Course Information and Policies

Last updated on August 31, 1995

Instructor

Teaching Assistant

Prerequisites

You are also expected to be a competent programmer. The programs you will be writing in this course are non-trivial. If you don't yet have a grasp of good software engineering techniques, now would not be the time to develop it.

Finally, you are expected to have a solid foundation in mathematics. At a minimum, you should have had Calculus (differential, integral, and hopefully multidimensional) and Linear Algebra. Some fundamental probability and statistics would also be helpful. If you've had courses in these areas but feel that you're rusty in them, start brushing up!

Text

Lectures

In general, you will be expected to have read the appropriate sections of the text (or other readings) before class. In-class lectures will hit the high points, but will not be able to cover every detail that can be gained from thorough reading. In particular, there are mathematical details that will only be understood by paying the price of many hours spent trying to work through them. While I will provide general conceptual derivations of them, you will often be expected to work out the details on your own.

Class Communications

The newsgroup byu.class.cs550 has been set up for our use, and all members of the class are expected to read it on a regular basis. Information posted to this newsgroup carries the same importance and validity as in-class announcements. (Note: this group is accessible through on-campus servers, but will probably not be available off-campus. That's not our restriction--it's the way news works. If you wish to read news from off-campus, your best bet is to dial in by modem to campus or to telnet from an Internet site.)

And of course, there are these web pages. These pages are under construction, so expect them to be updated as the semester goes along. You are welcome to browse through upcoming lectures and assignments as I construct them, but don't rely on anything until it is covered in or announced in class.

Homework

Programming Assignments

For each assignment, you are to turn in a brief write-up. This should include a description of the problem, a description of your approach, and your evaluation of the results. Details of the deliverables will be given for each assignment respectively.

In some cases, for both the programming assignments and the homework assignments, you will be told to use specific tools. In these cases, you are required to use the lab facilities provided.

In other cases, however, you are welcome to implement your program on any platform you wish under the following conditions:

• It is your responsibility to find and reserve a machine in the Talmage Building on which you can pass off the assignment.
• You recognize that your environment may not include certain programs and libraries provided with the course. For example, if you need an FFT implementation, you will have to get one yourself for your machine.
• You recognize that neither the instructor nor the TA will be of much help in wrestling with your code and environment. If you have questions regarding a general problem or algorithm, feel free to ask for help, but you're on your own when it comes to the platform or coding environment you're chosen.

Semester Project

Late Policy

Late programming projects will be penalized 10% per day (weekends and university holidays excepted) up to a maximum of 50%. Any assignment turned in more than a week late will be worth 50%, so long as it is turned in before the end of the semester. No extra credit (when available) will be given for late projects.

I understand that we all sometimes have other things that are more important than this class and must be dealt with. For this reason, you may turn in any one (homework assignment or programming project) up to one week late without penalty. If you have a more serious hardship, please let me know before the due date and we will arrange something.

All work for this course must be submitted on or before the last day of classes, December 13, unless prior arrangements are made with me to turn it in later.

Exams

  The midterms will be in the Testing Center. The material to be covered on each exam is stated in the syllabus, but the dates are approximate-they may change according to the pace at which we cover the material.

  Appeals on midterm grades may be made from the time the exam is returned until the next exam. All appeals must submitted in writing to the instructor. (E-mail is acceptable.)

  The final exam will be in the classroom (120 TMCB) on Wednesday, Dec. 20 from 11:00 PM to 2:00 PM.

Teamwork

Cheating

Appropriate Use of Lab Facilities

The appropriate use policy for this class is simple: don't use the machines in any way that would be inappropriate for equipment purchased with tithing funds. Such inappropriate use will result in loss of lab priviledges for this class, possible loss of access to departmental facilities in general, and a reporting of the incident to BYU's Honor Code office.

Grading

I reserve the right to lower this scale if appropriate, but I will not raise it. If you all get As, you all get As (and I make the course harder the next time around).

Grades will be based on the following (tentative) distribution: