CSC A48 – Introduction to Computer Science II
Hello and welcome to A48! Please take a moment to read this handout carefully, it will give you
an overview of the course, what you can expect to learn from it, the skills you will develop, and
the general course policies.
1.- Introduction
This course is the place where we build the foundations of knowledge you will need for any future
task that requires using a computer to solve a problem. The course is all about general techniques
used to design and implement programs for a wide range of applications and domains. As such,
having a solid grasp of what you will learn here will enable you to apply computer science techniques
to your own field of work:
If you are in Computer Science – this course will prepare you for the core of your career. Every course
from second year onward assumes you can apply the techniques developed in this course as a
framework on which to build more advanced, topic-specific concepts. A48 is directly relevant for
Software Design (B07), Intro to the Theory of Computation (B36), Software Tools and System
Programming (B09), Analysis of Algorithms and Data Structures (B63), and even Computer
Organization (B58). The work you put into this course will translate into making the most of all
those courses.
If you are in Math, or Stats – this course may be even more important to you. Unlike CS specialists/
majors, you don’t have the luxury of multiple courses over which to develop the ability to create
a computer-based solution for a given task. Therefore it is essential that you make the most of A48.
You will use what you learn here for applications in financial technologies, and data analytics.
You will also find that knowing about computing, and being able to think about a problem from a
computer science perspective will create opportunities for interesting work in the future.
What we will study this term
- What information do we need to store for a given
application? How do we form a collection of data
that is searchable efficiently?
- What is efficiency in computational terms? Given
different ways to solve a problem, how do we choose
the best one?
- What is the fastest way to search through large
amounts of data for something we want?
- What is recursion, and what kinds of problems can
we solve with it?
- How do we organize software to make it re-usable,
Molecular model of a tobacco mosaic virus. An example of the easy to maintain, test, and build upon?
Fascinating applications that exist at the intersection of CS and
Other scientific disciplines. Image: John E. Stone, CC-SA 4.0
M. Ahmadzadeh, F. Estrada, 2019
CSC A48 – Introduction to Computer Science II
2.- Course Learning Goals
With hard work and practice, by the end of this course you will be able to:
- Design and implement custom data containers to store information for any application you need
to work with. This includes figuring out what data needs to be stored, and how to keep a large
number of data items properly organized so the data is usable, can be searched and updated,
and the chosen organization is suitable for the task you’re interested in.
- Think in concrete terms about the amount of work that will be required to perform common data
manipulation operations, such as searching, updating, adding new data items, or deleting items
no longer needed. This will allow you to choose among different possible ways to organize and
store information the one that is most suitable for a given problem.
- Implement and use a couple of the most common data structures (these are ways to structure,
organize, and manage information), and identify their advantages and disadvantages so you can
apply the optimal one to a given problem.
- Identify problems that can be solved in a recursive way, formulate and implement a recursive
solution for these problems.
- Write software in a way that makes it re-usable, easy to maintain and build-upon, and that enables
others to easily incorporate your code into their projects, modify it, and expand it as needed.
3.- Skills that you will develop (once again, provided you work hard and practice!)
- Identifying which of the techniques covered in class can be applied toward solving a particular
problem.
- Understanding what happens with data in memory as a program runs. Being able to explain why
data changed the way it did, and to identify and fix bugs related to how information is passed
around in a program.
- Writing, testing, and debugging programs that implement the methods discussed in class.
- Thinking in detail about a program, understanding every single thing that happens in it, and why
it has to happen that way (conversely, being able to tell when it’s doing the wrong thing and why!)
- Good work and study habits that will allow you to learn in-depth and make the most of any
technical courses you will take through your career.
- Making use of all the resources available to improve your ability to learn: Access to course
instructors, TAs, exercises, problem sets, assignments, and reference material.
- Building a good environment for yourself and your peers so the next few years are awesome!
M. Ahmadzadeh, F. Estrada, 2019
CSC A48 – Introduction to Computer Science II
4.- Practical information to keep in mind
Our programming language this term will be C. Like its name, it is short and simple, and perfectly
suited for exercising your ability to understand what is going on inside a program.
All the lab computers at UTSC have the required software and editor so you can do your course
work, however, if you wish to set up your laptop or home computer, you need to download and
install:
- The GNU project compiler suite gcc
- A suitable text editor with syntax highlighting. On Windows, try notepad++
(do not use an IDE such as Eclipse, at this point it will only make your life
more complicated!)
Instructions on how to do this for Windows can be found here:
https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Install-MinGW-GCCG-Compiler-in-Windows-XP78/
If you’re using Mac:
https://www.mkyong.com/mac/how-to-install-gcc-compiler-on-mac-os-x/
On Linux, simply open your distribution’s software manager, search for gcc and install the
compiler and documentation. You can use kate as a text editor for programming, so go ahead
and install that as well.
Forum:
We will have a class forum on Piazza. All students will be enrolled at the start of term with the
email addresses we have on record. It is your responsibility to check that email address to get
access to the forum.
Ground rules for using the forum effectively:
The purpose of the forum is to provide a place for students to discuss material and help each
other with assistance and supervision from the TAs and course instructors. It is not a substitute for
office hours, tutorials, labs, or lectures. It is unreasonable to expect the TAs or instructors to
continually hover over the forum just so that questions can be answered within minutes. Do not
expect this.
Do not post solutions to the forum – this includes exercises, problem sets, and especially
assignments. Helping each other is good, giving away solutions is not.
Everyone in the forum is expected to behave professionally and with courtesy. The forum is not
a place for venting frustration. It is a professional environment and everyone will treat it in
that way. Anyone caught behaving unprofessionally will have their access revoked.
M. Ahmadzadeh, F. Estrada, 2019
CSC A48 – Introduction to Computer Science II
4.- Practical information to keep in mind (cont.)
Ground rules for using the forum effectively…
Things to do at the forum:
- Seek clarification about specific things from lecture, the notes, or coursework.
- Seek help with technical problems (e.g. dealing with obscure compiler messages)
- Help our peers with material you have learned (best way to make sure you learned)
- Keep the discussion on topic. If you want to ask a question about anything that is beyond
what the course covers, please tag the question as out-of-scope. We’ll be happy to look
at it, and we want you to enjoy the course and learn as much as you can, but everyone
needs to know that this question is not part of what they need to master to do well in
the course.
Before you post:
- Try hard to figure out the answer to your question before you post it – review the notes,
work through related examples, and figure out what exactly is giving you trouble. Often
this is enough to help you figure out the solution, and you will learn more from it.
- Think about whether what you’re going to post could be said during lecture, in front of
everyone, with a microphone in your hand. The forum is as public a space as any other.
- Consider visiting your instructor or one of the TAs during office hours: You will have the
dedicated attention of a person who is experienced in the material and happy to help!
Your weekly work plan
The course has been very carefully organized so everything is in place to help you learn, your
job is to do the work that will result in you mastering the course material. Every week you have
to:
- Carefully go through the assigned readings. The lecture notes are very detailed and cover
every important aspect of what you need to learn. You have to do the readings in advance,
before your lecture. In lecture, we will go over the essential ideas from the lecture, make
sure those are clear, and solve problems. If you don’t do the readings, you won’t make the
most of the lecture.
- Attend your tutorial. TTutorials will be used to do collaborative problem-solving, and will
also cover technical aspects of programming in C that are not covered in lecture.
Do not skip them!
M. Ahmadzadeh, F. Estrada, 2019
CSC A48 – Introduction to Computer Science II
4.- Practical information to keep in mind (cont.)
Your weekly work plan…
- Practice! You will have to complete weekly exercises (these will be submitted, but not marked)
However they are part of your final mark – you get points simply for working on the exercises
and submitting your completed work.
- To help you handle the weekly exercises, as well as any other problems from the notes, the
practical sessions will be drop-in. Go to the lab, work on your exercises, and get on-site help
from a knowledgeable TA. You’re done with your exercise? Ask your TA to give you a more
challenging problem and keep practicing!
- Visit the office hours. Get help when you need it, there will be plenty of office hours between
your TAs and the course instructors.
- End of week questionnaires. Every week, you will fill-in a little questionnaire on Quercus. It will
help us figure out how the course is going, and where people need help. It will help you reflect
on what you learned each week, and where you may need to focus your effort. Completing
these questionnaires contributes a small part of your final mark. But they are not marked.
5.- Resources
Your best resource this term are the course notes that will be distributed at the start of each
week. You will be tested on concepts, ideas, and problems that appear throughout those notes.
You do not need a textbook for this course.
Any aspects of C programming that you need to master to get through the course are covered
in the notes, or will be covered in tutorial.
However, it is always good to have a few extra resources when dealing with a new programming
language. Here’s a couple of links to good tutorial sites (feel free to find and use your own though):
https://www.programiz.com/c-programming#tutorial
https://www.learn-c.org/
We will make more links and resources available on the Quercus site for the course once the term
Begins.
M. Ahmadzadeh, F. Estrada, 2019
CSC A48 – Introduction to Computer Science II
6.- Course administration
Course instructors: Marzieh Ahmadzadeh,
Paco Estrada
Office hours: To be posted on Quercus – these are open to all students in A48, not limited to who
is the instructor for your lecture section!
TA office hours and lab schedule: To be posted on Quercus during week 1
Grading:
Item Notes Value
Weekly exercises Intended to help you 5%
(not marked) master the material
Weekly Provide feedback 5%
questionnaires (not about how the
marked) course is going
Assignments (x3) Automarked 15%
Quizzes (x3) One per assignment 15%
Midterm test Date TBA 25%
Final exam Date TBA 35%
Academic Integrity:
The course work is intended to help you master the concepts and ideas the course is all about.
there is no point in getting a high mark in assignments that is not the product of your own hard
work and the learning it brought you. So, you’re expected to figure out and implement solutions
to the assignments by yourself. Getting any component of the solution (including a verbal step-
by-step explanation of how to do it) from another student, on-line sources, or social-networking
platform is an academic offense. Read the following hadnout for tips on how to stay our of trouble:
https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/aacc/sites/utsc.utoronto.ca.aacc/files/tipsheets/AIM%20-%20Tipsheet%20oct%202015.pdf
Keep in mind – if you do not solve your assignments on your own, you will not have learned what
the assignment is intended to help you learn, and it will cost you on quizzes and exams.
Sessional dates:
https://utsc.utoronto.ca/registrar/sites/utsc.utoronto.ca.registrar/files/resource-files/Sessional%20Dates%202018-2019%20.pdf
M. Ahmadzadeh, F. Estrada, 2019
