Principles of Computing (Part 2)
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Principles of Computing (Part 2)
This course is part of Fundamentals of Computing Specialization
Instructors: Scott Rixner
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There are 4 modules in this course
This two-part course introduces the basic mathematical and programming principles that underlie much of Computer Science. Understanding these principles is crucial to the process of creating efficient and well-structured solutions for computational problems. To get hands-on experience working with these concepts, we will use the Python programming language. The main focus of the class will be weekly mini-projects that build upon the mathematical and programming principles that are taught in the class. To keep the class fun and engaging, many of the projects will involve working with strategy-based games.
In part 2 of this course, the programming portion of the class will focus on concepts such as recursion, assertions, and invariants. The mathematical portion of the class will focus on searching, sorting, and recursive data structures. Upon completing this course, you will have a solid foundation in the principles of computation and programming. This will prepare you for the next course in the specialization, which will begin to introduce a structured approach to developing and analyzing algorithms. Developing such algorithmic thinking skills will be critical to writing large scale software and solving real world computational problems.
This week, we will explain the importance of searching. We will also explore various data structures and learn about inheritance.
What's included
11 videos6 readings1 assignment2 app items
11 videos•Total 104 minutes
- Introduction •3 minutes
- The Importance of Searching •2 minutes
- Generators•8 minutes
- Stacks and Queues •9 minutes
- Inheritance •14 minutes
- Grid Class•13 minutes
- Grid search•10 minutes
- Mini-project Video•10 minutes
- CodeSkulptor (optional video from our previous class)•11 minutes
- Saving in CodeSkulptor (optional video from our previous class)•10 minutes
- Beyond CodeSkulptor (optional video from our previous class)•15 minutes
6 readings•Total 60 minutes
- Mini-project Description•10 minutes
- Math Notes on Growth Rates of Functions•10 minutes
- Math Notes on Grid Representations•10 minutes
- Math Notes on Breadth-First Search•10 minutes
- Practice Activity - Sorting strings•10 minutes
- Practice Activity - Working with Distance Fields•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
- Homework 1•30 minutes
2 app items•Total 120 minutes
- Assignment: Zombie Apocalypse•60 minutes
- Assignment Submission History•60 minutes
This week, we will explain the importance of recursion.
What's included
7 videos5 readings1 assignment1 app item
7 videos•Total 79 minutes
- The Importance of Recursion •4 minutes
- Recursion •15 minutes
- Binary Search •14 minutes
- Visualizing Recursion •11 minutes
- Recurrences•12 minutes
- Reading Files •9 minutes
- Mini-project Video•13 minutes
5 readings•Total 50 minutes
- Mini-project Description•10 minutes
- Math Notes on Recurrence Relations•10 minutes
- Practice Activity - Recursion•10 minutes
- Practice Activity - Binary representations for numbers•10 minutes
- Practice Activity - Visualizing recurrences•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
- Homework 2•30 minutes
1 app item•Total 60 minutes
- Assignment: Word Wrangler•60 minutes
This week, we will explain the importance of trees. We will also explore how to set up game trees so that we can efficiently search them.
What's included
6 videos6 readings1 assignment1 app item
6 videos•Total 51 minutes
- The Importance of Trees •2 minutes
- Lambda •6 minutes
- Trees•13 minutes
- Illustration of Trees •7 minutes
- Minimax•10 minutes
- Mini-project Video•12 minutes
6 readings•Total 60 minutes
- Mini-project Description•10 minutes
- TTTBoard Class•10 minutes
- Math Notes on Trees•10 minutes
- Math Notes on Minimax•10 minutes
- Practice Activity - Nim (Tree search)•10 minutes
- Practice Activity - Drawing trees•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
- Homework 3•30 minutes
1 app item•Total 60 minutes
- Assignment: Tic-Tac-Toe (Minimax)•60 minutes
This week, we will explain the importance of modeling. We will also explore how to use assertions and invariants to ensure that our models are always consistent and correct.
What's included
7 videos4 readings1 assignment1 app item
7 videos•Total 71 minutes
- The Importance of Modeling •3 minutes
- Assertions •7 minutes
- Invariants•13 minutes
- Modeling •12 minutes
- Software Development •15 minutes
- Mini-project Video•12 minutes
- What is Algorithmic Thinking? •9 minutes
4 readings•Total 40 minutes
- The Basics of the Fifteen Puzzle•10 minutes
- Mini-project Description•10 minutes
- Math Notes on Invariants•10 minutes
- Practice Activity - Solitaire Tantrix•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
- Homework 4•30 minutes
1 app item•Total 60 minutes
- Assignment: The Fifteen Puzzle•60 minutes
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Reviewed on Dec 7, 2017
Another fantastic course from the team at Rice University. The coursework is interesting and challenging, and I really feel I have learned a lot.
Reviewed on May 12, 2019
Mini-projects hard and makes you wanna think all aspects which is a good programming practice. However, I believe theoretical depth is missing.
Reviewed on Feb 24, 2019
Great course, I hope for more of this kind of courses. Invaluable skills gained from this course. High praise to all the professors. Thank You Very Much.
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