BASIC COURSE INFORMATION:

CS2024 meets Tuesdays and Thursdays in room 165 Olin Hall from 12:20PM to 1:10PM. The course is being taught by Ron DiNapoli who can be reached at rd29@cornell.edu, AIM is "IthacaRonD". Details on Ron's office hours are listed further down on this page. There is no administrative assistant for the course this semester. Our student consultant this year will be Nate Parsons (nsp25@cornell.edu).

BOOKS USED THIS SEMESTER:

This semester we will be using Deitel and Deitel's "Visual C++ 2008: How To Program." Now, we won't actually be studying Visual C++ per se, however the book does have some information specific to Microsoft's compiler. I must emphasize that CS2024 covers "vanilla" C++ and does not attempt to cover material on specific compilers. Why this book then? I had the opportunity to review this text and was very impressed with how thoroughly the C++ language was covered and how well written the text is. The book is a little on the expensive side, so I have asked to have two copies available for reserve in the Engineering library, and the book is listed as "optional" at the bookstore. You will be required to complete certain assignments from the book, so at a minimum you will need to have access to a copy of it (Second Edition).

The second book (also optional) listed for this course is Stroustrup's "The C++ Programming Language." This is considered the "standard text" for C++ written by the author of the language himself. It is not, in my opinion, a great book to learn C++ from, but it is a fairly definitive reference. Once you've spent some time working with C++ you will appreciate the Stroustrup book more. When you are just starting out, it can be a bit overwhelming.

ASSIGNMENTS, PRELIMS, and GRADING:

There will be 12 assignments, 2 prelims and a final project. Assignments are given every Thursday (with a few exceptions) and will be due at 11:59PM the following Wednesday night. The lowest two assignments are dropped, and the average of the remaining 10 are worth 40% of your final grade. The prelims and the final project are each individually worth 20% of your grade. Those who, at the end of the semester, have a final grade of 70 or higher earn an "S" in the course. If your final grade is below 70, you will be given a "U". Grades are calculated with this formula:

FINAL GRADE = (ASSIGNMENT AVE * 0.4) + (Prelim1 * 0.2) + (Prelim2 * 0.2) + (FinalProject * 0.2)

As you will see, it is possible to earn a grade above 70 without doing the final project. In fact, most students who do well on both prelims and have a decent assignment average will not have to do the final project at all. More details will be given in class.

OFFICE HOURS:

Wednesdays, 4:00PM - 5:30PM (location TBD) (tentative and subject to change)