COMP SCI 3013NA - Event Driven Computing

Ngee Ann Academy - Trimester 1 - 2016

Event driven paradigm: Finite State Automata, their behaviour and implementation. Correspondence with regular expressions. Examples of embedded systems. Introduction to interconnected state machines, Petri Nets, and concurrency. Concepts of state-space and relationship to testing. Push-down automata and applications to parsing. Building Graphical User Interfaces: model view controller paradigm. Building GUIs using modern APIs. Ease of use and human-computer interaction issues.

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code COMP SCI 3013NA
    Course Event Driven Computing
    Coordinating Unit Computer Science
    Term Trimester 1
    Level Undergraduate
    Location/s Ngee Ann Academy
    Units 3
    Available for Study Abroad and Exchange N
    Course Description Event driven paradigm: Finite State Automata, their behaviour and implementation. Correspondence with regular expressions. Examples of embedded systems. Introduction to interconnected state machines, Petri Nets, and concurrency. Concepts of state-space and relationship to testing. Push-down automata and applications to parsing. Building Graphical User Interfaces: model view controller paradigm. Building GUIs using modern APIs. Ease of use and human-computer interaction issues.
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Associate Professor Nickolas Falkner

    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes
    The course provides an introduction to finites state machines, and the event-driven programming paradigm.
    Upon completion of this course you will be able to:
    1. Describe the different ways a finite-state machine can be represented;
    2. Explain how a finite state machine recognises an input string;
    3. Explain how a non-deterministic finite state machine works;
    4. Explain the behaviour of regular expressions;
    5. Translate a regular expression into a corresponding finite-state machine;
    6. Build GUI-based software systems;
    7. Explain a few basic design-patterns, and know when to apply them.
    University Graduate Attributes

    This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

    University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s)
    Deep discipline knowledge
    • informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies
    • acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1
    • accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)
    5
    Critical thinking and problem solving
    • steeped in research methods and rigor
    • based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development
    • demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment
    4,5
    Teamwork and communication skills
    • developed from, with, and via the SGDE
    • honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies
    • encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning
    1,2,3,4
    Career and leadership readiness
    • technology savvy
    • professional and, where relevant, fully accredited
    • forward thinking and well informed
    • tested and validated by work based experiences
    5,6,7
    Self-awareness and emotional intelligence
    • a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal
    • open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers
    • able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate
    7
  • Learning Resources
    Required Resources
    There is no required text-book.
    Comprehensive lecture notes are available for most parts of the course.
    Recommended Resources
    You can perform all the exercise work required for the course in the NgeeAnn computer Labs.
    The programming language used is Java, which is similar to C++.
    However, if you want to be able to work at home, you could consider installing Java on your own computer.
    For more information, go to the Java website --- simply Google "Java".
    Online Learning
    You can find the general information about this course at www.cs.adelaide.edu.au/~third/edc

    Specific information about this year's offering can be found under the heading "current offerings" near the top of the page. Links to examples, exercises, and tutorials will be posted on the page.
  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes
    This course is delivered in intensive mode at NAAEC as two seperate weekend activities. Students are expected to undertake study and assessment work between these sessions, as well as working up to a final examination conducted as a separate activity after the second weekend.
    Workload

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    You are expected to attend all scheduled lecture classes. You will need to allocate up to 60 hours to work on the assignments and tutorials.
    Learning Activities Summary
    Areas covered include finite state automata, GUI concepts, GUI development and design patterns. A detailed list may be found at https://cs.adelaide.edu.au/~third/edc/
    Specific Course Requirements
    None.
  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary
    The assessment will comprise two parts:
    Three programming exercises (10%+10%+10%); and
    A final exam (70%).
    Assessment Detail
    All practical assignments require you to write programs, which will be marked by an automatic testing script.
    You are strongly encouraged to begin the exercises early, to allow time for seeking help when needed.

    You will find that the marking script is aggessively hostile --- it will seek to break your program.

    To encourage you to test your own program, access to the tester may be limited to a fixed number of test runs.
    The first test run will occur on the due date for the execise, and the subsequent two runs will be at about 4-day intervals afterwards.

    The test script does not tell you exactly what is being tested, and may provide little or no information that is useful in finding errors.
    If you submit your exercise at the last minute, and hope to use the automated tester to help you debug your program, you will be seriously disappointed.

    You should build your program in small stages, and test it thoroughly.

    The testing regime is like this because, you will most likely soon graduate, after which there will be no more automatic testers available --- you will need to learn how to test, and write you own testers.
    Submission
    All practical assignments must be submitted using the School of Computer Science online Submission System.
    Details are included in each assignment description on the course website.
    At the time of submission, some elementary tests will be run to ensure that your program is fundamentally OK.
    If you fail any of the handin tests, you will likely fail almost all of the real tests.

    If you hand in your work late, you will miss the test-runs, and deprive yourself of vital evidence that might help you debug your program.

    Start early, test often!
    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

  • Student Feedback

    The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

    You can find the latest SELT survey results on the course website, here:
    www.cs.adelaide.du.au/~third/edc

  • Student Support
  • Policies & Guidelines
  • Fraud Awareness

    Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.