Syllabus

Instructor contact info

Clinton Dreisbach

Schedule

Class is from May 4 to July 20, 2015.

Lecture is from 9 AM to 12:30 PM Monday-Thursday, with breaks during that time. Depending on the topic, we may end early. We may alter this schedule for particular days and will let you know at least 24 hours ahead of time.

Lab is from 1 PM to 5 PM Monday-Thursday and 9 AM - 5 PM on Friday.

Office hours and one-on-one instruction

A teacher or TA will be available Monday-Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM at minimum. During lab time, you can schedule one-on-one time with either of us. After hours, we may be available in the classroom or in Slack, which we use for group communication.

Holidays

We will take off May 25th for Memorial Day and July 3rd for Independence Day.

Topics

These topics are listed week-by-week. However, this list is not definitive and we will reorder things based off how the class is going.

Each list of topics is a list of things students should be comfortable with at the end of that week.

Week 1

By the end of this week, students should be comfortable with:

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

This week is a week for review and catch-up. Things will fall through the cracks during the previous 8 weeks, and so we have this week as a flex week to make sure we cover everything you need.

Week 10

During this week, you will be pitching your final project ideas, forming groups, and getting feedback. In class, we will cover some software development principles. You should be comfortable with:

Weeks 11-12

You will be working on your final project and presentation during this time.

Capstone project

During the last three weeks of the course, you will be working on your capstone project, putting all you've learned into practice. You will be working in a group of 2-5 people on your project. These people can be in any Iron Yard class in Durham.

At the end of week 9, you'll present your idea for a final project and get feedback. Not all ideas presented will become final projects: the projects will be determined by TIY staff after all ideas are presented. During weeks 10, 11 and 12, you'll work primarily on your capstone project.

This project must use Python. It can be a data project, a web project, a systems programming project, or something else! Because this is a general-purpose programming course, the choices are wide. If you are not working on a project with a strong visual component, I highly suggest thinking about working with someone from another class to make your project visual.

Policies

Absence policy

You can miss up to 4 lectures; after that, your graduation and enrollment in the job placement program is forfeit. I don't recommend missing any, as we will be moving very fast.

Homework policy

Your homework is due by 6 AM on the day it is due. After that, it is late.

I would rather see a solid attempt on time than a complete assignment late. Solid attempts are not considered late.

All homework assigned by your instructor must be completed for graduation.

Honor code

You are expected to do your own work. You should use all resources available to you, including open-source code, but copy and pasting open-source code is prohibited: you should use it only for inspiration or as a library in a bigger project.

Copying homework is taken very seriously and can result in forfeiting job placement or explusion.

Code of conduct

Like the technical community as a whole, classes at The Iron Yard are made up of a mixture of people from all different backgrounds.

Diversity is one of our huge strengths, but it can also lead to communication issues. To that end, we have a few ground rules that we ask people to adhere to when they're taking a class at The Iron Yard. These rules apply equally to teachers, students, other staff, and guest lecturers.

This isn't an exhaustive list of things that you can't do. Rather, take it in the spirit in which it's intended - a guide to make it easier to enrich all of us, the technical communities in which we participate.

This code of conduct applies to all communication: this includes in class, Slack, email, and other forums such as Skype, Google+ Hangouts, etc.

If you believe someone is violating the code of conduct, we ask that you report it by talking to your instructor. If you do not feel comfortable talking to your instructor, speak with any Iron Yard instructor or staff member.

This text is taken from the Django project.