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COMP 211: Principles of Program Design

Office Hours:

• Dr. Cartwright: MWF 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
• Dr. Wong:   See home page
• Alina: MWF 11:00 AM -12:00 PM
• Kamal:  MF 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
• Nicholas: TR 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

e-mail the entire class: comp211s11 at owlspace-ccm.rice.edu 

e-mail just the staff: comp211 at rice.edu 

Introduction

• TBA

e-mail the entire class: TBA 

e-mail just the staff: TBA 

Introduction

This course This course is an introduction to the fundamental principles of programming. The focus is on systematic methods for developing robust solutions to computational problems. Students are expected to have experience writing interesting programs in some credible programming language (e.g., Python, Java, Scheme, C#, C++, Visual Basic .NET, PRL, Scheme, Lisp, etc.) but no specific programming expertise is assumed. The course is targeted at potential Computer Science majors but mathematically sophisticated non-majors are welcome. We expect students to be comfortable with high-school mathematics (primarily algebra, mathematical proofs, and induction) and the mathematical rigor and vocabulary of freshman calculus. Success in the course requires a deep interest in the foundations of computer science and software engineering, self-discipline, and a willingness to work with other people on programming projects. Topics covered include functional programming, algebraic data definitions, design recipes for writing functions, procedural abstraction, reduction rules, program refactoring and optimization, object-oriented programming emphasizing dynamic dispatch, OO design patterns, fundamental data structures and algorithms from an OO perspective, simple Grapical User Interfaces (GUIs), and an exposure to the challenges of concurrent computation.

Students will learn the practical skills required to write, test, maintain, and modify programs. Labs and assignments use the Scheme and Java programming languages.

Text For Scheme: How to Design Programs, Second Edition (DRAFT) by Felleisen et al. QA76.6 .H697 2001 (Available online; no purchase is necessary.)The First Edition was published in 2001 and has LC classification QA76.6 .H697 2001.  We will refer to this text as HTDP.

DrScheme/DrRacket: Please download and use the DrScheme/DrRacket system available from the Racket download site. To avoid compatibility problems, please make sure you use a Version numbered 5.0.2

• DrRacket Tips and Traps

Notes for Java: Object-oriented Design

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DrJava: Please download and use the DrJava pedagogic programming environment available from drjava.org. You must install either the Java 5 6 or Java 6 7 JDK on your machine for DrJava to work. (Addendum: DrJava releases starting in 2011 can also run using a Java 7 JDK.) If you machine is running some flavor of Windows or Linux, go to the \[Sun Download Site for the Java SE 6.0 (http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp\]). Make sure that you download the JDK not the JRE. If you have a Mac, a Java JDK is available from Apple. In fact, it is part of the standard Mac OS X software package. DrJava will run on either the Apple Java 5.0 or Java 6.0 JDKmay work with Java 5; it has not been tested since Java 5 is no longer supported by Oracle.) If you machine is running some flavor of Windows or Linux or a recent version of Mac OS X, go to the Oracle Download Site for Java SE 6.0.

Entrance Survey

Please fill out this survey.

Confirm that You Can Attend Lab

The lab is an essential component of the course. Every student should attend lab on Tuesday 10:50-12:05 in Ryon 102.
If you have a conflict, you probably should drop the course. If you have a conflict, but still want to take the course, please come see Prof. Cartwright or Prof. Wong to evaluate your options.essential component of the course. Every student should attend lab on TBA.

Computing Environment

All Comp 211 programming assignments will be run and graded on the CLEAR (Linux) educational computing facility. The Ryon 102 lab is equipped with machines connected to the CLEAR network. For instructions on how to use CLEAR, see the CLEAR web page.TBA educational computing facility. 

Errata

This wiki for Comp 211 is a revision of last year's the Spring 2011 Comp 211 wiki and may contain a significant number of broken links and typos. If you notice an error in the wiki, please send email to the Comp 211 staff Prof. Robert (Corky) Cartwright.

Course Schedule

Note that future date schedules are only guidelines. Future are based on the 2011 calendar; they are merely guidelines for creating a similar calendar.   The homeworks and slides may contain materials from previous Comp 210, 211, and Comp 212 classes. New material will be provided before the corresponding class. There will only be two . In the Spring 2011 edition of this course, there were two take-home exams in the course: one given on functional programming during week 7 and one on object-oriented programming given during in the last week of the course. Both are take-home exams. There is There was no final examination.

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