General Information

Instructors:

Lecture Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Room: Park 338
Lab: Wednesdays 10am - 12pm (additional lab hours will also available, see below)

Laboratories:

• Computer Science Lab Room 231 (Science Building)
• You will also be able to use your own computer to do the labs for this course.

Lab Assistants: The following Lab assistants will be available during the week for assistance on lab assignments.

1. Angie Yunqi Chen, Thursdays 8:00p to 10:00p and Fridays 10:30a to 12:30p
   
2. Elizabeth Fawcett, Sundays 7:00p to 9:00p and Tuesdays 7:00p to 9:00p
   
3. Rebecca Park, Thursdays 4:00p to 6:00p and Fridays 12:30p to 2:30p
   
4. Bryce Lewis, Fridays 7:30p to 9:30p and Saturdays 2:00p to 4:00p Saturdays 2:00p to 6:00p
   
5. Angela Mastrianni, Sundays 3:00p to 5:00p and Mondays 10:00a to Noon
   

A full schedule of TAs can be found here

Announcement:

1. Oct 27th: Rebecca Park has cancelled her TA office hours on Thursday, Oct. 11th 4:00p to 6:00p.
   
2. Oct 27th: Bryce Lewis has changed her TA office hours from Fridays 7:30p to 9:30p and Saturdays 4:00p to 6:00p
   

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Texts & Software

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Syllabus

Course Description: An introduction to the nature, subject matter and branches of computer science as an academic discipline, and the nature, development, coding, testing, documenting and analysis of the efficiency and limitations of algorithms. Also includes the social context of computing (risks, liabilities, intellectual property and infringement).

This semester, we will be exploring the creative aspects of coding as a context for learning the above concepts. You will exercise your creativity by desiging programs in a language called, Processing. Processing is a new language/environment built upon the programming language Java. Processing was created by artists, designers, and computer scientists to explore ideas of creative coding sing computer algorithms.

We will cover the entire text during this semester. Please refer to the text for more details.

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Important Dates

September 4: First lecture
October 2: Exam 1
December 11: Last lecture/Exam 2

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Assignments

1. Assignment#1: (Due on Monday, Septmber 16): Click here for details
   
2. Assignment#2: (Due on Wednesday, Septmber 25): Click here for details
   
3. Assignment#3: (Due on Wednesday, October 9 Friday, October 11): Click here for details.
   
4. Assignment#4: (Due on Wednesday, Nov 6 Friday Nov 8): Click here for details.
   
5. Assignment#5: (Due on Monday, Nov 18: Click here for details. Code file for Assignment #5: Click here.
   
6. Assignment#6: (Part 1 Due on Monday, November 25; Part 2 Due on Wednesday, December 4): Click here for details.
   

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Lectures

• Week 1 (September 2, 4)
  
  September 2: No class. labor Day!
  
  September 4: Course introduction, adminstrivia. Computing: an introduction, examples of modern day computing. Algorithms, programs, and programming languages. Creative computing: an introduction with examples. Introduction to Processing.
  
  Slides: 01_Introduction
  
  Do: Go to the computer lab, log in and start the Processing 2.0 application. Go to the Tutorial section of the Processing web site:
  
  http://www.processing.org/tutorials/gettingstarted/
  
  Read the Getting Started tutorial (by Casey Reas and Ben Fry) and try out the two examples of simple Processing programs presented there.
  
  If you’d like to be able to work on your own computer, go to processing.org’s Download section and install Processing on your computer. Ensure that you have a working implementation of Processing.
  
  After completing the above tutorial, read Chapter 1 (Read pages 1-12, skim 12-32, return to IDE details as needed)
  
  
  

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• Week 2 (September 9, 11)
  
  September 9: Art By Numbers. Processing, Drawing basics: canvas, shapes, and colors. Introduction to Processing commands: size(), background(), 2D shapes (point(), line(), triangle(), rectangle(), quad(), ellipse(). Drawing attributes and modes. Structure of a static processing program. CS/Programming principles: Algorithms, psuedocode, code, syntax, sequencing.
  
  Slides: 02_ArtByNumbers
  
  Do: Read Chapter 2 (pages 33-50).
  
  Read and do the Coordinate System and Shapes and the Color tutorials on processing.org.
  Review the Processing commands introduced; try them out, experiment with shapes, modes, attributes, and colors.
  
  Assignment#1 (Due on Monday, Septmber 16): Click here for details.
  

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September 11: Basic drawing & 2D shapes contd.: arc(), quad(), curve(), beginShape(), endShape(), vertex(), curveVertex(). Basic structure of a static Processing program. Variables, types (int, flot, String, boolean, color), naming rules, declarations, arithmetic operators. Predefined Processing variables: width, height, displayWidth, displayHeight, PI, HALF_PI, TWO_PI, mouseX, mouseY. How to draw simple text.

Slides: 03_2DShapes

Do: Finish reading Chapter 2. For more on drawing curves read the Drawing Curves tutorial on processing.org.




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• Week 3 (September 16, 18)
  
  September 16: How to draw simple text. Variables, types (int, flot, String, boolean, color), naming rules, declarations, arithmetic operators. Predefined Processing variables: width, height, displayWidth, displayHeight, PI, HALF_PI, TWO_PI, mouseX, mouseY. Static vs. Dynamic Program modes, (usijng setup() and draw() functions), code blocks ({..}), interactivity with mouseX and mouseY variables, event listeners, frame rates, functions: mathematical functions, parameters/arguments, return values, definition vs. application, defining and using functions in Processing, variables and scope. Creating shape abstractions using functions, using mathematical functions in Processing: random().
  
  Do: Read Chapter 3 (page65-72)
  
  Slides: 04_Function
  
  Assignment#2 (Due on Wednesday, Septmber 25): Click here for details.
  

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September 18: Functions: mathematical functions, parameters/arguments, return values, definition vs. application, defining and using functions in Processing, variables and scope. Creating shape abstractions using functions, using mathematical functions in Processing: random().

Do: Read Chapter 3 (page65-72)

Slides: 04_Functions


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• Week 4 (September 23, 25)
  September 23: How to design and build functions and use them, and reuse them. Example using drawing trucks, clovers, and flowers. Transformations: translate, rotate, scale.
  
  Examples from class: Trucks, Clovers
  
  September 25:   Control Structures: Loops: for- and while-; if- and switch- Examples of using simple logical statements and loops.
  
  Do: Read Chapter 3 (pages 73-80, 88-91)
  
  Slides: 05_ControlStructures
  
  

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• Week 5 (September 30, October 2)
  
  September 30: Computing points on the plane using Trigonometry. Putting loops and if-statements to work: Drawing Polygons.
  
  Examples: Ball Example
  
  Assignment#3 is posted (Due on Wednesday, October 9 Friday, October 11): Click here for details.
  
  October 2: Exam 1 is today.
  

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• Week 6 (October 7, 9)
  
  October 7: Exam review. String art.
  
  October 9: String art cont. Introduction to arrays.
  

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• Week 7 (October 14, 16)
  
  No Classes. Fall Break
  
  

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• Week 8 (October 21, 23)
  
  October 21:Arrays: defining, creatin, initializing, indexing. Basic Array Operations.
  Read: Chapter 5 (pages 149-158).
  Slides: 06_Array
  Examples: Pie Chart Example
  
  October 23:Using array to draw pie chart
  Examples: Pie Chart Using Arrays
  
  

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• Week 9 (October 28, 30)
  
  October 28: Additional visualization examples using arrays. Using the map() function. Using an array as a parameter.
  Examples: Pie Chart     Bar Graph     Bubble     Divided Bar    
  Read: Chapter 5 (pages 149-158).
  
  October 30: Reading data from files. Strings: splitting strings. Using the map() function. text formatting basics. Doing a Time Series Visualization.
  Assignment#4 is posted (Due on Wednesday, November 6): Click here for details.
  

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• Week 10 (November 4, 6)
  
  November 4 :A general program design strategy for building data visualizations.
  Examples: USPS First Class Volume   data 
                     State Population   data 
  
  November 6 : OOP - Object Oriented Programming. Fundamentals: objects, attributes, behaviors, classes, instances, etc. Doing OOP in processing. Defining constructors. The "this" keyword.
  Read: Chapter 6.
  

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• Week 11 (November 11, 13)
  
  November 11: More OOP examples. PVector class in processing.
  Assignment#5 is posted (Due on Monday, November 18): Click here for details.
  Examples: Rotating ball with eye  
  
  November 13:  Balls in colored boxes example. Inheritance in OOP. Examples: Ball in colored box  
  

• Week 12 (November 18, 20)
  
  November 18: OOP - Object Oriented Programming: inheritance, super class, sub class, objects, attributes, behaviors, constructors, abstract classes, instances, overriding methods
  Assignment#6: (Part 1 Due on Monday, November 25; Part 2 Due on Wednesday, December 4): Click here for details.
  
  November 20:
  control flow switch statement, toString() method, String class: beyond the basics, ArrayList class, how to design and develop large programs

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• Week 13 (November 25, 27)
  
  November 25: Covered by Professor Kumar
  
  November 27: The class is cancelled

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• Week 14 (December 2, 4)
  
  December 2: Covered by Professor Kumar
  
  December 4 : Design and implement a game: BrickBreaker Unfinished version  

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• Week 15 (December 9,11)
  
  December 9:
  
  December 11: Exam 2 is today.

Course Policies

Communication

Attendance and active participation are expected in every class. Participation includes asking questions, contributing answers, proposing ideas, and providing constructive comments.

As you will discover, we are proponents of two-way communication and we welcome feedback during the semester about the course. We are available to answer student questions, listen to concerns, and talk about any course-related topic (or otherwise!). Come to office hours! This helps us get to know you. You are welcome to stop by and chat. There are many more exciting topics to talk about that we won't have time to cover in-class.

Although computer science work can be intense and solitary, please stay in touch with us, particularly if you feel stuck on a topic or project and can't figure out how to proceed. Often a quick e-mail, phone call or face-to-face conference can reveal solutions to problems and generate renewed creative and scholarly energy. It is essential that you begin assignments early, since we will be covering a variety of challenging topics in this course.

Grading

There will be seven assignments, weighted equally in the final grading.  Assignments must be submitted according to the Assignment Submission instructions.  You should pay careful attention to the Code Formatting Standards and Grading Policy when doing your assignments.  The grading structure for individual assignments is broken down in the Grading Policy.

At the end of the semester, final grades will be calculated as a weighted average of all grades according to the following weights:

Incomplete grades will be given only for verifiable medical illness or other such dire circumstances.

Submission and Late Policy

Exams

There will be two exams in this course.  The exams will be closed-book and closed-notes.  The exams will cover material from lectures, homeworks, and assigned readings (including topics not discussed in class).

Study Groups

We encourage you to discuss the material and work together to understand it. Here are our thoughts on collaborating with other students:

• The readings and lecture topics are group work. Please discuss the readings and associated topics with each other. Work together to understand the material. We highly recommend forming a reading group to discuss the material -- we will explore many ideas and it helps to have multiple people working together to understand them.
• It is fine to discuss the topics covered in the homeworks, to discuss approaches to problems, and to sketch out general solutions. However, you MUST write up the homework answers, solutions, and programs individually without sharing specific solutions, mathematical results, program code, etc.  If you made any notes or worked out something on a white board with another person while you were discussing the homework, you shouldn't use those notes while writing up your answer.
• Under ABSOLUTELY NO circumstances should you share computer code with another student.  Similarly, you are not permitted to use or consult code found on the internet for any of your assignments.
  
• Exams, of course, must be your own individual work.

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Links

A database of color names

Created on August 7, 2013.