1 ES 140 Computer Science Module J. Michael Fitzpatrick ES 140 Fall, 2006

2 Logistics Office: 363 Jacobs Hall Office hours: MW 4:00 – 5:30pm + See sign- up sheet on my door if you want to talk about majoring in CS. Exceptions are listed on my website: TA: Hande Kaymaz Kenskinpala Office: 341 FGH Office hours: TR 1:00-3:00pm

3 Class Materials Go to my website: and Click on ES 140 CS Module. We will use the Preface, Chapters 5-7, and Chapter 3, Section 6 of the textbook, Introduction to Programming with Matlab by J. Michael Fitzpatrick and John D. Crocetti.

4 Honor Code Vanderbilt Honor Code governs all work in this course. Unless indicated otherwise, all graded work must be done only by the individual whose is receiving the grade.Vanderbilt Honor Code An exception is made for the group project. In this case the rule is that each student on the group must have made a substantial contribution to the work turned in. Your instructor (and teaching assistant if applicable) are authorized to give you help on all work (help will not be given if it provides unfair advantage).

5 Computer Science: What is it?

6 In brief Computer Science (CS): The study of algorithms for processing information with computers Algorithm: A precise, step-by-step procedure for performing a task

7 Example Algorithms Example 1: Process Webpage data –Display list of book titles with authors. –If title clicked, display first 12 pages. –If “Close” clicked, close the page. Example 2: Classify an integer N –Find remainder of |N|/m for each integer 1<m<|N|. –If each remainder is nonzero, ans = 1. Otherwise ans = 0.

8 Example Areas of CS o Algorithms (solve puzzles) o Artificial Intelligence (mimic human thought) o Graphics (make pictures, games, movies) o Information Processing & Storage (e.g., databases) o Image processing (improve/inspect pictures) o Networks (local, Internet, computers, phones) o Operating Systems (e.g., Windows, Linux, OS X) o Software engineering (i.e., design large programs) o User interfaces (determine what the user sees and does)

9 What do you do at work? ANSWER: Solve problems. Most people work on teams to design programs and write code (“code” = the statements in a computer program). With experience comes management of people to do the above—and higher pay. (Later we’ll see a video that follows three people in a day at work.)

10 Are jobs plentiful? YES! Computer scientists and database administrators are expected to be among the fastest growing occupations through Employment of these computer specialists is expected to grow much faster than the average.grow much faster than the average CNNMoney.com: 46% growth in 10 yrs

11 The Benefit of Outsourcing Outsourcing is the paying of people outside the US to do jobs at a scale too low for people inside the US. Examples—sewing shirts for Tommy Hilfiger, doing low-level programming for IBM. The benefit to CS graduates is avoidance of boring, low-paying jobs in favor of interesting, high-paying ones, And speaking of salaries…

12 What salary can you expect? Medians for “CS” as of May 2004 Design & service—$85,530 Research—$85,190 Networks—$60,600 Database administration—$60,650 All others CS—$59,480 Average CS starting in 2005—$50,820. from US Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook,

13 What’s required? ES 140 (mostly done!) 6 courses in math 3 courses in science 7 courses in lib. arts + a writing course 15 courses in CS 6 unspecified (“broadening” and “open”) courses, 122 hours 4.6 courses, hours per semester

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16 Who’s good at CS? People who like to solve problems People who like to work with other people solving problems People who like to work with other people learning other people’s problems People who like to work with other people helping other people understand their problems.

17 Who’s good at CS? People who like to solve problems People who like to work with other people solving problems People who like to work with other people learning other people’s problems People who like to work with other people helping other people understand their problems.

18 What will you do in here? Work on problems at home Work problems in class (some graded) Work on a programming problem with a team (graded) Programming –You will program only in Matlab in this Module –You will use if-else statements, while-loops, for-loops, and functions

19 A problem You've got someone working for you for seven days and a gold bar to pay them. The gold bar is segmented into seven connected pieces. You must give them a piece of gold at the end of every day. If you are allowed to make only two breaks in the gold bar, how do you pay your worker?

20 A Take-Home Problem You have two jars. One can contain at most 3 gallons, the other jar can contain at most 5 gallons. You will get water by dipping the jars into a river, and your goal is to get exactly 4 gallons. By repeatedly filling the jars from the river, pouring the contents of one jar into the other, etc., you can end up with exactly 4 gallons in the larger jar. Give a sequence of steps that solves this problem. Note: You cannot mark the jars, and their shapes are such that you cannot estimate when a jar is half full.