Syllabus
What this course is about
CMSC 100 is
an introduction to the ideas and methods of computer science. This course is
designed for a general audience: you need not know anything at all about
computers to enter this course. The first part of this course will be a quick
and limited introduction to computer programming with the Java language. The
remainder of the course is a survey of the kinds of activities carried out by
computer scientists and the major subdivisions of the field.
The structure of the course
The class
will meet twice a week, on Monday and Friday, for a standard seventy-minute
lecture. In the middle of the week, you will attend a lab session. The lab
exercises are designed to give you an opportunity to work with some of the
ideas presented in lecture. Also, roughly every week you will be asked to
complete an exercise from the text.
Your grade
will be based on two midterms (15% each), assignments (25%), lab assignments (20%),
and the final (25%).
Topics covered
Here is a detailed schedule of
subjects we will cover.
|
Date(s) |
Topic(s) |
Chapter(s) |
|
1/4 |
Designing
Algorithms |
Chapter 2 |
|
1/5 |
First
Lab |
Labs 2 & 3 |
|
1/8 |
Efficiency
of Algorithms |
Chapters 2, 3 |
|
1/11 |
Efficiency
of Algorithms |
3 |
|
1/12 |
Second
Lab |
Labs 4 & 5 |
|
1/15 |
Computer
Architecture |
Chapter 5 |
|
1/19 |
Third
Lab |
Lab 9 |
|
1/22 |
First
Midterm |
Chapters 2-5 |
|
1/25-2/18 |
Introduction
to Java Programming |
Chapter 8 |
|
1/26 |
Fourth
Lab |
Lab 12 |
|
2/2 |
Fifth
Lab |
Lab 13 |
|
2/9 |
Sixth
Lab |
Lab 14 |
|
2/16 |
Seventh
Lab |
TBA |
|
2/19, 2/22 |
Models
of Computation |
Chapter 11 |
|
2/23 |
Eighth
Lab |
Labs 18 & 19 |
|
2/26 |
Second
Midterm |
|
|
3/1 |
Other
Programming Languages |
Chapter 8 |
|
3/2 |
Ninth
Lab |
Lab 16 |
|
3/5, 3/8 |
Artificial
Intelligence |
Chapter 14 |
|
3/9 |
Tenth
Lab |
Lab 23 |
The final exam is scheduled for Friday, March 19 at 1:30.
Text
The text for
this course is An Invitation to Computer
Science, Java Version, Third Edition by Schneider and Gersting. You will
also need to purchase the accompanying lab manual and bring that manual to lab
with you.
Special resources
I have set up
a web site for this course at http://www.lawrence.edu/fast/greggj/cmsc100.html
From that page you will be able to get to links for downloading the software
used in the lab exercises and the assignments.
If you are
experiencing difficulties at any point, please feel free to stop in and see me
in my office (Briggs 413). The best time to see me is right after class or lab.
At other times, please call first (x6736) to make sure that I am actually in.
In addition
to my assistance, you can also get help from the consultants on duty in the
computer lab several evenings a week. Check the door of the classroom to see
the schedule for the consultants.