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 CS31 or CS35.
See the Schedule for each week's reading assignment.
Here are a few other useful online python resources:
By the end of the course, we hope that you will have developed the following skills:
WEEK | DAY | ANNOUNCEMENTS | TOPIC & READING | LABS |
1 | Jan 20 | Introduction to Python and Unix For loops Sections 2.1, 3.2. Skip 2.1.3 In class | Lab 00 | |
Jan 22 | ||||
2 | Jan 27 | Numbers and Strings Sections 2.3, 3.4 In Class | Lab 01 | |
Jan 29 | Drop/add ends (Jan 30) | |||
3 | Feb 03 | Quiz 1 | Booleans, If/else Sec. 2.2 In Class | Lab 02 |
Feb 05 | ||||
4 | Feb 10 | While loops Sec. 2.4 In class | Lab 03 | |
Feb 12 | ||||
5 | Feb 17 | Quiz 2 | Graphics, using objects In Class | Lab 04 |
Feb 19 | ||||
6 | Feb 24 | Functions, objects Sec. 4.1, 4.2 In class | Lab 05 | |
Feb 26 | ||||
7 | Mar 03 | Top Down Design, File I/O Sec. 4.6, Chapter 6 In class | Lab 06 | |
Mar 05 | Quiz 3 | |||
Mar 10 | Spring Break | |||
Mar 12 | ||||
8 | Mar 17 | More Top Down Design | Lab 07 P1 | |
Mar 19 | ||||
9 | Mar 24 | Quiz 4 | Searching, Analysis of Algorithms Sec. 9.1, 9.3.1-9.3.3, 10.1 | Lab 07 P2 |
Mar 26 | CR/NC/W Deadline (Mar 27) | |||
10 | Mar 31 | Sorting, Analysis of Algorithms Sec. 10.2 | Lab 08 | |
Apr 02 | ||||
11 | Apr 07 | Quiz 5 | Recursion Sec. 4.3 | Lab 9 |
Apr 09 | ||||
12 | Apr 14 | Defining new classes Chapt. 8 handout | Lab 10 | |
Apr 16 | ||||
13 | Apr 21 | Quiz 6 | Linked lists | Lab 11 |
Apr 23 | ||||
14 | Apr 28 | Wrap up | | |
Apr 30 | ||||
May 07 | Final Exams Begin | |||
May 16 |
40% | Lab assignments |
30% | Quizzes |
25% | Final Exam |
5% | Class Participation |
Quizzes will be given at the beginning of class on the days posted on the Schedule. Please look over these dates carefully and contact the professor in advance if you cannot be in class for a quiz.
Weekly Lab Sessions | ||
CS21 A 1:05—2:35pm Tuesdays | Danner | Science Center 240 |
CS21 B 2:45—4:15pm Tuesdays | Knerr | Science Center 240 |
CS21 C 1:15—2:45pm Wednesdays | Waterman | Science Center 240 |
CS21 D 3:00—4:30pm Wednesdays | Waterman | Science Center 240 |
Lab assignments will typically be assigned in class at the beginning of the week and will be due before midnight on Saturdays. 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, and a history of previous submission will be saved. You are encouraged to submit your work regularly.
Late assignments will only be accepted if you contact the professor at least a day before the deadline with a legitimate reason for needing extra time, such as an illness or needing to leave campus.
Even if you do not fully complete an assignment, you should submit what you have done to receive partial credit.
The cs labs are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for you to use for CS21 lab assignments.
Academic honesty is required in all your work. Under no circumstances may you hand in work done with (or by) someone else under your own name. Your code should never be shared with anyone; you may not examine or use code belonging to someone else, nor may you let anyone else look at or make a copy of your code. This includes, but is not limited to, obtaining solutions from students who previously took the course or code that can be found online. You may not share solutions after the due date of the assignment.
Discussing ideas and approaches to problems with others on a general level is fine (in fact, we encourage you to discuss general strategies with each other), but you should never read anyone else's code or let anyone else read your code. 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 on which parts of the assignment you received help, and what your sources were.
Failure to abide by these rules constitutes academic dishonesty and will lead to a hearing of the College Judiciary Committee. According to the Faculty Handbook: "Because plagiarism is considered to be so serious a transgression, it is the opinion of the faculty that for the first offense, failure in the course and, as appropriate, suspension for a semester or deprivation of the degree in that year is suitable; for a second offense, the penalty should normally be expulsion." Be aware that we will be routinely running plagiarism detection software on the lab solutions of students from all sections of CS21.
Please contact me if you have any questions about what is permissible in this course.
Lauri Courtenay is the CS Department's Academic Support Coordinator. She will be working closely with our student mentors, also known as Ninjas, to help you learn how to program and think like a computer scientist. The CS21 Ninjas will assist me in class and run evening study sessions in the birds' nest (Sci 256). The CS21 Ninjas (student mentors) are: Dee Ahima, Rachel Diamond, Izzi Baskin, Alex Simms, Daniel Redelmeier, Nader Helmy, Shaina Lu, and Mayank Agrawal.
You are invited -- and encouraged -- to participate in Ninja evening study sessions to prepare for quizzes, to discuss programming concepts, and to get friendly assistance in working on lab 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 snacks will be provided at the sessions. The sessions are held:
Weekly Evening Ninja Sessions | ||
Mondays | 7—9pm | Sci Center 256 |
Wednesdays | 7—10pm | Sci Center 256 |
To receive an accommodation for a course activity, you must have an Accommodation Authorization letter from Leslie Hempling and you need to meet with me to work out the details of your accommodation at least one week prior to the activity.
You are also welcome to contact me privately to discuss your academic needs. However, all disability-related accommodations must be arranged through Leslie Hempling in the Office Of Student Disability Services.
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:
Python Tutor
Vi Quick Reference
Python style guide From Prof. Tia Newhall
Using Unix
Basic Unix Commands
Python Documentation (Note: we are using v2.7)
Graphics reference
How To Think Like a Computer Scientist: Python for Software Design
Dive Into Python
(A Semi-Official) Python FAQ Zone
NodeBox
pythonchallenge
emacs beginner's guide