CS111 (Introduction to Computer Science) Fall 2010, Carleton College

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Week 1: course overview; intro to CS

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The computer labs on the 3rd floor of the CMC are set up with Python for your use throughout the term. If you'd like to work elsewhere, you are welcome to install Python on your own computer. Using your own machine is perfectly welcome, but making it all work properly is entirely up to you. Instructions should be available shortly on the CS Department homepage, or you can go to python.org/download. We're using Python 3.1.2.

13 September 2010 (M): intro to CS and CS 111.
Reading: Zelle, §1.1–1.5

PS1 was handed out today. Part I is due Wednesday. Part II (on Romeo and Juliet) is due Friday.

Unix Tutorial: Go to CMC 304 or 306. The machines in those rooms all boot into both Windows and MacOS; you'll need MacOS. (If you don't see a Mac login screen, you'll need to reboot into the Mac side.) Log in, using your Carleton user name and password. Now go to the following tutorial, which was originally written by Michael Stonebank of the University of Surrey, and modified by Jeff Ondich to match the Carleton setup. Work through Typographical Conventions, Introduction to the UNIX Operating System, and Tutorials 1-4 of this Unix tutorial. There's nothing to hand in, but please post questions/comments on the Moodle site or bring questions to class.
15 September 2010 (W): algorithms, office hours, and addition.
Reading: Zelle §1.6, 1.7, and 1.9. As usual, please post responses in Moodle.
17 September 2010 (F): addition, a little about Python types, pair programming, academic honesty, and getting started in the lab.
Reading: Zelle §2.1–2.5. As usual, please post responses in Moodle.

PS02 (on an introduction to Python and on making change) was posted to Moodle today. Part I is due Monday. Part II is due Wednesday.

Week 2: expressions and computation

20 September 2010 (M): eval/int/types; how computers work.
Reading: Zelle §3.1, 3.4, 3.5. Moodle as usual.
22 September 2010 (W): data and data types; variables as names; conditionals.
Reading: Zelle §5.1, 5.2, 5.4. Moodle as usual.

Please complete a peer evaluation form for PS02.

PS03 (on Julius Caesar and cryptography) was posted to Moodle today. It's due Monday.
24 September 2010 (F): control structures, strings and slices, and Lake Chargoggagoggmanchaugoggagoggchaubunagungamaugg.
Reading: Zelle §2.6, 3.3, 7.1–7.3. Moodle as usual.

PS04 (on writing with numbers) was posted to Moodle today. It's an individual assignment due Wednesday.

Week 3: functions, loops, lists; midterm #1

27 September 2010 (M): ps03 debrief; loops and fun with words
Reading:Zelle §5.3, 8.1, 8.2; Moodle.

The first midterm will be held on Friday, 1 October 2010. Any material that we've discussed in the class is fair game, which means anything in class through Wednesday, 29 September; problem sets 1–4, and all assigned readings. I've gotten a request to pull together some exercises from the book that would be good practice for the exam. Here are some that I've identified. Certainly don't feel like you have to do anything close to all of them, but these are good ones to try.

Chapter Discussion Programming Exercises

2 4, 7 8,9

3 1 (just say "int" or "float"), 4 3,4,5,11,16

5 1,2,3(a,e) 3,4,5

7 2 1,5,8,12

8 3 2,5,9
29 September 2010 (W): loops, loops, loops, and more fun with words.
Reading: Zelle §5.9, 6.1, 6.2, Moodled. (Not on the exam.)

Please complete a peer evaluation form for PS03.

A review session will be held via Skype on Thursday, 30 September, at 8:00p in CMC 319. Come with questions; we'll leave at midnight or when you run out of things to ask.
1 October 2010 (F): preliminary exam #1!

Week 4: loops, lists, functions

4 October 2010 (M): cryptography; the beginning of functions.
PS05 (on social networks) was posted to Moodle today. It's due Wednesday.

Reading: Zelle §6.4–6.6, Moodled.
6 October 2010 (W): more on functions and parameters, and prime numbers.
Reading: Zelle §8.3, 8.5, Moodled. Also Nine Billion Names of God by Arthur C. Clarke (google cached version).

PS06 (on Scrabble) was posted to Moodle today. It's due in two parts on Friday and Monday.
8 October 2010 (F): aliasing, nested loops, and the end of the world.
Reading: Zelle §3.2, 8.4, Moodled.

Week 5: data representation

The documentation for Zelle's graphics package is here.

11 October 2010 (M): more loop practice: pretty printing and Nine Billion Names.
Reading: Zelle §4.1–4.4, 10.1, Moodled.

PS07 (on graphics) was posted to Moodle today. It's due on Wednesday.
13 October 2010 (W): classes and objects.
Reading: Zelle §10.2, 10.3, Moodled.

PS08 (on cityscapes) was posted to Moodle today. It's due on Wednesday.

Please complete a peer evaluation form for PS06/PS07.
15 October 2010 (F): classes and objects and midterm evaluations.
Reading: Zelle §10.4, 10.5, Moodled.

Week 6: midterm break; midterm #2; data representation

The second midterm will be held on Friday, 22 October 2010. Any material that we've discussed in the class is fair game, which means anything in class through Wednesday, 20 October; problem sets 1–8, and all assigned readings. As before, I've identified some good practice exercises from the text. (The ones listed for the first exam remain good practice for this one!) Certainly don't feel like you have to do anything close to all of them, but these are good ones to try. I've also thrown in a few extra from previous chapters if you want extra practice.

Chapter	Discussion	Programming Exercises
4	3	5
5	3	9,10,14
6	3,4,5	3,4,11,12
7		11,13
8		8,11
10	1,3	9,10,11

18 October 2010 (M): midterm break!
A review session will be held on Wednesday, 20 October, after the Carleton volleyball game, in our regular classroom. You can come to the game (Cowling, 7:00p) or keep tabs on its progress here. Come with questions; we'll leave at midnight or when you run out of things to ask.
20 October 2010 (W): classes, objects, and crossword puzzles.
Reading: Zelle §11.1–11.2 (for Monday).
22 October 2010 (F): preliminary exam #2!

Week 7: lists of lists; searching

25 October 2010 (M): lists of lists, crosswords, and image processing.
Reading: nothing new.

PS09 (on images and image processing) was handed out today. It's due on Wednesday and Friday.
27 October 2010 (W): designing a recommender system.
Reading: Zelle §5.5, 5.6, 7.5.
29 October 2010 (F): some leftovers (aliasing, scope of variables, foo.getX vs foo.getX()); practice rotating/scaling images.
Reading: Zelle §12.1, 12.4, recommender system code.

PS10 (more on images and image processing) was handed out today. It's due on Wednesday and Friday.

The final project announcement was handed out today. A proposal is due on Monday, 8 November 2010. The project is due at the end of finals.

Week 8: recursion and searching

1 November 2010 (M): recommender system wrapup; palindromes.
Reading: Zelle §13.2.0–13.2.5.
3 November 2010 (W): practice with recursion.
Reading: Zelle §13.1
5 November 2010 (F): linear search, binary search.
Reading: Zelle §13.2.6–13.2.7.

PS11 (on recursion and fractals) was handed out today. It's due on Friday, 12 November 2010.

Week 9: complexity, sorting, and applications of CS

8 November 2010 (M): binary search recap, computational complexity, and sorting lists.
Reading: §13.3.1.
10 November 2010 (W): sorting: selection, insertion, bubble, bozo, pogo, and awesome sort. (animation ).
Reading: §13.3.2, 13.3.3.

The third midterm will be held on Monday, 15 November 2010. Any material that we've discussed in the class is fair game, which means anything in class through Friday, 13 November; all problem sets; and all assigned readings. As before, I've identified some good practice exercises from the text. (The ones listed for the first two exams remain good practice for this one!) Certainly don't feel like you have to do anything close to all of them, but these are good ones to try. I've also posted a few extra practice problems on the Moodle page.

Chapter Discussion Programming Exercises

11 1,2 5,6,8,11

13 1,2,3,4 5,9,10,11
12 November 2010 (F): sorting: mergesort; analyzing our sorting algorithms. (animation #2)
Reading: Zelle, §13.4. (For Wednesday/enrichment.)

Week 10: exam #3, assorted applications, wrapup

15 November 2010 (M): preliminary exam #3!
17 November 2010 (W): course evaluations; ask me anything.

Finals Period:

CS111 (Introduction to Computer Science)
Fall 2010, Carleton College

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Basic information:

Course Materials:

Chapter	Discussion	Programming Exercises
2	4, 7	8,9
3	1 (just say "int" or "float"), 4	3,4,5,11,16
5	1,2,3(a,e)	3,4,5
7	2	1,5,8,12
8	3	2,5,9

Chapter	Discussion	Programming Exercises
11	1,2	5,6,8,11
13	1,2,3,4	5,9,10,11