GOALS

This class introduces Civil engineering students to concepts and technologies in modern computing and engineering information processing. Students will learn how to communicate online, transfer files over the Internet, and to write, compile and test simple object-oriented computer programs that can solve engineering problems in a networked environment.

COURSE CONTENTS

For the Spring Semester 2008, the course contents will be as follows:

• Computing in Civil Engineering (1 week). How has computing changed over the past 20 years? What's cool about computing in the 2000-2007 era? How are computers and computer technologies changing the way engineering companies conduct their day-to-day business? Examples.

• Problem Solving with Computers (1 week). Complementary strengths of man versus machine. Pathway from problems to solutions with computers (i.e., problem, algorithm, software development, software execution, result).

• Basic Concepts (1-2 weeks). hardware components in a simple computer; storing information on computers; high and low level computer languages; compiled programs versus intepreted programs; text editors; principles of good software development.

• World Wide Web Development (2-3 weeks). Basics of computer networks. Brief history of the Internet and WWW. World Wide Web Browsers and servers. Search engines and how to use them. Looking ahead to the "Semantic Web." Design of Web pages, HTML and XML tags, use of Google Maps. Examples.

• Object-Oriented Software Development with Java (6-7 weeks) : Introduction to the principles of object-oriented software development (i.e., objects, classes, encapsulation, information hiding, class hierarchies, inheritance). What is Java? How does it work? How to write, compile and run a simple Java program. The Java language, including variables, constants, and data types, program control (i.e., branching and looping constructs), classes and objects.

  Standalone Java programs and Java applet programs. Java development environments (JDK). Introduction to the Java Foundation Classes, including Java AWT, Java Swing and Java 2D.

All students will develop a home page on the World Wide Web. Students will use the basic features of Java to solve simple engineering problems, and design web pages that incorporate Java applets.

IMPORTANT

• Be sure to check the General Information section for expectations on homework, computer programs, and midterm/final exams,

GENERAL INFORMATION

• COURSE PREREQUISITES
  
  
  • Calculus and math courses.

• TIME AND LOCATION OF CLASS/OFFICE HOURS
  
  
  • Class. M,W,F 9-9.50 am, Room 1122, Computer Science Instruction (CSI) Building.
  • Office Hours. M,W.F 10-11 am. Otherwise, by appointment (send me e-mail for a quick response to your problems).

• TEXTS AND COURSE NOTES
  
  
  • Austin and Chancogne, Introduction to Engineering Programming: in C, MATLAB and JAVA , John Wiley and Sons, New York.
    
  • Handouts on getting started with UNIX, HTML the Web, and recent homeworks/Java programming assignments are now available a the Engineering Copy Center. The cost is $35.00.

• EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
  
  
  • Midterm 1 (35%): March 12. Closed book. The midterm will cover Chapters 1 and 2 of the class text, the tutorials at the beginning of the "light blue" lecture notes, introduction to object-oriented programming concepts and Java, and anything that was written on the board during the first seven weeks of class.
  • Midterm 2 (35%): April 25. Open book and open notes. This exam will cover the basics of programming in Java.
  • Final (35%): May 19, 8.00am-10.00am. The final exam will be in our regular classroom and like midterm 2, it will be open book and open notes. There will be three questions.

Note. This semester I have 80+ students so there will be no midterm or final make-up exams. Students may drop the lower of the midterm scores. Bi-weekly programming assignments in Java, and your home page on the Web will account for 30% of the grade.

Copyright © 2008, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland