Alternative 2: How to Design Programs. Matthias Felleisen, Robert Bruce Findler, Matthew Flatt, and Shriram Krishnamurthi. MIT Press, 2001. (available on-line).

Optional: The Seasoned Schemer. Matthias Felleisen and Daniel P. Friedman. MIT Press, 1996. ISBN 0-262-56100-X. (We won't use this book directly, but it would be valuable for students wishing to develop strong functional programming skills.)

Additional lectures notes and materials will also be posted on the website.

We will use the MzScheme variant of Scheme for all coding projects in the course. You must use the MzScheme variant of Scheme. No other Scheme implementation provides the libraries that we will use in this course.

You can use MzScheme with your favorite editor, or you can use the DrScheme programming environment, which sits on top of MzScheme and provides several nice features, such as source correlation of errors and a project manager. Both DrScheme and MzScheme are installed on CCC (/usr/local/plt/bin/mzscheme and /usr/local/plt/bin/drscheme). Alternatively, you can download either package (for free) to your own computer (Unix, PC, Mac all supported, with files portable between them). Note that installing DrScheme also installs MzScheme.

We use pairs because experience shows that people learn through explaining ideas and solutions to others. Both students in each pair should do each assignment, then compare solutions and choose one to turn in for grading. It is very important that you work through each assignment on your own because you will not pass the course if you do not pass the portions of the course that are graded individually! (see the grading policies). Students who rely on their partners to complete the assignments may not understand the material well enough to pass the exams.

There will be seven homework assignments, a small project, and two exams. Assignments will be posted on the assignments page as they become available (roughly one per week). Assignments will be due on Thursdays at 11:59pm. Late assignments will not be accepted.

Course grades will be computed according to the following rules:

• You must complete and earn a passing average on the exams and project in order to pass the course. I will compute this average using the same relative weights as for computing final grades (see next bullet).

• If you have completed and earned a passing average on the exams and project, your final grade will be based on the following weights:

  • Homework Assignments [in Pairs] (35%)
  • Project [Individual] (10%)
  • Midterm (25%)
  • Final (25%)
  • Lab Participation (5%)

Violations of the collaboration policy on any assignment or exam will result in an NR for the course and a referral to the Student Life Office, in accordance with WPI's academic honesty policy. Exceptions to this rule are possible only if you admit your violation to the professor or one of the current TAs before we detect the violation (this gives you a chance to pass the course if, for example, you cheated in desparation the night an assignment was due, then felt guilty about it in the morning). If we detect the violation before you admit to it, no exception to the NR policy will occur. Egregious violations (such as breaking into another student's account to copy a solution) may still earn an NR even if you admit to them. You can safely assume that we will not begin grading an assignment before 9am on the calendar day after the assignment is due.

As examples, each of the following scenarios would constitute cheating (this list is not exhaustive!):

• Two different homework pairs share a solution to a single assignment question.
• Students from different homework pairs sit side-by-side while writing up their solutions and one student copies down what the other student types up.
• You ask a classmate to explain part of the project to you.
• You send the code for a completed homework question to a friend in another homework pair "just so he can look at it to figure out how to do the problem".
• You obtain a solution to a homework problem from on-line or from someone who took the course in a previous semester.

In constrast, the following scenarios would not constitute cheating:

• Students from two different homework pairs discuss a pair-assignment (its goal, what it is asking you to do, what the challenging parts are, or how to approach the problem).
• You ask any member of the course staff (professor, TAs, SAs, tutors, or M*A*S*H leaders) for help in understanding or completing an individual assignment.
• Students from the same homework pair share code to a solution.
• Students from one homework pair show their code to a student from a different pair and ask for help in understanding why their code is wrong. (This would become cheating if the non-pair student provided or dictated code to the original pair).

If you are unsure whether an activity would constitute cheating, ask the course staff.

Special Needs and Disabilities Policy

Students requiring accommodation on exams or assignments due to disabilities must speak with the professor at the start of the term (and at least two weeks before the assignment due date or exam in question) to work out appropriate arrangements.