CS 125

Basic concepts in computing and fundamental techniques for solving computational problems. Intended as a first course for computer science majors and others with a deep interest in computing. Course Information: Credit is not given for both CS 125 and CS 124. Prerequisite: Three years of high school mathematics or MATH 112. Class Schedule Information: Students must register for one lab-discussion and one lecture section. Engineering students must obtain a dean's approval to drop this course after the second week of instruction.

https://cs125.cs.illinois.edu/learn/

1. Create computer programs that solve a variety of problems using appropriate techniques, including imperative, recursive, and object-oriented approaches. (1, 2, 6)
2. Read and understand iterative and recursive computer code—determining intention, tracing runtime behavior, identifying bugs and errors that might occur, and estimating computational cost and complexity. (2)
3. Develop and debug programs using industry-standard tools and best practices, including visual editing and debugging (IntelliJ and Android Studio), source version control (Git), and pair programming. (1, 2, 5, 6)
4. Understand the features of computers that make them useful for solving problems, including computation, memory, storage, and networking. (2)
5. Learn and apply classic computer science algorithms for sorting and searching data while understanding their behavior and running time. (1, 6)
6. Write computer programs that represent and manipulate different types of information—such as text, audio, and visual data. (1, 2, 6)
7. Formulate useful algorithms that solve real problems and can be implemented and run on a computer. (1)
8. Use object-oriented design to appropriately structure data and couple data and behavior. (2, 6)

• Imperative programming:
  • variables and types
  • conditional expressions and statements
  • loops
  • single- and multi-dimensional arrays
  • functions
  • interfaces
  • throwing and handling exceptions
  • recursion
  • representing and working with different kinds of data
  • computational thinking
• Object-oriented programming:
  • classes, instances, and references
  • class design: constructors; getters, and setters; instance and class variables
  • inheritance and subtype polymorphism
  • parametric polymorphism (generics)
  • data modeling
• Data structures and algorithms:
  • Lists, trees, maps, and graphs
  • Searching, sorting, and hashing
  • Basic runtime analysis and big O notation
• Software engineering:
  • debugging and testing
  • software version control
  • UI design and implementation

Revisions in last 6 years	Approximately when revision was done	Reason for revision	Data or documentation available?
Introduced modern IDE: Eclipse	2007/8	Criteria (i)	Informal discussion with Dir. of UG studies(Pitt) & CS225 Instructor (Heeren)
Created new, interesting programming assignments that also included unit-tests	2007/8	Previous assignments were outdated and uninspiring	Informal discussion with Dir. of UG studies(Pitt) & CS225 Instructor (Heeren)
Added team-based projects	2009/8	Provide additional non-exam based content to re-inforce the utility of the CS experience within a broader context; ABET Criterion (d)	Informal discussion with Dir. of UG studies(Pitt) & CS225 Instructor (Heeren)
Removed converting recursive function to an iterative function	2009/8	Weaker students used this as a prop to avoid reasoning recursively	Informal discussion with Dir. of UG studies(Pitt) & CS225 Instructor (Heeren)
Added 1hour lab intro to C++ compilation, make, vim and the bash shell	2010/8	Reduce the perceived gap between CS125 and CS225. Broaden studen horizons beyond course constraints of Java+Eclipse; ABET Criterion (i)	Informal discussion with Dir. of UG studies(Pitt) & CS225 Instructor (Heeren)
Revised team-based projects to be more open-ended. Add peer-led code reviews	2010/8	Give students team-based experience; ABET Criterion (d)	Informal discussion with Dir. of UG studies(Pitt) & CS225 Instructor (Heeren)
Added optional Android training & competition	2010/8	Provide additional non-exam based content to re-inforce the utility of the CS experience within a broader context	Informal discussion with Dir. of UG studies(Pitt) & CS225 Instructor (Heeren)
Replaced OO inheritance from Midterm 3 with array-based map and queue	2011/8	Replace OO syntax testing with implementation and reasoning about new data structures	Informal discussion with Dir. of UG studies(Pitt) & CS225 Instructor (Heeren)

Required

3/21/2019by Geoffrey Werner Challen