April 27, 2010

• Optional Problems, due by the the end of the day, Friday, April 30 (extended!)
  

April 21, 2010

• Current Assignments
  • Optional Problems, due by the the end of the day, Thursday, April 29
    These should not keep you from working on your Final Project, it should be your highest priority.
  • Final Project, Final Version, due by the the start of the final exam period, Friday, May 7
    You can present your project during that exam period or with me during exam week.
    Your website should be completed and your code submitted at least two hours before your presentation so that I can have time to look over it.

April 12, 2010

• You have been assigned a TA mentor for your Final Project.
  You are expected to meet with them at least once a week to discuss your progress and answer any questions you may have.
• Current Assignments
  • Final Project, Algorithms, due by the the end of the day, Sunday, April 18
    

April 5, 2010

• Review for the exam on Friday
  • Catherine Moon and Amy Xie have agreed to hold an exam review session during their office hours Thursday night from 7-11pm in the Link's Classroom 2
• Current Assignments
  • Final Project, Data, due by the the end of the day, Monday, April 12 (extended!)

March 29, 2010

• Current Assignments
  • Final Project, Initial Web Site, due by the the end of the day, Sunday, April 4

March 24, 2010

• Happy Ada Lovelace Day!
• Learn about Herman Hollerith and the how the 1888 Census spurred the invention of the computer
• Current Assignments
  • Post or Respond to Final Project Ideas, due by the the end of the day, Sunday, March 28
    Post a description of some data, or an area, you are interested in exploring or a question to which you are interested in using data to find the answer. In your post try to be as specific as possible about the potential sources of data and the analysis you think will be necessary to find the information you want from this data.
  • Stock Market, due by the the end of the day, Monday, March 29 (extended!)

March 19, 2010

• Current Assignments
  • Stock Market, due by the the end of the day, Thursday, March 25

March 15, 2010

• Current Assignments
  • Tag Cloud, due by the the end of the day, Monday, March 22 (extended!)
    • In addition to completing all parts of the program, you should make liberal use of functions to make your code easier to read, debug, and reuse.
    • Each function should be commented as to its purpose in the program, especially with regard to what kind of data it accepts and what kind it returns
    • Finally, each line of your program should be commented to describe its purpose in the program (not just re-stating the code in English)
    • An example program done in this style is available here
  • Book presentations will be made in class each Wednesday, according to this schedule
    After your presentation, email or submit via Eclipse or your presentation to me as your submission for this project

March 4, 2010

• Lab on Friday will be staffed as usual if you want to attend, but no new material will be assigned.
• The schedule for the book presentations is now online here
  

March 1, 2010

• Current Assignments
  • Name Stats, due by the the end of the day, Wednesday, March 3
    Note, since the last problem is different than the first three (it does not require a dictionary to track the names), completing the fourth problem is optional
  • Book Choice, due by the end of the day, Thursday, March 4
    • send me an email with the top three books from the list that you would like to read and when you would like to present your book (early, middle, late)
    • you will be grouped with two or three other students based on your book and time choice to make a presentation to the class about the book
  • Tag Cloud, due by the the end of the day, Friday, March 5
    Note, restricting the word's font size to one of 5 classes rather than simply using its count directly will be extra credit

February 26, 2010

• Current Assignments
  • Name Stats, due by the the end of the day, Wednesday, March 3
    

February 22, 2010

• Current Readings
  • Chapters 7, 12.1-3 from How to Think Like a Computer Scientist by Jeffrey Elkner, Allen B. Downey, and Chris Meyer
• Current Assignments
  • Tag Cloud, due by the the end of the day, Friday, March 5

February 15, 2010

• Current Readings
  • Chapters 9.4-14, 10 from How to Think Like a Computer Scientist by Jeffrey Elkner, Allen B. Downey, and Chris Meyer

February 13, 2010

• Lilliana Beth Duvall was born at 12:29pm today, weighing 5 pounds 11 ounces

February 11, 2010

• Exam postponed until next Friday (baby is being born)

February 8, 2010

• Review for the exam on Friday

February 5, 2010

• Current Readings
  • Chapters 6, 9.1-3 from How to Think Like a Computer Scientist by Jeffrey Elkner, Allen B. Downey, and Chris Meyer
• Current Assignments
  • More Songs, due by the the end of the day, Tuesday, February 9

January 27, 2010

• Current Readings
  • Chapters 4-5 from How to Think Like a Computer Scientist by Jeffrey Elkner, Allen B. Downey, and Chris Meyer
• Current Assignments
  • Punishment, due by the end of the day, Tuesday, February 2

January 22, 2010

• TA Office Hours start this Sunday in the Link starting at 7pm
  Look for a post on the Bulletin Board for the exact location within the Link
• Current Readings
  • Chapters 1-3 from How to Think Like a Computer Scientist by Jeffrey Elkner, Allen B. Downey, and Chris Meyer

January 15, 2010

• Current Readings
  • The Internet and Web Pages on How Stuff Works
  • Chapter 4.3 from Computer Science: An Overview by J. Glenn Brookshear
  • Chapter 2.1, 2.3 from Introduction to Computing and Algorithms by Russell L. Shackelford (note, there are pages missing)
• Current Assignments
  • Word Problems, due at the beginning of class, Wednesday, January 20
    You can work in teams on these problems
    Please turn in a hard-copy when you come into class
  • Introductions, due by the end of the day, Friday, January 22

January 13, 2010

• Welcome to CompSci 4!
• This website represents and complements your classroom experience.
  • If you miss class, all important course material can be found on this site.
  • Important announcements will be posted on this page and may be announced in class.
  • You are responsible for all material that appears on these pages and should check for updates frequently.
• This course is recommended for students who have no experience programming. If you are not sure this course is right for you, see our guide for choosing the right introductory Computer Science course.