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\title{Semantic Models for Programming Languages: \\
Red Tape}
\author{Gary T. Leavens \\
Department of Computer Science, Iowa State University \\
Ames, IA, 50011-1040 USA \\
}
\maketitle

\section{Staff}

Assistant Professor Gary Leavens (Ph.D., MIT, 1989) is coordinating the class.
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{lllll}
Name 		& Office & E-mail	& Phone		& Office Hours \\
\hline
Gary Leavens	& 229 Atanasoff & leavens@cs.iastate.edu & 294-1580 & MWF 3
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This is a small course, so please feel free to visit me
to discuss administrative or technical questions,
either during office hours, whenever I have my office door open,
or by making an appointment.

Questions may also be asked (and answered) by electronic mail.
If you have a simple technical question that is not urgent,
this is an excellent way to reach me.
There is a network news group 
(isu.coms.641) for discussion of technical questions;
you may contribute both questions and answers
(so that the communication is not just one-way).

My telephone is answered at all times,
so leave a message if necessary (although e-mail may get you a faster answer).

\section{Class meetings}

The class meets from 2:10 PM to 3:00 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
in 217 Atanasoff.

\section{Text}

The course text is
Wim H. Hesselink,
{\em Programs, Recursion, and Unbounded Choice\/}
(Cambridge University Press, NY, 1992, ISBN 0-521-40436-3).

The recommended text is 
Edward Cohen
{\em Programming in the 1990s: An Introduction to the
Calculation of Programs\/}
(Springer-Verlag, NY, 1990, ISBN 0-387-97382-6).

In addition, other reference materials and papers will be passed out in class.

\section{Discussions}

You are urged to meet with me as often as you like to talk about
homework problems, projects related to the course material,
how the course material relates to your research, or any other topics
related to the class.
There are no formally scheduled discussion sections.

\section{Grading}

To help you focus on learning instead of grades,
there will be no grades given in this course except the final grade,
although I will correct all of your homework and give you comments
and feedback.

Your final grade will be based on an oral final examination,
evidence that you may furnish that you have mastered the material
through the homeworks (so save your homeworks),
and class participation.
Class participation will have only a small weight.

\subsection{Final Examination}

The oral final examination will be comprehensive,
about an hour long,
and scheduled by appointment during final exam week.

\subsection{Evidence}

The ``evidence'' referred to above will take the form of written work,
including homework assignments and self-study projects.
Homework assignments will be corrected by me personally.
If I think that you need more work on some problems,
I will ask you to come and talk with me, after which I may give you another,
similar problem to do.
The idea is to promote a dialogue about the topics and complete understanding.

If you are interested, you may pursue self-study projects
to investigate certain
topics more fully or to relate course materials to their own work.

You will be required to submit your ``evidence'' to me
at the end of the term (it will be returned).
	
\subsection{Homework}

You are encouraged to discuss homework problems
with other students and exchange ideas about how to solve them.
However, you should make up your own solutions to each problem,
since no one else can learn something for you.
(Also beware that sometimes you may learn more about a problem by
struggling with it yourself, at least for a while.)

If you wish to pursue a project (e.g., a semantics for C++)
with the aid of other class members, please discuss this with me.
I am not opposed to such arrangements in this class.

If you use reference materials (other than the course texts)
to solve a problem, please give a citation.
Similarly, if you discuss a solution with another student,
give credit where credit is due by making a note such as
``the following idea was developed jointly with Alyssia P. Hacker,''
or ``the following idea is due to Ben Bittwiddle.''
There is no penalty attached to such an attribution of credit.
(Of course, it will not help your education to copy another student's work;
it is also unethical.)

If the homework is too much or too tedious,
please complain quickly to me.
If you have additional or more interesting homework problems,
please suggest these to me.

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