CS 4470: Introduction to User Interface Software &
CS 6456: Principles of User Interface Software

Jump to syllabus

General Information:

• Course Goals:
  • Understanding of the architectural and algorithmic principles behind the development of the 2-dimensional graphical user interface
  • Experience in modern GUI toolkits and development environments
  • Exposure to a variety of advanced topics for developing interactive systems, including "off the desktop"
• Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 9:35-10:55
• Meeting Place: Instructional Center room 215
• Instructor: Keith Edwards
  • keith (at) cc (dot) gatech (dot) edu
  • Office: TSRB 213; hours TBA (currently by appointment)
• TA: Gabriel Reyes
  • greyes (at) gatech (dot) edu
  • Office: outside TSRB 344; hours Tuesday 3pm-6pm

Class Policies and Grading

For final letter grades, an overall average of 90-100 will result in an A, between 80-89 a B, between 70-79 a C, between 60-69 a D.

Students taking the class pass/fail must receive a B or better to pass. Students auditing the class will not be required to complete homework or exams.

Homeworks. Details on the requirements for successfully completing the homeworks will be given in the assignment on the Web. The homework is due by 11:55PM on the assigned due date. The grade for a late homework assignment will be marked down 10 points for each day it is late, maximum of three days (homework turned in more than three days late will receive a zero).

The work is expected to be completed by individuals and not in collaboration with others.

Exams. Exams will be based on assigned readings, lectures, and homework.

I expect all students to show up for exams and submit homeworks in a timely manner. No make-up exams will be given without written notice of an emergency (doctor's notice if in the hospital, for example), and IN ADVANCE if possible.

Project. Graduate students in the class will be expected to complete a multi-part project during the second half of the course. The project structure will be presented in class. The project consists of separate milestones, including a project proposal, implementation, demo, and final writeup.

Other Policies. A good portion of the learning in any upper level or graduate class comes from intelligent discussion during the class. If you don't attend class, you cannot participate, and your performance may reflect that. I expect that each student will make an effort to attend all lectures and contribute constructively to the discussion.

Students are expected to follow Georgia Tech's code of academic conduct. I am required to forward all suspected cases of academic misconduct to the Dean of Students, where they will be pursued to resolution. This is a very unpleasant process for all involved, so please do not put us in this situation.

Reading Materials

However, as we will be doing programming assignments using the Java Swing GUI toolkit, understanding the nuts and bolts of Swing programming may be useful. Thus, I'm recommending Java Swing, Second Edition (Loy, Eckstein, Wood, Elliot, and Cole; O'Reilly Press) as a good book on Swing with broad coverage of the toolkit.

If you don't want/need the book, you still may want to take a look at some of the links and documents in the Resources section of this page.

Another good book (also not required, but useful if you want to do fancy Swing stuff either in class or later on your own) is Swing Hacks (Marinacci and Adamson; O'Reilly Press). Lots of nifty tricks, plus it's written by a Georgia Tech alum. Another, more recent book in a similar vein that I haven't yet checked out in as much detail is Filthy Rich Clients by Haase and Guy.

Additional required readings for each class will be provided electronically and posted on the course syllabus. In addition, some supplemental readings will be provided. These readings will not be required but may prove useful as background material for students.

Resources, Documents, and Software

Special Note for Mac Users: for people using OS X, by default Apple ships only Java 6. You can download Java 7 here. Chris Simpkins has a writeup of further tweaking of your Java environment, in case you're interested, here.

• Oracle's site for all things Swing
• JDK download
• Java Desktop site. Another portal with links to components, projects, etc., for people doing rich GUIs on the desktop. There are some links to cool stuff here.
• The Swing Connection. Links to Swing propaganda, bug databases, etc.
• Extra components and resources (open source or free):
  • Swing Labs. Sun's open source incubator for some very cool Swing components and libraries. Good site.
  • Java Desktop Integration Components. A bunch of nifty components to make Java apps integrate better onto the desktop. There's some cool stuff here.
• Swing/AWT tutorials and books (let me know if you come across other good ones)
  • Nice Swing wiki with some good tutorials
  • Free AWT book on the web! This is actually a great resource for basic event and layout materials.
  • Official Swing Tutorial
  • Quick Tutorial for AWT Programmers

Tentative Class Schedule and Syllabus