IST263: Web Programming.
Course Syllabus
Fall 2007, TTH 8:00am – 9:15pm Prichard Hall 200
Instructor: Daniel Dementiev
Office: Prichard Hall 208
Phone Number: (304) 696-7241
E-mail: dementiev@marshall.edu
Office Hours: see my schedule

Textbooks:

The following books are recommended for the course:
  1. A set of Web Wizard's Guides
  2. Web Standards by Steven Schafer. ISBN: 0-7645-8820-6.
  3. Web Programming: Building Internet Applications by Chris Bates. ISBN: 0-470-01775-9.
Note: you do not have to buy all of them. One of the three would be enough. In fact you do need to buy any book because there are plenty info on the internet. I would still recommend to have a book and read it, though. I also encourage you to look for additional information/documentation/examples on the Internet. Here is a list of some supplementary source links:

Computer Requirements:

All class announcements, updates, lecture notes, and assignments will be placed in the class home directory. Access to a WWW browser is required (Netscape 4.7 or higher or Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher). You also will need a Secure Shell Client to be able to login to the IST server from home to download your projects.

Course Description:

Concepts of web programming such as client and server side development, dynamic web pages, installation and maintaining Apache web server for Windows platforms. Design of static and dynamic web pages, PHP scripts are emphasized.

Desired Objectives/Outcomes:

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

Credit:

The course is three (3) credit hours. It includes classroom lectures, exams, and laboratory programming projects. Students will participate in programming projects that illustrate the implementation of concepts covered in the lectures to build different parts of a real web-site.

Pre/co-requisites:

none

Instruction method:

There will be approximately 3 contact hours of classroom lecture per week. The laboratory programming projects cover the major topics of the course. Students may work on their assignments in Prichard Hall 200, Morrow Library 122, or Morrow Library 119.

Topics and Methodology:

The following outline delineates the tentative class schedule with topics to be addressed during the course. Please note this is a tentative schedule and it may change upon class progress:
Topic Weeks
Introduction to HTML and web publishing 1 – 3
Introduction to CSS 3 – 4
Introduction to JavaScript 4 – 8
Midterm 8
Setting up and maintaining a web server 9 – 11
Server side scripting using PHP 12 – 14

Evaluation method:

Evaluation of student's performance will be based on the quality of your performance on programming assignments, projects, and class participation.

Grading Policy:

Final grades are based on performance in homework assignments, projects, and attendance as indicated below.
Projects 70%
Homework assignments 25%
Attendance & Participation      5%
Note: the complete project assignments and due dates can be found at http://ist.marshall.edu/ist263/assignments/.

Assessment of Projects:

The grading of all programming projects will take into account the following:
  1. Although the most important attribute of a program is correctness, grading will take into consideration (if appropriate) such items as time and space efficiency, documentation, etc.
  2. Programs and scripts must have proper inline documentation and must be properly indented. Up to 20% can be deducted for poorly documented and/or poorly indented code.
  3. Although interactions with other students are encouraged, you must compose your own answers, unless otherwise noted.
Individuals who utilize other people’s code, thoughts, or ideas must provide appropriate references to said resources. Failure to provide such documentation will result in a failing grade for the assignment, and may result in a failing grade for the course.

In determining the overall grade for a project, you can expect the following grades based on performance:

Final letter grades are determined based on the following grading scale:
90-100% A
80-89% B
70-79% C
60-69% D
Below 60    F
The instructor reserves the right to change these values depending on the overall class performance and/or extenuating circumstances.

Policy Statement:

Programming assignments: The course includes 5 projects and a number of homework assignments. All assignments are due by midnight on the due date. Late assignments will be penalized at the rate of 5 points per day (including weekends).

Passing grade: Programming assignments and exams are required parts of the course and must be satisfactorily completed to pass this course. A student must have a passing performance on each part. A failing grade on a component may result in a failing grade in the course.

Attendance Statement:

Class attendance is not mandatory and is not a required part of the course, although highly encouraged. Those who miss a class should remember that it is their responsibility to cover all the material by themselves.

Withdrawal Policy:

The University withdrawal policy is followed in this course. The last day to drop an individual course for the Fall of 2007 is October 26.

University Holidays and other Days-to-Remember:

Labor Day:    September 3, 2007
Last Day to Drop the course:    October 26, 2007
Thanksgiving/Fall Break:    November 22 - November 25, 2007
Last Day of classes:    December 4, 2007

Effort Required:

As a 200-level course, this course is provided as an introductory course, but due to the amount of new concepts presented in the course there will still be a considerable amount of development and research effort required of the student. For every one hour in class, the student is expected to put in an effort of at least 3 hours outside the class for studying and programming. Because of background and preparedness, some students may have to put in additional effort.