Course Introduction

CSC 173 is a core course for CS BS majors, and should be taken as needed for either curiosity or to fulfill prerequisites for other CS courses.

Pedagogical Background

• In terms of the "classical" trivium, 173 is grammar and logic , with a whiff of rhetoric.
• Grammar means learning the notation and rules of a formal system, either abstract, like lambda calculus, or more concrete, like a programming language.
• Logic means effectively using the formal system, typically to produce correct proofs or working programs.
• Rhetoric means using the formal system in conjunction with other things you know to draw broader scientific conclusions, make critical arguments, syntheses, and in general new "intellectual product". In 173 we have the open-ended parts of programming exercises.
• Ideally (for me), computer science is part of a liberal education , in the sense that it should allow a free person (as opposed to a slave) to get the most out of life ( WSJ Article).
• Central Skill to Cultivate: Learning how to learn (not "get taught"). Success: no need for professors.

Course Goals

• Study some influential formal systems.
• Investigate some of their applications in CS.
  • Formal Languages and Automata Theory.
  • Applications of FLAT: scanners and parsers. The C Language.
  • Propositional and Predicate Logic.
  • Applications of Logic: Prolog and Circuit Design.
  • Lambda Calculus
  • Applications of the Lambda Calculus: Scheme
  • Matrices
  • Applications of matrices: Matlab, Robotics, Graphics.
  • Make you invulnerable, independent, confident, competent, hence fearless

Your CSUG Account

Getting CSUG Computer Account:

• If you have a CS Majors account, you're done.
• Everyone else, including declared CS majors, add your name to the group sponsorship form going around the room.
• If you're a declared major, say so and give login ID.
• Non-majors or undeclared: Renew or initiate account with your UR mail ID.
• The form is ONLY A PERMISSION to get an account. For the account, filter (in person) into Marty Guenther's office (CSB 735). You'll need your ID and you'll need to type in a password, so come prepared.
• Questions or New Account? See Marty Guenther CSC 735.
• SSH to urcs is the default access method.
• There are perils in getting all four languages on your laptop. OK to try, but beware different dialects: If our TAs can run your code, better chance they'll believe it or be able to help debug it. Matlab needs a license (student version available, should be OK).

More Detail

• Home Page
• "Textbook:" reserves, especially from current texts for other CS courses. On-line resources. Standard topics, usually lots of materials. How To , 'Extra or Optional Readings' .

  Prerequisites

  There are four conceptual prerequisites for CSC 173:

  • knowledge of at least one imperative programming language, preferably Java, C, or C++
  • understanding of fundamental data structures (lists, stacks, queues, trees, hash tables)
  • basic algorithm analysis techniques (Big-O analysis)
  • programming maturity

Class and TA Services

Ask Questions! (in class, of classmates, of TAs). Questions somehow correlate with success. (May be a symptom of success, but might help it along too!).

See the home page for our roster of stalwart TAs, all of whom are experienced, enthusiastic, approachable...

Why These Formalisms?

They have had the most practical influence on CS problem-solving and programming techniques.

Raymond Smullyan

Far Rockaway (like Feynman), U. Chicago (Like CB).

Three gods A, B, and C are called, in some order, True, False, and Random. True always speaks truly. False always speaks falsely, but whether Random speaks truly or falsely is a completely random matter.

Your task is to determine the identities of A, B, and C by asking three yes-no questions: each question may be put to exactly one god (which one is up to you, and later questions can depend on earlier answers). The gods understand English, but will answer all your questions in their own language, in which the words for "yes" and "no" are "da" and "ja" in some order. You do not know which word means which.

Why These Languages?

Programming Language Paradigmicity

• Daniel P. Friedman 1987
• Elegance, simplicity: e.g. arithmetic.
• Capitalize on a few fundamental concepts (Go, not chess).
• Low paradigmicity: boring, shallow, obvious.
• Hi paradigmicity: deep, subtle, requires creative thought and effort, unique.
• CB's rank: Pure Lisp, Prolog, Scheme, C, Matlab.

Topical Topics

Weekly coding homeworks?

Watch for Doodle poll to gather information about WS, answer by Midnight TONITE (Thursday), announcements Friday (tomorrow).