ECE 650: Systems Programming and Engineering — Spring 2021

Class meeting time and location: TuTh 08:30–09:45 am EST, Zoom (check Sakai Zoom Meetings)

• Haimeng Zhang (hz202) — Lead TA for Projects
• Yue Yang (yy258) — Lead TA for Grading, Piazza, and Cheating Detection

• MW 9:00–10:00 am EST: Yue
• TuTh 9:45–10:45 am EST: Yue
• M–Th 9:00–10:00 pm EST: Haimeng

Course Description

Learning Objectives

• program using multiple processes and threads, sockets, and SQL;
• describe the OSI and TCP/IP layers and some of their main protocols;
• create, manupulate, and interface with databases;
• describe the basic functionalities of operating systems; and
• critique academic research papers and write reviews about them.

Textbook and Other Course Material

Grading Policy

• Projects (50%): Five projects — long (start early!) — with the following tentative grade distribution:
  • Project 1: 7%
  • Project 2: 7%
  • Project 3: 11%
  • Project 4: 11%
  • Project 5: 14%
• Exams (40%):
  • Midterm exam: 15%
  • Final exam: 25%
• Paper reviews and discussions (10%): Reviews of about two academic research papers related to course topics. The review for each paper should follow the following format:
  • Motivation(s): describe the main motivation(s) behind the work of the paper in 1 sentence
  • Contribution(s): state the main contribution(s) of the paper in 1 sentence
  • Approach: provide a high-level description of the approach in 1–3 sentences
  • Strengths: provide a subjective description of the strengths of the paper in 1–3 sentences
  • Weaknesses: provide a subjective description of the weaknesses of the paper in 1–3 sentences
• Late policy: Late submissions are not allowed unless you have a valid excuse. In that case, email the Head TA about it (and CC me) as soon as possible and wait for a decision (might involve a penalty, depending on the excuse). Refer to this list of common but unacceptable excuses borrowed from Dr. Bletsch's webpage.
• Regrading policy: Regrade requests must be submitted no later than one week after the assignment grade is released.

Important Notes

***Extremely important advice:

• Start as early as you can! Leave ample time for testing!
• Try to review class lectures the evening (or next day) of every class.
• Manage your time well and work on multiple assignments (in different courses) in parallel. Split bigger task into smaller (realistic) ones. Make sure you use a calendar and a to-do list.
• Use Git to keep track of previous versions of your work. Use a cloud storage service to back up your work.
• Ask questions! We are here to help! We want you to succeed!

All announcements are posted on Piazza. Make sure you can receive Piazza email notifications.

We can only grade what we receive. Always check what you are submitting and make sure you submit the right files.

Contacting the instructor and the TAs:

• For questions that can be answered by any TA or the instructor: use Piazza
• To contact a specific TA or the instructor: use email (do not text, facebook, ...)
• If you have questions related to understanding a project: email the Lead TA for Projects
• If you have questions related to grading: email the Lead TA for Grading
• If you have questions about other logistical and administrative issues: email both TA's and the instructor

I started using Nudge last year, which is a tool developed by Duke Learning Innovation that helps students retain information learned in class. Click here if you would like to voluntarily sign up for it and receive one short question to answer (by text or email) one day after each lecture.

Misconduct

• Academic misconduct will not be tolerated and will be taken very seriously.
• You are expected to complete the assignments individually unless otherwise stated.
• Students are encouraged to share ideas, learn from each other, and learn from online sources, but cheating is not tolerated.
• Any borrowed design/code/etc. — if allowed to be borrowed — should be properly cited.
• Students suspected violating the Duke Community Standard will be reported.
• In addition to the measures taken by the administration, the affected assignment(s) will receive zero credit, or possibly -100% in extreme cases.
• If you are considering this course of action, please see me instead and we can work something out! I want every student in my course to be successful.
• Note that programming submissions will be compared to one another and to previous semesters using state-of-the-art tools to detect signs of plagiarism.

Tentative Schedule