CSE 444: Syllabus

Course Goals
 
Databases are at the heart of modern commercial application development. Their use extends beyond this to many other environments and domains where large amounts of data must be stored for efficient update, retrieval, and analysis. In the previous course, CSE 344, we learned how to use a variety of data management systems and we learned some basic data management principles. In this course, we will study the principles behind building data management systems. For the detailed list of topics and schedule, please see the course calendar.
 
We now live in a world that is increasingly driven by data! This course will give you the conceptual knowledge and practical training for building the systems and tools necessary for handling all this data. Interestingly, we will not tell you how to build the next generation of data management systems but we will teach you important concepts that will help you invent how such systems should be built (then you should come back and tell us about what you built).
 
Course Format
 
The class meets three times a week for lectures. We will follow parts of the recommended textbook (see below). While the lectures are designed to be clear and self-contained, and to cover all the material used in class, you are strongly encouraged to read from the textbook, both in order to get a better understanding of the material covered and to learn about related topics, which are not covered in class. Please note that the lectures will be a combination of whiteboard, powerpoint, and live demos. Lecture notes will be made available online, but they are brief and insufficient to learn the material. The lesson is: do not miss classes and take notes.

In addition to the lecture there will be sections. The sections will discuss the material taught in class, will give detailed instructions on how to get started with the lab assignments, and will give you an extra opportunity to ask questions.

There will be several lab assignments, involving significant programming and multiple written assignments that will prepare you for these practical labs and will help you practice the concepts that we are learning.

Finally, while there are no regular exams in this project-based class, we will have four, short quizzes in class to test your understanding of each of the four labs, after you completed them. There will be no quiz for the final project. Instead, you will write a final report.
 
 

Lectures and Sections

Please see course home page for lecture and sections schedule and location.
Lab assignments
 
There will be several lab assignments. Please see the Homework/Labs page for details on due dates and submission instructions.
 
The labs will involve heavy Java programming. They will also use JUnit. We do not teach JUnit in this course. We assume that you have seen it in 331. If you have never used JUnit before, we encourage you to learn it as part of completing lab1.
 
Labs are to be done INDIVIDUALLY! However, it is OK for you to discuss your general approach to each lab with other students in the course.
Written assignments
 
There will be several written assignments to complement the lab assignment. Please see the Homework/Labs page for details on due dates and submission instructions.
 
Written assignments are to be done INDIVIDUALLY! You are not allowed to discuss any aspect of your solution with anyone.
Quizzes
 
There will be four, short quizzes in class: One quiz for each lab assignment, except for the final project. These quizzes will test your understanding of what you implemented in the labs.
Grading

444 grading:

Labs (including final project lab part): 40%
Final project report 10%
Six written assignments: 25%
Quizzes: 25%
 
 

544M grading: An extra 10% will be added to the above for paper readings. Your grade will then be scaled back down from 110 to 100.

544M and 444 groups will be graded separately at the end of the quarter.

 
Texts

Recommended textbook:

You can also use the same book as in 344 (so you save money!)

 

Late Policy
 
 Attendance
 
We hope you will attend every lecture. If you miss a lecture, talk to a friend who was present, and be sure to check the Web site for class messages.
Resources
The course website and mailing list will be used extensively to provide you with course information, such as the schedule mentioned above, lab and written assignments, class messages and many other things. Please see the main webpage of the course for details.
We will also extensively use the course message board.
Computer Use Policy
 
Some excerpts from the campus policies. Take them seriously: "You must use all UW [computing] resources in strict accordance with local, state, and federal laws. These laws cover such areas as illegal access to computer systems, networks, and files; copyright violations; and harassment issues... Software and information resources provided through the university for use by faculty, staff, and students may be used on computing equipment only as specified in the various software licenses. Unauthorized use of software, images, or files is regarded as a serious matter and any such use is without the consent of the University of Washington...If abuse of computer software, images, or files occurs, those responsible for such abuse will be held legally accountable."
Academic Misconduct
 
All work turned in is expected to be your own. Although students are encouraged to study together, each student is expected to produce his or her own solution to the labs and written assignments. Coping or using sections of someone else's program, even if it has been modified by you, is not acceptable. We will use the standard tools to detect cheating.