading is done on an absolute, but adjustable scale. This means that there is no curve in the traditional sense. Anyone earning 90% or more of the total number of points available will receive a grade in the A range; 80% = B, 70% = C, 60% = D. This scale may go down, but it will not go up. However, note that to get an A+, you will have to do something extra or extraordinary. Just routinely doing everything correctly may get you 100%, but still not qualify you for an A+.

The tests and final exam will be closed-book.

Late Programming Assignments

Unless specified otherwise, all programming assignments will be due on at midnight of the date specified on the assignment (note that programming assignments are submitted electronically). Late programming assignments are penalized 10% for each day late. After one week, late assignment may not be accepted for credit.

Getting Help

If you are having problems, please do NOT give up --- talk to the instructors, and/or TAs, the earlier the better (it's hard to do much to recover in the last week or two of classes).