This is an abbreviated course syllabus.
Like everything else in this course, it is likely to change.
| |
Date |
Topic |
Reading |
Lab |
Assignments |
| Week 1: Getting Started |
| 01 | Tuesday, 22 January 2008 | An Introduction to Algorithms
Introduction: What is CS?
Exercise: Drawing smileys.
| | Drawing Smiley Faces | |
| 02 | Wednesday, 23 January 2008 | An Introduction to CSC151
Lessons from day one.
Common parts of an algorithm.
About the course.
Getting started with Linux.
Some administrative details.
| Grinnell's Linux Environment | Getting Started with Linux | Assignment 1: Class Basics |
| 03 | Friday, 25 January 2008 | An Introduction to the GIMP
What is GIMP?
Why GIMP in 151?
Short Demo.
Lab + Reflection.
| The GNU Image Manipulation Program | The GNU Image Manipulation Program | |
| Week 2: Getting Started With Media Computation |
| 04 | Monday, 28 January 2008 | An Introduction to Scheme
Why use programming languages?
Scheme basics.
Scheme history.
| The DrScheme Program-Development Environment & Beginning Scheme & How Scheme Evaluates Expressions (version 1) | Starting Scheme | |
| 05 | Tuesday, 29 January 2008 | Tools for Scripting the Gimp
A model of images, extended.
Coding algorithms for drawing.
Other useful techniques.
| GIMP Tools | Lab: GIMP Tools | |
| 06 | Wednesday, 30 January 2008 | Turtle Graphics
Modeling images through process: Turtle graphics.
Some historical notes.
Turtle graphics in DrFu.
| Turtle Graphics | Turtle Graphics | Assignment 2: Drawing Smileys, Revisited |
| 07 | Friday, 1 February 2008 | Drawings as Values
Thinking about drawings through composition/decomposition.
Pure approaches vs impure approaches.
| Drawings as Values | Drawings as Values | Quiz 1 |
| Week 3: Scheme Basics |
| 08 | Monday, 4 February 2008 | Writing Your Own Procedures
Why define your own procedures?
How to define your own procedures.
| Writing Your Own Procedures & How Scheme Evaluates Expressions (version 2) | Writing Your Own Procedures | |
| 09 | Tuesday, 5 February 2008 | Computing with Symbols and Numbers
Types.
Kinds of Numbers.
Key Numeric Operations.
| Numeric Values & Symbolic Values | Numeric Computation | |
| 10 | Wednesday, 6 February 2008 | Representing Images as Lists of Spots
Lists in Scheme.
Basic list operations.
Spot lists: Another perspective on images.
| Representing Images as Lists of Spots | Representing Images as Lists of Spots | Assignment 3: Algorithmically Creating Simple Images |
| 11 | Friday, 8 February 2008 | Spot Lists, Continued
Quick review.
Lab, continued.
| Representing Images as Lists of Spots | Representing Images as Lists of Spots | Quiz 2 |
| Week 4: Raster Graphics |
| 12 | Monday, 11 February 2008 | Raster Graphics and RGB Colors
Representing images, revisited.
Pixels and colors: The basics.
RGB colors.
| Raster Graphics: Images from Pixels and Colors and RGB Colors | Raster Graphics and RGB Colors | |
| 13 | Tuesday, 12 February 2008 | Documenting Programs and Procedures
The need for documentation.
The Six P's - a strategy for documenting procedures.
Practice.
| Documenting Your Procedures | | |
| 14 | Wednesday, 13 February 2008 | A Design Perspective
Approaching colors.
Managing the huge palette.
Other design issues.
| | | Exam 1: Scheme Basics |
| 15 | Friday, 15 February 2008 | Discussion of Exam 1
General issues.
Issues with particular problems.
Additional Q&A
| | | Quiz 3 |
| Week 5: Control |
| 16 | Monday, 18 February 2008 | Boolean Values and Predicate Procedures
Boolean values.
Predicates - Procedures that return Boolean values.
Combining booleans with and and or.
| Boolean Values and Predicate Procedures | Boolean Values and Predicate Procedures | |
| 17 | Tuesday, 19 February 2008 | Conditionals
Choosing between two options with if.
Making multiple choices with cond.
| Conditionals | Conditionals | |
| 18 | Wednesday, 20 February 2008 | Iterating Over Lists
Review: How Scheme evaluates expressions.
Repetition.
Building new lists from old with map.
Anonymous procedures.
Doing something with each value in a list with foreach!.
Drawing lists of spots.
| Iterating Over Lists | Iterating Over Lists | Assignment 4: Blending Colors |
| 19 | Friday, 22 February 2008 | Naming Local Values
Why name things.
Naming things with let.
Naming things with let*.
Naming procedures.
Lab.
| Local Bindings | Local Bindings | Quiz 4 |
| Week 6: Transformations |
| 20 | Monday, 25 February 2008 | Transforming Colors
Computing new colors from old.
Some basic transformations.
Transforming pixels and images.
| Transforming RGB Colors | Transforming RGB Colors | |
| 21 | Tuesday, 26 February 2008 | Transforming Images
Review: Transforming colors.
Transforming images by transforming each pixel.
Sequencing transformations with compose.
| Transforming Images | Transforming Images | |
| 22 | Wednesday, 27 February 2008 | Iterating Over Positions
Iterating over positions.
Blends and other positionally-computed images.
Drawing simple shapes.
| Building Images by Iterating Over Positions | Building Images by Iterating Over Positions | Assignment 5: List Iteration |
| 23 | Friday, 29 February 2008 | Recursion Basics
The idea of recursion.
A sample recursive procedure: sum.
Another example: Filtering.
| Recursion Basics | Recursion Basics | Quiz 5 |
| Week 7: Recursion |
| 24 | Monday, 3 March 2008 | Recursion Basics, Continued
Designing a recursive procedure.
More time for lab.
| Recursion Basics | Recursion Basics | |
| 25 | Tuesday, 4 March 2008 | Recursion with Helper Procedures
Delayed evaluation in recursive procedures.
A strategy: Carry along intermediate results.
Using recursive helpers.
A term: Tail recursion.
Designing recursive procedures.
| Recursion with Helper Procedures | Recursion with Helper Procedures | |
| 26 | Wednesday, 5 March 2008 | Other Forms of List Recursion
Questions and answers.
Patterns of list recursion.
Recursive predicates.
| List Recursion, Revisited | List Recursion, Revisited | Assignment 6: Color-Reducing Filters |
| 27 | Friday, 7 March 2008 | Preconditions, Revisited
Verifying preconditions.
The throw procedure.
Husk and Kernel programming.
| Verifying Preconditions | Verifying Preconditions | Quiz 6 |
| Week 8: Further Topics |
| 28 | Monday, 10 March 2008 | Naming Local Procedures
Why have local procedures.
Creating local procedures with letrec.
Creating local procedures with named let.
An example: reverse.
| Local Procedure Bindings | Local Procedure Bindings | |
| 29 | Tuesday, 11 March 2008 | Numeric Recursion
Recursion, Generalized.
Thinking About Natural Numbers.
Numeric Recursion.
| Numeric Recursion | Numeric Recursion | |
| 30 | Wednesday, 12 March 2008 | Geometric Art Through Numeric Recursion
Parallel lines, Concentric Circles, and Beyond.
| Geometric Art | Geometric Art | Exam 2: Control: Conditionals, Iteration, and Recursion |
| 31 | Friday, 14 March 2008 | Class Cancelled
SamR goes to a conference.
Students get a pre-break break.
| | | |
| Spring Break! |
| Week 9: Files |
| 32 | Monday, 31 March 2008 | Characters and Strings
Representing text.
Characters: The basic building blocks.
Combining characters into strings.
| Characters and Strings | Characters and Strings | |
| 33 | Tuesday, 1 April 2008 | File Basics
File basics: Data persistence and beyond.
Ports.
Basic file operations.
| Files | Files | |
| 34 | Wednesday, 2 April 2008 | Storing Images as Simple Pixel Maps
Files, revisited.
Storing images.
Storing colors.
Storing images, revisited.
| Pixel Maps: A Technique for Storing Images | Pixel Maps | Assignment 7: Spirograph-Like Drawings |
| 35 | Friday, 4 April 2008 | More Efficient Pixel Maps
Review.
Storing data more efficiently.
Tradeoffs.
| Pixmaps, Revisited: Encoding Data More Efficiently | Pixmaps, Revisited | Quiz 7 |
| Week 10: Miscellaneous |
| 36 | Monday, 7 April 2008 | More Efficient Pixel Maps, Revisited
Quick review.
More time for lab.
| Pixmaps, Revisited: Encoding Data More Efficiently | Pixmaps, Revisited | |
| 37 | Tuesday, 8 April 2008 | Color Palettes
Saving space by approximating colors.
One strategy: Web-safe colors.
Another strategy: Color palettes.
Choosing palette colors.
Using different palettes.
| Color Palettes | Color Palettes | |
| 38 | Wednesday, 9 April 2008 | Representing Color Palettes with Vectors
Problems with lists.
A solution: Vectors.
Important vector procedures.
Representing palettes with vectors.
| Vectors | Vectors | Assignment 8: Run-Length Encoding |
| 39 | Friday, 11 April 2008 | Analyzing Procedures
Comparing algorithms.
Two related metrics: Time and Number of steps.
Counting procedure calls by printing.
Tools for analysis.
| Analyzing Procedures | Analyzing Procedures | Quiz 8 |
| Week 11: Binary Structures |
| 40 | Monday, 14 April 2008 | Pairs and Pair Structures
Memory and naming.
Pairs and cons cells.
Why care?
| Pairs and Pair Structures | Pairs and Pair Structures | |
| 41 | Tuesday, 15 April 2008 | Deep Recursion
Lists, revisited.
Trees, introduced.
Deep recursion, considered.
Playing with color trees.
| Deep Recursion | Deep Recursion | |
| 42 | Wednesday, 16 April 2008 | Association Lists and Searching
Storing information in tables.
Representing table entries as lists.
Representing tables as lists.
Association lists: Scheme's standard table representation.
Implementing key association list procedures.
| Association Lists | Association Lists | Assignment 9: Palettes and Vectors |
| 43 | Friday, 18 April 2008 | Project Ideas
More about the project.
Technique one: Color Trees.
Technique two: Fractals.
Technique three: Genetic Art.
| Project Ideas | Playing with Project Ideas | Quiz 9 |
| Week 12: Sorting |
| 44 | Monday, 21 April 2008 | Higher Order Procedures
Elegance.
Procedures as parameters.
Procedures as return values.
Writing map.
Writing all?.
| Higher-Order Procedures | Higher-Order Procedures | |
| 45 | Tuesday, 22 April 2008 | Binary Search
The problem of searching.
Analyzing algorithmic efficiency.
Making searching more efficient using divide-and-conquer.
| Searching | Binary Search | |
| 46 | Wednesday, 23 April 2008 | Introduction to Sorting
The problem of sorting.
Writing sorting algorithms.
Examples: Insertion, selection, etc.
Formalizing the problem.
| | | |
| 47 | Friday, 25 April 2008 | Insertion Sort
Expressing sorting algorithms in code.
Key technique: Insertion.
Analyzing insertion sort.
| Sorting | Insertion Sort | Quiz 10 |
| Week 13: Project and Beyond |
| 48 | Monday, 28 April 2008 | Merge Sort
More efficient sorting techniques.
Divide and conquer, revisited.
Merge sort.
Analyzing merge sort.
| Merge Sort | Merge Sort | |
| 49 | Tuesday, 29 April 2008 | Project Assessment: Images
External assessment of images.
| | | |
| 50 | Wednesday, 30 April 2008 | Project Assessment: Algorithms
Students discuss programming techniques.
| | | |
| 51 | Friday, 2 May 2008 | Randomized (Unpredictable) Drawings
Random art.
Why use randomness.
The random procedure.
| Randomized Drawing | Randomized Drawing | Exam 3: Types and Algorithms |
| Week 14: Wrapup |
| 52 | Monday, 5 May 2008 | What is Computer Science? Revisited
What is CS?
Subfields of CS.
Related Disciplines.
| | | |
| 53 | Tuesday, 6 May 2008 | Pause for Breath
Pause.
for.
breath.
| | | |
| 54 | Wednesday, 7 May 2008 | Wrapup
The subject matter of the course.
Course evaluation.
| | | Course Assessment |
| 55 | Friday, 9 May 2008 | Review for the Final
Policies for the final.
Likely kinds of problems.
Questions on Exam 3.
Debriefing.
Final comments.
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