Introduction to Computer Science
About
- Course: Introduction to Computer Science (CH08-320101)
- Semester: Fall 2017
- Instructor: Jürgen Schönwälder
- TA: Abreu, Steven
- TA: Granderath, Malte Aaron
- TA: Hambasan, Alexandru
- TA: Maiereanu, Tudor Cristian
- TA: Shrestha, Mohit
- TA: Tarigradschi, Mihail
- Class: Tuesday, 08:15-09:30, Lecture Hall Research II
- Class: Tuesday, 09:45-11:00, Lecture Hall Research II
- Class: Thursday, 11:15-12:30, Lecture Hall Research II
Content
The course covers the fundamental concepts and techniques of computer science in a bottom-up manner. Based on clear mathematical foundations (which are developed as needed) the course discusses abstract and concrete notions of computing machines, information, and algorithms, focusing on the question of representation versus meaning in Computer Science.
To develop a theoretical notion of computation, we introduce basic concepts of discrete mathematics with a focus on inductively defined structures. The functional programming language Haskell will be introduced and used as the primary programming language for the course. We cover a basic subset of Haskell that includes types, recursion, tuples, lists, strings, and higher-order functions. Back on the theoretical side, we cover the syntax and semantics of Boolean expressions and we explain how Boolean algebra relates to logic gates and digital circuits. On the technical side, we introduce the representation of basic data types such as numbers, characters, strings and dates as well as the basics of computer architecture and assembly programming. On the algorithmic side, the course introduces the notion of correctness and elementary complexity theory (big-O notation) and we introduce abstract data types.
Resources
Books
- Uwe Schöning, "Logic for Computer Scientists", Birkhäuser, 1989
- Eric Lehmann, F. Thomson Leighton, Albert R. Meyer, "Mathematics for Computer Science", 2018
Links
- Haskell: An advanced purely functional programming language
- Real World Haskell (a book that is also available online)
- Haskell Tutorial (a relatively concise online tutorial)
Schedule
| Tu 08:15 | Th 11:15 | Topics |
|---|---|---|
| 2017-09-05 | 2017-09-07 | Introduction and maze generation algorithms |
| 2017-09-12 | 2017-09-14 | String search algorithms, complexity and correctness |
| 2017-09-19 | 2017-09-21 | Mathematical notations and proof techniques |
| 2017-09-26 | 2017-09-28 | Sets, relations, and functions |
| Representation of integer and floating point numbers | ||
| 2017-10-10 | 2017-10-12 | Representation of characters, strings, date and time |
| 2017-10-17 | 2017-10-19 | Boolean operations and expressions |
| 2017-10-24 | 2017-10-26 | Boolean algebra and normal forms |
| 2017-11-02 | Boolean expression minimization and Boolean logic | |
| 2017-11-07 | 2017-11-09 | Logic gates, basic digital circuits, von Neuman computer architecture |
| 2017-11-14 | 2017-11-16 | Assembly programming, interpreter, compiler |
| 2017-11-21 | 2017-11-23 | Operating systems, processes, file systems, communication |
| 2017-11-28 | 2017-11-30 | Finite state machines, pushdown automata and turing machines, formal languages |
| 2017-12-05 | 2017-12-07 | Computability theory and complexity theory |
Tutorials
| Tu 09:45 | Topics |
|---|---|
| 2017-09-12 | Haskell Tutorial (Alexandru) |
| 2017-09-19 | Shell Tutorial (Steven) |
| 2017-09-26 | Haskell Tutorial (Alexandru) |
| 2017-10-10 | Lecture (moved from 2017-10-05) |
| 2017-10-17 | Haskell Tutorial (Alexandru) |
| 2017-10-24 | Grand Tutorial |
| 2017-11-07 | |
| 2017-11-14 | Haskell Tutorial (Alexandru) |
| 2017-11-21 | Haskell Tutorial (Alexandru) |
| 2017-11-28 | |
| 2017-12-05 | Grand Tutorial |
Dates
| Date/Due | Name | Topics |
|---|---|---|
| 2017-09-12 | Quiz #1 | administrivia, mazes, kruskal's algorithm |
| 2017-09-19 | Quiz #2 | complexity, correctness, software engineering, mathematical notation |
| 2017-09-19 | Sheet #1 | boyer moore bad character rule, haskell factorial |
| 2017-09-26 | Quiz #3 | proof techniques |
| 2017-09-26 | Sheet #2 | proof by contrapositive and by induction |
| 2017-10-03 | Sheet #3 | sets and relations |
| 2017-10-10 | Quiz #4 | relations, functions, recursion |
| 2017-10-10 | Sheet #4 | order relations, function composition |
| 2017-10-17 | Quiz #5 | units, prefixes, characters, date and time |
| 2017-10-17 | Sheet #5 | number systems, floating point numbers |
| 2017-10-24 | Quiz #6 | boolean algebra and logic |
| 2017-10-26 | Midterm Exam | Eastwing |
| 2017-10-31 | Sheet #6 | boolean expressions, tower of hanoi |
| 2017-11-07 | Quiz #7 | normal forms, complexity of boolean functions, quine-mccluskey |
| 2017-11-07 | Sheet #7 | quine-mccluskey algorithm |
| 2017-11-14 | Quiz #8 | von Neumann computer architecture |
| 2017-11-14 | Sheet #8 | half and full adder, ripple carry adder and carry lookahead adder |
| 2017-11-21 | Quiz #9 | assembly programming, interpreter, compiler |
| 2017-11-21 | Sheet #9 | assembly programming |
| 2017-11-28 | Quiz #10 | operating systems |
| 2017-11-28 | Sheet #10 | fold functions, processes |
| 2017-12-05 | Quiz #11 | automata (bonus) |
| 2017-12-05 | Sheet #11 | automata and formal languages (bonus) |
| 2017-12-16 | Final Exam | 09:00-11:00 East Wing (closed book) |
| 2018-02-10 | Makeup Final Exam | 14:00-16:00 CS Lecture Hall (closed book) |
Rules
The final grade is made up of the final exam (30%), quizzes (30%), the midterm exam (20%) and homework assignments (20%).
Electronic submission is the preferred way to hand in homework solutions. Please submit documents (plain ASCII text or PDF, no Word) and your source code (tar, zip) via the online submission system. If you have problems, please contact one of the TAs.
Late submissions will not be accepted. Homeworks may need to be defended in an oral interview.
For any questions stated on assignment sheets, quiz sheets, exam sheets or during makeups, we by default expect a reasoning for the answer given, unless explicitely stated otherwise.
Students must submit solutions individually. If you copy material verbatim from the Internet (or other sources), you have to provide a proper reference. If we find your solution text on the Internet without a proper reference, you risk to lose your points. Any cheating cases will be reported to the registrar. In addition, you will lose the points (of course).
Any programs, which have to be written, will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- correctness including proper handling of error conditions
- proper use of programming language constructs
- clarity of the program organization and design
- readability of the source code and any output produced
Source code must be accompanied by a README file providing an overview of the source files and giving instructions how to build the programs. A suitable Makefile is required if the build process involves more than a single source file.
If you are unhappy with the grading, please report immediately (within one week) to the TAs. If you can't resolve things, contact the instructor. Problem reports which come late, that is after the one week period, are not considered anymore.
The policy on makeup quizzes is the following: There won't be any quiz makeups. If you (a) get an official excuse for a quiz from the registrar's office or (b) approach we well in advance of the quiz with a very good reason for not being able to participate (e.g., because you take a GRE computer science subject test at the day of a quiz), then the weight of the final exam will be increased according to the weight of the quiz you got excused for.