Syllabus

Hi there 👋 and welcome to CS106B!

CS106B Programming Abstractions is the second course in our introductory programming sequence. The prerequisite CS106A establishes a solid foundation in programming methodology and problem-solving in Python. With that under your belt, CS106B will acquaint you with the C++ programming language and introduce advanced programming techniques such as recursion, algorithm analysis, data abstraction, explore classic data structures and algorithms, and give you practice applying these tools to solving complex problems.

We're excited to share this great material with you and have a superb team of section leaders that will support you through the challenges to come. We hope you will find the time worth your investment and that you enjoy your growing mastery of the art of programming!

Teaching Team

Our wonderful undergraduate section leaders lead sections and staff LaIR helper hours.

I) Course Essentials

The central place for CS106B resources is the course website right here at https://cs106b.stanford.edu. The website is your go-to for lecture slides, assignments, sections, and other information, including the most up-to-the-date information and announcements.

Lectures will be recorded and posted on the "Course Videos" tab of the course Canvas page. We use the course Canvas page only to distribute videos – all other material is published on the course website.

We hope to build a lively online community on our Ed Discussion forum. You are encourage to use the forum to ask questions about lecture, section, assignments, and course logistics.

Assignment submissions, feedback, and grading use the CS198 Paperless website. Here students submit assignments, view graded assignments, and sign up for LaIR (helper hours).

II) Course Topics

Learning Goals

After completing CS106B, we hope you will have achieved the following learning goals:

• I am excited to use programming to solve real-world problems I encounter outside class.
• I recognize and understand common abstractions in computer science.
• I can identify programmatic concepts present in everyday technologies because I understand how computers process and organize information.
• I can break down complex problems into smaller subproblems by applying my algorithmic reasoning and recursive problem-solving skills.
• I can evaluate design tradeoffs when creating data structures and algorithms or utilizing them to implement technological solutions.

We’ll also be giving you tools to tackle the following questions (note that these don’t have single right or wrong answers!):

1. What is possible with technology and code? What isn’t possible?
2. How can I use programming to solve problems that I otherwise would not be able to?
3. What makes for a “good” algorithm or data structure? Why?
4. Which problems should I solve with algorithms and data structures? What does a responsible programmer do when using data about real people?

Lecture Schedule

While the below schedule is subject to change over the course of the quarter, we will cover the following topics (in approximate order):

1. C++ basics
2. Abstract data structures
3. Recursion
4. Classes and object-oriented programming
5. Memory management and implementation-level abstractions
6. Linked data structures
7. Advanced algorithms

Prerequisites

The prerequisite for CS106B is completion of CS106A and readiness to move on to advanced programming topics. A comparable introductory programming course or experience (including high school AP courses) is often a reasonable substitute for Stanford’s CS106A. If you are unsure if this course is the right for you, read more about course placement.

III) Course Structure

Units

If you are an undergraduate, you must enroll in CS106B for 5 units (this is by department and university policy, no exceptions). If you are a graduate student, you may enroll in CS106B for 3 or 4 units to reduce your units for administrative reasons. Taking the course for reduced units has no change on the course workload.

Lectures

Lectures will take place on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 1:30-2:20pm in Hewlett 200. Lecture recordings will be available later on Canvas for future review. All students are expected attend lectures in person if at all feasible (i.e., not if you are sick or an SCPD remote student), in order to fully participate in class discussions and other synchronous activities. We understand that this isn't possible for every student every time, so if you are unable to attend in person we ask that you at least watch the video of class before the next class, so you are up to speed on all course topics and important announcements.

We think staying on pace with the class in this way is so important (and we know you know it too–binge-watching videos just isn't it!) that we are offering a small incentive to help you motivate yourself to stay on top of it: 5% of the course grade is allocated for lecture participation. If you show up to a lecture in person, congratulations, you earned that day's credit! For other options, read more at about lectures.

Note about recording consent: Video cameras located in the back of the room will capture the instructor presentations during lecture. These recordings might be reused in other Stanford courses, viewed by other Stanford students, faculty, or staff, or used for other education and research purposes. While the cameras are positioned with the intention of recording only the instructor, occasionally a part of your image or voice might be incidentally captured. If you have questions, please contact a member of the teaching team.

Sections

Each students is assigned to a weekly small group discussion section, led by an undergraduate section leader. Your section leader is your mentor, grader, and personal connection to the greater CS106B course staff.

Sections begin the second week of classes, and attendance and participation are mandatory for all students. Your section leader will evaluate your section participation; this contributes to your course grade.

Read more about section.

Assignments

There will be regular assignments, about one per week. An assignment may include written problems, hands-on exercises with the tools, coding tasks and/or a larger complete program. Assignments are to be completed individually.

Programs are graded on "functionality" (is the program's behavior correct?) and "style" (is the code well-written and designed cleanly?). We use a bucket grading scale to focus attention on the qualitative rather than quantitative feedback. Read more about assignments and assignment grading.

The course late policy has been designed to build in flexibility. Assignments submitted by the due date earn a small on-time bonus. After the due date, there is a "grace period" (typically 48 hours) where we will accept late submissions without penalty. Read more about the late policy.

Assessments

There will be exams at mid-quarter and end-quarter. The mid-quarter is a check-in to assess your understanding of core topics covered in the first half of the course and help you chart a path forward. The final is a comprehensive assessment of your mastery of the course learning goals.

Mark these dates in your calendar now!

• Midterm: 7-9pm on Tuesday, November 1, 2022
• Final: 8:30-11:30am on Monday, December 12, 2022

We will have more information about these assessments as the quarter progresses. The primary intention of the assessments it to allow you to demonstrate what you’ve learned in the class.

Read more about assessments.

Course Grades

Final grades for the course will be determined using the following weights:

• 55% Programming assignments
• 15% Mid-quarter exam
• 20% End-quarter final exam
• 5% Section participation
• 5% Lecture participation

We will compute your course grade once including lecture participation and again without (moving that weight to final exam). The weighting that results in the better outcome for you is the one we will use.

Incompletes

The university “I” grade (“incomplete”) is appropriate for circumstances of significant personal or family emergency disruption that prevent a student from finishing course requirements on schedule. To be considered for an incomplete, you must have completed all assignments at a passing level up at the point of your request for an incomplete. You must have an extenuating circumstance that warrants an extension of time beyond the end of the quarter to complete the remaining work. Approval for an incomplete is at the instructors’ discretion. Incompletes are not be considered for reasons such as poor performance in the course or over-commitment.

IV) Course Resources

Textbook

Roberts, Eric. Programming Abstractions in C++. ISBN 978-0133454840.

You can find different options to access the textbook here . Recommended readings for each lecture will be posted on our lecture schedule.

Software

The official CS106 programming environment is Qt Creator, which is an editor bundled with C++ compiler and libraries. The software runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux and is free for personal/student use. The Qt Installation Guide has instructions for installing the tools onto your computer.

Getting help

We want to enable everyone to succeed in this course and offer different paths to help.

The instructors and Head TA will hold weekly office hours. The section leaders staff LaIR helper hours. The CS106B Ed Discussion forum allows public Q&A and discussion with your peers. Here is the Quick Start Guide to using Ed.

Accommodations

Students who need an academic accommodation based on the impact of a disability should initiate a request with the Office of Accessible Education. Professional staff will evaluate the request with required documentation, recommend reasonable accommodations, and prepare an Accommodation Letter dated in the current quarter. Students should contact the OAE as soon as possible since timely notice is needed to coordinate accommodations. The OAE has contact information on their web page: http://oae.stanford.edu. Once you obtain your OAE letter, please send it to the head TA.

V) Honor Code

As a student taking a Stanford course, you agree to abide by the Stanford Honor Code, and we expect you to read over and follow our specific CS106B Honor Code policy. The work you submit for grading must be your own original, independent effort and must not be based on, guided by, or jointly developed with the work of others.

The CS department employs powerful automated plagiarism detection tools that compare assignment submissions with other submissions from the current and previous quarters, as well as related online resources. The tools also analyze your intermediate work, and we will run the tools on every assignment you submit.

The vast majority of you are here to learn and will do honest work for an honest grade. We celebrate and honor your commitment. Because it’s important that all cases of academic dishonesty are identified for the sake of those playing by the rules, we will refer all cases of concern to the Office of Community Standards.