CSC 100: The Beauty and Joy of Computing

Class and Lab Schedule

The following calendar shows topics covered, handouts given, and assignments that have been given and when they are due. Items with yellow background are tentative (either because the date is in the future or because I haven't gotten around to updating it). All items with a white background are final.

Week 1
Mon, August 19	Wed, August 21	Fri, August 23
Lecture 1: Introduction Introductions Class/syllabus review Tour of class resources Handout: Syllabus	Lecture 2: Success in College High school vs college Tips for success Handouts: Introduction to Labs UNCG-specific information	Lab 1: Introduction to Scratch/BYOB

Week 2
Mon, August 26	Wed, August 28	Fri, August 30
Reading (read before class!): Coding Is Coming ... A Commencement Speech ... Lecture 3: Computer Science What is Computer Science? Impact of CS on the world Handout: Reading Reflection Info	Lecture 4: Computing and Programming Computing steps Programming languages Software development Pair programming Handouts: Fun with Pair Programming!	Video (watch before lab!): Intro to Pair Programming Lab 2: Interaction, variables, and sound

Week 3
Mon, September 2	Wed, September 4	Fri, September 6
No class - Labor Day!	Discussion: BtB Chapter 1 Reflection due Sept 3 @ 10:00am Lecture 5: Intro to Abstraction UPDATE: Only introduced concept Assigned: Assignment 1 (due Sept 13)	Lab 3: Abstraction with functions

Week 4
Mon, September 9	Wed, September 11	Fri, September 13
Lecture 5: Intro to Abstraction Abstraction in general Abstraction in computing Lecture 6: Data Representation 1 Numbers Number Bases Binary Conversions	Lecture 7: Data Representation 2 Hexadecimal Conversions	Due: Assignment 1 Lab 4: Starting a math tutor program

Week 5
Mon, September 16	Wed, September 18	Fri, September 20
Lecture 7: (finish) Finite Representations Discussion: Assignment 2 Lecture 8: Algorithms 1 Basic Definitions Did not finish... Assigned: Assignment 2 (due Oct 2)	Discussion: BtB Chapter 2 Reflection due Sept 17 @ 10:00am Lecture 8: Algorithms 1 Did not get back to this...	Lab 5: Using lists for data

Week 6
Mon, September 23	Wed, September 25	Fri, September 27
Lecture 8: Algorithms 1 Continued from last Monday Some Famous Algorithms Problems vs Algorithms Algorithm Trade-offs Modern Computer Speeds	Discussion: BtB Chapter 3 Reflection due Sept 24 @ 10:00am Lecture 9: Algorithms 2 Algorithm "time" Measuring time	Lab 6: Experimenting with algorithms

Week 7
Mon, September 30	Wed, October 2	Fri, October 4
Lecture 10: Algorithms 3 Constant time Loop patterns Linear time Quadratic time Predicting times	Due: Assignment 2 Lecture 11: Algorithms 4 Logarithmic time Exponential time Comparing time complexities Handout: Midterm Review	Lab 7: Send in the clones

Week 8
Mon, October 7	Wed, October 9	Fri, October 11
Review for midterm	Midterm Exam!	Lab 8: Mystery Lab Day!!! (No Pre-Lab reading)

Week 9
Mon, October 14	Wed, October 16	Fri, October 18
No class - Fall Break!	Lecture 12: Reductions/Recursion Solving one problem with another Reduction examples Recursion w/examples	Lab 9: Self-similarity and recursion Assigned: Assignment 3 (due Nov 6)

Week 10
Mon, October 21	Wed, October 23	Fri, October 25
Lecture 13: Data Representation 3 File formats and rendering Text - ASCII Formatted Text - HTML Pictures - Grayscale Pictures - Color Human vision and color	Discussion: BtB Chapter 4 Reflection due Oct 22 @ 10:00am Discussion: Class projects	Due: Project team identification Lab 10: Shall We Play A Game?

Week 11
Mon, October 28	Wed, October 30	Fri, November 1
Lecture 14: Data Representation 4 Sound - hearing and waveforms Video and frame types Data compression	Lecture 15: Data and Big Data Measuring data How much is that? Where do I find data? Visualizing data Data mining Challenges	Lab/Project Time: Project proposal presentations

Week 12
Mon, November 4	Wed, November 6	Fri, November 8
Lecture 16: The Internet (part 1) Physical connections: Ethernet Switches and MAC addresses IP addressing and hierarchy ARP and address conversion	Due: Assignment 3 Written project proposal Lecture 17: The Internet (part 2) IP communication DNS for looking up names Routing between networks Higher layers What can go wrong	Lab/Project Time: Project work time

Week 13
Mon, November 11	Wed, November 13	Fri, November 15
Lecture 18: Security and Privacy Basic security goals Eavesdropping Encryption Digital Signatures Certificates Tools: PGP, OTR, and Tor Privacy: Cookies and DNT	Discussion: BtB Chapter 5 Reflection due Nov 12 @ 10:00am ... Online Discussion ... Lecture: The CS Program at UNCG Guest Lecture: Mark Armstrong	Due: Project progress report Lab/Project Time: Project work time

Week 14
Mon, November 18	Wed, November 20	Fri, November 22
Lecture 19: Artificial Intelligence Basic Ideas/Areas The Turing Test Consequences Future of AI/Robotics	Discussion: BtB Chapter 6 Reflection due Nov 19 @ 10:00am Moved to Monday, Nov. 25 Catch-up on lectures (finish AI) Discussion/work session: Project presentation prep	Lab/Project Time: Project presentations

Week 15
Mon, November 25	Wed, November 27	Fri, November 29
Discussion: BtB Chapter 6 Reflection due Nov 24 @ 10:00am Lecture 20: Limits and Future of Computing Traveling Salesman Problem NP-completeness Uncomputability	No class - Thanksgiving!	No class - Thanksgiving!

Week 16
Mon, December 2	Wed, December 4
Topics: Student-Choice Award Review for Final Exam Handout: Final Exam Review	Due: All project materials Final Exam (12:00-3:00)

Final Exam: Wednesday, December 4, 12:00-3:00