Introduction to Computer Science

Every year several students fail the course because of dishonest practice. Please do not be among them.

You are encouraged to discuss the general aspects of a problem with others. However, anything you submit for credit must be entirely your own work and not copied, with or without modification, from any other person. If you share details of your work with anybody else then you are likely to be in breach of the University's General Course and Examination Regulations and/or Computer Regulations (both of which are set out in the University Calendar) and/or the Computer Science Department's policy (see section 9). The Department treats cases of dishonesty very seriously and, where appropriate, will not hesitate to notify the University Proctor.

If you need help with specific details relating to your work, or are not sure what you are allowed to do, then contact your tutors or lecturer for advice.

The Computer Science department's grading policy states that in order to pass a course you must meet two requirements:
1. You must achieve an average grade of at least 50% over all assessment items.
2. You must achieve an average mark of at least 45% on invigilated assessment items.

If you satisfy both these criteria, your grade will be determined by the following University-wide scale for converting marks to grades: an average mark of 50% is sufficient for a C- grade, an average mark of 55% earns a C grade, 60% earns a C+ grade and so forth. However if you do not satisfy both the passing criteria you will be given either a D or E grade depending on marks. Marks are sometimes scaled to achieve consistency between courses from year to year.

Students may apply for special consideration if their performance in an assessment is affected by extenuating circumstances beyond their control.

Applications for special consideration should be submitted via the Examinations Office website within five days of the assessment.

Where an extension may be granted for an assessment, this will be decided by direct application to the Department and an application to the Examinations Office may not be required.

Special consideration is not available for items worth less than 10% of the course.

Students prevented by extenuating circumstances from completing the course after the final date for withdrawing, may apply for special consideration for late discontinuation of the course. Applications must be submitted to the Examinations Office within five days of the end of the main examination period for the semester.

There are several important documents available online about departmental regulations, policies and guidelines. We expect all students to be familiar with these.  

Notices about this class will be posted to the class forum in the Learn system.

COSC students will also be made members of a class called “CSSE Notices”, where general notices will be posted that apply to all classes (such as information about building access or job opportunities).

The topics covered in lectures will be as follows. The main references are for the current edition of the text book (2nd edition and online). Where a reference is given in square brackets, it is for the first edition.
• Introduction to algorithms, and the relationship with Software Engineering
• Algorithm analysis (Chapter 2 [4])
• Basic data structures – stacks and queues (Chapter 3 [2])
• Lists (Chapter 3 [7])
• Recursion (Chapter 4 [3])
• Searching (Chapter 5 [4])
• Sorting (Chapter 5 [4])
• Trees – binary trees and heaps (Chapter 6 [5])
• Graphs (Chapter 7 [6])
• Overview of major ideas in Computer Science

The course assumes that you are proficient in Python, as taught in COSC121 or COSC131. If you are enrolling in COSC122 but haven't already passed COSC121, COSC131, or the equivalent, you should consult the course supervisor before enrolling.