Professor: Dr. Harry Plantinga
Office: 116 Armerding, x5875
Email: Harry.Plantinga@wheaton.edu

Office hours: MTW 3:15 - 4:30; F 2:00 - 4:00

Meetings:
TR, 8:30-10:20, 122 Armerding. For 10 weeks in the middle of the semester, the Tuesday morning class will be replaced by a Tuesday evening lecture at Argonne Labs. These lectures are required. We will leave at 6:20 and return at about 9:40.

Prerequisites:
This is an upper-level computer science course with a prerequisite of 345. It will be assumed that you know C programming and data structures and that you can pick up Java programming (which uses a syntax similar to a subset of C++) pretty much on your own, with lectures covering differences between C++ and Java. It will also be assumed that you are familiar with basic HTML and the Scilab NetBSD systems.

Topics:
The Argonne lectures will cover a broad range of networking and Internet topics. In addition, the class here will cover networking and network technology, Java programming for networking and the web, and XML (the future of the web). We will use the CCEL web site as an example application and as a class plan the next version, which will be based on XML and Java. It is hoped that about half of each class period will be dedicated to Java and network/WWW programming and the other half to the broader topics of networking and the Internet.

Textbooks:
The required textbook is Internet and Intranet Engineering by D. Minoli. This book was selected by the person who organized the lecture series. There is also a recommended textbook, Java in a Nutshell, 2nd ed., which is highly recommended as being a great book, a great value, and a great help for your programming projects. You should get the second edition rather than the first. If the bookstore runs out, you can order the book from www.amazon.com and get a discount price of $16, though you will have to pay shipping.

Homework:
There will be required readings from the required textbook and additional readings in the form of papers that I hand out or make available on the web. There will be programming projects in java, involving networking or related to the WWW. Some possible java projects that I have in mind are a draw program for your web page, a "chat-room" server and client, programs that access Internet information such as a news headline, weather, dictionary, or bible applet, a networked game application, and/or a program that extracts info from a database and uses regular expressions.

For the latter part of the term, there will be larger group projects that will hopefully be of value to the CCEL, the college, or the WWW community in general. Some examples are a web database application (World Wide Topical Bible?), a java-based search engine, an XML parser, a collapsible outliner, or a librarian. Students who are interested in taking on larger programming projects may be able to substitute it (and a class presentation) for some of the other programming projects and/or the final exam.

Exam:
a midterm and a final exam will be given.

Grading:
Grading will be based on the exams (15% and 20%), the programming projects (55%), and class participation including asking questions, possibly making a presentation, and attending the Argonne lectures (10%).