CSCI 331: Web Development

Syllabus: Fall Semester 2025

Dates and assignments more than a week out may be adjusted as the semester goes on. Please consider this web page as a living document subject to change.

Meetings

• Monday, Wednesday, Friday; 1:10 pm - 2:00 pm in Reid Hall Room 101.

Instructor

• Mr. Daniel DeFrance
  
  • Computer Science Office hours
  • Office: Barnard Hall 358
  • E-Mail: daniel.defrance@montana.edu

Course Assistant

• TBD
  
  • Availability for Assistance: https://www.cs.montana.edu/student-success-center.html 
  • Location: Barnard Room 259 
  • Email: gideon.popoola@student.montana.edu

Class Resources

• Brightspace (D2L Learning Environment)

• A computer (laptop is recommended.) You'll need access to a computer with IDE (like VSCode) to write code, and a local software stack (like AMPPS) to test locally before uploading to a server with FTP software (like FileZilla) or Git. It's also recommended you set up a free GitHub or BitBucket account to share your code with others in your group.
• Online Documentation  (in lue of textbook)
  • https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/
  • https://www.w3schools.com/
• Discord Channel
  • https://discord.gg/wZtJ5Sby
• Google Sheet
  • Project Ideas and useful student info
• IDEs  -- your choice
  • https://code.visualstudio.com/ (I will be using this in class)
  • https://www.jetbrains.com/webstorm/ 
• HTML/CSS Validation
  • https://validator.w3.org/
  • https://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ 
• Git
  • https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git
  • https://github.com/ 
  • https://bitbucket.org/product
• VPN
  • http://www.montana.edu/uit/computing/desktop/vpn/
• Local WebDev Environments
  • https://ampps.com/
  • https://www.mamp.info/
• FTP Client
  • https://filezilla-project.org/
• MERN stack
  • NodeJ
  • ExpressJS
  • ReactJS

Course Server*

Use a terminal/command/shell window to log into the server from a command line:

ssh netID@csci331vm.cs.montana.edu

chmod 711 ~

mkdir public_html

Add an index.html file and other content to the html folder to get started.

Reach your web site at csci331.cs.montana.edu/netID/index.html

* Note that your course site is only visible to users on the MSU-Secure WiFi network. You will also need to be on the network in order to ssh or ftp in. It is advisable to work locally on AMPPS, and then when you are on the MSU network, you can sync with your space on the server.

Course Outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be be able to:

• Read and write HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP code, and understand the interworking and implementation of those languages on a website.
• Recognize various web frameworks and web technologies, and explain the differences and similarities between them.
• Develop a full stack web application
• Work effectively in teams with revision control software, and convey that work to a larger group by demonstration, verbal, and written communication.

Policies

Please see the Policies Page for all general policies.

CSCI 331 Specific Policies:

In case of emergency, we're instating a one-time 5-day late pass that can be called in for any assignment through week 12. To use the late-pass, you must email your TA before the 5-day period, and the assignment must be submitted within 5 days of the due date.

Grading

Note: The Midterm must be taken at the regularly scheduled time and will not be given early.

• Assignments 45% (assignments all weighted equally)
• Midterm - 20%
• Final Project: 30%
  
  • Published Site (15%)
  • Documentation (10%)
  • Presentation (5%)
• Peer Evaluations 5% (all weighted equally)

Grades will be determined after any curving takes place based on your class average as follows:

• 93+: A
• 90+: A-
• 87+: B+
• 83+: B
• 80+: B-
• 77+: C+
• 73+: C
• 70+: C-
• 67+: D+
• 63: D
• 60: D-

Additional Course Information

Additional MSU Resources