Programming for Computational Linguistics

Instructor

Lane Schwartz - Office hours Tue 5:10 PM - 6:00 PM in Foreign Languages Building, room 4019, and by appointment. If there are students waiting in line at 6 PM, I will generally stay as late as needed. If you can’t come during those times but you can come at some point after 6:00 PM, please contact me via private message on Piazza to arrange a time later on Tuesday.

Time and place

Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:30-4:50 PM, 1203 1/2 W. Nevada Street, Computer Lab

Prerequisites

• LING 402 (or an equivalent CS course)

• Working knowledge and experience with:

  • bash
  • ssh
  • git
  • emacs or vim

• A free account on Github

Required Texts

• Speech and Language Processing (3rd edition draft) by Dan Jurafsky and James H. Martin

  This book is available for free online.

• Seven Languages in Seven Weeks: A Pragmatic Guide to Learning Programming Languages by Bruce A. Tate

  You can purchase the electronic or paper version of this text from the publisher.

• i>clicker

  This hardware can be purchased at the Illini Union Bookstore.

Reference Texts

• The Linux Command Line: A Complete Introduction by William E. Shotts, Jr.

  This book is available for free in PDF form directly from the author under a Creative Commons license. If you want a paper, mobi, or epub copy, you can purchase this textbook in both paper and electronic formats directly from the publisher. This textbook can be read online through the UIUC library, but because the library's license with the publisher restricts the number of simultaneous users, you should not rely on this as your only mechanism for accessing the book.

• Pro Git by Scott Chacon and Ben Straub

Grading

Students will be assessed on the extent to which they have attained the learning goals & outcomes. This assessment will be primarily hands-on, assessed through a combination of practical exercises, homework assignments, projects, quizzes and exams.

Grades will be assessed on a 10-point fixed letter grade system. Grading on a curve will not be used. In the table below, square brackets and parentheses are used to indicate inclusive and exclusive endpoints, respectively.

Letter grade	Percentage range
A+	[97-100]
A	[93-97)
A-	[90-93)
B+	[87-90)
B	[83-87)
B-	[80-83)
C+	[77-80)
C	[73-77)
C-	[70-73)
D+	[67-70)
D	[63-67)
D-	[60-63)
F	[0-60)

Communication

All communication with the instructor and with any TAs should be conducted exclusively via the following means:

• In person in the classroom
• In person in office hours
• Electronically through the class Piazza forum

Academic Integrity

This course follows the University of Illinois Student Code regarding Academic Integrity. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences also has an excellent web page on the topic. You are required to thoroughly read these resources prior to the second day of class, and to thoroughly understand your responsibilities with regard to Academic Integrity.

All work submitted for this class must be solely your own. Violations of Academic Integrity include, but are not limited to, copying, cheating, and unapproved collaboration. Violations will not be tolerated.

Schedule and Readings

Students are expected to regularly review the schedule of assigned readings and video lectures. The schedule is subject to change.

Students are expected to and required to complete all assigned readings and video lectures prior to the class for which they are assigned.

Students are expected to read and follow all public discussions on the course Piazza site.

Learning Goals & Outcomes

Students are expected to attend class, attentively read assigned readings, attentively view assigned video lectures, regularly practice the presented tools and techniques, and complete all assigned work.

Students who do so are expected to attain the learning goals and outcomes.

DRES

If a student has a disability or condition that requires special consideration, the student is expected to present the requisite letter from the University Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services no later than the beginning of the second day of class by performing the following steps:

• Post a private Piazza message addressed to both the instructor and the TA.
• The post must have the exact subject heading "DRES letter".
• The post must be tagged with the dres tag.
• In the body of the post, the student should attach a PDF of their DRES letter.
• In the body of the post, the student should explicitly list which specific accommodations mentioned in the DRES letter are being requested for this class.

Absence Policy

Students are required to read and understand their responsibilities regarding class attendance and excused absences in the University of Illinois Student Code.

If a student wishes to request an excused absence, the student must do all of the following prior to the missed class period:

• Post a private Piazza message addressed to both the instructor and the TA.
• The post must have the exact subject heading "Request excused absence".
• The post must be tagged with the absence tag.
• In the body of the post, the student must explicitly describe the reason for the absence.
• In the body of the post, the student must explicitly request an excused absence.
• In the body of the post, the student must attach a PDF of an official absence letter (from the student's health provider or from the Student Assistance Center in the Office of the Dean of Students). If an official absence letter cannot be provided prior to the missed class period (for example if the students becomes ill immediately prior to class and is still at the doctor's office during the missed class period), the student must attach such a letter to the Piazza post promptly thereafter.

If all of the above steps are timely followed, credit missed as a result of an excused absence may be made up (for example, by means of additional assignments) at the discretion of the instructor. Note that the policy addressed in this section is in regard to excused absences only, and does not affect homework deadlines. If a student wishes to request an extension to a homework assignment deadline, the steps in the "Late Work Policy" section must also be followed.

Late Work Policy

Homework assignments must be turned in prior to the assigned deadline. It is your responsibility to plan ahead and complete your work in a timely manner.

Late work will not be accepted.

In the case of extraordinary unforeseeable events (as described in §1‑501, paragraph c, bullets 1-3 of the Student Code), a student may request a deadline extension by following all of the following instructions no later than 48 hours prior to the homework deadline:

• No later than 48 hours prior to the deadline, post a private Piazza message addressed to both the instructor and the TA.
• The post must have the exact subject heading "Request deadline extension".
• The post must be tagged with the deadline-extension tag.
• In the body of the post, the student must explicitly describe the reason for the request.
• In the body of the post, the student must explicitly request a deadline extension.
• In the body of the post, the student must attach a PDF of an official absence letter from the Student Assistance Center in the Office of the Dean of Students.

A deadline extension will be considered granted if and only if the instructor explicitly replies in the affirmative to the above Piazza post prior to the original deadline. If the instructor grants an extension, a new deadline will be listed for the student as part of the instructor reply to the Piazza post.

For some or all homework assignments, a solution will be presented to the class after the original homework deadline. Under no circumstances will work be accepted after a solution has been presented to the class.