Scripting Languages
CSCI-GA.3033.003, Summer 2012

General Information

Course Description

Syllabus

• Fundamentals: interpreters, dynamic typing, dynamic scoping (Perl, VBA).
• Data processing: regular expressions, string interpolation, hash tables (Perl), XML and DOM (JavaScript).
• Web programming: server (PHP), client (JavaScript), databases, AJAX, security.
• Application extension: Automating tasks in large systems (VBA).
• Other languages: Brief overview of Python, Bash (shell), Ruby.

Recommended Books

• Programming Language Pragmatics, 3rd edition.
  Michael Scott. ISBN 0123745144, Morgan Kaufmann, 2009.
• Programming Perl, 3rd edition [safari].
  Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen, and Jon Orwant. ISBN 0-596-00027-8, O'Reilly, 2000.
• Programming PHP, 2nd edition [safari].
  Rasmus Lerdorf, Kevin Tatroe, and Peter MacIntyre. ISBN 0-596-00681-0, O'Reilly, 2006.
• JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 6th edition [safari].
  David Flanagan. ISBN 0596805527, O'Reilly, 2011.
• Mastering VBA, 2nd edition.
  Guy Hart-Davis. ISBN 0-7821-4436-5, Wiley, 2005.

Prerequisites

Grading

• Homeworks are assigned each week on Thursday, and each homework is due one week later on Friday at 6pm. This is a strict deadline. Homeworks involve both conceptual questions and hands-on programming.
• Quizzes are at the end of the lectures on 6/7 and 7/12. Each quiz is 35 minutes long. The quizzes focus on conceptual questions. Quizzes are shorter than the final exam, but similar in style.
• The final exam is on Thursday 8/9 from 6:00-8:20 in Room WWH 109. This is the same room and time as for lectures. The final exam will cover material from the entire semester.

Academic integrity

• I encourage you to collaborate on homework assignments. But you must write up and turn in your own answers. Also, you must clearly indicate who you collaborated with.
• During quizzes and the final exam, you must not use any reference material, and you must not communicate with your fellow students.
• If I detect any incidents of cheating, I will report them immediately to the department.

Assignment deadlines

• If you submit at least 1 minute late, but at most 3 hours late, you receive 50% of the points for that homework.
• Otherwise, late homeworks are only acceptable if the lateness is caused by circumstances beyond your control, such as illness or a missed flight.
• In this case, you only get the points for the homework if you provide official documentation, such as a doctor's certificate, for the reason why your homework is late.

Points from homeworks and quizzes

hw01  39 39 38 38 38 37 37 37 36 36 36 36 35 35 35 35 35 34 34 34 34 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 32 32 32 31 31 30 30 30 30 29 28 27 27 26 25 25 19
hw02  40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 39 39 39 39 39 39 38 38 38 38 38 38 38 38 38 37 37 37 36 36 35 35 35 35 35 34 34 34 33 33 27
quiz1 29 29 29 28 28 28 27 27 27 26 26 25 25 25 25 25 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 23 23 23 23 23 22 21 21 21 21 20 20 20 19 19 19 18 17 16 16 15 14 11 9
hw03  40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 38 38 38 38 38 38 37 36 35 35 34 28 26 15
hw04  40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 39 39 39 38.5 38 38 38 38 38 37 37 36 35 34 28 26 15
hw05  40 40 40 39 39 39 37 37 37 37 37 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 35 35 35 35 34 34 33 33 33 33 32 32 32 32 32 32 31 31 29 28 28 27 26
hw06  30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 27 27 27 26 26 25 25 25 23 22 22
hw07  40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 38 38 37 37 37 37 36 36 35 35 35 35 35 30 27 19
quiz2 40 39 39 39 39 38 38 38 36 36 36 35 35 34 34 34 34 34 34 33 33 32 32 32 32 32 31 31 31 31 31 30 29 29 29 27 26 25 24 24 24 24 23 16
hw08  40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 38 38 38 38 38 38 38 38 38 38 37 37 37 36 36 36 36 35 35 35 35 35 35 34 33 30.5 29 27 23 23 22.5 20
hw09  40 40 39 38 38 38 38 38 38 38 38 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 34 33 31 30
hw10  40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 38 38 38 38 38 38 38 38 38 38 36 35 34 29
final 60 60 60 59 59 58 58 58 57 57 57 56 56 56 56 56 56 56 56 56 56 55 55 55 55 55 54 54 54 53 53 53 52 51 51 51 50 46 46 45 45 44 42 41 39

Schedule

Date	Lecture topic	Homework	Quiz
Th 5/24	Introduction; End user programming (VBA)	hw01
Th 5/31	Objects, properties, call-backs	hw02
Th 6/7	Textual data processing (Perl)	hw03	quiz1
Th 6/14	Context, objects, scripting as glue	hw04
Th 6/21	Server-side scripting (PHP)	hw05
Th 6/28	Client-side scripting (JavaScript)	hw06
Th 7/5	Web applications and databases	hw07
Th 7/12	Debugging for scripting languages	hw08	quiz2
Th 7/19	Dr. Marco Pistoia: Security for web languages	hw09
Th 7/26	Other scripting languages (Bash, Python, Ruby)	hw10
Th 8/2	Review; Dr. Priya Nagpurkar: Performance
Th 8/9	Final exam Version A and Version B		(final)

See also