CS-343 Spring 2005

This is the web page for both sections of CS-343 taught by Dr. Vickery during the Spring 2005 semester. Bookmark this page! It is the source of information about assignments and exams, and will be updated regularly throughout the semester. For now, it provides a preliminary overview of the course. As the semester progresses, it will be updated with critical information you will need to complete the course successfully.

The course meets twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays. I teach an afternoon section that meets from 3:05 to 4:20 in Science Building room D133 and an evening section that meets from 6:00 to 7:45 in Science Building room A103. I don't mind if you occasionally attend the wrong section, but in general it's not a good idea because the two classes invariably get out of sync with each other. And you definitely have to take all exams with your own section.

There will be three exams in the course, which will all count equally. The exams will be cumulative in the sense that they will require you to have mastered the material covered on previous exam(s), but each one will have a very strong emphasis on the material that was covered since the previous one. The first two exams will be on Monday March 7 and Wednesday April 13. The third exam will be given during finals week and there will be more time for it, but it will count just like the other two and will be structured similarly. Exams will cover material from the reading and homework assignments, as well as the material covered in class. The format will be largely multiple guess choice, with some diagrams and short answers mixed in.

There are reading and homework assignments for each week of the course except for the weeks in which there are exams. The homework assignments are to be written on paper and handed in at the end of the Monday class in which they are due. Homeworks are graded on an "ok" or "not ok" basis. You must get an "ok" to receive credit for the assignment. If you get a "not ok" you may redo it and resubmit it in the class after it is returned for full credit. Homework assignments will count 10% of your course grade.

There is a lot of material to cover in this course, and it is essential for you to keep current with the reading and homework assignments. Remember, a full-time job requires you to work 35-40 hours a week, and you are considered to be a full-time student if you take 12 credits of course work a semester. So whether you are a full-time student or not, it is reasonable for a three credit course like this one to require six hours of preparation per week in addition to the three hours you spend in the classroom.

There is one required textbook for the course, Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface, Third Edition by David A. Patterson and John L. Hennessy (Morgan-Kaufmann, 2004)

We will be covering Chapters 3-7 plus Appendix B in the course. Note that Appendix B is on the CD for the book, not in the printed part.