CS 440: Language Processors - Spring 2023

Date/Time: MW 9:00am - 10:15am
Location: Planetary Hall 120

Instructor: Dr. Ahmed Bin Zaman
Office: ENGR 4455
Phone: 703-993-6642
email: azaman6@gmu.edu - put CS440 in subject line
Office Hours: Mondays, 4:00pm - 6:00pm

Course Content

This course will cover the theoretical and implementation aspects of language processing. Emphasis will be on the design and construction of compilers. There are several substantial programming assignments associated with this course. These assignments will be implemented in C or Java (student choice).

• Compiler Design
• Lexical Analysis
• Syntax Analysis - grammars, LL(1) parsers, LR(1) parsers
• Semantic Processing
• Code generation and optimization

Pre-requisites

• Strong programming and data structure experience (CS 310).
• Study of formal languages, including regular and context free (CS 330)
• Experience with assembly language programming and basics of runtime systems (CS 367).

Textbooks

• Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools, Aho, Lam, Sethi, & Ullman, 2006 (2nd edition)
• lex & yacc, Levine et. al. (recommended)
• Other course materials, including slides and examples, will be available on Blackboard

Grading

Homeworks	15%
Programming assignments	3 projects (10%+10%+15%)
Midterm Exam	25%
Final Exam	25%

The final grades will be assigned using the following thresholds:
A+ (>= 98.0%) A (>= 90.0%) A- (>= 85.0%)
B+ (>= 80.0%) B (>= 75.0%) B- (>= 70.0%)
C+ (>= 65.0%) C (>= 60.0%) C- (>= 55.0%)
D (>= 50.0%)
F (< 50.0%)

There will be no make-up or extra-credit assignments at the end of the semester; your grade should be a measure of your semester-long progress.

Course Policies

• The programming assignments (projects) are complex and involves many lines of code across multiple files. Therefore, a strong programming and data structures knowledge is assumed for the students who take the course. You may not seek help from the instructor or the TA for any programming related issue but rather expect help on the concepts and clarification of problem statements. Implementation and coding decisions are up to you unless specified.
• The latest you can turn in a HW/Project is 24 hours after the posted deadline, no exceptions.
• There is a forgiven late day policy. Each student gets four Emergency-Days (4 late tokens) over the semester, which are automatically used by turning in a HW/Project maximum 24 hours late.
• If you don't have any late token left and submit late, your maximum score lowers by 20% (not quite the same as a 20% penalty). So, in this case: recorded_grade = min(raw_score, 80).
• Either you use late token or pay the late-penalty, either way you must turn in work within 24 hours of the original deadline! This means you can't use more than one late token or pay multiple late penalties on a single HW/Project.
• Turning in 1 minute late and turning in 23 hours and 59 minutes late are treated the same (and therefore there are no "half late tokens" and no "partial late penalties").
• You must have a written excuse (doctor's note, for example) to miss an exam. I reserve the right to give oral makeup exams in lieu of written.
• You must notify your professor within 24 hours of your absence in an exam to make arrangements for a makeup. Failure to follow this policy will result in a zero on the exam.
• It has been my experience that time is the biggest determiner of your final grade in this class. I suggest that you start HWs/Projects as soon as they are released. They often take more time than you think.

Honor Code

You are expected to abide by the honor code. Programming assignments, homeworks, and exams are individual efforts. Information on the university honor code can be found at: https://oai.gmu.edu/full-honor-code-document/ . I typically use similarity detection software to assist me in finding honor code violations, should they occur.

Inclusion

Every student in this class, regardless of background, sex, gender, race, ethnicity, class, political affiliation, physical or mental ability, veteran status, nationality, or any other identity category, is an equal member of our class. If you encounter any barriers to your inclusion, please contact Prof. Zaman.

Disability

Students with a learning disability or other condition (documented with GMU's Office of Disability Services) that may impact academic performance should speak with the professor ASAP to discuss appropriate accommodations. We are quite happy to assist as is appropriate, but it must be documented ahead of time by ODS.

Privacy and FERPA

Students must use their Mason email account to receive important University information, including communications related to this class. The professor and GTA can not respond to messages sent from or send messages to a non-Mason email address. We will not list your Mason email address on any public forum or provide it to any other students. Your Mason email address will be provided to grading staff (GTA and graders). If this is an issue, please contact the professor so that we can figure out another option. Video recordings of class meetings that are shared only with the instructors and students officially enrolled in a class do not violate FERPA or any other privacy expectation. All course materials posted to Blackboard or other course site are private; by federal law, any materials that identify specific students (via their name, voice, or image) must not be shared with anyone not enrolled in this class.