CS111 (Introduction to Computer Science) Spring 2012, Carleton College

Week 1: course overview; intro to CS

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 2. (You should download the latest version of Python 2.x.x.)

26 March 2012 (M): intro to CS and CS 111.
Reading: Zelle, §1.1–1.5.

PS01 (on logistics and finding frequent words) was posted on Moodle today. It's due on Wednesday.

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.
28 March 2012 (W): algorithms, office hours, addition, and pair programming.
If you have a Zelle 2nd Edition (i.e., the incorrect version for this class), then (a) you'll need to check on section equivalences to make sure you're reading the right material (main difference: Chapters 4 and 5 are swapped), and (b) there will be some syntax differences that are annoying. You can check this page (written by Sherri Goings, with some edits by Dave Musicant) for a translation.

Reading: Zelle §1.6, 1.7. As usual, please post responses in Moodle.

PS02 (on Scrabble and academic honesty) was posted to Moodle today. It's due on Friday.
30 March 2012 (F): xkcd [0, 1], forum questions, algorithms for office hours/Scrabble.
Reading: Zelle §2.1–2.5.

PS03 (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, computation, and data

2 April 2012 (M): eval/int/types; how computers work.
Reading: Zelle §3.1, 3.4–3.6.
4 April 2012 (W): data and data types; variables as names; conditionals.
Reading: Zelle §4.1–4.4.

PS04 (on writing with numbers) was posted to Moodle today. It's a pair assignment due Friday.
6 April 2012 (F): control structures, strings and slices, and Lake Chargoggagoggmanchaugoggagoggchaubunagungamaugg.
Reading: Zelle §2.6, 3.3, 7.1–7.3.

PS05 (on weather and electricity) was posted to Moodle today. It's an individual assignment due Wednesday.

Please complete a peer evaluation form for PS02/03/04.

Week 3: functions, loops, lists

9 April 2012 (M): pop quiz (if and for); loops; fun with words; ps06 walkthrough.
Reading:Zelle §4.6, 8.1–8.3.

PS06 (on the Caesar cipher) was posted to Moodle today. It's due on Friday, to be done with your newly assigned partners.
11 April 2012 (W): more fun with words.
Reading: Zelle §6.1, 6.2.

The first midterm will be held on Monday, 16 April 2012. Any material that we've discussed in the class is fair game, including material in class, problem sets 1–6, 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. From Zelle's first edition:

Chapter Discussion Programming Exercises

2 4 8,9

3 1 (just say "int" or "float"),4 3,4,5,11,15

4 1,2,3 3,5,10,15

7 2 1,5,9,13

8 3 2,8,9,11
13 April 2012 (F): even more loops; even more fun with words.
PS07 (on social networks) was posted to Moodle today. It's due Wednesday. (But these problems may be good practice for the exam, so you're welcome to work on them this weekend if you prefer.)

Reading: Zelle §6.4–6.6. (For Wednesday.)

Week 4: prelim #1; loops, lists, functions

16 April 2012 (M): prelim #1
18 April 2012 (W): more on functions and parameters, and prime numbers.
Reading: Zelle §8.4, 8.5, and p. 243. Review 8.3. Also Nine Billion Names of God by Arthur C. Clarke

PS08 (on Scrabble) was posted today. It's due on Monday, though I recommend starting on the first few functions (scoreWord, isPlayable, ...) sooner.
20 April 2012 (F): more loop practice: consonant clusters; factorial; Nine Billion Names; a teaser on recursion.
Reading: catch up. Post to Moodle things that are still puzzling at this point in the term, or answer someone else's puzzlement.

Week 5: data representation; objects and classes

23 April 2012 (M): ending the universe; diamonds/triangles/antidiamonds; the parable of fish.
The documentation for Zelle's graphics package is here.

Reading: Zelle §5.1–5.4, 10.1.

PS09 (on graphics and drawing faces) was posted to Moodle today. It's due on Friday.
25 April 2012 (W): classes and objects
Reading: Zelle §10.2–10.3.
27 April 2012 (F): midterm course evals. classes, objects, classes, objects.
Reading: Zelle §10.4–10.5.

PS10 (on cities and clouds) was posted to Moodle today. It's an individual assignment due next Friday.

Please complete a peer evaluation form for PS06/07/08/09.

Week 6: midterm break; nested loops

30 April 2012 (M): midterm break!
2 May 2012 (W): auctions, aliasings, classes, objects, lists of lists.
Reading: Zelle §11.1–11.2.

The second midterm will be held on Monday, 7 May 2012. Any material that we've discussed in the class is fair game, including class through 4 May; problem sets 01–10; and all assigned readings. I've identified some good practice exercises from the text. Certainly don't feel like you have to do anything close to all of them, but these are good ones to try. (The problems from exam 1 remain good practice!) It's also not a guaranteed-to-be-exhaustive list; there may be other kinds of questions. But these are potentially helpful review problems:

Chapter Discussion Programming Exercises

5 5,7,12,13

6 1,3,4,5 1,4,7,12

10 1,2,3 9,10,11
4 May 2012 (F): nested loops, crosswords, and image processing.
Reading: Zelle §11.3–11.4.

PS11 (on image processing) was posted to Moodle today. It's due Wednesday (part I) and Friday (part II), to be done in your third-round partnerships.

Week 7: prelim #2; using objects; image processing

7 May 2012 (M): prelim #2
9 May 2012 (W): taking CS in the fall; the CS course guide; CS comps; designing a recommender system.
Reading: Zelle §7.5.

The final project announcement was posted to Moodle today. A proposal is due next Wednesday. The project itself is due on the last day of finals at 5:00p. Save the date of our finals exam slot in your calendars: we'll do a demo session of your awesomely awesome (but still in progress) projects then!
11 May 2012 (F): practice with tiling and scaling images.
Reading: Zelle §12.1, 12.4.

PS12 (more on images and image processing) was handed out today. It's due on Friday.

Week 8: recursion, search, complexity

14 May 2012 (M): recommender system wrapup; your questions.
Reading: Zelle §13.2.0–13.2.5.
16 May 2012 (W): practice with recursion.
Reading: Zelle §13.1
18 May 2012 (F):
Reading: Zelle §13.2.6–13.2.7.

Please complete a peer evaluation form for PS10/11/12.

PS13 (on recursion and fractals) was handed out today. It's due next Friday.

Week 9: searching and sorting; complexity

21 May 2012 (M): implementing linear and binary search, iteratively and recursively.
Reading: Zelle §13.3.1.
23 May 2012 (W): sorting: selection, insertion, bubble, bozo, pogo, and awesome sort (animation , animation #2, and dances!)
Reading: Zelle §13.3.2–3.

The third midterm will be held on Monday. Any material that we've discussed in the class is fair game. 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!) I've also posted a few extra practice problems on Moodle. 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

11 1,2 5,6,8,11

13 1,2,3,4 5,9,10,11
25 May 2012 (F): mergesort.
Reading: Zelle §13.4.

CS111 (Introduction to Computer Science)
Spring 2012, Carleton College

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Basic information:

Course Materials:

Chapter	Discussion	Programming Exercises
2	4	8,9
3	1 (just say "int" or "float"),4	3,4,5,11,15
4	1,2,3	3,5,10,15
7	2	1,5,9,13
8	3	2,8,9,11

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