SCHEDULE
The schedule is subject to minor changes. Readings are from the textbook Explorations in Computing (EC) and Blown to Bits (BB) . Additional readings will be assigned as necessary.
| WEEK | DATES | TOPICS/READINGS | HOMEWORKS/EXAMS |
| Week 1 | 1/14-1/18 |
A Brief History of Computation from Babbage to the World Wide Web Course Overview History of Computing (Part 1) Article Computational Thinking by Wing (optional). History of Computing (Part 2) History of Computing (Part 3) EC Chapter 1, BB Chapter 1 |
Programming Assignment 1 , due Tue Jan 22 at 11:59 pm Problem Set 1 due Fri Jan 25 in class Lab 1 |
| Week 2 | 1/21-1/25* |
An Introduction to Programming using Ruby variables, types, statements, functions Basic data types, expressions, functions Ruby code from class For loops Ruby code from class (1) Ruby code from class (2) EC Chapter 2, BB Chapter 2 pages 19-42. |
Programming Assignment 2 , due Tue Jan 29 at 11:59 pm Problem Set 2 due Fri Feb 1 in class Lab 2 |
| Week 3 | 1/28-2/1 |
Algorithms loops, conditionals, algorithm examples, Algorithmic Thinking Annotated Notes 2:30/3:30 Implementation of algorithms Annotated Notes 2:30 3:30 Algorithms ctd.. Annotated Notes 2:30 3:30 week 3 code EC Chapter 3 |
Programming Assignment 3 , due Tue Feb 5 at 11:59 pm Problem Set 3 due Fri Feb 8 in class Lab 3 Optional exercises (recommended) |
| Week 4 | 2/4-2/8 |
Computation using Iteration using arrays, linear search, selection sort, order of complexity Introduction to search Annotated Notes 2:30 3:30 Sorting things Annotated Notes 2:30 3:30 week 4 code Scalibility and Big O EC Chapter 4 |
Programming Assignment 4 , due Tue Feb 12 at 11:59 pm Problem Set 4 due Fri Feb 15 in class Lab 4 |
| Week 5 | 2/11-2/15 |
Recursive Thinking binary search, merge sort, fractals, and other recursive algorithms Recursion: Basics Binary Search Merge Sort EC Chapter 5 |
No Programming Assignment going out this week
Problem Set 5 due Fri Feb 22 in class Lab 5 |
| Week 6 | 2/18-2/22 |
Data Organization lists, stacks, queues, hash tables, trees and graphs Introduction to Data Structures Annotated Notes 2:30 3:30 Hash Tables EC Chapter 6 |
Written Exam 1 (Wed Feb 20)
Sample Exam 1 (Fall 2012) Sample Answers Extra Exercises Programming Assignment 5 due Tue Feb 26 11:59 pm Online Assignment due Wed Feb 27 2:30 pm Corrections for the online mdule Problem Set 6 due Fri Mar 1 in class Lab 6 |
| Week 7 | 2/25-3/1 |
Data Organization continued Trees and Graphs Data Representation Binary Representation Review and Compression integers, text, images, sound and compression Annotated notes 2:30 3:30 EC Chapter 7, BB Chapter 3 |
Lab Exam 1
Sample Lab Exam (Fall 2012) Sample Answers (Fall 2012) Programming Assignment 6 due Thursday Mar 7 11:59 pm Problem Set 7 due Wednesday March 20 in class |
| Week 8 | 3/4-3/8** |
Computer Organization CPU layers as abstractions, instructions as data and data as instructions Boolean Logic Annotated notes 2:30 3:30 Circuits, Adders and CPU Annotated notes 2:30 3:30 EC Chapter 8 |
Programming Assignment 7 due Thursday Mar 28 11:59 pm No new problem set going out this week Lab 7 |
| Week 9 | 3/18-3/22 |
Randomness in Computation shuffling, games with random numbers, cellular automata Random Number Generators Annotated notes 2:30 3:30 Games with Random Numbers Cellular Automata EC Chapter 9 |
No new programming assignment going out this week Problem Set 8 due Friday March 29 in class Lab 8 |
| Week 10 | 3/25-3/29 |
Concurrency sorting networks, pipelining, and mulitasking Multiprocessing & Deadlock (by Jim Morris) Review and Pipelining BB Chapter 4, pages 109-137 |
Written Exam 2 (Wed March 27) Sample Exam 2 (Spring 2012) Sample Answers Programming Assignment 8 due Tuesday April 2 11:59 pm Problem Set 9 due Friday April 5 in class Lab 9 |
| Week 11 | 4/1-4/5 |
The Internet Security Design of the Internet Annotated notes 2:30 3:30 Packets and Protocols Annotated notes 2:30 3:30 Security BB Chapter 5 and Appendix A |
Programming Assignment 9 due Tuesday April 9 11:59 pm Problem Set 10 due Friday April 12 in class Lab 10 |
| Week 12 | 4/8-4/12 |
Simulations graphics in Ruby, N-body simulation Simulation: Basics, Example Continuous-time Simulations EC Chapter 11 |
Programming Assignment 10 due Wednesday April 17 11:59 pm Problem Set 11 due Mon April 22 in class Lab 11 |
|
Weeks 13 and Week 14 |
4/15-4/26*** |
Artificial Intelligence ELIZA and the Turing Test, games (search space and heuristics), Watson and machine learning EC Chapter 10 Intractability AI: Games and Search Strategies AI: Natural Language Processing AI: Watson and Machine Learning The lecture slides for Intractability is grouped with Week 15 material EC Chapter 12 |
Written Exam 3 (Wed April 24) Sample Exam 3 (Fall 2012) Programming Assignment 11 due date Friday May 3 Problem Set 12 not for credit No lab on Thursday April 18 Lab 12 (Thursday April 25) |
| Week 15 | 4/29-5/3 |
Computability: The Limits of Computation Intractability, Map coloring and the traveling salesperson, P vs. NP, The halting problem Limits of Computing: Intractability Limits of Computing: P versus NP Limits of Computing: Uncomputable Functions Summary EC Chapter 12 |
Lab Exam 2 Sample Lab Exam 2 (Fall 2012) Sample Answers (Fall 2012) No assignments going out. Last week of classes. Optional OLI module available on Computability |
*No classes 1/21 after 12:30PM (Martin Luther King Day events)
**No classes 3/8-3/15 (Midterm Break and Spring Break)
***No classes 4/18-4/19 (Spring Carnival)