The University of Aberdeen
The Computing Science Department

Information

Quick Links

Software Course Text Books BlueJ on DIT Systems
Remote Access from Home Wireless Installing BlueJ
Submitting BlueJ Assignments Further information Standard Probability Distribution Table
Information provided in exams CS1515 on facebook Assessment

Software

Course Text Books

The recommended course text book is: The Object of Java (Second Edition) by David D. Riley. Published by Addison Wesley, 2006. ISBN: 0-321-33158-3.

The Queen Mother Library has 8 copies of this book (4 on the 2nd floor, and 4 in Heavy Demand). The library shelf code is: 005.133 Ril. However, it is recommended that you buy your own copy of this book. The lectures, tutorial exercises, and practical assignments all closely follow this book. Good familiarity with its contents should help you to pass both CS1515 and its predecessor, CS1016. You can order a copy on-line from Blackwells Book Shop.

The course book has a companion website which provides source code for all of the example programs. Here is a local link to a zip file of those programs (only available within the Aberdeen University domain):

The library has several other good books on Java. Another good Java book worth looking at is: Objects First with Java, 3rd Edition, by Michael Kolling and David Barnes. Published by Pearson, 2006. ISBN: 0-131-97629-X.

This book is by the main authors of BlueJ, which is the Java environment used in this course. The library shelf code is: 005.71262 Kol. You are NOT expected to buy a copy of this book, but if you wish to do so, you can also order it on-line.

For Probability and Statistics, you can look at Essential Statistics (Fourth Edition), D G Rees, Chapman & Hall/CRC, 2001 and at the material for ST1505 - Understanding Data (with thanks to the ST1505 course team).

BlueJ on DIT Systems

The BlueJ program icon is located in the Computing Science folder, and is accessible from the desktop of the University networked computers. To access the Computing Science folder, open the Physical Sciences folder, followed by Engineering & Physical Sciences.

You can relocate icons onto the desktop itself if you wish, by right-clicking them and selecting "Send to desktop". You will need to use a web browser to access course materials. All computers have Microsoft Internet Explorer available as an icon on the desktop. However, many people prefer to use Firefox instead. You will find a Firefox icon in the Computing Science desktop folder.

Remote Access from a Home Computer

In order to access some of the course material using your web browser from outside the University network (or from a wireless laptop), you will need to set your browser to use the University proxy server. This basically means setting the proxy address to "http://www.abdn.ac.uk/local/autoproxy.php". Full instructions for doing this can be found under link below:

You can also access the folders and files on your H: drive remotely using FTP (File Transfer Protocol), as described below:

Wireless

The University is installing Wireless access points all across the campus. Please follow the link below for more details:

Installing BlueJ

The software you will be using for the course is BlueJ, which is itself a Java program based on the the JDK (Java Development Kit) and JRE (Java Runtime Environment). BlueJ has been installed on the University computers, and should be accessible to you when you log in. You can also use BlueJ on your home computer if you wish, but in this case you will have to install it yourself. The installation instructions given below assume you have a MS Windows PC. BlueJ is also available for Linux and Mac OSX machines, but you will have to refer to the original BlueJ web site for those platforms.

Step 1 - Install the Java JDK and JRE

The version and the update number may change with time. You do not need the "with NetBeans" version nor the "with Java EE" version.

Step 2 - Install BlueJ

You should now find that you can compile and run Java programs using BlueJ in much the same way as you do on the University networked computers.

Submitting BlueJ Assignments

The link below gives instructions on how to submit your BlueJ assignments.

If you experience problems submitting your project, it will probably be because your project folder does not contain a special BlueJ file called submission.defs which is necessary for the submission procedure to work. If you create your own project or move your project to a different folder, you must ensure that this folder also contains the submission.defs file. The submissions.defs file can be downloaded form here. (Right click on the link and choose "Save Target As..".) Check that it has saved the file giving it the name "submission.defs". You should then find that you can submit your project in the usual way.

Further information

Assessment

The University defines two types of assessment: formative and summative.

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment exists solely to help you in the learning process. It will provide you and the Course Organiser with feedback on how well you understand various parts of the course. Although you will receive marks, these will not count towards the overall course mark.

If you get good marks for your formative assessments, then this should indicate you are on target for passing the course if you continue to work at your current level. On the other hand, if your formative marks are disappointing, then this suggests you may need to increase the amount of effort you put into the course, or that you may need to review your studying methods.

There will be several quizzes and tests in this course, often conducted during the tutorial sessions, in which your answers will be used to provide you with formative assessment.

Summative Assessment

Summative assessment is used to measure how well you achieve the learning outcomes of the course. In other words, the overall CAS mark that you will get for a course corresponds to your summative assessment mark. CAS stands for "Common Assessment Scale". The CAS grading system is described here. For CS1515, your overall CAS mark is calculated from the following contributions:

Practical Assessment: (50%)

Written Exam: (50%)

Check the student portal for exam times/locations

Special Circumstances

Examinations and in-course Assessments are conducted only at set times throughout the year. In general, if you miss an assessment you will receive a mark of zero for that component. However, there are some situations that will receive special consideration.

  1. If you miss an assessment for medical reasons or other special circumstances, then you should provide the Departmental Office with documentary evidence to account for your absence. This would often take the form of a written note from your GP (medical doctor), for example. This evidence will be treated confidentially, but it may be considered by the Exam Board when deciding your overall CAS mark for a course.

  2. As a general rule, if you miss only one of the in-course assessments for a valid documented reason, then the mark awarded for the missed component will be that of the other in-course assessment.

  3. If you miss several or all of your assessments, then depending on the documented evidence, the Exam Board may decide to award a mark of one of the following: NP (no paper), MC (medical certificate), or GC (good cause).

Resits

Obviously, you should aim to pass everything first time! But even if you do not, all is not lost. You can still progress by sitting and passing the resit. If you do need to take a resit, you must remember to register yourself through the Student Portal, and you must check your portal for details of the times and locations of the resits. Resit arrangements for CS1515 are as follows:

Check the student portal for exam times/locations

Use of calculators in exams

The use of electronic calculators is allowed but they may not be passed from person to person.

You are responsible for providing the calculator and any batteries.

Acceptable calculators come within the class of 'basic scientific calculators'. Calculators which have any of the following facilities are not allowed: