CSC 150 - Accelerated Introduction to Computer Science

Fall 2009

UofT logo

The web page for the first half of the term is here.



General Information

Course Instructor Anya Tafliovich
Email anya@cdf.toronto.edu
Lectures Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. in BA 1240
Tutorials Tuesday 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. in BA 3185
Office hours Tuesdays 4:00 - 5:00 PM in BA 4290, Wednesdays 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM in BA 2200
starting on Wednesday November 4
and by appointment
Back to the index

Online Resources

Back to the index

Texts, Software, and Documentation


Back to the index

Tentative syllabus for the rest of the term:

1 week Introduction to Python
2 weeks Abstract Data Types, Introduction to Computational Complexity
2 weeks Object-Oriented Programming

Back to the index

Evaluation

The only change to the original marking scheme is: there will be one less assignment, and assignment 2 and assignment 3 will be worth 15% each. The new marking scheme is thus:
Assignment 1 10%
Assignment 2 15%
Assignment 3 15%
Midterm 1 10%
Midterm 2 10%
Final exam 40%
In addition, to pass this course you must achieve a mark of 35% on the final exam.
Back to the index

Lateness, illness, emergencies

Marks will be deducted for late submissions as follows:
less than 24 hours-5%
[24, 48) hours-10%
[48, 72) hours-20%
[72, 96) hours-40%
[96, 120) hours-80%
more than 120 hours-100%
In addition, according to the UofT policy, no assignments can be accepted after the last day of classes.

In case of illness or other exceptional circumstances, proper documentation (e.g. a medical certificate in case of illness) must be provided. In this case a missed homework or a missed test may be canceled at the discretion of the instructor; marks for a missed homework/test will be distributed evenly over the other marked homeworks/tests.

If you find yourself in an emergency situation, contact your instructor as soon as possible.
Back to the index

Policy on collaboration

You are encouraged to discuss ideas and approaches to solving problems posed on the homework assignments with other students. However, you are not permitted to take any notes during these discussions, nor are you permitted to consult other students' solutions. Searching for a solution on the Internet is a violation of this policy. Sharing work with other students is a violation of this policy. If challenged by either a tutor or the instructor, you must be able to reproduce and explain any solution you submit in an oral exam. Failure to observe this policy is an academic offense, carrying a penalty ranging from a zero on a homework or a quiz to suspension from the university.

You are encouraged to read this document on Plagiarism and how to avoid it. If you are uncertain about what constitutes plagiarism, talk to your instructor. You can also get help from the Undergraduate Office. There are serious consequences to plagiarism. See this document for an explanation of the process for dealing with an offense.
Back to the index

Silent policy

A silent policy takes effect 24 hours before an assignment is due. This means that no question about the assignment will be answered whether it is asked on the bulletin board, by email, or in person.

Tentative calendar for the rest of the term

Monday, November 16 Assignment 2 due
Friday, November 20 Midterm 2
Friday, December 4 Assignment 3 due, last day of classes
Dec 9-18 final exam

The University of Toronto policy on Accommodations for Religious Observances states that no University member should be seriously disadvantaged because of her or his religious observances. If you find that a test or an assignment deadline happens on a religious occasion which you observe, contact me as soon as possible and I will do my best to accommodate you.
Back to the index

Announcements

November 12: So, what can I ask you to code up in Scheme on the final exam? Check out some sample questions.

December 16: Assignment 3 is graded. Check your CDF mailbox! Sample (very much incomplete wrt comments) solutions, copyright our TA Jonathan, are posted.

December 20: The final exam is graded, and all marks are online. Check out sample solutions of the final exam.


Back to the index

Lectures

Readings: see lecture notes for assigned readings, exercises, etc.

Monday, October 26: discussed solutions to Friday's mini-quiz, drew a lot of lists on the board

Wednesday, October 28: playing with lists in Python

Friday, October 30: introducing linked lists

Monday, November 2: more linked lists

Wednesday, November 4: some recursion in our linked list,
together with a discussion of underscores in methods names
then moving on to doubly linked lists, introducing optional arguments.

Friday, November 6: introduced inheritance: node, dnode, linked list, doubly linked list

Monday, November 9: fixed doubly linked list, talked a lot about testing, started implementing a list

Wednesday, November 11: discussed program design, and assignment 2 in particular,
talked about exceptions, used them in list,
and talked about testing function that raise exceptions.

Monday, November 16: implemented a binary search
and started talking about big-O (using CSC148 lecture slides).

Wednesday, November 19: analysed complexity of linear and binary search

Monday, November 23: implemented two versions of fib() and talked about their complexity. Started talking about sorting.

Wednesday, November 25: talked about this week's tutorial: reading from a file, parsing, dictionaries. Implemented an insertion sort.

Friday, November 27: talked about complexity of insertion sort, implemented merge sort.

Monday, November 30: introduced heaps, implemented heap sort.

Wednesday, December 2: discussed OOA/OOD/OOP, and related concepts.

Friday, December 4: all about the final exam.


Back to the index

Tutorials

Tuesday, November 3: tutorial 1
Tuesday, November 10: tutorial 2
Tuesday, November 17: tutorial 3
Tuesday, November 24: tutorial 4 with a sample input file.
Tuesday, December 1: Finish up heap sort.


Back to the index

Tests

Friday, November 20: midterm 2 cover page solutions, marking scheme, and comments

Back to the index

Assignments

Assignment 1 marking scheme.
Assignment 1 marker's comments.

Assignment 2 handout, cover page, solutions (type "tar xvzf a2.solutions.tar.gz" without the quotes to unpack).

Assignment 3 handout, cover page, a sample network file,
sample (very much incomplete wrt comments) solutions, copyright our TA Jonathan, marking scheme.

Remarking request form

Back to the index

Anya Tafliovich