On Tuesday, August 19, all students registered are sent a Gradescope registration invitation to the email on record with CUNYFirst. If you did not receive the email or would like to use a different account, fill out the form on Brightspace. Include on the form that you not receive a Gradescope invitation, your preferred email, and your EmpID. We will manually generate an invitation. As a default, we use your name as it appears in Brightspace/CUNYFirst (to update CUNYFirst, see changing your personal information). If you prefer a different name for Gradescope, include it, and we will update the Gradescope registration.
See the Homework page for the list of exercises for the class.
Each week, you are expected to work through the associated Online Lab. Target dates for completing these are included. There is no deadline for completing these, but the homework, quizzes and coding reviews are based on the information in the lab.
Lab 0: Setting Up.
Target date: Monday, August 25.
Learning Objective: to set up tools for the semester and to read through the syllabus.
Lab 1: First Program & Turtles.
Target date: Friday, August 29.
Learning Objective: to write short programs involving output and the turtle library and submit those to the Gradescope.
Lab 2: Strings & Loops.
Target date: Friday, September 5.
Learning Objective: to input and manipulate strings, as well as looping through lists and strings.
Lab 3: Representing Colors & Manipulating Images.
Target date: Friday, September 12.
Learning Objective: to use the three different formats for colors (name, RGB & hexadecimal) and manipulate images using standard libraries.
Lab 4: Getting Input & Decisions.
Target date: Friday, September 19.
Learning Objective: to use decisions to manipulate images and lists (list comprehension) as well as get user input.
Lab 5: Logical Expressions & Circuits.
Target date: Friday, October 3.
Learning Objective: to translate between logical expressions and circuits, as well as understand binary numbers.
Lab 6: Pandas & Github.
Target date: Friday, October 10.
Learning Objective: to use the pandas library to read in CSV files, manipulate columns, and plot data, as well as be familiar with GitHub.
Lab 7: NYC OpenData & Functions.
Target date: Wednesday, October 23.
Learning Objective: to obtain and analyze NYC OpenData using pandas and to write stand-alone programs with functions.
Lab 8: Top Down Design & Dictionaries.
Target date: Friday, October 31.
Learning Objective: to write programs in a top-down design fashion and use dictionaries.
Lab 9: Spatial Maps & Code Quality.
Target date: Friday, November 7.
Learning Objective: to create spatial maps and improve debugging skills.
Lab 10: Indefinite Loops & Random Numbers.
Target date: Friday, November 14.
Learning Objective: to use indefinite loops in programs and understand canonical Unix tools (git and vi).
Lab 11: Machine Language and Unix Pipes.
Target date: Friday, November 21.
Learning Objective: to write simple machine language programs (MIPS) & link shell commands using pipes.
Lab 12: Getting Started with C++.
Target date: Wednesday, November 26.
Learning Objective: to write C++ programs with I/O, variables and definite loops and list file types in Unix.
Lab 13: C++ Decisions & Indefinite Loops.
Target date: Friday, December 5.
Learning Objective: to write C++ programs that using decisions and while loops and use shell commands to find versions and documentation.
Each week, there will be a paper quiz on the lecture notes, reading, submitted programs, and online lab exercises.
There will also be weekly walk-throughs ("code reviews") where you explain one of the programs you wrote for homework to a teaching assistant. Code reviews are integral to software design and development: explaining your coding decisions and convincing another it works correctly leads to improvements in the design and lessens unexpected behaviors and errors.
Unless otherwise noted, all quizzes and code reviews are in-person in 1001E HN. There is up to 15% extra credit for completing the quiz and code review before the due date: 5% for 1 day early, 10% for 2 days early, and 15% for 3 or more days early.
| Week: | Start Date: | 3 Days Early: (15% Extra Credit) | 2 Days Early: (10% Extra Credit) | 1 Day Early: (5% Extra Credit) | End Date: | Quiz Topics: | Code Review Topics: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #0 | Monday, August 25 | None | None | None | Tuesday, September 2 | Quiz 0: On Brightspace: covers syllabus. | None |
| #1 | Tuesday, August 26 | Wedneday, August 27 | Thursday, August 28 | Friday, August 29 | Tuesday, September 2 | Quiz 1: Turtles and Loops: Focuses on turtle commands and for-loops. Use Lab 1 to study. | Code Review 1: Hello (Program 1) |
| #2 | Tuesday, September 2 | Wedneday, September 3 | Thursday, September 4 | Friday, September 5 | Monday, September 8 | Quiz 2: Looping through strings and using ASCII values; Unix commands: files & directories; see Lab 2. Quiz includes ASCII chart for reference. | Code Review 2: Using Turtle Library (Programs 3 & 4) |
| #3 | Tuesday, September 9 | Wedneday, September 10 | Thursday, September 11 | Friday, September 12 | Monday, September 15 | Quiz 3: Color formats, slicing, and Unix commands from Lab 2 and Lab 3. | Code Review 3: String Methods (Programs 6 & 7) |
| #4 | Tuesday, September 16 | Wedneday, September 19 | Thursday, September 25 | Friday, September 26 | Monday, September 29 | Quiz 4: Inputting, decisions, & list comprehensions. See Lab 4. | Code Review 4: Definite Loops (Programs 8 & 9) |
| #5 | Tuesday, September 30 | Friday, October 3 | Monday, October 6 | Tuesday, October 7 | Wednesday, October 8 | Quiz 5: Manipulating strings and lists with split() and join(); Loops & Turtles. See Programs 11-15. | Code Review 5: Getting Input (Programs 12 & 14) |
| #6 | Thursday, October 9 | Tuesday, October 14 | Wedneday, October 15 | Thursday, October 16 | Friday, October 17 | Quiz 6: Converting between binary, decimal, and hexadecimal; Logical Circuits. See Lectures 2 & 5 and Lab 5. | Code Review 6: Images (Programs 19 & 21) |
| #7 | Tuesday, October 21 | Tuesday, October 21 | Wedneday, October 22 | Thursday, October 23 | Monday, October 27 | Quiz 7: Manipulating CSV files with Pandas (Lab 6) and Unix paths (Lab 4 and Lab 5). | Code Review 7: Logical Expressions & Circuits |
| #8 | Tuesday, October 28 | Wedneday, October 29 | Thursday, October 30 | Friday, October 31 | Monday, November 3 | Quiz 8: Decisions, Python's zip (see Lab 6 and Lab 7). | Code Review 8: Pandas |
| #9 | Tuesday, November 4 | Wedneday, November 5 | Thursday, November 6 | Friday, November 7 | Monday, November 10 | Quiz 9: Functions (Lab 7) and Regular Expressions (Wildcards) in Unix (see Lab 8). | Code Review 9: Decisions |
| #10 | Tuesday, November 11 | Wedneday, November 12 | Thursday, November 13 | Friday, November 14 | Monday, November 17 | Quiz 10: Dictionaries (see Lab 8). | Code Review 10: Functions |
| #11 | Tuesday, November 18 | Wedneday, November 19 | Thursday, November 20 | Friday, November 21 | Monday, November 24 | Quiz 11: Spatial Data & Finding Errors (Lab 9). | Code Review 11: Dictionaries |
| #12 | Tuesday, November 25 | Tuesday, November 25 | Wedneday, November 26 | Monday, December 1 | Tuesday, December 2 | Quiz 12: Indefinite Loops and Unix Scripts (see Lab 10) | Code Review 12: Pandas & Plotly |
| #13 | Wednesday, December 3 | Wedneday, December 3 | Thursday, December 4 | Friday, December 5 | Monday, December 8 | Quiz 13: Machine Language (see Lab 11) & C++ (see Lab 12). | Code Review 13: Indefinite Loops |
| #14 | Tuesday, December 9 | Wedneday, December 10 | Thursday, December 11 | Friday, December 12 | Monday, December 15 | Quiz 14: C++ (see Lab 12 and Lab 13). | Code Review 14: C++ |
The final exam is required. It is comprehensive, covering all the material of the course.
On the day of the exam, there will be two parts to fill out:
Both the seat slip and the final exam must be submitted.
The final exam has 10 questions, each worth 10 points. The best way to study is to work through the problems we have done throughout the semester. The questions are very similar to the homework, quizzes, examples from lecture, labs, and the reading.
On the last lecture, Tuesday, 13 May, we will have a mock final exam. It will be similar to the actual final exam, except that the time will be shorter, since lecture is 1 and 15 minutes while the final exam is 2 hours. An answer key will be available later that afternoon.
Below are the past exams, along with answer keys. To study for the final exam, choose a past exam and work through it as if you were taking the exam but allow yourself 1 hour (instead of the 2 hours for the real exam). When done, check your answers with the answer key, adjust your note sheet for topics and key ideas that would be useful, and repeat.