Course Announcements
- Dec 13, 2010 - Prof. Rodger's Office Hours this week
- Monday, Dec 13 - 1-5pm
- Tuesday, Dec 14 - 10-12, 1-2:30pm
- Wednesday, Dec 15 - 1-2:30pm
- Thursday, Dec 16 - 9-12, 1-4:30pm
- Friday, Dec 17 - 9-11:45am, 2:45pm-5:30pm
- Dec 5, 2010 - Classwork checkoffs. The last 4 classworks will need to be checked
off outside of class. We will not have time during class this week.
You can check off Classworks 17-20 only in
consulting hours with UTAS (see help page for hours) or office
hours with Prof. Rodger or TA Jie Xu (his hours are on the info page). If you have any classworks that are late, earlier
than classwork 17, you must see Prof. Rodger to check them off. She will
have
extra office hours this week:
- Tuesday 1:15-2:45pm
- Wednesday 1-2:45pm
- Thursday 1:15-2pm
- Friday 8:30am-2:45pm
-
PLEASE also note that Tuesday consulting hours will be 6-8pm this week with
Salwa.
- Aug 25, 2010 -You will need to put Alice 2.2 on your laptop by Thursday, Sept. 2.
- August 31 is the first day of class.
CompSci 4
Introduction to Programming
Via Animation and 3D Virtual Worlds
CompSci 4 is an introductory programming course that
teaches fundamental computer science concepts. This version of CompSci
4 uses the tool Alice to create 3-D virtual worlds. You will learn
programming constructs such as looping, selection, and data structures,
along with how to
control objects (raise hands, flap wings, move, turn, spin, walk, etc.).
This is a hands on course. During class we will be writing programs
with partners, designing 3-D virtual worlds. Outside of class projects
will be done alone, unless otherwise stated.
ATTENDANCE REQUIRED: Class attendance is REQUIRED since we program
in class everyday. I need to know in advance if you have an excused
absence for not attending class.
LAPTOP: If you have your own laptop, bring it to class. It will be much
easier to keep all your work on your own laptop. There are also
laptops you can borrow during class only. We use laptops everyday.
CompSci 4 will introduce you to the world of computer science and you
will learn how to make impressive animations for your other courses
or clubs. CompSci 4 is intended as a non-majors course to give you a feel
for programming.
If you want to take a second computer science course after this course,
CompSci 4 will prepare you well for CompSci 6, though you could also take
CompSci 6 without having CompSci 4. CompSci 6 focuses on processing data
using
Python.
If you have taken CompSci 1, you can take this course. If you have
taken CompSci 6 or CompSci 100 then you cannot get credit for this course.
Required Background:
No experience necessary, this is an introductory course.
More Course Details
- Should I bring a laptop to class?
Please bring a laptop to class if you have one.
Having your own laptop in class will make it easier on
you so you will not have to transfer files every day.
If you don't have a laptop,
we have laptops you can borrow during class only.
- The first two weeks of this course are a bit hectic and take some
settling in time. It is ok if it takes you a bit longer to complete the
classwork/assignments the first two weeks! For the majority of you, this is
your first experience with programming, so you are not alone.
After the first two weeks, we will be using Alice every week and your
environment should stay the same for many weeks. At that
point you need to try to stay caught up. The last week we may be testing
out Alice 3 Beta.
- File Transfer Program.
To use your laptop in this course, you need to put some type of file transfer program
on it so you can transfer files from your laptop to your Duke web
space. This software is free from OIT. If you have trouble installing it,
you can post a message to the class bulletin board and try to describe the
problem you are having, or you can go to the OIT help desk. See the
resources page.
- HELP - How do I get help?
We will setup consulting hours and office hours, they will be posted on
the CompSci 4 web page starting week two of class.
You can also post questions on the course bulletin board. Please try to
be explicit as possible (Having trouble setting up your computer, please
tell us what type of computer, operating system, etc...).
Feedback
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University aims to excel in education and research. To ensure that our
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