Instructor: Christopher Wilt
Office: Kingsbury W236
E-mail:
wilt@cs.unh.edu
Office Hours:
Tues, Thurs 1:00-2:00 or by appointment (send e-mail to request an
appointment).
Class: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:10-3:30pm,
Kingsbury N121
Introduces the concepts and techniques of microcomputer windows programming. Students use the Visual Basic language to develop modular, event-driven programs/applications. Topics include: forms, properties, controls, variables, decision structures, and built-in and user-defined functions and subroutines. CEPS students should check with their major department for approval. Not open to CS majors.
The primary objective of this class is to teach you the basics of programming in Visual Basic. According to Microsoft, Visual Basic allows you to "build custom applications in Visual Basic, a fast and easy way to create .NET Framework-based Windows applications."
Many business applications are written in Visual Basic because the language allows you to quickly and easily develop graphical applications for Windows.
The core of the class are the programming assignments. These will comprise 80% of your final grade. Assignments will generally take between one and two weeks to complete. Grades on assignments will be assigned based how well your program meets the specifications set forth in the assignment handout.
The remaining 20% of your grade will be based upon two examinations, the midterm examination and the final examination. Each test will be assigned equal weight.
The midterm examination will be held on Thursday, March 6, 2014. It will be held instead of class. This is the last class before Spring break. The final exam date, time, and room are as assigned to the class through the registrar.
For both the midterm examination and the final examination, students may bring one 8.5x11 piece of paper. The paper must be handed in with the test, and have the student's name on it. The paper also must be hand written, and not photocopied. Both the midterm and the final examination will test knowledge of the fundamentals of the Visual Basic language, as well as understanding what different programs would do under certain conditions. For both tests, there will be a practice examination that will be distributed prior to the exam.
Collaboration is also not allowed on the midterm exam or the final exam.
The textbook for the class is the fifth edition of Starting out with Visual Basic 2010 by Tony Gaddis and Kip Irvine. I do not plan on assigning readings from the book, although I will note which part of the book are related to each assignment and class.
During my computer science education and work doing research, or even "real" work, I have found that almost every piece of factual information I have ever wanted to know relating to computer science can be found on the Internet. Information available online is generally more up to date than information that can be found in textbooks. Electronic files also support finding text, which is much more limited in books.
It is worth noting that not everything you will find on the Internet will be correct, so in addition to learning how to find information online, you will also find it useful to learn how to sift truth from the information you find online.