Department of Computer Science
Pomona College
CS 51A - Intro to Computer Science with Topics in AI
Fall 2019

instructors: Dave Kauchak
e-mail: David.last_name@pomona.edu
office hours: Edmunds 224
  Mon 10am-12
  Wed 2:30-3:30pm
  Fri 10am-12
  and by appointment

Joe Osborn
e-mail: Joseph.last_name@pomona.edu
office hours: Edmunds 113
  Tue 3-4pm
  Wed 2-4pm
  Thu 2-4pm
  and by appointment

Finals Week Mentor sessions - Edmunds 219
 Tuesday 7-9pm (Denelis)

class time: T/Th 9:35-10:50am
class location: Edmunds 114

lab time: F 1:15-4pm
lab location: Edmunds 219/229
lab TAs: Ben, Brandon, Magali

web page: http://www.cs.pomona.edu/classes/cs51a/

book: Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist (2nd Edition). Allen Downey. It is available online for free.

Other information:


Schedule

Note: This is a tentative schedule and will likely change
DateTopicReadingAssignmentMisc
9/3introductionCh 1-2  
9/5functionsCh 3Assignment 1Lab 1
9/10turtle, forCh 4-4.4 practice 1 (solutions)
9/12booleansCh 5-5.7, 5.11Assignment 2practice 2 (solutions)
9/17listsCh 10-10.6 practice 3 (solutions)
9/19sequencesCh 12-12.3Assignment 3practice 4 (solutions)
9/24boolean variables, aliasing, and parameter passingCh 10.7-10.13  
9/26scope and debuggingCh 8-8.5Assignment 4practice 5 (solutions)
10/1reading filesCh 8.6-8.11, 11-11.3 practice 6 (solutions)
10/3dictionaries, recursionCh 5.8-5.10Assignment 5practice 7 (solutions)
10/8more recursion  practice 8 (solutions)
10/10midterm 1 Assignment 6sample problems (partial solutions)
10/15intro AI/NN basics (ppt)article (through first column, pg. 36)  
10/17perceptron learning, backpropagation NN Lab 
10/22Fall break   
10/24Machine learning (ppt), Naive bayes (ppt) Assignment 7 
10/29classes   
10/31scary classes Assignment 8 
11/5search (ppt)   
11/7matrices + problem solving via search (ppt) Assignment 9 
11/12informed search   
11/14adversarial search Assignment 10 
11/19adversarial search + higher order functions   
11/21midterm 2 Assignment 11sample problems (solutions)
11/26big O and runtime analysis sorting   
11/28Thanksgiving   
12/3web pages   
12/5exceptions and sets Assignment 12 
12/10philosophy and ethics   

Final exam Wednesday Dec. 18, 2pm-5pm.
Some more sample problems (solutions)

Additional resources