INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE (2022 FALL)

* REMINDER *

The course is particularly designed for the College of Management BBA program (excluding the BBA in MIS) and the International Bachelor Program in Agribusiness (IBPA). Their credits earned are accounted for the credits required for graduation.

Students from other programs might not be allowed to take this course and so the credits earned are not accounted for graduation. Please consult your department office for further information.

* REMINDER END *

MUST DOWNLOAD & READ! CLASS SCHEDULE 2022 FALL & CODE OF CONDUCT

Instructor (Physical):	Professor John Sum, Institute of Technology Management
Office/Email:	Room 821, CSSM Building / pfsum@nchu.edu.tw (for general enquiries)
Time:	Friday 9:10-12:00 (Sometimes, the class might finish after 12:30)
Course Venue:	Room 121, CSSM Building (Physical) / Google Meet (Online)
Course Email:	csformgtnchu@gmail.com (for assignments submission)
Course URL:	https://john.digi-pack.io/CS/cs2022fall.html
Consultation:	By appointment

COURSE OBJECTIVES

The primary objective of this course is to provide introductory level knowledge for students on the working principles of a computer and the Internet; and how to instruct (i.e. program) a computer to solve simple problems. Students will learn the basic working principles of computer technologies, inlcuding (i) how a computer is organized and (ii) how Internet works. Certain advanced concepts regarding computer science will be introduced. Moreover, students are expected to appreciate the scholars who have contributed great ideas in computer science and the area of information and communication technology (ICT). Students are expected to learn not to abuse the usages of such technologies.

MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION

The medium of instruction of this course is English. All teaching materials including handouts, test papers examination papers, assignments and supplementary materials are in English.

PRE-REQUISITES

Able to read, write, speak and listen English.
Skillful in using browsers, like Chrome, Safari and Edge, to access Internet searching for information on the web.
Able to edit reports using a word processing software in Windows, MacOS or on a cloud, like MS WORD, Latex, PAGES and Google DOCs.

COURSE CONTENTS

Computer Everywhere
- Use of computer
  - Personal: Word processing, financial management, file storage, email, information search.
  - Entertainment: Watch video, play music, online games.
  - Social networking: Facebook, LINE, WhatsApp, Weibo.
  - Professional: Photo/Film editing, fashion design, software development, scientific research.
  - Some skills in the use of computer and cell phone - Password setting, log-out, backup.
  - Breaking through products introduced by Steve Jobs - Apple PC, Macintosh, iTune, iPhone.
  - (*) Some application software require Internet access for connecting to enable their usages.
- Use of cell phone
  - Personal: Telephone call, email, information search.
  - Entertainment: Watch video, play music, online games, take photos.
  - Social networking: Facebook, LINE, WhatsApp, Weibo.
  - (*) Almost all application software require Internet access to enable their usages.
- Home network
  - Internet connection for the use of advanced features, like voice assistant and web search.
  - Home devices and appliances are connected via wireless communication.
  - Amazon ECHO, Google HOME.
  - (*) Internet access is required.
- Personal network - Cell phone, bluetooth earphone/mic, notebook computer, pad and other mobile devices.
History of Computer
- BBC Documentary 1991 Edition
  - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
  - Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
  - Part 7, Part 8, Part 9
History of Telephone; History of iPhone (2017 Edition); History of iPhone (2021 Edition)
Industrial Applications of Computer and Internet.
- Information Systems. (4.5M, Not updated yet!)
- E-Commerce.
- Amazon fulfilment center.
- Robot powered warehouse.
Hardware
- Computer, iPad, iPhone, iWatch.
- VR/AR headset, Microsoft Hololens, Apple Glasses.
- Printer, 3D printer, keyboard, monitor.
- CPU, RISC, ARM, GPU and GPGPU.
- Digital Systems.
- Processor and Computer.
- Processor and Computer (Supplementary).
- ASCII Code - Representations of characters in binary code.
- System of units.
Operating Systems
Software
- General concepts (Software 01)
- Program (Software 02)
Information (Data) Storage and Retrival
- Challenges in ISR - Minimize the memory stroage of a file (a collection of data) and miximize the efficient of file (or data) retrival
- Types of information - Text, audio, image, video, hypertext, document, data file, software
- File extensions - .txt, .mp3, .jpeg, .img, .mpg, .html, .doc (.docx), .ppt (.pptx), .pdf, .xls (.xlsx), .mdb (.accdb) .exe
- Structural data - Text, number, date/time, currency, yes/no, categorical data
- Database (Structural data) -> File -> Record -> Field -> Byte -> Bit
- Giant information base - World Wide Web
Networking - Communications amongst computers and mobile devices
- Computer Network (2020)
- Computer Network (2022)
- HTML
  - A Beginner's Guide to HTML from UIUC NCSA.
  - Sample HTMLs John Sum Homepage
Security - Protection of an information
- Information Security by Alan Song
- Question: Connected or not to be connected?
Programming(*) - Building software/apps
- C Language
  - C Programming (program code)
  - Basic C features - Program structure, variables declaration and data types, IF statement, switch case, loops, File I/O.
  - Source code, object file and executable file
  - C Tutorial from Cprogramming.com, A Little C Primer
  - Introduction to DevC.
  - A collection of sample programs.
  - Bubblesort (bubblesort07.cpp).
  - Abnormal balls (abnormalballs01.cpp).
  - Random character generation (random_character.cpp).
  - Random number related examples: EG 1, EG 2, EG 3.
  - Poker card shuffling.
  - Functions
- Other programming languages - C++, Java, Python, Scripting language, R Language
- Programming languages for scientific research - SPSS, SAS, Matlab, Mathematica, Maple
- Application program interface (API) - Set of instructions for a software to access application programs that are available over the Internet
- Programming language for database management - SQL (Structured Query Language)
- Advanced programming - Systems programming and network programming
Algorithm(*) - An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem.
- Problem dependent - Usually, each algorithm can only be designed to solve one problem.
- An algorithm is the procedure to be implemented by a computer program.
- The actual implementation of an algorithm is programming language dependent. Some algorithms could be easily be implemented by one programming language but hardly be implemented by another programming language.
- Some problems
  - Medium access control (MAC), message routing
  - Data storage problem
  - Sorting numbers in ascending order: Program code
  - Finding the roots of a function f(x)
  - Jobs allocation problem (in operating system)
  - Production scheduling problem
  - Traveling salesman problem
  - 9-Ball Problem (One abnormal ball)P1, P2, P3
  - 9-Ball Problem (N abnormal balls)
- Complexity (Computational compelxity and memory complexity) - Measure for the efficiency of an algorithm and the difficulty of a problem
- Compared with Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
Advanced Topics in Computer Science (TBD)
- Nanotechnology
- AI and machine learning
- Brain machine interface

ASSIGNMENTS/TEST PAPERS/REVIEW QUESTIONS

Assignment 01 Due Date: September 09, 2022. (Answers, Update on answer for Q4.)
Assignment 02 Due Date: September 16, 2022. (Answers.)
Assignment 03 Due Date: September 23, 2022. (Answers.)
Assignment 04 Due Date: September 30, 2022. (Answers.)
2022 Fall Class Test I October 7, 2022. (Answers.)
Assignment 05 Due Date: October 14, 2022. (Answers.)
Assignment 06 Due Date: October 21, 2022. (Answers.)
Assignment 07 Due Date: October 28, 2022. (Answers.)
2022 Mid-Term Exam November 4, 2022.(Section 15.)
Assignment 08 Due Date: Novemeber 11, 2022.
Assignment 09 Due Date: Novemeber 18, 2022.
Assignment 10 Due Date: Novemeber 25, 2022.
Assignment 11 Due Date: December 2, 2022.
Assignment 12 Due Date: December 9, 2022.
Assignment 13 Due Date: December 16, 2022. (Here is an incomplete program for you.)

EXERCISES

ASSESSMENTS

Assignments (Bonus) [-14% to 14%]
Class Tests (Bonus) [-6% to 6%]
Mid-term Examination [50%]
Final Examination [50%]

TEACHING MATERIALS

Lecture Notes available on Course Homepage
Lecture Notes written on Blackboard
Handouts to be distributed in the class
Video on Youtube
Articles on Wikipedia
Articles from magazines
Past Papers (Very useful for your examination!)
- 2012 Fall: Mid-term Examination, Final Examination.
- 2013 Fall: Mid-term Examination, Final Examination.
- 2014 Fall: Mid-term Examination, Final Examination.
- 2015 Fall: Mid-term Examination, Final Examination.
- 2016 Fall: Mid-term Examination, Final Examination.
- 2017 Fall: Mid-term Examination, Final Examination.
- 2018 Fall: Mid-term Examination, Final Examination.
- 2019 Fall: Mid-term Examination, Final Examination.
- 2020 Spring: Final Examination.
- 2020 Fall: Mid-Term Examination, Final Examination.
- 2021 Fall: Mid-Term Examination, Final Examination.
- 2022 Fall: Mid-Term Examination.
Model answers for the past exam papers.