A private site and server built and maintained by computer science professors at Austin Community College. It is a private site and server, not maintained or directly affiliated with ACC or the ACC Computer Science Department.

There are many reasons but the primary reason is Linux is the de facto operating system on the Web and it's also very common for other professional applications. It is virtually guaranteed every programmer will work in Linux during their career and it's important to understand the differences between operating systems. Also, almost all professional deployment environments will be somehow different than the programmer's development environment (sometimes very minor differences, sometimes very large). It's very important for students to learn to write cross-platform code and standardized code that can be interpreted/compiled everywhere.

The mission of ACC Computer Science is both to give the students the proper theoretical background for Computer Science, and to prepare students for professional working environments. In professional work environments, submitting code is a very serious and very strict process. The class submission guidelines are "picky" and enforced strictly to help prepare and train students for the rigor of professional environments where attention to detail will literally mean the difference between being employed or not. In short, submission guidelines are so "picky" because you need the practice of paying strict attention to detail and specifications. Once that discipline becomes second nature to you, you will be considerably more marketable and better prepared to purse higher degrees if you choose.

While some tools (e.g. git and GitHub) will be mandatory, the general rule is that students can use any development tools they like. Part of my philosophy is to simulate real-world, on-the-job development. As such, you can use any tools you like (like most dev shops). Students will be shown the most popular and effective tools but are free to use almost any tools to get the job done.

You are very welcome to take my class but understand the classes are designed for CS majors and include CS theory and the rigors of CS as discipline and profession. Classes are designed for those who will either enter the workforce as professional programmers or for those who will go on to four-year degrees in CS.

I do not know what classes or sections I will teach from one semester to the next, but in general I teach any of the the programming fundamentals classes and intermediate web development.

I am based at the Highland campus however all courses and office hours are currently online.

To be eligible for a letter of recommendation you need to fulfill the following: take at least two in-person classes from me (no exceptions), complete all coursework with a grade of "A", be a computer science major, and be applying to a computer science program at a University or applying for a technical position in industry. In addition, I have to believe you are genuinely well suited to the program or position to which you are applying. Meeting all criteria does not guarantee receiving a letter, but it does mean it will be considered.

I do not take explicit attendance. You will not be directly penalized nor rewarded by attendance. However, you are expected to attend every class and students who have excessive absences typically do very poorly. Students who miss more than 2-3 classes in a semester will usually fail simply by missing too much material and becoming out of touch with the class. In addition, there may be in-class assignments for credit, and if you are not in class you cannot get credit for in-class assignments.

I teach Web programming (duh).

No.

Regarding the previous question, 'will I calculate your grade for you?' No. Because the formula is in the syllabus, and you have access to all your grades, so you should be able to calculate your own grade. If your major is computer science and you can't calculate your own grade... we need to talk (then I will show you how to calculate your own grade).