CS110 Fall 2015 - Introduction to Computing

Bryn Mawr College
CS 110: Introduction to Computing
Fall 2015

General Information

Instructor:

E-Mail:

dgc@cs.brynmawr.edu
When you e-mail me, make sure you put "CS110" at the start of the subject line to ensure a quicker response.

Website:

http://cs.brynmawr.edu/Courses/cs110/fall2015dc/

Lecture:

Mondays & Wednesdays, 2:40PM - 4:00PM

Room:

Park 338

Open Lab:

Wednesdays 11:00am - 1:00pm, Park 231 (Computer Science Lab)

TA Lab Schedule:

Sundays	2:00pm - 4:00pm	Tu Luan
Mondays	6:00pm - 8:00pm	Jordan Henck and Katherine Lee
Mondays	8:00pm - 10:00pm	Jordan Henck
Tuesdays	6:00pm - 10:00pm	Hanna Fields
Wednesdays	6:00pm - 8:00pm	Katherine Lee
Wednesdays	8:00pm - 10:00pm	Lizzie Siegle
Thursdays	6:00pm - 10:00pm	Ziting Shen
Fridays	11:00am - 1:00pm	Lizzie Siegle
Saturdays	4:00pm - 6:00pm	Tu Luan

Text & Software

Processing: Creative Coding & Generative Art in Processing 2 by Ira Greenberg, Dianna Xu, Deepak Kumar, Friends of ed, 2013. Available at the Campus Bookstore. Also at amazon for $40.94 click here
A Kindle eBook is available for those comfortable learning from an eBook (Amazon price is $20.00). The Bryn Mawr Bookstore price is $44.99.

Processing Software (This software is already installed in the Computer Science Lab). The software is also available for your own computer from Processing web site (www.processing.org). Download the latest stable 2.X version for your own computer/Operating System.

Processing Reference The reference on processing.org is for version 3.0+. Here is the Processing 2.0+ reference.

Syllabus and Schedule

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.

Important Dates

Aug 31: First lecture
October 7: Exam 1
December 9: Last lecture/Exam 2

Assignments:

Below is a list of programming assignment that will be handed in. In addition, you are expected to spend at least 10 minutes a day using Processing. Some of this time may be done while reading to prepare for class, some will be based on ungraded work listed under the assignments of the schedule, and some will be done to satisfy your own curiosity.

Assignment#1: (Due on Wednesday, Sept. 16): First Sketch
Assignment#2: (Due on Monday, Sept. 28): Interactive Object
Assignment#3: (Due on Mon, Oct. 5): Animation w/ Collisions
Assignment#4: (Due on Monday, Oct 26): Abstract Computational Art
Assignment#5: (Due on Monday, Nov 9): Data Visualization
Assignment#6: (Part A due on Monday, Nov. 16, part B due on Mon. Nov. 23): Underwater Creature
Assignment#7: (Due on Mon, Dec. 7): Click here for details

Schedule (subject to change, check back for updates)

Week	Date	Topic	Reading	Assignments	Comments
1	08/31	Introduction	processing.org's Getting Started tutorial (by Casey Reas and Ben Fry). Book: Ch. 1, pgs. 1-12. Skim pgs. 12-32	Open: Processing 2.2.1 application. Do: Getting Started tutorial (by Casey Reas and Ben Fry).	Code_Formatting_Standards Grading Policy If you'd like to be able to work on your own computer, go to processing.org's Download section and install Processing 2.2.1 on your computer. Ensure that you have a working implementation of Processing.
1	09/02	Processing	processing.org Coordinate System and Shapes Book: Ch. 2, pgs. 33-48	Start: Assignment 1 Do: Coordinate System and Shapes tutorial. Play: Experiment with shapes and modes.	Book Ch. Examples: Fig 2-5. Simple house Fig 2-11. Advanced house
2	09/07	Labor Day
2	09/09	More Drawing	processing.org Color Book: Ch. 2, pgs. 48-63	Do: Color tutorial. Play: Experiment with attributes and colors.	Book Ch. Examples: Fig 2-13. Simple face Fig 2-17. arc() command Fig 2-18. Advanced face Exercise from Class: This movable and scalable Barn has a few problems. As an exercise, see if you can complete the example so that if you change any of the reference variables, the barn will still look the same, but possibly smaller or bigger.
3	09/14	Rosh Hashanah
3	09/16	Variables & Functions Program Structure	Book: Ch. 3 (pgs. 65-72)	Submit: Assignment 1 Start: Assignment 2	Book Ch. Examples: Fig 3-1. Override rect() Local variable scope. Scalable barn example Problem Set 1 (for practice)
4	09/21	Control Structures	Book: Ch. 3 (pgs. 73-80, 88-91)		Class Examples: Random Ellipses Transformation Example Barn Function
4	09/23	Yom Kippur
5	09/28	Animation	Book: Ch. 3 (pgs. 93-97) Book: Ch. 4 (pgs. 115-123)	Submit: Assignment 2 Start: Assignment 3	Book Ch. Examples: Rotating Square imperfect collision Rotating Square good collision Class Examples: Rotating Square decisions/collisions Collision Examples Problem Set 2 (for practice)
5	09/30	Keyboard and Mouse Interaction			Rotating Clovers, an example of reflections, wrap around, mouse interaction, and keyboard interaction.
6	10/05	Review for Exam 1		Submit: Assignment 3	Processing Quick Reference (included at the end of Exam 1)
6	10/07	Exam 1
	10/12	Fall Break
	10/14	Fall Break
7	10/19	Polygons, String Art	Book: Ch. 3 (pgs. 81-88, 97-105) Book: Ch. 4 (pgs. 124-147)	Start: Assignment 4	Class Examples: Rotating polygon Modified polygon (Stars and pinwheels.) Triangle string art Animated String Art (color change, noise, an extra joint) Simple Spiral Multiple Samples Spiral
7	10/21	Symbolic Encryption			typingInteraction
8	10/26	Arrays	Book: Ch. 5 (pgs. 149-158)	Submit: Assignment 4 Start: Assignment 5
8	10/28	Arrays and Files	Book: Ch. 5 (pgs. 159-185)
9	11/02	Objects	Book: Ch. 6, pgs. 187-214		Example from class: Array of Balls
	11/02	Exercise from Class: Convert this Pie Chart code into a PieChart class. The constructor should take an array of data, an array of labels, and an array of colors as parameters and build the necessary arrays for the chart. Most, if not all, of the global variables should become fields of the class instead of being global variables. The class should have a display() method that just displays the data. It should NOT have to recompute each time. You should first make a Birthdays file that you save with your sketch. In the setup, you should make a new PieChart with the birthday data. Then you should make a separate tab called PieChart and make your PieChart class in there. Please come to class on Wednesday with your code and any implementation questions that you may have.
	11/04	Inheritance	Book: Ch. 6, pgs. 223-232		Problem Set 3 (for practice)
10	11/09	Text Processing	Book: Ch. 7, pgs. 233-250	Submit: Assignment 5 Start: Assignment 6
10	11/11	Sorting Numbers and Text	Book: Ch. 7, pgs. 250-276		Class Examples: War On Christmas waronchristmas.txt
11	11/16	Word Cloud Implementation		Submit: Assignment 6, Part A	War On Christmas v1b War On Christmas v1c
11	11/18	Tools: How to Approach specifications, how to size your creature, filtering loops, and tiling loops.	Book: Ch. 8, pgs. 277-291
12	11/23	Recursion and Lindenmayer Systems	Book: Ch. 8, pgs. 292-309	Submit: Assignment 6 (Part B) Start: Assignment 7	Class Examples: Recursion with circles Problem Set 4 (for practice) Problem Set 5 (for practice)
12	11/25	Thanksgiving Break
13	11/30	Writing Programs	Book: Ch. 9, pgs. 311-325		Class Examples: Five Coins V1 Five Coins V3 Five Coins V6 Five Coins V7 (refactored) Five Coins V8 (file input) Five Coins V9 (file input and function)
13	12/02	Refactoring and Image I/O	Book: Ch. 10, pgs. 369-389		The last five pages of the class slides have a study guide.
14	12/07	Review	Book: Ch. 10, pgs 390-411	Submit: Assignment 7
14	12/09	Exam 2
FINALS WEEK	12/13

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:

Exam 1:	18%
Exam 2:	26%
Assignments:	56% (8% each)
Total:	100%

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

Submission and Late Policy

All work must be turned in either in hard-copy or electronic submission, depending on the instructions given in the assignment. E-mail submissions, when permitted, should request a "delivery receipt" to document time and date of submission. Extensions will be given only in the case of verifiable medical excuses or other such dire circumstances, if requested in advance and supported by your Academic Dean.

No assignment will be accepted after it is past due.

No past work can be "made up" after it is due.

No regrade requests will be entertained one week after the graded work is returned in class.

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.

If you have any questions as to what types of collaborations are allowed, please feel free to ask.

Processing 2 Reference

A database of color names

Last modified: Mon Dec 7 22:03:30 EST 2015