Course Catalogue

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The aim of the CS1P (Half) course is to produce programmers equipped with an understanding of:

Fundamental computational concepts underlying most programming languages; A range of problem-solving techniques using computers; The skills supporting the solution of small problems using a programming language; The clear expression of solutions at different levels of abstraction.

Lectures taught at 2 per week, one-hour tutorial and two-hour laboratory session per fortnight.

Eligible students should have a Grade B or above in Higher Mathematics, or a Grade C in Higher Mathematics AND a Grade B or above in Higher Computing/Information Systems, or a suitable equivalent.

None

None

Examination 70%, coursework 30%.

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

The coursework cannot be redone because the feedback provided to the students after the original coursework would give any students redoing the coursework an unfair advantage.

The aim of the CS1P (Half) course is to produce programmers equipped with an understanding of:

Fundamental computational concepts underlying most programming languages; A range of problem-solving techniques using computers; The role of programming within the overall software development process;

Attitudes and working practices appropriate for a professional programmer; The skills supporting the solution of small problems using a programming language; The clear expression of solutions at different levels of abstraction; Independent and self-motivated study in Computing Science.

On completion of the CS1P (Half) course, the student should:

Knowledge - know about:

■ techniques for solving problems;

■ basic computational concepts and elementary data structures;

■ the edit-compile-link-run cycle from a users point of view;

■ testing strategies;

■ the main activities of software development and their interactions, and some of the major problems of software development.

Skills - be able to:

■ hand-execute simple programs, showing how input data is processed, output data is produced, and how the values of internal variables change;

■ explain at various levels the behaviour of fragments of programming language code;

■ amend existing programs to adjust or correct their functionality;

■ translate well-structured plans into working programs;

■ analyse simple programs involving text, numbers and graphics, producing a top-level plan with refinements;

■ use the error message of the compiler to identify and correct mistakes in program syntax;

■ use testing strategies to identify and correct semantic errors in programs.

Attitudes - appreciate that:

■ a programmer requires creativity in order to solve problems and precision in the construction and manipulation of programming language code;

■ a programmer builds up a repertoire of techniques for solving problems, usually adapting and reusing techniques as each new problem is encountered;

■ a programmer must be able to communicate his/her ideas to others;

■ effective programming requires effort both in front of and away from a computer;

■ learning to program requires commitment and perseverance.

Students will be required to achieve a minimum of 25% overall for assessed work and at least a Grade G in the class test.