Computer Science 161 - Fall 2014

Computer Science 161.02
Fall 2014

Meetings:

MWF 9:30AM-10:20AM Bagby 020

Instructor:

Professor Tom Valente
Bagby 123 x6210
email: tvalente

Office Hours:

MTWR 2:30PM-4:00PM, other times by appointment and by announcement

Textbook:

Foundations Of Computer Science, 2nd Edition by Forouzan and Mosharraf

Course Description:

This is a broad based introduction to computer science, using a hands-on approach to learning. This course has no prerequisites except a willingness to pursue the course objectives.

Computer Science is the study of the kinds of problems that computers can solve and how they actually, in the end, solve them. At the heart of computer science is the notion of algorithm . An algorithm is a careful and thorough step-by-step description (or "recipe") of how to solve a problem. The process of programming a computer begins with the programmer expressing (perhaps informally) an algorithm that will do so. The process continues with the programmer then encoding the algorithm in a programming language such as Java or C++ or Python. Remarkably, a computer does not understand nor can it execute instructions written in such languages. Instead, the algorithm is executed by a computer's hardware, the circuits of which understand only 0 and 1 (by detecting either high or low voltage).

The first part of the course will focus on how the computer, at its lowest levels, actually processes information. We'll learn how all information, regardless of its type (textual, numerical, audio, video) is represented in binary. We'll then learn how a computer's circuits can perform fundamental tasks such as adding two numbers or comparing two numbers.

After we've understood enough about the behavior of the computer at is lowest levels, we'll "zoom out" to think about what a person (i.e. programmer) must do in order to have the computer solve a problem. We'll study algorithms, both how to express them and how to understand whether or not an algorithm can produce answers in a reasonable amount of time. We'll do this by investigating algorithms to solve problems such as sorting a list of numbers or searching a list of names for some desired name.

Of course, an algorithm must expressed as a computer program in order for a computer to execute its instructions. Thus, later in the course, we will look at how computer programming languages have evolved to the ones that are in use today. We'll use a modern high-level programming language to learn about both procedural and object-oriented programming, the latter being particularly important in modern programming.

Finally, we'll investigate one of today's hot issues - that of secure communications. We'll study a couple of modern methods for encoding secret messages (an area known as Cryptography). In doing so, we'll understand once and for all that computers DO have limitations, and that this is not necessarily a bad thing!

Grading:

In-class Tests (3 in class - Sep 26th, Oct 31st, Nov 24th)	30% (12-12-6)
Final Exam (Saturday Dec 13th at 9:00AM)	25%
Quizzes	10%
Homework	35%

Tests must be taken at the date and time announced, unless you provide a legitimate excuse prior to the time of the test. Quizzes must be taken when given. Homework will be due about once weekly, usually on a Friday. No homework will be accepted after that Friday. Unless told otherwise, you may work in pairs on your homework.