In this course we will learn to design and create Web-based applications. Through implementing a comprehensive Web-based application, we will learn about designing and creating interfaces for the user to meaningfully interact with the application, and the back-end, i.e., server-side, processing to support the application. One of the goals of the comprehensive application will be to enable Web-based data visualisation for large data sets.

Online resources.

CPSC 250, or permission of the instructor. Familiarity with Unix is assumed.

At the end of this course successful students will be able to:

1. use a variety of technologies to design user interfaces to be rendered on Web browsers,
2. design and implement a back-end for a Web application, and
3. use the graphical abilities of Web browsers for data visualisation.

Regular attendance is highly recommended. Regardless of attendance, students are responsible for all material covered or assigned in class.

The course will meet in class for 3 hours during the week. The concepts studied in class will be complemented by several short programming assignments, and these concepts will then be used in the implementation of a comprehensive Web-based application. There will be regular quizzes in class. The final writeup and presentation of the comprehensive application will take place of the final exam for this course.

Make-up quizzes will be available by pre-arrangement only in case of scheduling conflicts. After the test, make-ups will be available only in case of documented medical emergencies.

Besides the quizzes, the short programming assignments, and the comprehensive application, there will be a co-curricular requirement for the course.

This course expects you to spend at least 15 hours of work each week inside and outside of class.

Quizzes: Quizzes will be in class and will be announced one class period before the quiz.

Programming projects: There will be several short programming projects assigned during the semester. Programs will be graded on correctness, style and documentation. Programs are due by midnight on the assigned date. No late programs will be accepted. All programs are to be turned in by email; instructions for submission will be given in the assignment handout.

Comprehensive Application: The assignment to complete the comprehensive application will have several parts:

1. initial mock-up design for the user interface,
2. detailed specifications for the services provided by the application, and thus the data that needs to be obtained from the user, displayed to the user and stored at the back end,
3. identification of noteworthy stages in the development process, and a clear timeline for the completion of these stages,
4. an assessment rubric for evaluating the progress at each stage,
5. a final report that clearly describes the use of the application (i.e., a user's manual) and describes the stucture of the developed application (i.e., a technical/developer's manual),
6. and a final presentation demonstrating the use of the application.

Co-curricular Requirement: The Mathematics, Computer Science and Physics department offers a series of discussions that appeal to a broad range of interests related to these fields of study. These co-curricular sessions will engage the community to think about ongoing research, novel applications and other issues that face these disciplines. Each student is required to attend at least three of these sessions, and turn in a short paper describing the contents of the session, and his/her critical reflections about the topic and content. These papers are due in class within a week of the session. A paper submitted beyond a week from the event being discussed in the paper will not be accepted.

The final grade will be computed based on the grades in the tests, the final exam, home works and programming projects according to the following weights.

The final course grade will be calculated as follows:

Regular attendance in class is highly recommended. Regardless of attendance, students are responsible for all material covered or assigned in class.

Cell phones should be kept in your backpacks or pockets (essentially, out of sight), and turned to the silent mode throughout the duration of the class. Please do not remove your cell phones until you are outside the classroom/lab. Similarly, during office consultations or consultations in the lab (even when it is not during regular class time), your cell phones should be out of sight and in the silent mode.

If you use an electronic device such as a tablet or a laptop for note-taking or to read the textbook, the content that is open on the screen should be strictly restricted to documents and pages of relevance to the class. For example, you should not have any social media websites open in your browser window, even if it is in a tab that is not currently in focus.

Students are expected to adhere to the Academic Integrity policies of Roanoke College. All work submitted for a grade is to be strictly the work of the student unless otherwise specified by the instructor. The policies as outlined in the Academic Integrity handbook will be enforced in the course.

Graded programs are subject to the Roanoke College Academic Integrity policies. Copying a program or a portion of a program (even a single line) or reading another person's program to obtain ideas for solving a problem is plagiarism. Other examples of integrity violation include writing code for someone else, using code written by someone else, telling someone else how to solve a problem or having someone tell you how to solve a problem (and using his/her method). These cases apply to any work that is handed in for a grade under the instructor's assumption that the work is your own. Unless specified otherwise by the instructor, discussion among students should be limited to general discussion of concepts and language details, not specific aspects of a solution to the assigned problem.