CSE 16: Breadth of Computer Science
Professor Glenn D. Blank, Fall 2007
Office: 328 Packard Lab, 3:10-4pm and by appointment, 610-758-4867, 
Catalog description: Survey of topics in computer science. Multimedia
laboratory only. No prerequisites. Cannot be taken with CSE 12 or CSE 15. Instructional
mode: multimedia laboratory sections, simultaneous with the lab for CSE 16.
Rationale: This course is a good way to learn about computer science as a discipline and light introductions to object-oriented design in Java, HTML and Flash programming, primarily through web-based multimedia. It provides a way for Engineering students
to meet the breadth of computer science requirement of the Computer Science
minor, supplementing the programming experience of Engineering 1 and can also
complement BIS 120 (Business Applications of Java) for Business students.
Class meetings: Wednesdays 1:10-3PM, Grace 28 (northeast corner of the building).
Requirements: CSE 16 students will be responsible for lab
exercises to be completed in the multimedia lab. CSE 16
will have no homework assignments other than reading the textbook (The Universal
Computer) and going through the multimedia that accompanies this book (either
in lab or on their own). They will have a six-weeks exam and final exam. CSE
16 students will also learn some Java and Flash along with CSE 12 students in
lab, will show their work to the TA in lab, and may be asked questions about
Java on exams, but will not be required to submit programming assignments.
- Lab attendance and exercises : 25%
- 6-weeks exam: 25%
- Final exam: 50%
Syllabus:
- W 8/29 Objectives; Introducing the Universal Computer
- W 9/5 Problem solving; Knobby’s World
- W 9/12 Programming languages and their translators
- W 9/19 Classes, objects and object-oriented design
- W 9/26 Software engineering
- W 10/3 6-weeks exam
- W 10/10 Computer architecture
- W 10/17 Operating systems
- W 10/24 Networks
- W 10/31 Algorithms
- W 11/7 User interface and web site design
- W 11/14 Flash and dynamic web design
- W 11/28 Social and ethical issues
- W 12/5 Artificial intelligence
Resources:
Web site for the textbook: The Universal Computer.
Links to solutions to chapter review exercises,
web links by chapters, etc.
Eclipse Java programming
environment. A professional, open-source integrated development environment.
We have included plug-ins for UML and DrJava to help novices program in Java.
Knobby's World. Also on LANs and CDROMs.
WinZip. An file archiving tool, widely
for compressing and uncompressing files, for faster trasfer via the web or
disks.
ws_ftple. A file transfer
tool, free to students for educational use.
ASCII code table. (Note that this isn't
a complete table.)
Sample exams:
- Answers to chapter review questions.
After you've studied a chapter and tried to answer the Chapter Review questions
at the end of a chapter in the textbook, The Universal Computer, you
can check here for the answers.
- Sample 6-weeks exam. CSE16 students are
will not be asked to write Java or C++ code, so you can ignore these questions.
Otherwise,This will give you some idea what this exam will be like. Recommended for study!
- Sample questions that might appear on a
final exam (try figuring out the answers yourself first!). Answers to aforementioned questions.