CS 125

CS 125 - Intro to Computer Science

Fall 2017

TitleRubricSectionCRNTypeHoursTimesDaysLocationInstructor
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AL135876LEC40800 - 0850 M W F  1002 Electrical & Computer Eng Bldg Lawrence Angrave
Geoffrey Challen
William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AL235878LEC41000 - 1050 M W F  1404 Siebel Center for Comp Sci Lawrence Angrave
Geoffrey Challen
William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AL350158LEC41100 - 1150 M W F  1404 Siebel Center for Comp Sci Lawrence Angrave
Geoffrey Challen
William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYA35881LBD00900 - 1050 T  0224 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYB35885LBD01100 - 1250 T  0224 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYC35888LBD01300 - 1450 T  0224 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYD35891LBD01500 - 1650 T  0224 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYE35898LBD01700 - 1850 T  0224 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYF35901LBD01900 - 2050 T  0224 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYG35904LBD00900 - 1050 W  0224 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYH35906LBD01100 - 1250 W  0224 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYI35908LBD01300 - 1450 W  0224 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYJ35911LBD01500 - 1650 W  0224 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYK35914LBD01700 - 1850 W  0224 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYL65058LBD01100 - 1250 W  0218 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYM35894LBD01300 - 1450 W  0218 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYN65865LBD01500 - 1650 W  0218 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYP65059LBD01700 - 1850 W  0218 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYQ65061LBD01700 - 1850 W  1105 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYR65866LBD01500 - 1650 W  1103 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYS65060LBD01100 - 1250 T  1214 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYT69488LBD01300 - 1450 T  1214 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYU69489LBD01500 - 1650 T  1214 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman
Intro to Computer ScienceCS125AYV69490LBD01700 - 1850 T  1214 Siebel Center for Comp Sci William L Chapman

Official Description

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: 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.

Learning Goals

  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)

Topic List

  • 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

Assessment and Revisions

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, Elective, or Selected Elective

Required

Last updated

3/21/2019by Geoffrey Challen