Com S 541 -- Programming Languages I			January 31, 1993

		HOMEWORK 3: What do you want to learn?

Due: February 5, 1993

You have been hired by this class (Com S 541), Bamshad, and Gary
to consult with them about what should be studied during the rest
of this course.

Your task is to:

	a) Write a list of objectives.  These are statements of the form:
	   ``At the end of the course, a student will be able to ...''.
	   Briefly justify these. (Say why they are important.)
	b) Design and briefly justify a list of topics.
	c) Specify how much time (in terms of class meetings)
           should be spent on each topic.

This is a group project.  Your group is to make an oral presentation of no more
than 5 minutes.  The style of presentation is up to you; you can allow one
person to talk, or several.  The audience for the presentation
is the class itself.

Part of your presentation should be a syllabus, which you should give to
Gary ahead of time so copies can be made for the class.
By a syllabus I mean a table that associates to each topic a class meeting
or class meetings.  It should make reference to the texts or other papers
and books where the topics are discussed.
There are 45 class meetings total this semester, of which February 5 is
number 9.  Be sure to include time for 1 to 3 tests.
Put your group members names on it.

You may assume that Gary and Bamshad are capable of teaching anything
relevant to programming languages.  You should try to avoid topics that
will be covered in other courses and focus on topics related to programming
languages.  You should not emphasize mathematical semantics too strongly,
as that is the domain of Com S 641.  However, we can do some of that.
You should also take into account the textbooks selected for the course
(and the materials on reserve).
You may have parts of the class studying two different things at the
same time, if you think that is appropriate.

Think about the topics that make up the field of programming languages,
and how each part relates to your goals, and what you have learned from
previous homeworks.  You might look at the taxonomy in a January issue
of ``Computing Reviews'', or at the course description for Com S 541
in the booklet ``The Graduate Program in Computer Science'' (Fall 1992,
ISU Dept of Comp. Sci.) and at appendix B of the same booklet.

Bamshad and Gary will also make a presentation on this topic.
After the presentations we will all try to reach a consensus on the syllabus.

We ask you to take this seriously.  Don't tell us what
you think we want to hear.  Instead, listen to yourself and the others in
your group and really think about what *you* want to learn.
Then tell us that.

(If you need transparencies or other copies made, let Gary know
far enough in advance to have them made in time for the class.)



			Alternative positions

You may argue for some other model of instruction.
For example, you might argue that we should start from journal papers
and discuss them at length.  Or that we should just design a language
(or languages) and use the material as it comes up.
If you take one of these positions, you must also describe how
to evaluate student performance.