Course:CS 491 - Mobile Software Development
Fall 2013
Description and objectives: In this course we will investigate developing software for mobile platforms. Both the Android and iOS platforms will be emphasized.

Upon successfully completing this course, you will be able to:

  • Unify principles of software engineering, user interface design, and event-driven programming to construct publication-ready mobile apps for phones and tablets.
  • Leverage the service-oriented architecture of the web and mobile platforms to construct software.
  • Navigate the tension that characterizes mobile environments, in which network connections are trumped by lost signals, pervasiveness by interruptibility, performance by drained batteries, and sensors by our noisy world.
  • Incorporate mobile devices into the physical world to control and interact with other technology.
Instructor:Chris Johnson (johnch@uwec.edu)
Office hours:M 1-2 PM, W 11 AM-12 PM, W 1-2 PM, Th 1-1:50 PM in Phillips 134
Webpage:http://www.cs.uwec.edu/~johnch
Lecture:TTh 2-3:15 PM
Hibbard 106B
Exams:Midterm presentation - mid- to late October
Final presentation - to be determined
Textbook:none
Communication: Your instructor is finite and values focus. Please keep these points in mind when needing to communicate with him:
  • Honor your instructor's closed door. Please visit only during posted office hours. Do not drop by at other times without having scheduled a time via email at least one day before the meeting.
  • Your instructor values his time with family. He does not respond to email after 5 PM or on weekends. Plan accordingly.
Good studentship: Follow these principles to maximize your learning and grade:
  • A good education requires both good teaching and good learning. It takes hard work from both instructor and student.
  • Early is better than on time.
  • Plan for homework to take longer than you think.
  • Do your own coding. Discussion of problems is allowed, but using another's code, sharing your code with others, or soliciting solutions from others will earn you a report of academic misconduct and lower your grade. You don't want to live in a world serviced by people who did such things to squeak by, so don't do them yourself.
  • Grades are calculated according to your achievement, not your circumstances.
Accommodations: Any student who has a disability and is in need of classroom accommodations, please contact the instructor and the Services for Students with Disabilities Office in Old Library 2136 at the beginning of the semester.
Easter egg: Students who include the sentence "I read the syllabus!" on the back of their caricature drawing -- turned in on September 5 -- get 1 free participation point.