Final exam answers.
Exam and course grades have been emailed to you individually, and the exams will be returned in the CS building lobby Monday morning.

As it says in the last set of slides (posted below), and as was discussed in the last class, the final will be similar in style to the midterm, and it is open textbook, open notes, open problem sets, open lab notes. Bring a calculator if possible; it might help, though it's not mandatory and there isn't very much computation. (I'll bring a couple of extras.)

Course Summary

Computers, computing, and many things enabled by them are all around us. Some of this is highly visible, like personal computers and the Internet; much is invisible, like the microprocessors in cars and appliances, or the programs that fly our planes and keep our telephones and power systems and medical equipment working, or the myriad systems that quietly collect personal data about us.

Even though most people will not be directly involved with creating such systems, everyone is strongly affected by them. COS109 is intended to provide a broad, if rather high level, understanding of how computer hardware, software, networks, and systems operate. Topics will be motivated by current issues and events, and will include discussion of how computers work; what programming is and why it is hard; how the Internet and the Web operate; usability, reliability, security, privacy. We will also touch on fundamental ideas from computer science, and some of the inherent limitations of computers.

This course is meant for humanities and social sciences students who want to understand how computing works and how it affects the world they live in. No prior experience with computers is assumed. There are no prerequisites.

The laboratory is complementary to the classroom work, uses PCs running Windows, and is based on the Internet and the Web. Students will construct their own home pages in the first few weeks. They will then add to them throughout the semester, while exploring a spectrum of practical applications, including graphics and digital sound. Three of the labs are a gentle introduction to programming in Visual Basic.

Administrative Information

This course has limited enrollment. Students interested in taking the course must have their course cards initialed in the Computer Science Department Undergraduate Office, Room 410 of the Computer Science Building, 35 Olden St.

Lectures:
Mondays and Wednesdays 1:30-2:50, Room 105, Computer Science Building (small auditorium).

Professor:
Brian Kernighan, 411 CS Building, 609-258-2089, bwk@cs.princeton.edu. Office hours: Monday 3-4pm or by appointment.

Teaching Assistants:
Chad Mynhier, 217 CS Building, 609-258-0451, cmynhier@cs.
Rob Shillner, 216 CS Building, 609-258-5389, ras@cs.
Chi Zhang, 414 CS Building, 609-258-5388, chizhang@cs.

Paperwork:
This course will supposed to be paperless. Problem sets and labs will be posted only on the web, on the schedule page. Any announcements will be made on the What's new page. You are responsible for monitoring the postings under ``What's new''. Schedule changes will be made on the on-line schedule page and announced under ``What's new''. The only paper we will exchange is your solutions to the problem sets, which we will grade and hand back.

You are encouraged to use electronic mail to set up appointments, leave messages, and ask quick questions. However, old fashioned face-to-face talking is still best for clarifying confusions and other technical discussions.

Labs:

Eight hands-on computing laboratory exercises will be assigned. The labs are designed to be easily completable within three hours, during the scheduled lab sections. Assistants will be in the labs to help out. Most labs require about one hour of preparatory reading. Labs are held in room E-203 of the Engineering Quadrangle.

Lab reports are together worth 40 percent of the course grade. To receive credit, students must complete labs by 5:00 PM Friday of the week they are assigned, unless there are extraordinary circumstances or prior arrangements. Students must complete all eight labs to pass the course.

Labs start the week of Monday, September 27. There will be no labs in the week before Fall recess, nor the last week of classes. The labs times for CS109 are:

• Mon 7:00-9:50pm
• Tue 1:30-4:20pm (shared with CS111)
• Tues 7:00-9:50pm
• Wed 7:00-9:50pm

Problem sets:

Weekly problem sets, together worth 15 percent of the course grade, will be assigned. Problems are intended to be straightforward and should take at most 2 hours to complete, not counting the reading. Problem set solutions will be due by 5:00 PM Tuesday, one week after they are assigned; turn in solutions in the box on the second floor of the CS building. No credit can be given for late submissions unless there are extraordinary circumstances or prior arrangements. There will be no problem set due in the week before Fall recess (midterm instead).

Students are encouraged to collaborate on problem sets, but must turn in separate solutions; the names of collaborators should appear on the paper. (This elaboration of the policy on collaboration is paraphrased from CS 126:) You must reach your own understanding of the problem and discover a path to its solution. During this time, discussions with friends are encouraged. However, when the time comes to write the solution to the problem, such discussions are no longer appropriate -- the solution must be your own work. If you have a question, you can certainly ask friends or teaching assistants, but do not, under any circumstances, copy another person's work or present it as your own. This is a violation of academic regulations.

Examinations

A take-home, open-book midterm examination will be given during the week before fall break. It will cover material presented and discussed in class and assigned reading through Wednesday, October 20. It will be worth 15 percent of the course grade.

An open-book final examination will be given during the fall-term exam period. It will cover all of the assigned readings and material presented and discussed in class. It will be worth 30 percent of the course grade.

Sorry. No collaboration on take-home exams.

Text

The text is Computer Science: An Overview, Sixth Edition, by J. Glenn Brookshear, Addison-Wesley, 2000, ISBN 020135747X. List price is $53; the U-store hasn't posted a price yet. NOTE: The sixth edition has just been published. It has a reddish cover; don't confuse it with the fifth edition, which is more yellow/orange, and has a different title.

Other readings will be handed out in class or found on the Web.

Credits