CompSci 334, Fall 2024
Mathematical Foundations of CS
Syllabus

• Home
• Info
• Cal
• Assign
• Forms
• JFLAP
• Old Tests
• Students

Professor: Susan Rodger

Office: LSRC D237 Office Hours: Mondays 4-5pm Tuesdays 4-4:30pm Wednesdays 2-3pm Thursdays 4:05pm-5:05pm (subject to change, will post on ED if they have to be moved) The zoom link for my office hours are posted in Ed. My Office hours are in person AND on zoom at the same time! Email: Phone: 660-6595

Graduate TA: Xubo Yan

Office Hours: Wed 11-12:30pm (in the Link, location posted in Ed) Thur 5:30pm-7pm (Zoom, link in Ed) Email: xubo.yan AT duke.edu

UTA: Joe Arch

• Office Hours:
  
  • Mon 2-3pm (in the Link, location posted in Ed)
    
  • Tues 1:30-2:30pm (in the Link, location posted in Ed)
    

LECTURE:

• Tuesday and Thursday:
  The Link, Classroom 3, 10:05am-11:20am

Course Meeting Time

LECTURE: Tuesdays and Thursdays: 11:45am-1pm

Texts

An Introduction to Formal Languages and Automata, 7th Edition, Linz and Rodger, 2023.
JFLAP: An Interactive Formal Languages and Automata Package, Rodger and Finley, 2006. ( free .pdf)

Reading

In general you should read the texts in order to be prepared to ask and answer questions in class. If you've looked at material before it's discussed in class you'll get much more out of the class discussion. This is especially true once class has been going for a while. And you may enjoy reading a book that was co-authored by a Duke undergrad.

There will be reading quizes on Canvas due before each class starting with the first class! They must be completed before class starts, at 11:45am on the day they are posted. You must submit them before class starts or you won't be able to submit them.

Exception: Due to drop/add, the first four quizzes QZ01-QZ04 will all turn off on Sept 10 at 11:45am.

You get up to 3 tries on each quiz and we use your highest score. You cannot makeup missed quizzes! We do drop some quiz points at the end of the semester, so it is ok to miss a few.

Web page

Many of the materials for this course (including this page) are available on http://www.cs.duke.edu/courses/fall24/compsci334/

Bulletin Board

You should regularly read the Ed Discussion bulletin board (on our Canvas site) for this course as it may contain announcements, hints, and information relevant to this class.

Collaboration

Homework and programming assignments should be your own work! You may consult with one or two other students (and as many times as you want with the TA and Prof. Rodger) on homework. Consult means you can discuss the general idea of a homework problem or programming assignment before writing it. Each person should write their own answers/code. For each homework you are expected to include a list of the people with whom you have consulted (including students, TA's, tutors, professors). Finally, you may not consult with the same Compsci 334 students on two consecutive assignments.

Tests must be your own work.

Extensions and Late Policy on homeworks and computing projects

LATE POLICY on Assignments (homeworks and computing projects): Assignments turned in up to 3 days late are 10% off (Sunday does not count as a late day). Assignments turned in by 1 week are 20% off. They must be turned in within one week late. See Prof. Rodger immediately if you are having difficulty with this.

EXTENSIONS: Everyone gets three free 3-day extensions that can be used for either a project or a homework (SUNDAYS are not counted). You must fill out the extension request form if you want to take that extension. You can only apply one extension to a homework or project. You cannot use an extension the last week of classes.

Grading

Classwork/participation	5%
Canvas Quizes on reading	5%
Programming projects	15%
Homeworks	15%
Tests (3)	60%

Grading is done on an absolute, but adjustable scale. This means that there is no curve. Anyone earning 90% or more of the total number of points available will receive a grade in the A range (A+,A,A-), an earning 94% is an A; 80% = B, 70% = C, 60% = D. This scale may go down, but it will not go up.