Bryn Mawr College
CMSC 113 Computer Science 1
Spring 2025
Course Materials
Prof. Deepak Kumar
General Information
Instructor(s)
Deepak Kumar
202 Park Science Building
526-7485
dkumar at brynmawr dot edu
https://cs.brynmawr.edu/~dkumar/
Lecture Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays from 1:10p to 2:30p
Office Hours: TBA
Lecture Room: Park Science Building Room 245
Lab: Wednesdays from 2:40p to 4:00p, in Room 231 PSB
Note: No Labs in Week 1. Labs will begin from Week 2 of classes.
Laboratories
- Computer Science lab Room 230 (Science Building)
- You will also be able to use your own computer to do labs for this course.
Lab TAs: The following Lab Assistants will be available during the week for assistance on Lab assignments:
- TBA
TA Schedule:
TBA
Texts & Software
Syllabus
Course Description: This is an introduction to the discipline of computer science, suitable for those students with a mature quantitative ability. This fast-paced course covers the basics of computer programming, with an emphasis on program design and problem decomposition. Graduates of this course will be able to write small computer programs independently; examples include data processing for a data-based science course, small games, or other data-intensive applications. No prior computer programming experience is necessary or expected. Prerequisite: Must pass either the Quantitative Readiness Assessment or the Quantitative Seminar (QUAN B001). Approach: Course does not meet an Approach, Quantitative Methods (QM), Quantitative Readiness Required (QR); Haverford: Quantitative (QU). Enrollment Limit; 24: Frosh (First Year) Spaces 20.
Topics
- Elements of Programming: Basic Java program structure, data types, conditionals & loops, arrays, input and output.
- Functions and Modules: Defining functions, libraries and clients, recursion.
- Object-Oriented Programming: Using data types, creating data types, designing data types.
- Algorithms: Performance, searching, sorting.
Lab Attendance: Attendance in Lab is REQUIRED. Students are not required to attend both labs, and will need to chose one out of the two scheduled labs.
Important Dates
| January 22 |
First class meeting |
| February 19 |
Exam 1 |
| April 2 |
Exam 2 |
| April 30 |
Exam 3 |
Creating a Welcoming Environment
All members of the Instruction Staff are dedicated to the cause of improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of computing, and to supporting the wellness and mental health of our students.
Diversity and Inclusion
It is essential that all members of the course community – the instructor, TAs, and students – work together to create a supportive, inclusive environment that welcomes all students, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexuality, or socioeconomic status. All participants in this course deserve to and should expect to be treated with respect by other members of the community.
Class meetings, lab sessions, office hours, and group working time should be spaces where everyone feels welcome and included. In order to foster a welcoming environment, students of this course are expected to: exercise consideration and respect in their speech and actions; attempt collaboration and consideration, including listening to opposing perspectives and authentically and respectfully raising concerns, before conflict; refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behavior and speech.
Wellness
Additionally, your mental health and wellness are of utmost importance to the course Instruction Staff, if not the College as a whole. All members of the instruction staff will be happy to chat or just to listen if you need someone to talk to, even if it’s not specifically about this course.
If you or someone you know is in distress and urgently needs to speak with someone, please do not hesitate to contact BMC Counseling Serices: 610-526-7360 (610-526-7778 nights and weekends). If you are uncomfortable reaching out to Counseling Services, any member of the Instruction Staff will be happy to contact them on your behalf.
We understand that student life can be extremely difficult, both mentally and emotionally. If you are living with mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, or other conditions that may affect you this semester, you are encouraged to discuss these with the Instructor. Although the details are up to you to disclose, the Instruction Staff will do their best to support and accommodate you in order to ensure that you can succeed this course while staying healthy.
Assignments
Sample Assignment Submission to see how all Assignments are to be submitted.
- Will be posted here
Lectures
- Week 1
(January 22)
January 22: Course Overview. Introducing the fundamentals of Computer Science: Input-Process-Output paradigm, algorithms, efficiency. Solution/algorithm design using sequencing, selection, repetition, and abstraction. We will use two examples: Phone Chain for Snow Days, the Wordle game.
- Week 2 (January 27, 29)
January 27:
Read:
January 29:
Read:
Assignment#1 (Due on ):
- Week 3 (February 3, 5)
February 3:
Read:
February 5:
Read:
Assignment#2 (Due on ):
- Week 4 (February 10, 12)
February 10:
Read:
February 12:
Read:
- Week 5 (February 17, 19) Note: No Labs this week.
February 17:
February 19: Exam 1 is today.
- Week 6 (February 24, 26)
February 24:
Read:
Assignment 3 (Due on ):
February 26:
Read:
- Week 7 (March 3, 5)
March 3:
Read:
March 5:
- Week 8 (March 10, 12)
Spring Break. No classes.
Week 9 (March 17, 19)
March 17:
Read:
March 19:
Read:
Assignment 4 is posted (Due on ).
- Week 10 (March 24, 26)
March 24:
Read:
March 26:
Read:
- Week 11 (March 31, April 2) Due to the Exam 2, there will be no labs this week.
March 31:
April 2: Exam 2 is today.
Read:
- Week 12 (April 7, 9)
April 7:
Read:
Assignment 5 is posted (Due on):
April 9:
Read:
- Week 13 (April 14, 16)
April 14:
Read:
Assignment 6 is posted (Due on ).
April 16:
Read:
- Week 14 (April 21, 23)
April 21:
Read:
April 23:
Read:
- Week 15 (April 28, 30)
April 28: Review for Exam 3 and course. Wrap up.
April 30: Exam 3 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 7-10 assignments, weighted equally in the final grading. Assignments must be submitted according to the Assignment Submission instructions.
All graded work will receive a grade, 4.0, 3.7, 3.3, 3.0, 2.7, 2.3, 2.0, 1.7,
1.3, 1.0, or 0.0. At the end of the semester, final grades will be calculated as a weighted average of all grades according to the following weights:
| Eaxm 1: |
20% |
| Eaxm 2: |
20% |
| Exam 3 |
20% |
| Assignments |
30% |
| Labs |
10% |
Incomplete grades will be given only for verifiable medical illness or other such dire circumstances.
Submission and Late Policy
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.
Any 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.
Exams
There will be three 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.
Created on January 2, 2025.
