CS358 Principles of Programming Languages Spring 2023

Course Information

Course Catalog Description

Syntax and semantics. Compilers and interpreters. Programs as data. Regular expressions and context free grammars. Programming paradigms, including procedural, functional, and object-oriented programming. Type systems, including dynamic and static typing disciplines. Binding, scope, data abstraction, and modularity. Denotational, operational, and axiomatic semantics. Introduction to program correctness.

Format

• Class meetings will be conducted in person.
• Classes will include a mixture of lectures and live problem solving. You should bring your laptop.
• Lecture notes (and sometimes slides) will be made available before each class.
• Attendance at all class meetings is expected, although it will not factor into your grade.
• Classes will be recorded on zoom, but visuals may not have high quality. Recordings will be made available after each class meeting.

Textbook

There is no required textbook.

Prerequisites

CS302, CS314(=CS300), CS350 passed with grades of C or better. CS202 is an acceptable subtitute for CS302. It is assumed that you have substantial programming experience in C/C++. Experience in at least one other language, such as Python or JavaScript, is very useful. Prior knowledge of TypeScript (or JavaScript) is not required.

Requirements and Grading

• Weekly homework assignments, mostly in the form of programming exercises in TypeScript.
• Midterm exam (in the lecture slot on May 9) and Final exam (on June 13).
  • Exams are conducted in person.
  • Exams will be closed-book, without use of a computer or other electronic device, but a small "cheat sheet" of notes will be permitted.
• Makeup of grade:

  Homeworks (best 6 of 8)	50%
  Midterm Exam	20%
  Final Exam	30%

• Course letter grades will be assigned on a sliding scale. There are no absolute percentages associated with the different grades.

Homework

• There will be 8 homework assignments, roughly one per week.
• Each assignment will have multiple short problems. We will select a subset of these problems to grade in detail; you will get a small amount of credit for attempting the others.
• Completed exercises for each week must be submitted on Canvas by 11:59pm on Wednesdays to receive credit.
• This deadline is strict, because solutions will be discussed in class on Thursdays.
• Extensions will be given only in extraordinary circumstances, and require permission of the instructor in advance.
• In computing your course grade, only the best 6 out of 8 assignments will be counted. This means that up to two assignments can be submitted late, or skipped altogether, without damaging your grade. (The latter is not recommended though, if you want to be prepared for the midterm and final.)
• Exercises may be completed on your own computer (strongly recommended) or on a CS linux machine.

Schedule

This schedule is tentative and subject to change.

Week	Lecture Date	Topic
1	Apr 4/6	Course Introduction; Representing Programs; Introducing TypeScript
2	Apr 11/13	Compilers & Interpreters; Variables and Scope
3	Apr 18/20	Grammars; Parsing
4	Apr 25/27	Functions; Closures
5	May 2/4	Heap; Garbage Collection
6	May 9	Midterm exam
6	May 11	Mutation
7	May 16/18	Types; Static Analysis
8	May 23/25	Safety; Program Correctness
9	May 30/Jun 1	Objects; Modules
10	Jun 6/8	Formal Semantics
11	Jun 13	Final exam 10:15-12:05

Policies

Individual work

• You are allowed to work together on labs and homeworks. However, you must prepare and submit your solutions individually.
• Exams must be completed individually without any collaboration.
• Plagiarism or collaborating on an exam will result in an automatic zero grade and the initiation of disciplinary action at the University level.

Discrimination and Misconduct

• Portland State is committed to fostering a safe, productive learning environment. Title IX and our school policy prohibit gender or sex-based discrimination and sexual misconduct (including harassment, domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking).
• We expect a culture of professionalism and mutual respect in our department and class. You may report any incident of discrimination or discriminatory harassment, including sexual harassment, to either the Office of Equity and Compliance or the Office of the Dean of Student Life.
• Please be aware that members of the faculty have the responsibility to report any instances of sexual harassment, sexual violence and/or other forms of prohibited discrimination to PSU's Title IX Coordinator, the Office of Equity and Compliance or the Dean of Student Life and cannot keep information confidential.
• If you would rather share information about sexual harassment or sexual violence to a confidential employee who does not have this reporting responsibility, you can contact a confidential advocate at 503-894-7982 or on-line, or another confidential employee found on the sexual misconduct resource webpage.

Disabilities

• If you are a student with a disability in need of academic accommodations, you should register with Disability Services for Students and notify the instructor immediately to arrange for support services.

Recording

• We will use technology for virtual meetings and recordings in this course. Our use of such technology is governed by FERPA, the Acceptable Use Policy and PSU's Student Code of Conduct. A record of all meetings and recordings is kept and stored by PSU, in accordance with the Acceptable Use Policy and FERPA. Your instructor will not share recordings of your class activities outside of course participants, which include your fellow students, TAs/GAs/Mentors, and any guest faculty or community based learning partners that we may engage with. You may not share recordings outside of this course. Doing so may result in disciplinary action.