CSC108H (StG, Fall 2011): Lectures

Lectures

This page will contain notes from lecture, mainly from code developed during lecture, as well as any slides we use. We will try to post these notes after each lecture.

We post these materials to help you focus on thinking and participating in class without worrying about copying down every little detail. But a lot happens in lecture that will not be represented in these posted materials, and we urge you to augment them with your own personal notes. Research shows that students who take and study from their own notes consistently do better on tests than those who simply study from supplied notes. If you miss class, it would be a good idea to get notes from someone who was there.

Readings

Readings for each week are also listed below. You are responsible for keeping up with these during the term. Note that some of the topics may shift around a bit, depending on how we progress.

Week of	L0301 (MWF9 with Michelle)	L0101 (MWF10 with Diane)	L0102 (MWF10 with Michelle)	L0201 (MWF1 with Diane)	L5101 (W6-9 with Dan)
12 Sep Readings: chapter 1 (Introduction to Python)	Monday: Slides (pdf) picture_display.py sunset.py Wednesday: Administrivia Slides (pdf) Codelab Slides (pdf) Work in the Shell (txt) Friday: Assignment Slides (pdf) Work in the Shell (txt) bio_calc.py bio_calc_better.py double_functions.py	Monday: Forgot to say: there are no "labs" this week Intro slides first_program.py make_sunset.py Recreation of what we did in the python shell Wednesday: Announcements Admin Details slides Codelab slides shell (operations, functions) Python Basics slides Friday: Announcements bio_calc.py and bio_calc_improved.py (variables) shell (functions) trace.py (traced on the board)	Monday: Slides (pdf) picture_display.py sunset.py Our other sunset.py where we tried increasing the red Wednesday: Administrivia Slides (pdf) Codelab Slides (pdf) Work in the Shell (txt) Friday: Assignment Slides (pdf) Work in the Shell (txt) bio_calc.py bio_calc_better.py square.py	Monday: Forgot to say: there are no "labs" this week Intro slides pilot_program.py suppertime.py Recreation of what we did in the python shell Wednesday: Announcements Admin Details slides Codelab slides shell (operations, functions) Python Basics slides Friday: Announcements bio_calc.py and bio_calc_new.py (variables) shell (raw input) shell (functions) trace.py (traced on the board)	Wednesday Night: Slides and Shell The sun.py developed in lecture. There's a version of this code in the slides as well; the one in the slides combines a couple of lines to make the code shorter Pictures bahen.jpg and niagara.jpg first_mod.py: another example of a module
19 Sep Readings: chapter 2 (Python basics)	Monday: Slides (pdf) Shell (txt) Code we visualized (py) Online Visualizer Try it out! Wednesday: Slides (pdf) print and raw_input (marks.py)) play_a_song.py (pdf) laugh.wav jingle.wav doglake.wav Friday: Announcements (pdf) sound_functions.py do_not_do_this.py importer.py	Monday: Announcements shell (types, booleans) Wednesday: Announcements expression.py (why we need "print") shell (input and output) shell (the sound module) sound_functions.py doglake.wav, airplane.wav, and laugh.wav (sound files) Functions slides Friday: Announcements shell (losing track of things) v1_a.py and v1_b.py (traced on the board) Homework. Trace these: v2.py, v3_a.py and v3_b.py	Monday: Slides (pdf) Shell (txt) Code we visualized (py) Online Visualizer Try it out! Wednesday: Slides (pdf) print and raw_input (marks.py)) sound_functions.py (pdf) laugh.wav jingle.wav doglake.wav Friday: Announcements (pdf) sound_functions.py do_not_do_this.py importer.py	Monday: Announcements shell (types, booleans) Wednesday: Announcements expression.py (why we need "print") shell (input and output) shell (the sound module) sound_stuff.py doglake.wav, airplane.wav, and laugh.wav (sound files) Functions slides Friday: Announcements shell (losing track of things) v1_a.py, v1_b.py, v2.py, and v2_b.py (traced on the board) Homework: Make sure you fully understand these examples.	Wednesday Night: Slides and Shell Sounds doglake.wav and piano.wav (I encourage you to use headphones and test the first of these, after removing the left channel. You'll notice something I couldn't show in lecture, which is that there's a dog in one of the channels!) The sound functions developed in lecture bio_calc.py bad_style.py: I didn't cover this, but I might next week. In any event, please go through it as a first example of a poor docstring (and code that won't work because it tries to access a local variable that doesn't exist outside of the function)
26 Sep Readings: section 5.6 (mutability, aliasing), chapter 6 (booleans)	Monday: Slides (pdf) add_module.py eurasia_sales_example.py Wednesday: If Slides (pdf) grade.py add_silence.py test_sound_functions.py Small Sound File Friday: Announcements (pdf) mutable parameters(py)	Monday: Announcements shell (docstrings) Value of using an 'if __name__' when importing: imp.py and save_both.py (save_both also has a module docstring) Wednesday: Announcements Online visualizer and code we visualized with it: visualize.py and visualize_fcns.py total_right.py shell (mutability) Homework: (1) Trace the code in hello.py (2) Write the function in swap.py (3) Play around with the visualizer Friday: If statements shell (booleans) shell (mutability) mutable_par.py vs immutable_par.py add_silence.py test_sound_functions.py	Monday: Slides (pdf) add_module.py import_example.py Wednesday: If Slides (pdf) grade.py add_silence.py test_sound_functions.py Small Sound File Friday: Announcements (pdf) mutable parameters(py) immutable parameters(py)	Monday: Announcements v3_c.py (one more version of what we did Fri) shell (docstrings) v1_a.py (new version with a module docstring) and shell (seeing the module docstring) Value of using an 'if __name__' when importing: importer.py and imported.py Wednesday: Announcements Online visualizer and code we visualized with it: visualize.py and visualize_fcns.py total_up.py shell (mutability) Homework: (1) Trace the code in hello.py (2) Write the function in swap.py (3) Play around with the visualizer Friday: If statements shell (booleans) shell (mutability) mutable_par.py vs immutable_par.py add_silence.py test_sound_functions.py	Wednesday Night: Slides and Shell Some comments on A1 silent.py (making a piece of a sound silent) bad_style_fixed.py (fixing the function that had a bad docstring and did not have a return statement) if_ph.py and temperature.py swap_with_test.py (the swap-channels example, with a test function that returns True if the swap function works and False if it fails.) total_right.py (add up all of the sample values in the right channel)
03 Oct Readings: chapter 3 (strings), sections 7.2 - 7.7 (while loops)	Monday: Announcements (pdf) Codelab Q Discussion(shell) immutable_par.py Strings(shell) Wednesday: Announcements (pdf) Docstring slides (pdf) count_e.py num_vowels.py reverse_string.py remove_spaces.py Friday: Slides (announcements and Strings) (pdf) Strings in the shell (txt)	Monday: Announcements Docstrings test_sound_functions.py (more complete) shell (toggling a bool; strings) Wednesday: Announcements shell (A1 issues) diane.py (a count_vowels function) shell (for, testing count_vowels, strings) Friday: Announcements Recreation of what we did in the shell (strings) Strings	Monday: Announcements (pdf) Codelab Q Discussion(shell) Strings(shell) Wednesday: Announcements (pdf) Docstring slides (pdf) count_e.py num_vowels.py reverse_string.py remove_spaces.py hangman.py Friday: Slides (announcements and Strings) (pdf) Strings in the shell (txt)	Monday: Announcements Docstrings test_sound_functions.py (more complete) shell (toggling a bool; strings) Wednesday: Announcements shell (A1 issues) shell (for-loops) diane.py (a count_vowels function) shell (testing count_vowels, strings) Friday: Announcements shell (strings) Strings	Wednesday Night: Slides and Shell
10 Oct Readings: chapter 5 (lists)	Monday: No Class Thanksgiving Wednesday: Announcements (pdf) While tracing example(py) yes_no.py mystery.py Friday: Announcements (pdf) Strings in the shell	Monday: No Class Thanksgiving Wednesday: Announcements abuse_triple_quotes.py (expressions that are unused) more_strings.py (string functions) While loops while_termination.py (while loops) Friday: Announcements mystery.py (while loops) shell (lists galore)	Monday: No Class Thanksgiving Wednesday: Announcements (pdf) While tracing example(py) yes_no.py mystery.py Friday: Announcements (pdf) Strings in the shell	Monday: No Class Thanksgiving Wednesday: Announcements abuse_triple_quotes.py (expressions that are unused) more_strings.py (string functions) While loops while_termination.py (while loops) Friday: Announcements mystery.py (while loops) shell (lists galore)	Wednesday Night: Slides and Shell Two versions of the number-guessing game from lecture: game.py and while_guess.py. Compare these and make sure you understand their differences and how they work. Also try guessing the number on your first try and rocking out to some Absent-Minded this weekend! termination_trace.py (an example from lecture, with a trace below the code of what's happening)
17 Oct Readings: chapter 8 (files)	Monday: Announcements (pdf) Description Lists (in the shell) everyone.py Wednesday: Announcements (pdf) total_length.py to_upper.py remove_items.py Friday: Test 1	Monday: Announcements shell (lists, alias vs clone) shell (assert) lists.py (list functions, assert, testing) Wednesday: shell (nested lists, association lists) shell (image association lists) -- we didn't cover this, but it will help you with A2 alists.py (functions with association lists) Friday: Test 1	Monday: Announcements (pdf) Description Lists (in the shell) everyone.py Wednesday: most_interesting.py Announcements (pdf) total_length.py to_upper.py Friday: Test 1	Monday: Announcements shell (lists, alias vs clone) shell (assert) lists.py (list functions, assert, testing) Wednesday: shell (nested lists, association lists) shell (image association lists) alists.py (functions with association lists) Friday: Test 1	Wednesday Night: Test 1 Slides and Shell Our various convert-a-list-to-uppercase examples: up.py Sample text files: games.txt and games_noheader.txt
24 Oct Readings: sections 9.2, 9.5 (dictionaries)	Monday: Announcements (pdf) Files in the shell (txt) Story.txt Wednesday: Announcements (pdf) Work in the Shell (txt) Some Tests we wrote for A2 (txt) Friday: Announcements (pdf) Dictionaries (in the shell)	Monday: Announcements We recapped broken_v1 and broken_v2 from lists.py alists.py (nested loop) mystery.py (while loops) shell (lazy evaluation, guards) Wednesday: Announcements Lots on the board re A2 and re files shell (files) story.txt (data file we used) Friday: Announcements Lots on the board re A2 and re files insert_after.py (we designed test cases for it) comments.py and slowdown.py (files) tdd.py and its data file cryer2.txt (developing code with helpers)	Monday: Announcements (pdf) Files in the shell (txt) Story.txt comments.py Wednesday: Announcements (pdf) Work in the Shell (txt) Some Tests we wrote for A2 (txt) Friday: Announcements (pdf) Dictionaries (in the shell)	Monday: Announcements alists.py (nested loop) mystery.py (while loops) shell (lazy evaluation, guards) Wednesday: Announcements Lots on the board re A2 and re files shell (files) story.txt (data file we used) Friday: Announcements Lots on the board re A2 and re files insert_after.py (we designed test cases for it) comments.py and slowdown.py (files) tdd.py and its data file cryer2.txt (developing code with helpers)	Wednesday Night: Slides and Shell Converting lists to dictionaries Handout covering test 1 and while-loop practice Assignment 2 Slides and IAL Example
31 Oct Readings: sections 4.5 (testing), 12.3, 12.4 (debugging)	Monday: Slides (pdf) Any adjacent duplicates? (py) Invert A Dictionary (py) Wednesday: Slides (pdf) lazy lit (py) some training texts shakespeare alice A2 handout short alice Friday: Slides (pdf) improved lazy lit (py)	Monday: Announcements shell (dicts and tuples) Wednesday: comments (slides) shell (dangerous) invert_am.py (inverting a dict) cool.py ("lazy lit" v1) Friday: Announcements cool_v2.py ("lazy lit", nearly done) shell (nested lists, copies and aliasing)	Monday: Slides (pdf) Any adjacent duplicates? (py) Invert A Dictionary (py) Wednesday: Slides (pdf) lazy lit (py) some training texts shakespeare alice A2 handout short alice Friday: Slides (pdf) improved lazy lit (py)	Monday: Announcements shell (dicts and tuples) Wednesday: comments (slides) shell (dangerous) invert_pm.py (inverting a dict) new_writer.py ("lazy lit" v1) Friday: Announcements cool_v2.py ("lazy lit", nearly done) shell (nested lists, copies and aliasing) Comments (somewhat half-baked slides)	Wednesday Night: Shell All About Inverting Dictionaries Mindreader and Birthday Handout Mindreader Solution Birthday Question
07 Nov Readings: chapter 13 (classes)	Monday: No classes reading break! Wednesday: Slides (pdf) functions.py test_functions.py Friday: Slides (pdf) String Aliasing in the Shell (.txt) functions.py test_functions.py	Monday: Fall break! Wednesday: Announcements shell (nested structures, copying and aliasing) cool_v3.py ("lazy lit" finished) tuple_trick_am.txt (tuples of len 1) Friday: Testing functions.py and test_functions.py (simple testing) swap_channels.py and test_swap_channels_sol.py (testing with sound) dict_functions.py and test_dict_functions.py (testing with dicts -- not covered in class) insert_after.py and test_insert_after.py (debugging a function)	Monday: No classes Fall Break! Wednesday: Slides (pdf) functions.py test_functions.py Friday: Slides (pdf) String Aliasing in the Shell (.txt) functions.py test_functions.py	Monday: Fall break! Wednesday: Announcements shell (nested structures, copying and aliasing) new_writer_v3.py ("lazy lit" finished) tuple_trick_pm.txt (tuples of len 1) Friday: Testing functions.py and test_functions.py (simple testing) swap_channels.py and test_swap_channels_sol.py (testing with sound) dict_functions.py and test_dict_functions.py (testing with dicts -- not covered in class) insert_after.py and test_insert_after.py (debugging a function)	Wednesday Night: Slides Shell output, Nose tests, and other code written in lecture the MCQ Question and Solutions File Exercises
14 Nov Readings: sections 11.3, 11.4 (sorting)	Monday: Slides (pdf) insert_after.py test_insert_after.py Wednesday: Slides (Feedback and Sorting) (pdf) Friday: Test 2	Monday: Announcements insert_after_fixed.py list_example.py (another function to debug) Discussion of A2 lessons and solution Wednesday: Announcements Sorting Lots on the board and via demonstration Friday: Test 2	Monday: Slides (pdf) insert_after.py test_insert_after.py Wednesday: Slides (Feedback and Sorting) (pdf) Friday: Test 2	Monday: Announcements insert_after_fixed.py list_example.py (another function to debug) Discussion of A2 lessons and solution Wednesday: Announcements Sorting Lots on the board and via demonstration Friday: Test 2	Wednesday Night: Test 2 Slides Code for Selection sort, Insertion sort, and Bubble sort. Here is the Timing code for these sorting algorithms
21 Nov Readings: chapter 10 (complexity)	Monday: Slides (pdf) work in shell (txt) Survey.txt to parse Wednesday: Slides (pdf) Survey.txt to parse groups.py (file parsing) insertion_sort.py selection_sort.py Friday: Slides (pdf) Bubble Sort (py) Merge Sort (py) Functions First Class (txt) runtime.py	Monday: Announcements Tons on the board re Assignment 3 Survey.txt (a file to parse) Wednesday: Announcements Survey.txt (a file to parse) read_groups_am.py Friday: Announcements mergesort_v1.txt (broken) and mergesort_algo.txt sorting.py time_sorting.py	Monday: Slides (pdf) work in shell (txt) Survey.txt to parse Wednesday: Slides (pdf) Survey.txt to parse groups.py (file parsing) insertion_sort.py selection_sort.py Friday: Slides (pdf) Bubble Sort (py) Merge Sort (py) Functions First Class (txt) runtime.py	Monday: Announcements Tons on the board re Assignment 3 Survey.txt (a file to parse) Wednesday: Announcements Survey_pm.txt (a file to parse) read_groups_pm.py Friday: Announcements mergesort_v1.txt (broken) and mergesort_algo.txt sorting.py time_sorting.py	Wednesday Night: Slides
28 Nov Readings: none	Monday: Announcements (pdf) runtime.py complexity examples (py) Complexity Slides (pdf) Wednesday: Slides (pdf) Classes in the shell (txt) Event.py Friday: Slides (pdf) Event.py	Monday: Announcements Discussion of complexity of sorting and in general (on the blackboard) For fun: Folk dance implementation of sorting and Obama weighs in Wednesday: Announcements Complexity general_timer.py and the runtimes it generated shell (functions as first class) library.py Friday: Announcements Classes Event_draft.py (classes)	Monday: Announcements (pdf) runtime.py complexity examples (py) Complexity Slides (pdf) Wednesday: Slides (pdf) Classes in the shell (txt) Event.py Friday: Slides (pdf) Event.py	Monday: Announcements Discussion of complexity of sorting and in general (on the blackboard) For fun: Folk dance implementation of sorting and Obama weighs in Wednesday: Announcements Complexity general_timer.py and the runtimes it generated Friday: Announcements shell (functions as first class) library.py Classes Event_draft.py (classes)	Wednesday Night: Slides and Shell
05 Dec Readings: none (wrapup)	Monday: Slides (pdf) Event.py Day.py Wednesday: Slides (pdf) create_a2_histogram (py)	Monday: Announcements Event_draft2.py, and Day_draft.py (classes) Wednesday: Event.py, Day.py, and Repeating_event.py (classes) pickle_data.py (preserving data between program runs) Course Wrapup	Monday: Slides (pdf) Event.py Day.py Wednesday: Slides (pdf) create_a2_histogram (py)	Monday: Announcements Event_draft2.py, Student.py, and Day_draft.py (classes) Wednesday: Event.py, Day.py, and Repeating_event.py (classes) pickle_data.py (preserving data between program runs) Course Wrapup	Wednesday Night: No class this week