IS 500-201                  Computer Systems and Structured Programming I                  2001, Spring

 

 

Instructors:          

This course is being team taught by Drs John Biros and Jamil Chaudri

 

Dr Jamil M Chaudri                                                                  Dr John Biros

                Office:                    CH 311                                                                   Office:                    GC 331

                ‘phone:                  (304) 696-2694                                                 ‘phone:                  (304) 746-1941

                e-mail:                     chaudri@marshall.edu                                      e-mail:                     biros@marshall.edu

                Office hours:                                                                                                     Office hours:    

regular:  Mo: 13.00-14.00 hrs                                                                Mo – Th  10.00-12.00 hrs

Tu: 12.15-14.00 hrs

We: 13.00-14.00 hrs & 17.00-18.30 hrs

                                                Th  12.15-14.00 hrs 

                                Appointments: Mo-Fr 09.00-11.00 hrs

                                               

 

Course Venue:      Common wisdom has it that <Visual/Language> classes can be better taught in the Lab mode.  Thus, class will be held in University Lab in Corbly Hall, Room 436

 

Class Sessions:                The advertised times are: Wednesdays 18.30-21.00 hrs. 

                               

Prescribed Text:                Bradley, Julia Case and Anita C Millspaugh

                                Programming in Visual Basic 6

                                ISBN 0-07-231190-8

 

                                Although there is only one prescribed text, the students are encouraged to buy subsidiary books

of their choice.  Since VB Programming is a high interest area, lots of ‘popular’ texts are

available.

 

Prerequisites:                 1.                Experience with Windows Applications

                                2.                College Algebra

 

Course Description:

Visual Basic is an object-oriented, event-driven programming language.  For this class, use will be made of the Windows 2000 operating system .  The emphasis in VB is on devising the user interface and then attaching code to various events associated with objects.  This is an introductory level, but all the same graduate level, course.  The follow up course is the Second Course in Visual Basic (IS 510).  Effort will be made to emphasis the Software Engineering approach: design and implement of structured programs.  Problem-solving model will be followed.

 

Evaluation Scheme:

                                Attendance ………..…………………………… 05 %

                                Assignments (continuous monitoring)…………. 30 %

                                Project 1 …..……………………………..…….. 20 %

                                Project 2 ……...………………..………………..20 %

                                Project 3 ……………………………………….. 20%

                                Contribution to class …………………………....05 %

 

Grading Scale:

                                         > 81 % …  A

                                71 % - 80 %  …. B

                                61 % - 70 % ….. C

                                55 % - 60 % ….. D

                                         < 55 %  …. F

 

Class Attendance:

Although roll will only be taken occasionally, class participants should note that class attendance has been allocated 5 % of the final grade. As a rule assignments will not be accepted after the Due Date.  Even if they are accepted only partial credit will be given.  Students are responsible for any material covered during their absence from class.

 

Tentative Study Schedule:

 

Jan 10                                                     General Introduction to class &

Introduction to Visual Basic  (Chapter 1)

Assignment 1

 

Jan 17                                                     More Controls (Chapter 2)

                                                                Assignment 2

 

Jan 24                                                     Variables, Constants and Calculations (Chapter 3)

                                                                Assignment 3

 

Jan 31                                                     Decisions & Conditions (Chapter 4)

                                                                Assignment 4

 

Feb 07                                                    Menus, Sub Procedures and Sub Functions (Chapter 5)

                                                                Project 1

 

Feb 14                                                    Multiple Forms (Chapter 6)

                                                                Assignment 5 (on Sub Procedures & Sub Functions)

 

Feb 21                                                    Lists, Loops and Printing (Chapter 7)

                                                                Assignment 6

 

Feb 28                                                    Arrays (Chapter 8)

                                                                Assignment 7

 

Mar 07                                                    OOP – Creating Object Oriented Programs (Chapter 9)

                                                                Assignment 8

 

Mar 14                                                    Data Files (Chapter 10)

                                                                Project 2

 

Mar 28                                                    Accessing Database Files (Chapter 11)

                                                                Assignment 9

 

Apr 04                                                    Advanced Data Handling – Grids, Validation, Selection, and SQL

(Chapter 12)

                                                                Assignment 10

 

Apr 11                                                    Drag and Drop (Chapter 13)

                                                                Assignment 11

 

Apr 18                                                    Graphics (Chapter 14)

                                                                Project 3

                                                               

Supplies:

Students are requested to get a number of (say a box of 10) 1.4 Mb diskettes.  And adhesive labels.  I do have a special preference as to how these labels should be afixed and how the owner’s name should be written onto them.  I will explain that in class. 

 

Attention:

It is indeed well established that to learn a natural language one has to read a lot and write a lot.  It is the same for artificial languages.   It could further be said that reading and understanding programs written by others is much easier than the writing of programs.   As the course is about developing applications (writing programs), I suggest that students should avail every opportunity to write code.    Past experience indicates that students doing well in class will probably be spending, at least, 2 to 3 hours on their own for every hour the class meets.  

 

As grading of assignments collected on disks can take from 15 to 30 minutes for each disk, my intention is to mark only a few of the assignments I give.  On the other hand, students who do not attempt all the assignments, will probably not do well on the assignments I do grade.  For assignments not graded, I will provide solutions in class. 

 

The leaning of programming could be described as the learning of the functionalities of the particular language.  Of course, some functionalities are more simple than others.  Students should understand that if they use a more simple (or primitive) functionality where the use of a more advanced one would have been better, they will get penalised.  For example, the repeated (nested) use of  <If …. Then …. Else statement>, where the use of the <Select statement> would be more appropriate, will get penalised.

 

Tentative Assignment Dates:

 

Testing student knowledge/competence in Programming classes is pretty difficult.  The difficulty of the problem lies in setting a ‘meaningful test’.   Most meaningful tests would involve projects that require more time than is available in a class period.  In other words, take-home tests.  The problem with take-home tests is the impossibility of ascertaining whether or not the individual did the work on their own.  On account of such underlying problems, it has not yet been determined whether the tests will be Projects of the <take-home> type or less demanding exercises that could be done 3 academic hour periods.

 

Project 1:  (Set on Feb 07 – Collected) on Feb 14

 

Project 2:  (Set on Mar 14 – Collected) on Mar 28

 

Project 3:  (Set on Apr 18 – Collected) on Apr 25