Important course information is posted here, but myCourses is used for assignment submission and grading, as well as posting/answering questions. Please use myCourses for these purposes; for programming/assignment concerns you can also see a teaching assistant.
If you are having problems or issues outside of coursework, you should contact the instructor of your section, or the course coordinator.
Announcements:
2009-04-18, 19:00: Mathieu Petitpas (Instructor, Section 1) will be holding two 3-hour final exam review sessions before the final exam. The schedule for these review sessions is the following:
All students registered in COMP-202, regardless of the section in which they are registered, are welcome to attend.
2009-04-15, 20:30: Instructors will be holding office hours during the final exam period according to the following schedule:
Unless otherwise specified, TAs will not be holding office hours during the final exam period.
2009-04-15, 20:30 (IMPORTANT UPDATES): The COMP-202 final examination will take place on Wednesday, April 29, 2009, from 9:00 until 12:00, in the GYM. Consult the McGill Examinations Page, located at http://www.mcgill.ca/student-records/exam/ for the most up-to-date official information and procedures (including how conflicts are handled).
All the material covered in the course is examinable.
Make sure to bring your McGill ID card; invigilators will collect your ID card during the examination.
The final examination is CLOSED-BOOK; only writing implements (pens, pencils, erasers, lead for mechanical pencils, etc.) are permitted. Non-programmable calculators are permitted but should not be necessary. Textbooks, notes, slides, computers, PDAs, and all other aids are STRICTLY FORBIDDEN. Invigilators and instructors reserve the right to inspect all materials you use during the final examination. The examination paper will include an Java Standard Class Library reference sheet, documenting the names of the most frequently-used classes and methods from the Java Standard Class Library, as well as the methods' parameter types, return types, and a short description.
IMPORTANT: The examination paper will consist of two separate documents:
Although you will have to write your name on both documents and return both documents at the end of the examination, ANSWERS WRITTEN ON THE QUESTION SHEET WILL NOT BE GRADED; only answers written ON THE ANSWER SHEET (or the provided official booklets if you run out of space) will be graded.
The format of the final examination will be as follows (values below are approximate and subject to change):
2009-04-06, 19:15: Midterm results have been released, and you can view your midterm grade using the Grade Book tool. Note that if you did not write the midterm, the Grade Book tool will show a grade of 0, unless you have a valid, documented excuse for being absent.
Midterms will be handed back to students during the following lectures:
After this, you will be able to retrieve your midterm from the instructor for your section during his office hours, or by scheduling an appointment.
When you get your midterm back, please check carefully that the marks you received for each question were added properly; the summations were checked, but some errors might have slipped through. Also make sure that the grade appearing in the Grade Book tool is the same as the grade on your paper, as we will be using the grades from the Grade Book tool to compute final grades for the course; again, the entries were checked, but some errors might have slipped through. In case of any errors, notify the instructor for your section.
Likewise, if you believe there was a grading error, please notify the instructor for your section.
The solution, as well as basic statistical information (averages, medians, minima, maxima, etc.) are available in the Material Related to Examinations section of the Course Content tool. These will not be made available on the publicly-available course home page.
Finally, for the 6 students who got 30% or less, you can show your copy to the Frostbite ice cream stand in McConnell Engineering Building, and you will receive a free ice cream as a small consolation.
2009-01-27, 18:45: The Arts Undergraduate Society's (AUS) Peer Tutoring Service has a peer tutor available for COMP-202.
The AUS' Peer Tutoring Service is a volunteer-based program, meaning that any student wishing to receive help does not have to pay. Their tutors have earned a final grade of at least A- in the courses that they tutor.
Although the AUS' Peer Tutoring Service is aimed at students registered in the Faculty of Arts, it is by no means exclusively so; that is, any student needing extra help is eligible.
For more information, contact the AUS COMP-202 peer tutor, Rachel Kat, at rachel.kat@mail.mcgill.ca.
There are no prerequisites for this course other than a basic CEGEP or high-level high-school mathematics course. However, attention to detail, rigor, and the ability to think in an abstract manner is much more important than knowledge of calculus, algebra, or trigonometry.
This course introduces students to computer programming and is intended for those with little or no background in the subject. You also do not need to have any knowledge of computer science in general. On the other hand, basic computer skills such as browsing the Web, sending e-mail, creating documents with a Word processor, and other such fundamental tasks will be a valuable asset in this course.
A complete and very descriptive outline of the course is provided here.
The lectures slides and any section-specific materials are available here.
TA Information and Office Hour Schedule
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