Course Information for CSE 443 Spring 1998

Course:

Instructors:

Course Description:

A compiler reads a program written in one language and translates it into an equivalent program in another language. This course introduces the theory and practice of compiler construction. Students will apply the theory presented when building their own compiler.

The principles and techniques of compiler writing are ubiquitous. Compiler writing spans programming languages, architecture, theory, automata algorithms, and software engineering. Therefore, the knowledge acquired in this course will be used numerous times in the career of a computer scientist.

Pre-conditions:

• Regular expressions,
• State machines,
• Data structures (hash tables, lists, trees, etc.),
• The make(1) utility, and
• Symbolic debuggers.

On-line Resources:

• Mailing list: cse443@listserv.nd.edu
  Students are required to subscribe to the mailing and read this mail. Furthermore, students are responsible for any information posted by the instructor. This is a good forum for asking general questions. Any student may post to the group and can, therefore, answer the questions. Understand that any help you give to other students is subject to the academic code of integrity. Therefore, you should avoid posting some things, such as solutions to a homework or programming assignment.
• Web Page:http://www.cse.nd.edu/courses/cse443/www/
  Up-to-date course information will be available on the course web page, such as course handouts and current grades.
• Course Directory:/afs/nd.edu/courses/cse/cse443.01
  The course directory will contain electronic copies of the handouts and other files that may be useful for programming assignments. It also contains the directories in which student homework will be deposited.

Students are required to know all information that is presented in the above resources. It is the student's responsibility to review this information on a regular and timely basis. Resources on the course web page and in the course direectory change throughout the semester. Students are cautioned against printing out the material at the beginning of the semester and refying to it weeks later. Instead printing, if done at all, should be done on a JIT (just-in-time) basis.

Text:

Grading:

	Percentage	Notes
Exams	25%	Midterm 40%/Final 60%
Homework and quizzes	25%	3 quizzes = 1 HW
Programs	25%
Project	25%

In the event that the course does not progress as planned (imagine that!), this breakdown may change. Ample warning will be given in such a case.

Individual assignment grades are not curved. (Curving grades is misguided. If everyone does excellent, all should get an excellent grade; not merely the top quartile.) The final grade is determined on a normal scale (A = >93; A- = 90-93; B+ = 87-89; etc.) Although the final grade is not curved, some downward adjustment in the cutoff points may be made. That is the cutoff for an A- might end up lower than a 90, but it will not be higher.

Late assignments will be accepted only in extreme situations and with prior arrangement. In above, "extreme" usually requires a note from a doctor, and "prior" means before assignment is due (usually a day before).

Re-Grading of Programs

My policy is if one simple error caused multiple failures then I will regrade based on that. Please look into the causes of your mistakes. If it is the case that fixing a single, simple mistake makes it possible for your program to execute several tests correctly, then you should create a patch file.

A patch is a file created by diff(1) that is applied by patch(1). First, copy the original file(s) that you turned in (it is in your turnin directory) to .orig. Then, with both the original and the new files in the same directory, execute the following:

diff -c <file>.orig <file>

This re-grade policy is to grade what was turned in fairly; it is not a second chance to get the assignment right. If your patch file is more than a dozen lines or so, than this is probably not a single, simple mistake. In which case, you need go no further. However, if the patch file is short, then do the following:

1. send the TA a patch,
2. list which test cases you wish to have re-graded, and
3. wait patiently for a response.