About CSC 171
Introduction to Computer Programming

Fall, 1998

Students in this course are to register for one of two sections: Section 01 meets from 10:50 AM to 12:05 PM Tuesday and Thursday, in room 39 in the basement of the Business Building, starting Sept. 3, while Section 02 meets from 6:00-8:30 PM on Tuesdays, also in room 39 (?) in the basement of the Business Building, starting Sept. 1.

We'll use two textbooks for this course. The first is Introduction to Programming using Java, by Arnow and Weiss, ISBN 0-201-31184-4, published by Addison Wesley Longman. I've ordered it through the Adelphi Bookstore, or you can buy it yourself from Amazon or some other source.

The second textbook is A Little Java, a Few Patterns, by Felleisen and Friedman, ISBN 0-262-56115-8, published by MIT Press. I've ordered it through the Adelphi Bookstore; it's also available from Bookpool and Amazon.

Other documentation will be provided on-line or in handouts. For example, see my List of Adages on Software Development and Design and the Object Oriented Programming FAQ.

The syllabus is available in LaTeX, DVI, and Postscript.
An updated schedule will contain the latest updates to homework due dates, lecture topics, etc. Please check the schedule regularly and keep up on the assigned reading!

Who should Take This Course?

This course is primarily designed for people who have little or no background in computer programming, but want to learn it. It will also be of some benefit to people who know a procedural programming language like Pascal, C, or Basic, and want to learn Java and/or object-oriented programming (OOP). I expect the class to include some computer science majors, some computer science minors, and some people here for just one or two courses.

If you want to learn how to use a computer (for word processing, spreadsheets, databases, Web browsing, email, etc.) and perhaps create your own Web page, but not write real computer programs yourself, you should probably take CSC 170, "Introduction to Computers and Their Applications", instead. That course is offered at almost the same times as this one, so if you realize after a few days that you're in the wrong course, you can switch without messing up the rest of your schedule.

If you are already familiar with the Pascal or C language and how to implement common data structures therein, and you're less concerned with learning object-oriented programming and Java, you may want to skip CSC 171 and CSC 172, going straight to Adelphi's sophomore-level computer courses, CSC 270 ("Survey of Programming Languages") and CSC 271 (how to use and program the Unix operating system). If you think so, please talk to your advisor (most likely Dr. Bloch).

Homework Assignments

I'll try to give a homework assignment every week, due the following week. This means they'll have to be pretty short, becoming more ambitious and building on one another as the semester progresses.
Last modified: Wed Aug 26 14:49:43 EDT 1998
Stephen Bloch / sbloch@boethius.adelphi.edu