1 Programming Assignments and Projects

Programming assignments in this course have several different learning objectives. As a result, the format of the assignments may be different from what you've seen in the past. Help understanding them is available at:

2 Style Guides

As explained in the course "Policies", all code/documentation/reports written for CS345 must conform to the course style guides.

In addition, avoid the use of the space character in file and directory/folder names because the space character is commonly used as a delimiter.

3 Editing Marks

The following "editing marks" will be used to provide feedback (e.g., on code):

4 Sharing Code

If you need to ask Prof. Bernstein about your code, you can share it with him using SMYC.

If there are more than a few files, you can email them to him by attaching a .zip file. However, remember that you must change the suffix to .jmu or it will be stripped-off by the JMU email system. This is best done from a command shell because file explorers have a tendency to hide file extensions.

5 Course WWW Pages

This course has a fairly extensive set of WWW pages associated with it. For help using these pages, you might want to look at:

The code examples used in class are available on the WWW and can be downloaded from the page in which they are used. You can also:

6 Connecting to JMU from Off Campus

Some on-line resources used in this course (including Autolab) are available only to members of the JMU community. This means that, if you are working from off-campus, you will need to authenticate yourself through the JMU network. Help is available at:

7 Setting-Up the Development Environment

You are responsible for getting and installing some elements of the development environment on your computer(s). At the start of the semester you must install the "base" elements.

As the semester progresses, you may also be required to install other elements of the development environment on your computer(s) and create accounts with some on-line services. Details will be provided at the appropriate time.

Help is provided on how to setup your development environment for the final project at:

8 Using the Development Environment

You will be much more productive in this courses if you become familiar with your development tools, operating system, and associated command shell(s). If you need help, you might want to look at the following pages on the Departmental Wiki.

If you need additional help, you might want to consider the following:

9 Required Tools (Not Related to the IDE)

In addition to the development tools, you must use a variety of other tools in this course (see the "Tools" page for download/installation links). If you need help, you might want to look at the following documents that were prepared for this course.

If you need additional help, you might want to consider the following external resources:

10 Course Content

Obviously, a great deal has been written about the topics covered in this class. If you're looking for more information you might want to look at the following:

11 The Oxford English Dictionary

Of course, you need to understand the things you read. The OED is a tremendous resource in this regard. It is available on-line at