CSc 630

Advanced Topics in Software Systems: The "Science" of Computer Science
Spring 2007

The course is a combination of lectures from the instructor, assigned readings, presentations by students, short projects and papers, and an extensive semester-long project, which may involve significant programming.

The list of reading assignments, which is comprised of excerpts from four books as well as seventeen conference and journal articles, may be found here.

In addition to regular lectures, papers from the literature will be assigned for reading. Grades for this course will be influenced by interaction in the classroom, and by your preparation and familiarity with the reading material.

All presentations shall be in PowerPoint, using a provided template.

weight	item
10%	Participation in class and discussions
25%	In-class presentationsw
15%	Daily assignments
50%	Semester research project

All students, whether you have an account or not, must run the APPLY program each semester and enter the courses in which they are enrolled.

Directions for new accounts: If you do not already have a computing account in the Department's Instructional Laboratory, you can obtain an account on the instructional processor (lectura). To do so, repair during the first week of class to the Department on the 7th Floor of Gould-Simpson Bldg. Follow the lobby signs to the machines in Room 737 that run the account initialization program. Select a machine that is logged in, or log on under the account name apply, password apply. Respond to the prompts for your Student ID (SID), course number, etc., to initiate the account registration process. Complete, read and sign a copy of the Appropriate Use Guidelines document, available near the machines, and turn it in to the Reception Desk in Room 721. Your registration information will be verified and an account will be created for you, along with a keycard allowing lab access. After 3 working days, you can pick up your keycard at the Reception Desk (Room 721) by presenting a valid picture ID.

You need to know your Computer Science ID (CSID). To find it, log on to lectura under the name csid with password CSID. At the prompt, enter your Student ID (SID). Hyphens are optional. Write down your CSID for future reference. It will be used in any public or web grade postings.

All holidays or special events observed by organized religions will be honored for those students who show affiliation with that particular religion. Absences pre-approved by the UA Dean of Students (or Dean's designee) will be honored.

Attendance is recorded, as class participation is part of your grade. Homework is due at the start of class (i.e., by 2:05pm!!) on the due date; late homework is not accepted unless a valid excuse is given to the instructor by the day prior to the due date. Students are responsible for all material discussed in class whether in attendance or not.

Requests for regrading will be accepted only for seven days after the graded assignment has been handled out. There is a significant reading component to this course. We will cover several dozen papers. Students are expected to read and understand this material.

Assignments in this course require individual attention and effort to be of any benefit. Except for the group project, all work is expected to be that of each student alone, without consultation with others, without reference to borrowed solutions, and not the product of team efforts or collaboration with other authors. Plagiarism or the incorporation of another author's words or ideas constitutes theft of intellectual property; it will result in a grade of zero. Copying work from another student, whether currently or formerly enrolled in this course, copying from a book or paper, or copying text from a web page all constitute plagiarism. These and other provisions are governed by the Code of Academic Integrity which applies to all those in this course.

It is a violation of the Code to use another person's solutions as your own, whether those solutions are taken from a student in this course, or taken from solutions obtained from an earlier offering of this course, or from a student who took this course earlier. Students with disabilities, who may require academic adjustments or reasonable accommodations in order to participate fully in course activities or to meet course requirements, must first register with the Disability Resource Center, 1540 E 2nd St, 621-3268, email drc@w3.arizona.edu, URL or with the S.A.L.T. Center. S.A.L.T. and DRC staff will qualify students for services, and provide a letter to the instructor listing accommodations to be made. This letter should be submitted by the student directly to the instructor as soon as possible during the first week of classes. The student should meet as soon as possible with the instructor by appointment or during office hours to discuss accommodations and how course requirements and activities may impact your ability to fully participate.

Assignments in this course require individual attention and effort to be of any benefit; therefore all work is expected to be that of each student alone, without consultation with others. Verbal and informal exchange of ideas is permitted, indeed encouraged. Students are expected to follow all portions of the Code of Academic Integrity. See the Department of Computer Science Course Policy on Collaboration for more information.

University policies against threatening behavior by students will be followed.

Aspects other than the grading and absence policies are subject to change with advance notice, as the instructor deems appropriate.

• cs.course630 is the CSc 630 newsgroup. Regularly check this newsgroup either through the above link or via some other news reader (pine, trn, etc.). The newsgroup is the place for homework updates, text errata, changes of due date, and advice from the instructor. Answers to student questions of public interest will be posted here.
  
  
• http://www.cs.arizona.edu/classpage/cs630/ is the URL for this document, which is the official course syllabus.

• Jamie Samdal
• Lei Ding and Jie Yao
• Linh Tran and Rui Zhang
• Mark Siner
• Natasha Gaitonde and Parag Sarfare
• Nithya Chandrasekaran and Kyri Pavlou
• Robert Gensler
• Preeth Chatterjee and Lopomudra Saragni
• Siou Lin

We acknowledge partial support from the National Science Foundation through the Science of Databases project.