Introduction to Computer Science. An introduction to computer science and problem solving. Students develop interactive programs to create graphics, manipulate text, and perform numerical calculations. The course is open to all students, and does not assume any prior programming experience. One of the sections offered in Spring 2001 will have a science emphasis.
All sections provide good preparation for further computer science courses.
Solving complex algorithmic problems requires the use of appropriate data structures such as stacks, priority queues, search trees, dictionaries, hash tables, and graphs. It also requires the ability to measure the efficiency of operations such as sorting and searching in order to make effective choices among alternative solutions. This course is a study of data structures, their efficiency, and their use in solving computational problems. Laboratory exercises provide an opportunity to design and implement these structures. Computer systems are organized as multiple layers.