Spring 2024 Fall 2024 Prior Terms

Instructor: Melissa Danforth
Office: Sci III 338, 654-3180
Office Hours: MTWRF 2:00-3:00pm (or by appointment)
Email: melissa@cs.csub.edu

CMPS 150 is a hybrid course. You must follow the instructions in this syllabus and on the lab assignments to receive credit in this course.

There will be an optional in-person session for this course on Wednesday April 2nd at 6:00pm in Sci III 315240 (Note the Room Change). If you are having difficulty with the course contents after viewing the videos and reading the website, you are encouraged to attend.

Course websites are http://www.cs.csubak.edu/cs150/ for assignments and this page for the syllabus.

Basic Unix commands and programming utilities will be introduced. Students will learn how to use email, a text editor, and manage files and directories. This course is designed for students who have no experience with Unix.

This course is a corequisite for CMPS 221. There are no prerequisites.

This course is intended for students currently in CMPS 211, CMPS 221 or for transfer students with transfer credit for CMPS 221. If you do not meet one of these qualifications, EMAIL the instructor or come to the instructor's office hours to be sure this is the right course for you.

CMPS 150 introduces you to the basic commands you will need to know to use the CEE/CS department servers for your programming courses. Even non-majors who take CMPS 221 should take this course to familiarize yourself with the command-line environment used for CMPS 221.

Computer Science majors are required to take either CMPS 150 or CMPS 215. Computer Science majors are STRONGLY encouraged to take CMPS 215, "Unix Programming Environment". CMPS 215 is a 3 unit, 10 week course offered every Fall Quarter. CMPS 215 goes beyond the scope of this course to teach you how to really get the most out of the CEE/CS department servers for programmming. CMPS 215 can also be used for elective credit for the CIS and IS tracks and is the prerequisite for CMPS 216 "Unix System Administration" which is another elective for the CIS and IS tracks.

You will be given an account information sheet during your first lab of CMPS 221. You will NEED this account information sheet for completing the CMPS 150 assignments (and for your CMPS 221 course). If you did not receive an account information sheet, contact the instructor during office hours. If you cannot make it to the instructor's office hours, see Steve Garcia (the department system administrator in Sci III 332) for your account sheet. All assignments for the class are posted on the course website.

CMPS 150 is a credit/no credit class. You must complete Labs 1 and 2 to receive credit in the class. It is your responsibility to make sure your labs are checked off when you complete them. You may have your CMPS 221 instructor, your CMPS 221 in-class tutor, or any of the department tutors at the department Tutoring Center (note: the Tutoring Center does not open until the 2nd week of classes) check off your assignments.

To receive credit, you MUST have completed the required labs by the last day of classes AND had them checked off.

The optional assignment (Lab 3) is STRONGLY recommended for Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Electrical Engineering majors. Some of the syntax may be required in other CEE/CS courses, such as how to make a zip file or tarball. It is easier to learn this syntax with help (the instructor and student assistants can help you with the optional lab) than on your own.

In the eighth week of class, you may receive an email to evaluate this course using a SurveyMonkey link. Please evaluate the CMPS 150 content only (e.g. the YouTube videos and the CMPS 150 website), not any supplemental instruction you may have received from your CMPS 221 instructor. Also note that the instructor for this course is not the same as your CMPS 221 instructor. You will receive a separate paper evaluation form in class for your CMPS 221 instructor. Your account on the CEE/CS department server (Sleipnir) also comes with an email account. Most correspondance for CMPS 221 will happen with your Sleipnir email account. Other faculty in the department will also email your Sleipnir account to communicate with you. You should make a habit of checking your Sleipnir email account each day. Lab 1 will show you how to do that. You may also forward your Sleipnir email to another address (Lab 3 contains instructions for forwarding email automatically).