Notice
As part of Phase 3 of our return to campus plan, most units will now run tutorials, seminars and other small group learning activities on campus for the second half-year, while keeping an online version available for those students unable to return or those who choose to continue their studies online.
To check the availability of face to face activities for your unit, please go to timetable viewer. To check detailed information on unit assessments visit your unit's iLearn space or consult your unit convenor.
Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Kym Haines
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Credit points |
Credit points
10
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
130cp at 1000 level or above including COMP2010 or COMP225 or COMP2000 or COMP229
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
Formal languages play a central role in modern software development. Programming languages such as Java and C++ allow developers to express their algorithms and data structures. Compilers and interpreters transform programs into running software. Data languages such as XML and JSON are widely used to transfer information between systems. This unit studies software languages by looking at how they are used in software development. Students will study how to formally understand the syntax, semantics and translation of software languages. Practical exercises involve writing software language processors of various kinds such as simple compilers or data transformation tools. |
Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Late Submission
No extensions will be granted without an approved application for Special Consideration. There will be a deduction of 20% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late. For example, 25 hours late in submission for an assignment worth 10 marks – 40% penalty or 4 marks deducted from the total. No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
---|---|---|---|
Scala | 10% | No | Week 6 |
Syntax Analysis | 15% | No | Week 9 |
Translation | 15% | No | Week 12 |
Examination One | 20% | No | Week 7 |
Examination Two | 20% | No | Week 10 |
Examination Three | 20% | No | Week 13 |
Assessment Type 1: Programming Task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Week 6
Weighting: 10%
The first assignment focuses on using Scala (particularly its functional features) to develop a small-medium-sized program. The aim is to consolidate and assess Scala programming skills in preparation for the other two assignments.
Assessment Type 1: Programming Task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Week 9
Weighting: 15%
The second assignment focuses on processing the syntax of a language to obtain a representation that the rest of the implementation can use.
Assessment Type 1: Programming Task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Week 12
Weighting: 15%
The third assignment focuses on translating a language into some other form, such as another structured language (e.g., translating a programming language into a lower-level form such as bytecode or assembly language).
Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 7
Weighting: 20%
This examination will assess the material from Weeks 1-4 of the semester.
Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 10
Weighting: 20%
This examination will assess the material from Weeks 5-8 of the semester.
Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 13
Weighting: 20%
This examination will assess the material from Weeks 9-12 of the semester.
1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:
2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation
Each week of COMP3000 has three hours of lecture and a two-hour class. The classes will require a mixture of tutorial-style and practical work. Classes start in Week 1.
There is no required text. We will provide notes or references to freely available materials where relevant.
The free book Creative Scala (https://www.creativescala.org) is a clear introduction to functional programming in Scala and we will use the Doodle graphics library described in that book to illustrate Scala programming principles.
Students may find it useful to consult one of the many books that are available on the programming languages topic. The following books are among those that are available in the Macquarie University Library:
COMP3000 uses iLearn for delivery of class materials, discussion boards, online selftests, submission of assessment tasks and access to marks and comments. Students should check the iLearn site regularly for unit updates.
Questions regarding the content of this unit, its tutorials or practicals should be posted to the appropriate discussion board on iLearn. In particular, any questions which are of interest to all students in this unit should be posted to one of these discussion boards, so that everyone can benefit from the answers.
The practical work in this unit involves programming in the Scala language (http://www.scala-lang.org) which will give students experience with modern programming language features that we expect to see in mainstream languages in the future.
We will also use the Kiama language processing library (https://bitbucket.org/inkytonik/kiama) that is being developed by our Programming Languages and Verification Research Group. Kiama provides high-level facilities for writing processors such as compilers in Scala and makes it possible for students to implement of a language from scratch within the semester.
Instructions will be provided on how to use Scala and Kiama on the laboratory machines and how to download it for use on your own machines
Week |
Topic |
Assignment Due |
Exam |
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1 |
Introduction: Unit and Scala Basics |
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2-3 |
Functional Programming in Scala |
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4 |
Syntax |
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5 |
Names |
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6 |
Semantic analysis |
One |
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7 |
Types |
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One |
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Lecture Recess - Two Weeks |
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8 |
Semantic analysis: an example |
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9 |
Transformation; compilation |
Two |
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10 |
Subroutines and control abstraction |
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Two |
11 |
Data abstraction and object-oriented programming |
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12 |
Language runtimes; interpretation |
Three |
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13 |
Review, Exam Discussion |
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Three |
Exam Period |
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One, Two, Three |
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Students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.
If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).
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Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.
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Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
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