CS21 — Intro to Computer Science
Announcements | Schedule | Grading | Study Sessions | Style | Integrity | LinksIntroduction
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 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 35.
Goals for the course
By the end of the course, we hope that you will have developed the following skills:
- Given a program, be able to simulate on paper how a computer would execute the program, and show the results that would be produced.
- Given a problem, be able to design a clear, concise, and correct pseudocode algorithm to solve it.
- Given a pseudocode algorithm, be able to successfully implement it in Python.
- Be able to use top-down design to sub-divide a large problem into reasonably-sized modular sub-problems.
- Given several algorithms for solving the same problem, be able to analyze which algorithm would be more efficient in terms of running time.
- Develop debugging and unit testing skills. Consistently use these skills while implementing programs.
- Learn to work as part of a team to solve problems starting from design and continuing through to implementation.
Announcements
- The final exam date has been changed. Students may attend the exam on either Sunday, December 16 2-5pm, SCI 181 or Tuesday, December 18 9am-12pm, SCI 181
- Practice quiz 6 is posted
- A list of basic unix commands is available online. This link is also in the links section of this page.
Class info
Room: Science Center 240Time: MWF 9:30am–10:20am
Text: Python Programming: an Introduction to Computer Science by John Zelle
Instructional staff
Professor: Andrew DannerOffice: Science Center 253
Phone: (610) 328-8665
Office hours: Tuesday 9-11am, Wednesday 1:30-2:30pm, or by appointment
Student Mentors: Carey Pietsch, Ethel Reines, Colin Schimmelfing, and Joel Tolliver
Schedule
| WEEK | DAY | ANNOUNCEMENTS | TOPIC & READING | HOMEWORK |
| 1 | Sep 03 | Introduction Writing and running programs in Python Zelle Chapters 1-2 |
HW #1 | |
| Sep 05 | ||||
| Sep 07 | ||||
| 2 | Sep 10 | Computing with numbers and strings Using pseudocode Zelle Chapters 3-4 |
HW #2 | |
| Sep 12 | ||||
| Sep 14 | Drop/Add ends ASCII table Quiz 1 Practice Quiz |
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| 3 | Sep 17 | Graphics Graphics and using objects Zelle Chapter 5 |
HW #3 | |
| Sep 19 | ||||
| Sep 21 | ||||
| 4 | Sep 24 | Functions Zelle Chapter 6 |
HW #4 | |
| Sep 26 | ||||
| Sep 28 | Quiz 2 Practice Quiz | |||
| 5 | Oct 01 | Decision structures Exceptions Zelle Chapter 7 |
HW #5 | |
| Oct 03 | ||||
| Oct 05 | ||||
| 6 | Oct 08 | Loops Booleans Zelle Chapter 8 |
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| Oct 10 | ||||
| Oct 12 | Quiz 3 (longer) Practice Quiz | |||
Oct 15 |
Break |
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Oct 17 |
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Oct 19 |
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| 7 | Oct 22 | Top-down design Zelle Chapter 9 |
HW #6 | |
| Oct 24 | ||||
| Oct 26 | ||||
| 8 | Oct 29 | Recursion Searching Sorting Zelle 13.1-13.3 |
HW #7 | |
| Oct 31 | ||||
| Nov 02 | Quiz 4 Practice Quiz | |||
| 9 | Nov 05 | Dictionaries Zelle Chapter 11 (pgs 367-375) |
HW #8 | |
| Nov 07 | ||||
| Nov 09 | Last day to declare CR/NC or Withdraw with a "W" |
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| 10 | Nov 12 | Defining new classes Zelle Chapter 10 |
HW #9 | |
| Nov 14 | ||||
| Nov 16 | Quiz 5 Practice Quiz | |||
| 11 | Nov 19 | Object-oriented design Zelle Chapter 12 |
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| Nov 21 | ||||
Nov 23 |
Thanksgiving Break |
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| 12 | Nov 26 | Linked lists | HW #10 | |
| Nov 28 | ||||
| Nov 30 | Quiz 6 Practice Quiz | |||
| 13 | Dec 03 | Binary search trees | HW #11 | |
| Dec 05 | ||||
| Dec 07 | ||||
| 14 | Dec 10 | Review | ||
Dec 16 |
Final Exam (A) 2pm SCI 181 |
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Dec 18 |
Final Exam (B) 9am SCI 181 |
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Grading
Grades will be weighted as follows:| 35% | Homework assignments |
| 35% | Quizzes |
| 5% | Class Participation |
| 25% | Final Exam |
Homework policy
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 you 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 except in extreme situations and only if 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.
Study sessions
Several student mentors will assist me in class and run study sessions in the robot lab (Science Center 252) on Sundays and Wednesdays from 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 homework 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 Style
Programming is not a dry mechanical process, but a form of art. Well written code has an aesthetic appeal while poor form 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:
- A comment at the top of the program that includes
- Program authors
- Date or Dates
- A brief description of what the program does
- Concise comments that summarize major sections of your code
- Meaningful variable and function names
- Well organized code
- White space or comments to improve legibility
- Avoidance of large blocks of copy-pasted code
Academic Integrity
Academic honesty is required in all work you submit to be graded. With the exception of your lab partner on lab assignments, you may not submit work done with (or by) someone else, or examine or use work done by others to complete your own work. You may discuss assignment specifications and requirements with others in the class to be sure you understand the problem. In addition, you are allowed to work with others to help learn the course material. However, with the exception of your lab partner, you may not work with others on your assignments in any capacity.
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. In these cases, you should always include detailed comments that indicates which parts of the assignment you received help on, and what your sources were.
``It is the opinion of the faculty that for an intentional first offense, failure in the course is normally appropriate. Suspension for a semester or deprivation of the degree in that year may also be appropriate when warranted by the seriousness of the offense.'' - Swarthmore College Bulletin (2007-2008, Section 7.1.2)
Please see me if there are any questions about what is permissible.
External Links
Links that are related to the course may be posted here. If you have suggestions for links, let me know.
Using Unix Improved
Python Documentation
Textbook site
How To Think Like a
Computer Scientist: Learning with Python
Python for Java Programmers