FIT9013 Computer programming 2 - Semester 2, 2010

Gippsland

Unless you have personal enquiries (see below) all communication related to the content of the unit must be via the online Discussion Forums. If you do send the lecturer an email that relates to the content of the unit it might not be answered, or you may be directed to the forum.

Personal enquiries include seeking advice regarding assignment extensions (where warranted by circumstances recognised for special consideration requests), or the need to discuss your personal progress. You are certainly not asked to put anything of a personal nature into forum postings. Personal matters can also be dealt with by telephone.

On-campus students, and off-campus students who live or work near a campus, may also visit their lecturer at their office.

Note: The staff may contact you during the semester, by sending an email to your @student.monash.edu address. You are therefore expected to either check that email regularly (at least twice a week), or have it redirect mail to an address which you are going to check regularly. Also, any email purporting to be from a student which does not come from your Monash email address are allowed to be ignored by the staff member, as sending replies to any other addresses could be a violation of the Privacy provisions of legislation.

Prerequisites

Prohibitions

Teaching approach

The curriculum is defined by what is covered in the Study Guide modules for each week. All students are expected to work through the study guide modules in preparation for that week's classes. As Off-Campus students will not attend class, it is highly important that they complete all the reading and exercises as specified in the Study Guide and available on the Moodle site.

On campus students will have two classes per week: a lecture/workshop session and a practical lab session. The purpose of the first is to discuss the concepts of that week's curriculum, the purpose of the second is to enable you to apply the concepts by working on problems on a computer. Off-Campus students should complete the exercises at home or work, and if any questions arise about any matter, then you should post queries to the discussion forum.

Assignments are designed to be attempted after you have completed all required readings and pracitcal exercises. They are also likely to be another source of learning, although their primary purpose is for staff to assess how well you have progressed in meeting the learning objectives of the unit.

Discussion forums are provided as a place where you may ask questions about the content of the unit. You should also use these to clarify the work required in your assignments. They are checked at least twice per week, and sometimes even more often than that.

Students should spend approximately 8 hours per week outside of class for personal study every week, including time programming on a computer and reading the discussion forums.

Timetable information

For information on timetabling for on-campus classes please refer to MUTTS, http://mutts.monash.edu.au/MUTTS/

Tutorial allocation

On-campus students should register for tutorials/laboratories using the Allocate+ system: http://allocate.its.monash.edu.au/

Off-Campus Learning or flexible delivery

Off-campus students should refer to the study guide modules as their primary source of direction for studying in this unit. The study guide modules tell you what readings from the textbook to read and convey other thoughts of the teaching staff.

All off-campus students are expected to keep up to the schedule as outlined in this document, and attempt the weekly ungraded practical tasks. You can share/discuss your attempts online, and if you have queries about how to attempt them, post these to the discussion forum.

Unit Schedule

*Please note that these dates may only apply to Australian campuses of Monash University. Off-shore students need to check the dates with their unit leader.

Prescribed text(s) and readings

Prescribed Text:

• Reges, S. "Building Java Programs : A Back to Basics Approach", 2nd ed. (2010) Addison Wesley (ISBN 978-0-13-609181-3)

Text books are available from the Monash University Book Shops. Availability from other suppliers cannot be assured. The Bookshop orders texts in specifically for this unit. You are advised to purchase or order your text book early.

Recommended text(s) and readings

The following is a reference to more-advanced aspects of Java:

Arnold, K., et al (2006), "The Java Programming Language", 4th edition, Sun Microsystems/Addison-Wesley. (ISBN: 0-321-34980-6)

Required software and/or hardware

Prescribed Software

You must have the Java 2 SE SDK version 1.5.0 (also called Java 5) or later installed on your computer. It can also be downloaded from the internet by going to http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp

Other Useful Software

JCreator LE

This is an IDE which provides many useful compilation features. It only works on Windows operating systems. The smallish download can be obtained from http://www.jcreator.com/download.htm. Be sure to select the LE version 4.5 file, which is free (unless you want to pay for the more comprehensive version).

Eclipse

An alternative to JCreator, often preferred by experienced programmers, is Eclipse, available fromhttp://www.eclipse.org/

TortoiseSVN

This open-source software can be downloaded from: http://tortoisesvn.sourceforge.net/downloads. (Most users should download the very first file, the 32-bit msi file). There are also language-packs for languages other than english. This tool is explained in week 12 of the semester.

Equipment and consumables required or provided

On-campus students, and those studying at supported study locations may use the facilities available in the computing labs. Information about computer use for students is available from the ITS Student Resource Guide in the Monash University Handbook. You will need to allocate up to 10 hours per week for use of a computer, including time for discussion forums.

Study resources

Study resources we will provide for your study are:

• This Unit Information Guide outlining the administrative information for the unit
• Weekly Study Guide modules
• Weekly lecture slides and sample programs used during lectures
• Weekly practical tasks and solutions
• Assignment specifications and solutions
• Additional electronic resources
• Discussion forums
• The FIT9013 web site on Moodle, where most of the above resources can be located

Overview

Faculty assessment policy

To pass a unit which includes an examination as part of the assessment a student must obtain:

• 40% or more in the unit's examination, and
• 40% or more in the unit's total non-examination assessment, and
• an overall unit mark of 50% or more.

If a student does not achieve 40% or more in the unit examination or the unit non-examination total assessment, and the total mark for the unit is greater than 50% then a mark of no greater than 49-N will be recorded for the unit.

Assignments have a due date and a cutoff date. The due date is that time by which you are required to submit the assignment to receive the grade that it deserves. Submitting after the due date but before the cutoff date means that there will be a penalty applied to your result (typically, a drop in grade by one level). Submissions received after the cutoff date will receive 0 marks. The cutoff date is usually 1 week later than the due date. If you are given an extension, the extension applies to both the due date and the cutoff date.

Assignment tasks

Assignment coversheets

Assignment coversheets are available via "Student Forms" on the Faculty website: http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/forms/
You MUST submit a completed coversheet with all assignments, ensuring that the plagiarism declaration section is signed.

Assignment submission and return procedures, and assessment criteria will be specified with each assignment.

Assignment submission and preparation requirements will be detailed in each assignment specification. Submission must be made by the due date otherwise penalties will be enforced. You must negotiate any extensions formally with your campus unit leader via the in-semester special consideration process: http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/equity/special-consideration.html.

• Assignment task 1

  Title:

  Assignment 1

  Description:

  You will be required to develop a multiple-class program which involves the use of concepts from modules 1 to 4.

  Weighting:

  20%

  Criteria for assessment:

  A detailed guide to the meaning of marking criteria will be provided with the assignment specification. As a guide, these are the criteria which are likely to be used:

  1. Ability to encapsulate data within an object
  2. Ability to provide relevant accessors and mutators in custom-made classes
  3. Ability to encapsulate state information within an object
  4. Ability to write methods which exhibit different behaviours based on the object's state
  5. Ability to implement association relationships
  6. Ability to instantiate and use object instances appropriately
  7. Ability to the ArrayList class
  8. Ability to use Generalisation and Specialisation
  9. Ability to write code which makes deliberate use of polymorphism
  10. Ability to use console-based input and output mechanisms (Scanner, System.out)
  11. Ability to write validation code
  12. Ability to separate User-Interaction code/methods from Data Manipulation code/methods
  13. Appropriateness of design of methods to perform single actions (Cohesiveness of Methods)
  14. Ability to choose the most appropriate scope for identifiers
  15. Ability to choose the most appropriate visibility for identifiers
  16. Ability to include suitable internal documentation techniques
  17. Ability to realize a programming solution to a real business problem

  Due date:

  29/8 at 11:59pm

  Remarks:

  This task is different from the one given to students enrolled in FIT2034

• Assignment task 2

  Title:

  Assignment 2

  Description:

  You will be required to develop a multiple-class program which involves the use of concepts from modules 1 to 10.

  Weighting:

  20%

  Criteria for assessment:

  A detailed guide to the meaning of marking criteria will be provided with the assignment specification. As a guide, these are the criteria which are likely to be used:

  1. Ability to encapsulate data/state information, and behaviours within an object
  2. Ability to perform File Input and Output
  3. Ability to use collection classes from the Java API, including Map.
  4. Ability to write comparators to sort data according to criteria.
  5. Ability to utilise polymorphism and abstraction techniques
  6. Ability to write a graphical, event-driven program to coordinate the interactions of objects
  7. Ability to anticipate possible exceptions that could arise and write code to handle these
  8. Ability to invent and generate programmer-defined exceptions
  9. Ability to write programs consisting of multiple objects which interact with each other to achieve the functionality of the system

  Due date:

  10/10 at 11:59pm

  Remarks:

  This task is different from the one given to students enrolled in FIT2034

Examination

• Weighting:

  60%

  Length:

  3 hours

  Type (open/closed book):

  Closed book

  Electronic devices allowed in the exam:

  None

Due dates and extensions

Please make every effort to submit work by the due dates. It is your responsibility to structure your study program around assignment deadlines, family, work and other commitments. Factors such as normal work pressures, vacations, etc. are not regarded as appropriate reasons for granting extensions. Students are advised to NOT assume that granting of an extension is a matter of course.

Students requesting an extension for any assessment during semester (eg. Assignments, tests or presentations) are required to submit a Special Consideration application form (in-semester exam/assessment task), along with original copies of supporting documentation, directly to their lecturer within two working days before the assessment submission deadline. Lecturers will provide specific outcomes directly to students via email within 2 working days. The lecturer reserves the right to refuse late applications.

A copy of the email or other written communication of an extension must be attached to the assignment submission.

Refer to the Faculty Special consideration webpage or further details and to access application forms: http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/equity/special-consideration.html

Late assignment

Assignments received after the due date will be subject to a penalty of a drop in grade from what it is worth. Assignments received later than one week after the due date will not normally be accepted.

This policy is strict because comments or guidance will be given on assignments as they are returned, and sample solutions may also be published and distributed, after assignment marking or with the returned assignment.

Return dates

Students can expect assignments to be returned within two weeks of the submission date or after receipt, whichever is later.

Feedback

Types of feedback you can expect to receive in this unit are:

Informal feedback on progress in labs/tutes

Graded assignments with comments

Solutions to tutes, labs and assignments

Staff responses to postings made in the discussion-forums