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1. What is Computer Science?

"The art and science of turning ideas into mechanized operations." -Douglas Blank, Apr 22, 2015, 2:45pm.

Computer science is not programming. But we spent a lot of time programming. Yes, we did. But now that we know the basics, we can use that knowledge to build concrete ideas on a solid foundation.

1.1 What should I have gotten out of this course?

1. Understanding of some core ideas in computer science
   • hands-on exploration of the idea of an "algorithm"
   • hands-on exploration of the ideas in computing, including functions, variables, loops, types
   • hands-on exploration (and appreciation) of Object-Oriented Programming
2. First-hand knowledge:
   • computing can take time
   • animations/simulations/games are just repeatedly drawing with slight changes
3. Detailed exploration of:
   • image processing
   • visualizations
   • robot control
   • designing and using classes

1.2 Little Ideas

1. Programs run from top to bottom
2. An infinite loop is one that runs for ever (while (true) { ... })

See Jeopardy review for more gathered from the in-class exercise.

1.3 Big Ideas from CS110

1. Control structure - if, loops
   1. Loops (for and while)
   2. if, else if, else
2. Functions (defining and calling)
3. Variables (global and local)
4. Parameters
5. Arguments
6. Recursion - when a function is defined in terms of itself. See quicksort
7. Types - int, float, boolean, void, int[], etc
8. Classes - defining and instantiating
9. Instance
10. Sorting - different algorithms take time
11. Finite State Machine (FSM) - robot control

1.4 Topics

Computer Science covers:

• Data structures (things like arrays and lists, but more complicated things like trees, dictionaries, and graphs)
• Cognitive Science
  • Artificial Intelligence
    • Logic
    • Machine Learning
    • Robotics
    • Vision/Image Processing
    • Developmental Robotics
    • Computational Linguistics
• Operating Systems
• Programming Languages
  • Compilers
• Human-Computer Interaction
  • Interface Design
  • Web design
• Theory of Computation
  • Analysis of Algorithms
• Software Engineering
  • Security
  • Cryptography
  • Compression
  • Forensics
• Genomics
• Bioinformatics
• Art
  • Graphics
  • Game design
• Database Design and Theory
• Mathematics
  • Discrete Math
  • Number Theory
  • Game Theory
  • Numerical Analysis
  • Computational Geometry
  • Networks (Graph Theory)
• Programming
  • Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) (Java, C++, Python, etc.)
  • Functional Programming (Haskell, F#, Scheme, Lisp, Python, etc.)
  • Logic programming (Prolog, etc.)
  • Imperative Programming (C, Java, Python, etc.)
  • Declarative Programming (SQL, Prolog, etc.)
  • Parallel Computing
  • Quantum Computing
• and many, many others... some just being created!

Related areas:

• Computer Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Informatics

1.5 Courses at Bryn Mawr College

http://cs.brynmawr.edu/Courses/

1.6 Assignment Ideas

1. Assignment #1 - Getting started with something relevant to you
2. Assignment #2 - Design a drawable (parameterized) thing
3. Assignment #3 - Abstract art; practice with functions
4. Assignment #4 - Creating visualizations to help tell a story
5. Assignment #5 - Introduction to OOP
6. Assignment #6 - More experience with OOP
7. Assignment #7 - Objects with internal state; experience with 3D perspective
8. Assignment #8 - Robot control (internal state, Finite State Machine)
9. Assignment #9 - Image Processing - manipulate pixels for different purposes
10. Assignment #10 - Capstone, free choice; demonstrate what you know

1.7 What do BMC CS students do after college?

• work for:
  • twitter
  • google
  • microsoft
  • banks
  • start-ups
• go to grad school in CS:
  • princeton
  • upenn
  • university of ... you name it
• other grad schools (law)
• teach (middle school, high school)
• other things!
  • become a comedian, no joking