CMPS 160 -- Spring 2016 -- course overview

CMPS 160: Spring 2016
Course Overview

Main Text

Interactive Computer Graphics: A top-down approach with WebGL, 7th edition
Angel and Shreiner

Optional Text

WebGL programming guide: interactive 3D graphics programming with WebGL
Kouichi Matsuda and Rodger Lea

WebGL Beginner's Guide
Diego Cantor

Prerequisites:

Math 12 or 17 or 21 or 27 -- matrix manipulation, determinants, dot products, and cross products.

CMPS 101 -- data structures, algorithms, java/C/C++ programming.

Grading Policies:

For CMPS 160, your grade is based on 4 programming assignments (50%) and and 2 exams (50%). You need to pass all components in order to pass the course. The requirement above is in place primarily to handle cases of academic dishonesty (see below). If that does not apply to you, then this requirement does not apply.
Assigned programs are due at MIDNIGHT. Each of them account for 12.5% of your grade. Programs turned in at least a full day early will earn 1% bonus credit. Late programs (time stamp is after 12 midnight of due date) will be penalized 1% late point. In addition, late programs will not be accepted 24 hours past due date. Again, note that the early bonus credit and late penalty are 1% of your course grade.
In addition to early bonus, there may be opportunities to earn bonus points e.g. extra features, or very nice user interface, etc. Do specify/describe any extra features that you have implemented in your documentation and alert the grader to look for these. The bonus credits (extra work and early bonus) may be accumulated up to a total of 50% toward total program credits. If you go over 50%, the contribution of your programming scores towards your overall course grade will be capped at 50% -- we will indicate that you've exceeded the maximum programming points in the narrative evaluation.
There will be two exams, each one worth 25% of your grade. The two exams are weigthed 60-40 in your favor. That is, the higher of the two will account for 30% of your course grade, and the lower one will be 20% of your course grade. There may be opportunities to earn extra points on your exams. The total for the exams are also capped at 50%. If so, it will also be noted in your narrative evaluation.
For CMPS 160L, your grade is based on lab attendance (40%) and 4 lab assignments (60%). There are 2 meetings per week for each lab section, for a total of 20 meetings for the quarter. Each lab meeting is worth 5 points. You can make up for missed labs by attending a different section that week or the following week. Lab assignments are worth 15% each. There are no early bonus or late penalty for lab assignments. Late submissions are not accepted.

You need to pass all components in order to pass the course! You need to pass 160L in order to pass 160. You need to pass 160 in order to pass 160L.

THERE WILL BE NO MAKE-UP EXAMS OR PROGRAMS.
THERE WILL BE NO INCOMPLETES GIVEN IN THE CLASS.

Attendance: Attendance in the labs is required. Attendance in the lecture is optional, but strongly advised. You are responsible for knowing the material that was covered in lecture and labs.

General Policies: All course work are intended as individual effort (unless explicitly mentioned otherwise) and are graded as such. It is okay to discuss general approaches and algorithms with other students, but this should be done without writing, looking, or sharing code. Cheating or plagiarism in any form will not be tolerated. What happens is that you will get a zero for the test or program, and the clause about having to "pass all components in order to pass the course" kicks in. Also, additional disciplinary sanctions may apply if this is not your first offense. Punishment will match severity of offense. You are responsible for protecting your homework solutions and programs from being copied by others. Refer to the Student Guide to Academic Integrity. If anything is not clear, ask me.

Protecting your work: Because WebGL is run off a browser, it is important that you develop your code "offline" by pointing the browser to a local file as opposed to a url. Also, put your javascript code in a separate file as opposed to being included directly in the html file. Finally, for program and lab assignment submissions, package all the required pieces in a directory (folder) and submit the entire directory. This means that all references in the html file, etc. should be local i.e. relative to your submit directory.