Courses/CS 491a/Summer 2005

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[edit] CS 491a, Summer 2005

[edit] Announcements

[edit] Reminder: Project presentations on August 8 and 10.

See Meeting schedule page for more details.

[edit] July 27. Student acounts

Below I mentioned student accounts, but I didn't say how to get them. Prof. Sun gave me the account info. If you want one, send me an email message.

[edit] July 23. Interesting page of Java resources

I recently came across this page of references to Java resources from http://www.psu.ac.th/psu/headeng.gif

in Thailand.

[edit] July 23. Schedule modifications

Please note that I have made some minor changes to the Meeting schedule. Please check your current meeting time.

[edit] July 23. A nice Sudoku site.

For anyone interesting in working on a Sudoku puzzle project, this is a nice site to emulate. It is even possible to download the JavaScript that does all the work. If you use someone else's code, and if that code is the basis of your project (that is, if your project doesn't start with that code and than add a lot more to it), it is your responsibility to understand it.

[edit] July 20. Student accounts on the cs server.

If you are doing a web project and want an account for your project, it is available. Prof. Sun describes the accounts as follows.

Each account comes with three databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle), and one reloadable Tomcat context. Apache and PHP are also available, but you must create a public_html directory under your home directory and set proper file permissions.

[edit] July 15. More CurveBank projects

See the Project ideas page

[edit] July 14. Project presentations on August 8 and 10

See Announcement on meeting schedule page for more details.

[edit] July 11. Update

Starting July 18, I'd like to meet with everyone every week. That means 15 minute meetings instead of 30 minutes. I've updated the schedule.

[edit] July 10. Flash games.

Mousebreaker Ltd. designs Flash games for a living. I mentioned one in the Sudoku announcement below. They have lots of other games. Their web site says,

Whether you want a cheap viral game to boost your online marketing, an 'off the shelf' system, a bespoke development tailored exactly to your needs, or even for us to host and manage your game application, we can manage all your requirements.
Why put a Mousebreaker game on your site?
Our games look good.

They're fast-loading, accessible, and have immediate pull-in power. Around 95 per cent of web users already have the flash plug-in. So visitors will stick around because they don't have to arse around. The casual clicker becomes a potential customer.

Our games are quick to pick up - but hard to master.
They play brilliantly and look stunning. Players stay longer to play longer. They come back time and time again and bring their friends. All of which means greater exposure to your products and brands.

Our games get people hooked.
Your customers are as competitive as you are - a game with a scoreboard means even more incentive to keep playing again and again. Players are a valuable source of demographic infofmation just waiting to be tapped. Visitors who'll normally close any window with a form are happy to fill it in if they know it leads to great gaming or even a prize.

If you are interested in writing games for a living, use this class to build up your Flash skills, which seems like a nice platform for simple games. Apparenlty some people are making a living selling Flash games.

[edit] July 9. Sudoku.

Sudoku is a grid puzzle, invented in Japan, that is now popular world-wide. The LA Times prints sudoku puzzles every day except Sunday on the crossword puzzle page. I did a blog about it a while ago.

Although there are a number of online Sudoku solvers, a nice project would be to write your own. It should have rules that are relatively explicit, and it should be able to explain how it works. My blog piece refers to one such solver. The English Sudoku website includes a "Solving Sudoku"help document that describes a number of rules.

There is a JavaScript Sudoku assistant that steps through the rules here. The actual JavaScript code is labelled as freeware and is also available.

Here is Flash Sudoku player. It doesn't give any hints, but it lets you write numbers into the square.

[edit] July 5. Game Maker

From

http://www.gamemaker.nl/banners/banner1_web_l.png

Game Maker is a program that allows you to make exciting computer games, without the need to write a single line of code. Making games with Game Maker is a lot of fun. Using easy to learn drag-and-drop actions, you can create professional looking games within very little time.

You can make games with backgrounds, animated graphics, music and sound effects, and even 3d games! And when you've become more experienced, there is a built-in programming language, which gives you the full flexibility of creating games with Game Maker. What is best, is the fact that Game Maker can be used free of charge.

An interesting project would be to develop a series of increasingly sophisticated games and show how they can be used to teach introductory computer science. Alternatively, develop a game that can be used to teach some other subject.

It is currently being used in education by http://ontrack.ncsu.edu/Images/Trash/gt_red.gif for Middle School girls, WPI and WPI, CMPS327 at http://www.louisiana.edu/Graphics/MainPage/logobig.jpg, and elsewhere. See the Information for Teachers page on the GameMaker site.

[edit] June 31. Soccer game project

Here's another project idea. Download and run http://abbott.calstatela.edu/Courses/CS_461/soccer.jar, which is a soccer game I wrote a while ago. It could be extended in a number of interesting ways.

The link is to a .jar file, which will download and start on your computer when you click it. After it starts, move the two windows apart and then click the small "play" triangle in the console window at the bottom left. You can slow it down by clicking the Console tab and then moving the top slider Delay (Sec/Tick) a bit to the right. Just a little bit makes a big difference.

[edit] June 31. Project sophistication

Please be aware that your project is supposed to show off your computer science skills. If you do a project that anyone who has taken a basic web course can do, you will not be demonstrating significant skills. Show off what you have learned during the past 4 years.

When we talk, be prepared to describe why it takes a computer science major to do the project that you are proposing to do.

[edit] June 30: Please sign up for a meeting time with me.

If you didn't present your project on June 29, please sign up for one of the first 3 spots on July 6. (If you did present on June 29, please don't take one of those spots.)

I will meet with each of you every other week, i.e., 4 times during the remainder of the term—except for those who sign up for July 4.

See the Meeting schedule page for details.

[edit] June 30: Are you registered?

Please check the GET website to make sure that you are officially enrolled in your classes. Tuesday, July 5 is the add deadline. A handful of students at the end of Spring quarter come into the Department office because they did not receive a grade for the course because they weren't enrolled. No late adds will be approved.

[edit] June 23: Spell check

Besides all its other features, the Google toolbar now has a spell check option. (MediaWiki doesn't.) I recommend that you install the Google toolbar and use the spell checker.

[edit] June 21: No class on Monday, June 27

There will be no class on Monday, June 27. R. Abbott will be at the http://cs.calstatela.edu/~wiki/cs590/images/2/26/Logo_gecco.jpg conference.

Please review the project ideas below and work on formulating your project.
On Wednesday, June 29, everyone will give a brief presentation about your tentative project.

[edit] Syllabus

Course syllabus.

UPDATE: The course grade will be computed in terms of three components: oral skills, written skills, and project skills. (We do this because this is one of the courses in which we assess these skills.) The final grade will still be determined as described in the syllabus, i.e., what sort of letter of recommendation would I write for you. But be aware that these three components will be considered in making that determination.

[edit] Project ideas

Here are some project ideas.

[edit] Projects

Please create a link from here to your project page. Please put your name in order alphabetically by last name.

To enter your project, please follow the format below. Doing so will create a link to your project page — even though your project page does not yet exist. When you click the link you will be prompted to begin editing your project page.

Each time you make a major edit to your project page, please use http://cs.calstatela.edu/~wiki/cs491a/skins/common/images/button_sig.png (the signature button) to insert a link to your user page along with the date of your edit.

Once you have edited your project page (including a link to your user page), you will then be able to click on the link to your user page and edit that.

</blockquote>

[edit] Meeting schedule

Meeting schedule

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