Welcome to CS21. This course will introduce fundamental ideas in computer science while also teaching you how to write computer programs. We will study algorithms for solving problems and implement solutions in the Python programming language. Python is an interpreted language that is known for its ease of use. We also introduce object-oriented programming and data structures. A deeper coverage of these topics will be presented in CS 35.
This course is appropriate for all students who want to learn how to write computer programs and to think like computer scientists. It is the usual first course for computer science majors and minors. Students with advanced placement credit or extensive programming experience should place out of this course and instead begin with CS 33 or CS 35.
| WEEK | DAY | ANNOUNCEMENTS | TOPIC & READING | LAB |
| 1 | Jan 22 | Introduction Zelle Chapters 1-2 |
Lab 1: Warmup programs | |
| Jan 24 | Using Unix Session 4-5pm | |||
| 2 | Jan 29 | Computing with numbers and strings Zelle Chapters 3-4 |
Lab 2: Numbers and strings | |
| Jan 31 | Quiz 1 Practice quiz Drop/Add ends (Feb 01) |
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| 3 | Feb 05 | Graphics Zelle Chapter 5 |
Lab 3: Graphics | |
| Feb 07 | ||||
| 4 | Feb 12 | Functions Zelle Chapter 6 |
Lab 4: Busy Bugs | |
| Feb 14 | Quiz 2 Practice quiz |
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| 5 | Feb 19 | Decision structures Zelle Chapter 7 |
Lab 5: Jumping stick figures | |
| Feb 21 | ||||
| 6 | Feb 26 | Loops Zelle Chapter 8 |
Lab 6: Lingo | |
| Feb 28 | Quiz 3 Practice quiz |
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| 7 | Mar 04 | Top-down design Zelle Chapter 9 |
None | |
| Mar 06 | ||||
Mar 11 |
Spring Break |
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Mar 13 |
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| 8 | Mar 18 | Searching and Analysis of algorithms Zelle Section 13.1 |
Lab 7: Did you mean: spelling | |
| Mar 20 | Quiz 4 Practice quiz |
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| 9 | Mar 25 | Sorting and Recursion Zelle Sections 13-2-13.3 |
Lab 8: Recursion | |
| Mar 27 | Last day to declare CR/NC or withdraw with a W (Mar 28) | |||
| 10 | Apr 01 | Dictionaries Zelle Section 11.6 |
Lab 9: Zipcodes | |
| Apr 03 | Quiz 5 Practice quiz |
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| 11 | Apr 08 | Defining new classes Zelle Chapter 10 |
Lab 10: Turtles and Fractals | |
| Apr 10 | ||||
| 12 | Apr 15 | Object-oriented design Zelle Chapter 12 |
Lab 11: Fire simulator | |
| Apr 17 | Quiz 6 Practice quiz |
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| 13 | Apr 22 | Linked lists Handouts |
Lab 12: Genetic Algorithm | |
| Apr 24 | ||||
| 14 | Apr 29 | Binary search trees Handouts |
None | |
| May 01 | Practice quiz | |||
May 10 |
2-5pm SCI 101 |
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| 35% | Lab assignments |
| 35% | Quizzes |
| 5% | Class Participation |
| 25% | Final Exam |
Programming assignments will typically be assigned in class at the beginning of the week and will be due before midnight the following Tuesday night. You are strongly encouraged to start early and to attend the study sessions for extra practice.
You will submit your assignments electronically using the handin21 program. You may submit your assignment multiple times, but each submission overwrites the previous one and only the final submission will be graded. Late assignments will not be accepted unless you contact me before the deadline. Even if you do not fully complete an assignment, you may submit what you have done to receive partial credit.
Several student mentors will assist me in class and run study sessions in the robot lab (Science Center 252) on Wednesday and Sunday evenings 7-9pm.
You are invited -- and encouraged -- to participate in these study sessions to prepare for quizzes, to discuss programming concepts, and to get friendly assistance in working on lab programming assignments. Our CS mentoring team is dedicated to helping students, who have no prior knowledge of computer science, learn to program in Python while keeping their senses of humor intact. As an added bonus, free food will be provided at the sessions.
Programming is not a dry mechanical process, but a form of art. Well written code has an aesthetic appeal while poorly written programs can make other programmers and instructors cringe. Programming assignments will be graded based on style and correctness. Good programming practices usually include many of the following principles:
Academic honesty is required in all work you submit to be graded. All code you submit must be your own with the following permissible exceptions: code distributed in class, code found in the course text book, and code worked on with an assigned partner.
You are encouraged to discuss the lab assignment specifications and general strategies for solving the problems with other students in the class.
Basic Unix
Commands
Python Documentation
Textbook site
How To Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python