The goal of this course is to introduce the students to a programming paradigm and an appropriate programming language chosen from those that are currently important or that show high promise of becoming important. A significant portion of the learning curve occurs through programming assignments with exemplary solutions discussed later in class. The instructor will post specifics prior to registration. With the approval of the program coordinator, the course can be taken for credit more than once, provided each instance deals with a different paradigm and language.

This course serves as an introduction to computational thinking using a problem-centered approach. Specific topics covered include: expression of algorithms in pseudo code and a programming language; functional and imperative programming techniques; control structures; problem solving using recursion; basic searching and sorting; elementary data structures such as lists, trees, and graphs; and correctness, testing and debugging. Assignments (both in class and for homework) requiring a pseudo code solution and an implementation are an integral part of the course. An end-of-term project is also required.

This course is a study of the syntax and semantics of a diverse set of high-level programming languages. The languages chosen are compared and contrasted in order to demonstrate general principles of programming language design and implementation. The course emphasizes the concepts underpinning modern languages rather than the mastery of particular language details. Programming projects will be required.

This course delves further into problem solving by continuing the discussion of data structure use and design, but now from an object-oriented perspective. Key topics include more information on tree and graph structures, nested data structures, objects, classes, inheritance, interfaces, object-oriented collection class libraries for abstract data types (e.g. stacks, queues, maps, and trees), and static vs. dynamic data types. Concepts of object-oriented design are a large part of the course. Software qualities related to object orientation, namely cohesion, minimal coupling, modifiability, and extensibility, are all introduced in this course, as well as a few elementary object-oriented design patterns. Input and output streams, graphical user interfaces, and exception handling are covered. Students will also be introduced to a modern integrated software development environment (IDE). Programming projects will be required.

This course investigates and evaluates various software tools used in the development of software. Topics include simple dependency-based tools such as make and ant as well as full-featured integrated development environments. Working with and proposing modeling languages for such tools is an important part of the course. Programming projects will be required.

The goal of this course is to introduce the students to a programming paradigm and an appropriate programming language chosen from those that are currently important or that show high promise of becoming important. A significant portion of the learning curve occurs through programming assignments with exemplary solutions discussed later in class. The instructor will post specifics prior to registration. With the approval of the program coordinator, the course can be taken for credit more than once, provided each instance deals with a different paradigm and language. A term project involving independent investigation is also required. Note: students who complete CSCI-541 may not take CSCI-641 for credit.

This course is a faculty-directed project that could be considered original in nature. The level of work is appropriate for students in their final two years of undergraduate study.