Chapter 0

Course Information

Getting Oriented

Web Only

This textbook was authored for the CIS 526 - Web Application Development course at Kansas State University. This front matter is specific to that course. If you are not enrolled in the course, please disregard this section.

Subsections of Course Information

Course Introduction

Web Only

This textbook was authored for the CIS 526 - Web Application Development course at Kansas State University. This front matter is specific to that course. If you are not enrolled in the course, please disregard this section.

Course Resources

Hello, and welcome to CIS 526 - Web Application Development, and also CC 515 - Full Stack Web Development. Even though these are two different courses in the catalog, they teach the same content and will use the same Canvas course. So, anywhere you see CIS 526 in this course, you can also mentally substitute CC 515 in its place.

My name is Nathan Bean, and I will be your instructor for this course. My contact information is shown here, and is also listed on the syllabus, and on the home page of the course on K-State Online. My email address is nhbean@ksu.edu , and it is the official method of communication for matters outside of this course, since it allows me to have a record of our conversations and respond when I’m available. I’ll also be available via the K-State Teams app and the K-State CS Discord server, so you can easily chat with me there.

For communication in this course, there are two basic methods that I recommend. For general questions about the course, content, getting help with labs, and any other items relevant to the course, I encourage you to use the Ed Discussion board accessible through Canvas. This allows all of us to communicate in a single space, and it also means that any questions I answer will immediately be available for the whole class. For personal issues, grading questions, or if you have something that is a “to-do” item for me, please email me directly.

Before we begin, I must give credit to Russell Feldhausen for expanding the content of this course and preparing many of the videos you’ll be watching - so you’ll be seeing his face as often (or perhaps more often) than mine.

For a brief overview of the course, there are a total of 8 modules of content, containing textbook pages, activities, tutorials, and more that you’ll complete. In addition, throughout the semester you’ll be working on a large-scale web application project which consists of 6 milestones. The modules are configured in K-State Canvas as gated modules, meaning that you must complete each item in the module in order before continuing. There will be one module due each week, and you may work ahead at your own pace. Finally, all work in this course must be completed and all labs graded by no later than May 3rd, 2024.

Looking ahead to the rest of this first module, you’ll see that there are a few more items to be completed before you can move on. In the next video, Russ will discuss a bit more information about navigating through this course on Canvas, using Codio, and using the videos posted on YouTube.

One thing I highly encourage each of you to do is read the syllabus for this course in its entirety, and let me know if you have any questions. My view is that the syllabus is a contract between me as your teacher and you as a student, defining how each of us should treat each other and what we should expect from each other. I have made a few changes to my standard syllabus template for this course, and those changes are clearly highlighted. Finally, the syllabus itself is subject to change as needed as we adapt to this new course layout and format, and all changes will be clearly communicated to everyone before they take effect.

The grading in this course is very simple. First, 15% of your grade consists of completing the short activities and quizzes scattered throughout the course. Another 35% of your grade consists of completing the interactive tutorials. Finally, 50% of your grade comes from completing the 6 project milestones throughout the semester. Also, notice that the final milestone is worth double the amount of points, so it is very important that you get to the end of the course and complete that milestone. There will be some extra credit points available, mainly through the Bug Bounty assignment, which you will review as part of this module. Lastly, the standard “90-80-70-60” grading scale will apply, though I reserve the right to curve grades up to a higher grade level at my discretion. Therefore, you will never be required to get higher than 90% for an A, but you may get an A if you score slightly below 90% if I choose to curve the grades.

Since this is a completely online course, you may be asking yourself what is different about this course. First off, you can work ahead at your own pace, and turn in work whenever you like before the due date. However, as discussed before, you must do all the readings and assignments in order before moving on, so you cannot skip ahead.

In addition, due to the flexible online format of this class, there won’t be any long lecture videos to watch. Instead, each module will consist of several short lessons and tutorials, each focused on a particular topic or task. Likewise, there won’t be any textbooks formally used, but you’ll be directed to a bevy of online resources for additional information.

What hasn’t changed, though, is the basic concept of a college course. You’ll still be expected to watch or read about 6 hours of content to complete each module. In addition to that, each lab assignment may require anywhere from 1 to 6 hours of work to complete. If you plan on doing a module every week, that roughly equates to 6 hours of content and 6 hours of homework each week, which is the expected workload from a 3 credit hour college course during the summer.

Also, while some of the activities will be graded automatically, much of the grading will still be done directly by me. This includes the project milestones. For each milestone, I’ll try to give you timely feedback so you can improve on your design before the next milestone is due.

For this class, each student is required to have access to a modern web browser and a high-speed internet connection. If you have any concerns about meeting these requirements, please contact me ASAP! We may have options available through some on-campus resources to help you out.

This summer, I’ll be working on a few updates to this course. These updates will mainly affect the second half of the course, and focus on updating a few of the items and introducing some newer technologies and libraries you may come across.

Finally, as you are aware, this course is always subject to change. While we have taught this class several times before, there may be a few hiccups as we get started due to new software and situations. The best advice I have is to look upon this graphic with the words “Don’t Panic” written in large, friendly letters, and remember that it’ll all work out in the end as long as you know where your towel is.

So, to complete this module, there are a few other things that you’ll need to do. The next step is to watch the video on navigating Canvas and using the YouTube videos, which will give you a good idea of how to most effectively work through the content in this course.

To get to that video, click the “Next” button at the bottom right of this page.

Subsections of Course Introduction

Navigating Canvas

Web Only

This textbook was authored for the CIS 526 - Web Application Development course at Kansas State University. This front matter is specific to that course. If you are not enrolled in the course, please disregard this section.

YouTube Video

This course makes extensive use of several features of Canvas which you may or may not have worked with before. To give you the best experience in this course, this page will briefly describe those features and the best way to access them.

When you first access the course on Canvas, you will be shown this homepage, with my contact information and any important information about the course. This is a quick, easy reference for you if you ever need to get in touch with me.

Let’s walk through the options in the main menu to the left. First, any course announcements will be posted in the Announcements section, which is available here. Those announcements will also be configured to send emails to all students when they are posted, though in your personal Canvas settings you can disable email notifications if you so choose. Please make sure you check here often for any updates to course information.

The next section is Modules, which is where you’ll primarily interact with the course. You’ll notice that I’ve disabled several of the common menu items in this course, such as Files and Assignments. This is to simplify things for you as students, so you remember that all the course content is available in one place.

When you first arrive at the Modules section, you’ll see all of the content in the course laid out in order. If you like, you can minimize the modules you aren’t working on by clicking the arrow to the left of the module name.

As you look at each module, you’ll see that it gives quite a bit of information about the course. At the top of each module is an item telling you what parts of the module you must complete to continue. In this case, it says “Complete All Items.” Likewise, the following modules may list a prerequisite module, which you must complete before you can access it.

Within each module is a set of items, which must be completed in listed order. Under each item you’ll see information about what you must do in order to complete that item. For many of them, it will simply say “view,” which means you must view the item at least once to continue. Others may say “contribute,” “submit,” or give a minimum score required to continue. For assignments, it also helpfully gives the number of points available, and the due date.

Let’s click on the first item, Course Introduction, to get started. You’ve already been to this page by this point. Course pages will primarily consist of readings covering the content of the course. Some may also include an embedded video; in this case the video will be followed by slides and a downloadable version of the video, and a rough script for quick reference - as is the case for this page.

When you are ready to move to the next step in a module, click the “Next” button at the bottom of the page. Canvas will automatically add “Next” and “Previous” buttons to each piece of content which is accessed through the Modules section, which makes it very easy to work through the course content. I’ll click through a couple of items here.

At any point, you may click on the Modules link in the menu to the left to return to the Modules section of the site. You’ll notice that I’ve viewed the first few items in the first module, so I can access more items here. This is handy if you want to go back and review the content you’ve already seen, or if you leave and want to resume where you left off. Canvas will put green checkmarks to the right of items you’ve completed.

Finally, you’ll find the usual Canvas links to view your Grades in the course, as well as People listing instructors, TAs, and fellow students taking the course.

Where to Find Help

Web Only

This textbook was authored for the CIS 526 - Web Application Development course at Kansas State University. This front matter is specific to that course. If you are not enrolled in the course, please disregard this section.

YouTube Video

Resources

As you work on the materials in this course, you may run into questions or problems and need assistance. This video reviews the various types of help available to you in this course.

First and foremost, anytime you have a questions or need assistance in the course, please post in the course Discord room. It is the best place to go to get help with anything related to this course, from the tutorials and projects to issues with Codio and Canvas. Before you post on Discord, take a minute to look around and make sure the question has not already been posted before. It will save everyone quite a bit of time.

There are a few major reasons we’ve chosen to use Discord in this program. Our goal is to respond as quickly as possible, and having a single place for all questions allows the instructors and the TAs to work together to answer questions and solve problems quickly. As an added bonus, it reduces the amount of email generated by the class. Discord includes lots of features to make your messages easily readable using both markdown and code blocks. Finally, by participating in discussions on Discord and helping to answer questions from your fellow students, you can earn extra credit points!

Of course, as another step you can always exercise your information-gathering skills and use online search tools such as Google to answer your question. While you are not allowed to search online for direct solutions to assignments or projects, you are more than welcome to use Google to access programming resources such as the Mozilla Developer Network, Node language documentation, CSS-Tricks, StackOverflow, and other tutorials. I can definitely assure you that programmers working in industry are often using Google and other online resources to solve problems, so there is no reason why you shouldn’t start building that skill now.

If all else fails, please email me and let me know. Make sure you clearly explain your question and the steps you’ve taken to solve it thus far. If I feel it can be easily answered by one of the earlier steps, I may redirect you back to those before answering it directly. But, at times there are indeed questions that come up that don’t have an easy answer, and I’m more than happy to help answer them as needed.

Beyond Discord, there are a few resources you should be aware of. First, if you have any issues working with K-State Canvas, K-State IT resources, or any other technology related to the delivery of the course, your first source of help is the K-State IT Helpdesk. They can easily be reached via email at helpdesk@ksu.edu . Beyond them, there are many online resources for using Canvas, all of which are linked in the resources section below the video. As a last resort, you may also want to post in Discord, but in most cases we may simply redirect you to the K-State helpdesk for assistance.

Similarly, if you have any issues using the Codio platform, you are welcome to refer to their online documentation. Their support staff offers a quick and easy chat interface where you can ask questions and get feedback within a few minutes.

Next, we have grading and administrative issues. This could include problems or mistakes in the grade you received on a project, missing course resources, or any concerns you have regarding the course and the conduct of myself and your peers. Since this is an online course, you’ll be interacting with us on a variety of online platforms, and sometimes things happen that are inappropriate or offensive. There are lots of resources at K-State to help you with those situations. First and foremost, please DM me on Discord as soon as possible and let me know about your concern, if it is appropriate for me to be involved. If not, or if you’d rather talk with someone other than me about your issue, I encourage you to contact either your academic advisor, the CS department staff, College of Engineering Student Services, or the K-State Office of Student Life. Finally, if you have any concerns that you feel should be reported to K-State, you can do so at https://www.k-state.edu/report/ . That site also has links to a large number of resources at K-State that you can use when you need help.

Finally, if you find any errors or omissions in the course content, or have suggestions for additional resources to include in the course, DM the instructors on Discord. There are some extra credit points available for helping to improve the course, so be on the lookout for anything that you feel could be changed or improved.

So, in summary, Discord should always be your first stop when you have a question or run into a problem. For issues with Canvas or Codio, you are also welcome to refer directly to the resources for those platforms. For questions specifically related to the projects, use Discord for sure. For grading questions and errors in the course content or any other issues, please PM the instructors on Discord for assistance.

Our goal in this program is to make sure that you have the resources available to you to be successful. Please don’t be afraid to take advantage of them and ask questions whenever you want.

What You'll Learn

Web Only

This textbook was authored for the CIS 526 - Web Application Development course at Kansas State University. This front matter is specific to that course. If you are not enrolled in the course, please disregard this section.

The following is an outline of the topics we will be covering and when.

Warning

This course is still under development, so some of the content listed here may change before we reach that module.

Week 1: Web Application Foundations

  • The Document Object Model
    • Chapter 1
    • [Tutorial] Creating a Dialog
  • HTTP
    • Chapter 2
    • [Activity] Making Manual HTTP Requests
  • Responsive Design
    • Chapter B
    • [Tutorial] Responsive Card Layout
  • Project Milestone 1
    • Card Layout
    • Accessing Data from a Web API

Week 2: Advanced JavaScript

  • JSON and AJAX
    • [Activity] Working with JSON
    • [Activity] Making an AJAX Request
  • Asynchronous JavaScript
    • Chapter 3
    • [Tutorial] Web Workers
  • Introduction to Node
    • Chapter 4
    • [Tutorial] Your First Package
    • [Activity] Fun with Files
  • Project Milestone 2
    • Request Data via AJAX
    • Dynamically Render Page

Week 3: Web Servers

  • Basic Web Server
    • Chapter 5
    • [Tutorial] Hello Web
  • File Server Basics
    • Chapter 5 (cont.)
    • [Tutorial] Node File Server
  • Directory Listing
    • Chapter 5 (cont.)
    • [Tutorial] Directory Listing
  • Partial Downloads
    • Chapter 5 (cont.)
    • Chapter C
    • [Activity] Regular Expressions
    • [Tutorial] Streaming Media
  • Project Milestone 3
    • Refactor Project to Node

Week 4: Dynamic Web Servers

  • Server Pages
    • Chapter 6
    • [Exercise] ECMAScript Server Pages
    • [Tutiroal] Image Gallery
  • Uploading Data
    • Chapter 6 (cont.)
    • [Exercise] Uploading Form Data
    • [Exercise] Uploading Files
  • Adding State
    • Chapter 6 (cont.)
    • [Activity] Fun with Cookies
    • [Tutorial] Gallery Favorites

Week 5: Full Stack Development

  • Templates
    • Chapter 6 (cont.)
    • [Tutorial] Node Directory Listing in EJS
    • [Exercise] A Template By Another Name
  • Full Stack Development
    • Chapter 6 (cont.)
  • Persistent Storage
    • Chapter 7
    • [Tutorial] Blog Part 1
  • Routing
    • Chapter 8
    • [Tutorial] Blog Part 2
    • [Tutorial] Blog Part 3
  • Project Milestone 4
    • REfactor to Express
    • Add API Endpoints
    • Handle Requests for Items
    • Templates

Week 6: Web Frameworks

  • Authentication
    • Chapter 9
    • [Tutorial] Blog Part 4
    • [Tutorial] Blog Part 5
  • APIs
    • Chapter 8 (cont.)
    • [Tutorial] Blog Part 6
    • [Exercise] Web Hook Demo
  • Web Frameworks
    • Chapter 10
    • [Tutorial] Single Page App Part 1
    • [Tutorial] Single Page App Part 2
  • Project Milestone 5
    • Implement Authentication
    • Restrict Form Access to Authenticated Users

Week 7 & 8: Potpourri

  • Single Sign On
    • Chapter 9 (cont.)
    • [Tutorial] CAS Authentication
  • ASP.NET MVC
    • [Tutorial] ASP.NET MVC
  • React & Websockets
    • [Tutorial] React Chat App
  • Project Milestone 6
    • Mark Requests Complete
    • Administrator Role & Tasks

Course Textbooks

Web Only

This textbook was authored for the CIS 526 - Web Application Development course at Kansas State University. This front matter is specific to that course. If you are not enrolled in the course, please disregard this section.

This course does not have a required print textbook. The resources presented in the modules are also organized into an online textbook that can be accessed here: https://textbooks.cs.ksu.edu/cis526 . You may find this a useful reference if you prefer a traditional textbook layout. Additionally, since the textbook exists outside of Canvas’ access control, you can continue to utilize it after the course ends.

Warning

Please note that the materials presented in Canvas have additional graded assignments and exercises worked into the reading order that do not appear in the online edition of the textbook. You are responsible for completing these!

O’Reilly for Higher Education

If you are looking for additional resources to support your learning, a great resource that is available to Kansas State University students is the O’Reilley For Higher Education digital library offered through the Kansas State University Library. These include electronic editions of thousands of popular textbooks as well as videos and tutorials. As of this writing, a search for HTML returns 33,690 results, CSS 8,638 results, JavaScript 16,725 results, and Node.js 6,572 results.

There are likewise materials for other computer science topics you may have an interest in - it is a great resource for all your CS coursework. It costs you nothing (technically, your access was paid for by your tuition and fees), so you might as well make use of it!

Spring 2024 Syllabus

Web Only

This textbook was authored for the CIS 526 - Web Application Development | CC 515 - Full Stack Web Development course at Kansas State University. This front matter is specific to that course. If you are not enrolled in the course, please disregard this section.

CIS 526 - Web Application Development

CC 515 - Full Stack Web Development

This syllabus covers both courses. They are taught using the same content.

Instructor Contact Information

  • Instructor: Nathan Bean (nhbean AT ksu DOT edu)
    I use he/him pronouns. Feel free to share your own pronouns with me, and I’ll do my best to use them!
  • Office: DUE 2216
  • Phone: (785) 483-9264 (Call/Text)
  • Website: https://nathanhbean.com
  • In-Person Office Hours: Wednesday 1:20pm-3:30pm
  • Virtual Office Hours: By appointment via Zoom .

Preferred Methods of Communication:

  • Email: Email is the official method of communication for this course. Any emails sent to the instructor regarding this course should be answered within one class day.
  • Ed Discussions: For short questions and discussions of course content and assignments, Ed Discussions is preferred since questions can be asked once and answered for all students. The Ed Discussion board can be accessed through the course navigation on Canvas. Students are encouraged to post questions there and use that space for discussion, and the instructor will strive to answer questions there as well.
  • Phone/Text: Emergencies only! I will do my best to respond as quickly as I can.

GTA Contact Information

  • GTA: Joshua Garcia (josh98 AT ksu DOT edu)
  • Office: DUE 1118
  • In-Person Office Hours: 9:30am-10:30am Tuesdays and Thursdays

Prerequisites

  • CIS 526: CIS 501, CIS 560 (Prerequisite or Concurrent Enrollment), and either CC 120,CMST 135, or equivalent experience in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with instructor permission.
  • CC 515: CC 315, CC 410 (Prerequisite or Concurrent Enrollment), and either CC 120, CMST 135, or equivalent experience in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with instructor permission.

Students may enroll in CIS or CC courses only if they have earned a grade of C or better for each prerequisite to those courses.

Course Overview

Fundamental principles and best practices of web development, user interface design, web API design, advanced web interfaces, web development frameworks, single-page web applications, web standards and accessibility issues.

Course Description

This course focuses on the creation of web applications - programs that use the core technologies of the world-wide-web to deliver interactive and dynamic user experiences. It builds upon a first course in authoring web pages using HTML/CSS/JavaScript, introduces the creation of web servers using the Node programming languages, and building sophisticated web clients using declarative component-based design frameworks like React.

Student Learning Outcomes

The following are the learning objectives of this course:

  1. Students will develop a thorough understanding of the http client request - server response pattern, and be able to implement multiple kinds of requests and responses, including HTML tags, browser-based JavaScript, programmatically, and with tools.
  2. Students will understand and be able to make use of asynchronous programming, including creating original asynchronous functions and utilizing promises and the async/await key words.
  3. Students will be able to develop traditional full-stack web applications using Node, a SQL database, and a Linux OS.
  4. Students will be able to develop client-side [progressive] web applications using transpilation and minimization.
  5. Students will be able to develop secure web applications using password authentication, cookies, and json web tokens.

Major Course Topics

  • The Document Object Model
  • Responsive Web Design
  • JavaScript Object Serialization Notation
  • JavaScript Event Loop
  • Asynchronous functions
  • Promises
  • async/await
  • HTTP
  • AJAX & Fetch
  • Routing
  • REST
  • Form Serialization Formats
  • Developing APIs
  • Database Object Relational Mappers
  • Template Rendering
  • Single-page Applications
  • Progressive Web Applications

Course Structure

This course is divided in modules, which typically consist of a series of lesson content (as video lectures or online textbook materials) followed by a hands-on tutorial. The tutorials show how to take the ideas just discussed in the lessons and apply them in creating web applications in a step-by-step manner. Following every third module is a larger project assignment, where you will utilize the skills you’ve been developing from the lessons and tutorials to iteratively create a web application.

For the eight-week summer course, each cluster of three modules plus project should be completed in one week. There is a lot to learn and much of the learning involved is hands-on as you work on the code for tutorials and your projects. It is recommended you set aside 10-20 hours per week to focus on this course.

The Work

There is no shortcut to becoming a great programmer or web developer. Only by doing the work will you develop the skills and knowledge to make you a successful web developer. This course is built around that principle, and gives you ample opportunity to do the work, with as much support as we can offer.

Lessons: Lessons are delivered in written or video (with written transcript) form. Sprinkled between lessons are activities and quizzes that check your understanding of the readings and lecture content.

Tutorials: Tutorials are delivered through Codio, and offer immediate, automatically generated feedback as you complete the assignments, letting you know if you’ve made a mistake or skipped a step. You can run these assessments as many times as needed until you have completed the project to your satisfaction.

Projects: The projects are more free-form - I want you to be able to flex your creative muscles and make a web app that both meets your customer’s needs and reflects your own style and approach. These will be graded by hand using a rubric that focuses on functionality, code quality, accessibility, and aesthetics.

Grading

In theory, each student begins the course with an A. As you submit work, you can either maintain your A (for good work) or chip away at it (for less adequate or incomplete work). In practice, each student starts with 0 points in the gradebook and works upward toward a final point total earned out of the possible number of points. IIn this course, each assignment constitutes a a portion of the final grade, as detailed below:

  • 15% - Activities & Quizzes
  • 35% - Tutorials
  • 50% - Projects

Up to 5% of the total grade in the course is available as extra credit. See the Extra Credit - Bug Bounty and Extra Credit - Helping Hand assignments for details.

Letter grades will be assigned following the standard scale:

  • 90% - 100% → A
  • 80% - 89.99% → B
  • 70% - 79.99% → C
  • 60% - 59.99% → D*
  • 50% - 0% → F

* Note that CS Majors must earn a C or better to use the CIS 526 course for their degree.

Submission, Regrading, and Early Grading Policy

As a rule, submissions in this course will not be graded until after they are due, even if submitted early. Students may resubmit assignments many times before the due date, and only the latest submission will be graded. For assignments submitted via GitHub release tag, only the tagged release that was submitted to Canvas will be graded, even if additional commits have been made. Students must create a new tagged release and resubmit that tag to have it graded for that assignment.

Once an assignment is graded, students are not allowed to resubmit the assignment for regrading or additional credit without special permission from the instructor to do so. In essence, students are expected to ensure their work is complete and meets the requirements before submission, not after feedback is given by the instructor during grading. However, students should use that feedback to improve future assignments and milestones.

For the programming project milestones, it is solely at the discretion of the instructor whether issues noted in the feedback for a milestone will result in grade deductions in a later milestones if they remain unresolved, though the instructor will strive to give students ample time to resolve issues before any additional grade deductions are made.

Likewise, students may ask questions of the instructor while working on the assignment and receive help, but the instructor will not perform a full code review nor give grading-level feedback until after the assignment is submitted and the due date has passed. Again, students are expected to be able to make their own judgments on the quality and completion of an assignment before submission.

That said, a student may email the instructor to request early grading on an assignment before the due date, in order to move ahead more quickly. The instructor’s receipt of that email will effectively mean that the assignment for that student is due immediately, and all limitations above will apply as if the assignment’s due date has now passed.

Collaboration Policy

In this course, all work submitted by a student should be created solely by the student without any outside assistance beyond the instructor and TA/GTAs. Students may seek outside help or tutoring regarding concepts presented in the course, but should not share or receive any answers, source code, program structure, or any other materials related to the course. Learning to debug problems is a vital skill, and students should strive to ask good questions and perform their own research instead of just sharing broken source code when asking for assistance.

That said, the field of web development requires the use of lots of online documentation and reference materials, and the point of the class is to learn how to effectively use those resources instead of “reinventing the wheel from scratch” in each assignment. Whenever content in an assignment is taken from an outside source, this should be noted somewhere in the assignment.

Late Work

In this class, there is a tremendous amount of new skills to develop in a short amount of time. Falling behind will jeopardize your chances of successfully completing the course. Trying to complete late assignments while also working on new material will also make it unlikely that you will retain what you are trying to learn. It is critical that you keep on-track.

Any work submitted and graded after the due date is subject to a deduction of 10% of the total points possible on the assignment for each day that the assignment is late. For example, if an assignment is due on a Friday and is submitted the following Tuesday, it will be subject to a reduction of 40% of the total points possible, or 10% for each class day it was late. These late penalties will be automatically entered by Canvas - contact the instructor if any grades appear to be incorrect.

These deductions will only be applied to grades above 50% of the total points on the assignment. So, if you scored higher than 50%, your grade will be reduced by the late penalty down to a minimum grade of 50%. If you scored lower than 50% on the assignment, no deductions will be applied.

However, even if a module is not submitted on time, it must still be completed before a student is allowed to begin the next module. So, students should take care not to get too far behind, as it may be very difficult to catch up.

All course work must be submitted, and all interactively graded materials must be graded with the instructor, on or before the last day of the semester in which the student is enrolled in the course in order for it to be graded on time. No late work will be accepted after that date.

If you have extenuating circumstances, please discuss them with the instructor as soon as they arise so other arrangements can be made. If you know you have upcoming events that will prevent you from completing work in this course, you should contact the instructor ASAP and plan on working ahead before your event instead of catching up afterwards. If you find that you are getting behind in the class, you are encouraged to speak to the instructor for options to catch up quickly.

Incomplete Policy

Students should strive to complete this course in its entirety before the end of the semester in which they are enrolled. However, since retaking the course would be costly and repetitive for students, we would like to give students a chance to succeed with a little help rather than immediately fail students who are struggling.

If you are unable to complete the course in a timely manner, please contact the instructor to discuss an incomplete grade. Incomplete grades are given solely at the instructor’s discretion. See the official K-State Grading Policy for more information. In general, poor time management alone is not a sufficient reason for an incomplete grade.

Unless otherwise noted in writing on a signed Incomplete Agreement Form , the following stipulations apply to any incomplete grades given in this course:

  1. Students will be given 6 calendar weeks from the end of the enrolled semester’s finals week to complete the course
  2. Students understand that access to instructor and GTA assistance may be limited after the end of an academic semester due to holidays and other obligations
  3. If a student fails to resolve an incomplete grade after 6 weeks, they will be assigned an ‘F’ in the course. In addition, they will be dropped from any other courses which require the failed course as a prerequisite or corequisite.
  4. For CC courses only:
    1. Students may receive at most two incompletes in Computational Core courses throughout their time in the program.
    2. Any modules in a future CC course which depend on incomplete work will not be accessible until the previous course is finished
      1. For example, if a student is given an incomplete in CC 210, then all modules in CC 310 will be inaccessible until CC 210 is complete

To participate in this course, students must have access to a modern web browser and broadband internet connection. All course materials will be provided via Canvas and Codio. Modules may also contain links to external resources for additional information, such as programming language documentation.

In particular you are encouraged to use:

  • Node Docs - THe documentation for the Nodejs platform and APIs.
  • Mozilla Developer Network - A key reference explaining how browsers implement the web standards
  • CSS-Tricks - A collection of guides and articles on using CSS to accomplish a variety of tasks
  • w3c.org - The online home of the World-Wide-Web Consortium, the organization that sets web technology standards

This course offers an instructor-written textbook, which is broken up into a specific reading order and interleaved with activities and quizzes in the modules. It can also be directly accessed at https://textbooks.cs.ksu.edu/cis526 .

Students who would like additional textbooks should refer to resources available on the O’Reilley For Higher Education digital library offered by the Kansas State University Library. These include electronic editions of popular textbooks as well as videos and tutorials.

Subject to Change

The details in this syllabus are not set in stone. Due to the flexible nature of this class, adjustments may need to be made as the semester progresses, though they will be kept to a minimum. If any changes occur, the changes will be posted on the Canvas page for this course and emailed to all students.

Academic Honesty

Kansas State University has an Honor and Integrity System based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance that, in academic matters, one’s work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate and graduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Honor and Integrity System. The policies and procedures of the Honor and Integrity System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. A component vital to the Honor and Integrity System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: “On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.” A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an Honor Pledge violation.

For this course, a violation of the Honor Pledge will result in sanctions such as a 0 on the assignment or an XF in the course, depending on severity. Actively seeking unauthorized aid, such as posting lab assignments on sites such as Chegg or StackOverflow or asking another person to complete your work, even if unsuccessful, will result in an immediate XF in the course.

The Codio platform can perform automatic plagiarism detection by comparing submitted projects against other students’ submissions and known solutions. That information may be used to determine if plagiarism has taken place.

In this course, unauthorized aid broadly consists of giving or receiving code to complete assignments. This could be code you share with a classmate, code you have asked a third party to write for you, or code you have found online or elsewhere.

Authorized aid - which is not a violation of the honor policy - includes using the code snippets provided in the course materials, discussing strategies and techniques with classmates, instructors, TAs, and mentors. Additionally, you may use code snippets and algorithms found in textbooks and web sources if you clearly label them with comments indicating where the code came from and how it is being used in your project.

You should restrict your use of code libraries to those specified in the assignment description or approved by the instructor. You can ask for approval via Discord in the course channel, and if granted, this approval is valid for the entire class for the specified assignment.

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While code libraries are an important and common tool in professional practice, at this point in your learning they can obscure how tasks are being accomplished, leaving your foundational knowledge incomplete. It is for this reason that we restrict the use of code libraries in the course.

Standard Syllabus Statements

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The statements below are standard syllabus statements from K-State and our program. The latest versions are available online here .

Students with Disabilities

At K-State it is important that every student has access to course content and the means to demonstrate course mastery. Students with disabilities may benefit from services including accommodations provided by the Student Access Center. Disabilities can include physical, learning, executive functions, and mental health. You may register at the Student Access Center or to learn more contact:

Students already registered with the Student Access Center please request your Letters of Accommodation early in the semester to provide adequate time to arrange your approved academic accommodations. Once SAC approves your Letter of Accommodation it will be e-mailed to you, and your instructor(s) for this course. Please follow up with your instructor to discuss how best to implement the approved accommodations.

Expectations for Conduct

All student activities in the University, including this course, are governed by the Student Judicial Conduct Code as outlined in the Student Governing Association By Laws , Article V, Section 3, number 2. Students who engage in behavior that disrupts the learning environment may be asked to leave the class.

Mutual Respect and Inclusion in K-State Teaching & Learning Spaces

At K-State, faculty and staff are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and supportive learning environment for students from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. K-State courses, labs, and other virtual and physical learning spaces promote equitable opportunity to learn, participate, contribute, and succeed, regardless of age, race, color, ethnicity, nationality, genetic information, ancestry, disability, socioeconomic status, military or veteran status, immigration status, Indigenous identity, gender identity, gender expression, sexuality, religion, culture, as well as other social identities.

Faculty and staff are committed to promoting equity and believe the success of an inclusive learning environment relies on the participation, support, and understanding of all students. Students are encouraged to share their views and lived experiences as they relate to the course or their course experience, while recognizing they are doing so in a learning environment in which all are expected to engage with respect to honor the rights, safety, and dignity of others in keeping with the K-State Principles of Community .

If you feel uncomfortable because of comments or behavior encountered in this class, you may bring it to the attention of your instructor, advisors, and/or mentors. If you have questions about how to proceed with a confidential process to resolve concerns, please contact the Student Ombudsperson Office . Violations of the student code of conduct can be reported using the Code of Conduct Reporting Form . You can also report discrimination, harassment or sexual harassment , if needed.

Netiquette

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This is our personal policy and not a required syllabus statement from K-State. It has been adapted from this statement from K-State Global Campus, and theRecurse Center Manual . We have adapted their ideas to fit this course.

Online communication is inherently different than in-person communication. When speaking in person, many times we can take advantage of the context and body language of the person speaking to better understand what the speaker means, not just what is said. This information is not present when communicating online, so we must be much more careful about what we say and how we say it in order to get our meaning across.

Here are a few general rules to help us all communicate online in this course, especially while using tools such as Canvas or Discord:

  • Use a clear and meaningful subject line to announce your topic. Subject lines such as “Question” or “Problem” are not helpful. Subjects such as “Logic Question in Project 5, Part 1 in Java” or “Unexpected Exception when Opening Text File in Python” give plenty of information about your topic.
  • Use only one topic per message. If you have multiple topics, post multiple messages so each one can be discussed independently.
  • Be thorough, concise, and to the point. Ideally, each message should be a page or less.
  • Include exact error messages, code snippets, or screenshots, as well as any previous steps taken to fix the problem. It is much easier to solve a problem when the exact error message or screenshot is provided. If we know what you’ve tried so far, we can get to the root cause of the issue more quickly.
  • Consider carefully what you write before you post it. Once a message is posted, it becomes part of the permanent record of the course and can easily be found by others.
  • If you are lost, don’t know an answer, or don’t understand something, speak up! Email and Canvas both allow you to send a message privately to the instructors, so other students won’t see that you asked a question. Don’t be afraid to ask questions anytime, as you can choose to do so without any fear of being identified by your fellow students.
  • Class discussions are confidential. Do not share information from the course with anyone outside of the course without explicit permission.
  • Do not quote entire message chains; only include the relevant parts. When replying to a previous message, only quote the relevant lines in your response.
  • Do not use all caps. It makes it look like you are shouting. Use appropriate text markup (bold, italics, etc.) to highlight a point if needed.
  • No feigning surprise. If someone asks a question, saying things like “I can’t believe you don’t know that!” are not helpful, and only serve to make that person feel bad.
  • No “well-actually’s.” If someone makes a statement that is not entirely correct, resist the urge to offer a “well, actually…” correction, especially if it is not relevant to the discussion. If you can help solve their problem, feel free to provide correct information, but don’t post a correction just for the sake of being correct.
  • Do not correct someone’s grammar or spelling. Again, it is not helpful, and only serves to make that person feel bad. If there is a genuine mistake that may affect the meaning of the post, please contact the person privately or let the instructors know privately so it can be resolved.
  • Avoid subtle -isms and microaggressions. Avoid comments that could make others feel uncomfortable based on their personal identity. See the syllabus section on Diversity and Inclusion above for more information on this topic. If a comment makes you uncomfortable, please contact the instructor.
  • Avoid sarcasm, flaming, advertisements, lingo, trolling, doxxing, and other bad online habits. They have no place in an academic environment. Tasteful humor is fine, but sarcasm can be misunderstood.

As a participant in course discussions, you should also strive to honor the diversity of your classmates by adhering to the K-State Principles of Community .

Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Harassment

Kansas State University is committed to maintaining academic, housing, and work environments that are free of discrimination, harassment, and sexual harassment. Instructors support the University’s commitment by creating a safe learning environment during this course, free of conduct that would interfere with your academic opportunities. Instructors also have a duty to report any behavior they become aware of that potentially violates the University’s policy prohibiting discrimination, harassment, and sexual harassment, as outlined by PPM 3010 .

If a student is subjected to discrimination, harassment, or sexual harassment, they are encouraged to make a non-confidential report to the University’s Office for Institutional Equity (OIE) using the online reporting form . Incident disclosure is not required to receive resources at K-State. Reports that include domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, should be considered for reporting by the complainant to the Kansas State University Police Department or the Riley County Police Department . Reports made to law enforcement are separate from reports made to OIE. A complainant can choose to report to one or both entities. Confidential support and advocacy can be found with the K-State Center for Advocacy, Response, and Education (CARE) . Confidential mental health services can be found with Lafene Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) . Academic support can be found with the Office of Student Life (OSL) . OSL is a non-confidential resource. OIE also provides a comprehensive list of resources on their website. If you have questions about non-confidential and confidential resources, please contact OIE at equity@ksu.edu or (785) 532–6220.

Academic Freedom Statement

Kansas State University is a community of students, faculty, and staff who work together to discover new knowledge, create new ideas, and share the results of their scholarly inquiry with the wider public. Although new ideas or research results may be controversial or challenge established views, the health and growth of any society requires frank intellectual exchange. Academic freedom protects this type of free exchange and is thus essential to any university’s mission.

Moreover, academic freedom supports collaborative work in the pursuit of truth and the dissemination of knowledge in an environment of inquiry, respectful debate, and professionalism. Academic freedom is not limited to the classroom or to scientific and scholarly research, but extends to the life of the university as well as to larger social and political questions. It is the right and responsibility of the university community to engage with such issues.

Campus Safety

Kansas State University is committed to providing a safe teaching and learning environment for student and faculty members. In order to enhance your safety in the unlikely case of a campus emergency make sure that you know where and how to quickly exit your classroom and how to follow any emergency directives. Current Campus Emergency Information is available at the University’s Advisory webpage.

Student Resources

K-State has many resources to help contribute to student success. These resources include accommodations for academics, paying for college, student life, health and safety, and others. Check out the Student Guide to Help and Resources: One Stop Shop for more information.

Student Academic Creations

Student academic creations are subject to Kansas State University and Kansas Board of Regents Intellectual Property Policies. For courses in which students will be creating intellectual property, the K-State policy can be found at University Handbook, Appendix R: Intellectual Property Policy and Institutional Procedures (part I.E.) . These policies address ownership and use of student academic creations.

Mental Health

Your mental health and good relationships are vital to your overall well-being. Symptoms of mental health issues may include excessive sadness or worry, thoughts of death or self-harm, inability to concentrate, lack of motivation, or substance abuse. Although problems can occur anytime for anyone, you should pay extra attention to your mental health if you are feeling academic or financial stress, discrimination, or have experienced a traumatic event, such as loss of a friend or family member, sexual assault or other physical or emotional abuse.

If you are struggling with these issues, do not wait to seek assistance.

For Kansas State Salina Campus:

For Global Campus/K-State Online:

  • K-State Online students have free access to mental health counseling with My SSP - 24/7 support via chat and phone.
  • The Office of Student Life can direct you to additional resources.

University Excused Absences

K-State has a University Excused Absence policy (Section F62) . Class absence(s) will be handled between the instructor and the student unless there are other university offices involved. For university excused absences, instructors shall provide the student the opportunity to make up missed assignments, activities, and/or attendance specific points that contribute to the course grade, unless they decide to excuse those missed assignments from the student’s course grade. Please see the policy for a complete list of university excused absences and how to obtain one. Students are encouraged to contact their instructor regarding their absences.

© The materials in this online course fall under the protection of all intellectual property, copyright and trademark laws of the U.S. The digital materials included here come with the legal permissions and releases of the copyright holders. These course materials should be used for educational purposes only; the contents should not be distributed electronically or otherwise beyond the confines of this online course. The URLs listed here do not suggest endorsement of either the site owners or the contents found at the sites. Likewise, mentioned brands (products and services) do not suggest endorsement. Students own copyright to what they create.

Original content in the course textbook at https://textbooks.cs.ksu.edu/cis526 is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-SA license by Nathan Bean unless otherwise stated.

Subsections of Spring 2024 Syllabus