CS 312: Fall 2007

Course:	CS 312
Title:	Principles of Programming Languages
Semester:	Fall 2007; CRN 13613
Hours:	TuTh 2:00 - 3:15 PM
Location:	McGl 020
Prerequisite:	CS 241 -- Data Structures CS 243 -- Discrete Structures
Text:	Allen Tucker and Robert Noonan. Programming Languages -- Principles and Paradigms. 2nd edition. McGraw-Hill. 2006.
Programming Languages:	Python; Java (JML); Haskell; Prolog
Final Exam:	Thur Dec 20: 1:30 - 4:30 PM
Instructor:	Office Hours
Grader:	Derrin Pierret; dpierretcs.wm.edu; MS 108; 1-3484 Office: Wed & Fri 1:30-2:30 PM
Students:	Pictures (local access only)

Administrivia

• Email lists are setup automatically to use your W&M email account.
• If you are not going to read email from your CS account, please set a forward; e.g.:

  echo  userid@wm.edu  > ~/.forward
  

  where userid is your W&M user id.
• If you have a disability that may affect your performance in this course and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact me as soon as possible.

Catalog Description

Objectives

• To learn to read and write formal descriptions of programming language syntax.
• To learn to read and write formal descriptions of programming language semantics.
• To be able to define, describe and give examples of:
  1. Binding.
  2. Type.
  3. Computational and control flow constructs.
  4. Scope.
  5. Parameter passing.
• To learn the key characteristics of programming paradigms and express algorithms in:
  1. Object-oriented languages.
  2. Functional languages.
  3. Logic programming languages.

Notes

• This is a medium-weight programming course.
• Students may work on homeworks and projects either alone or in pairs. Students who chose to work in pairs must follow the rules for pair programming.
• The language du jour is Python.

Online Resources

• Online Python text.
• The Python web site.
• Programming Tutorials
• The Google directory page on Programming Languages
• Wikipedia -- a free encyclopedia.