Small-group or individual investigation of advanced topics in computing. Guided study and research.

This seminar, intended for students used to high-level languages such as Ruby and Python, will teach C, the lingua franca for systems programming over the past forty years due to its elegance, efficiency, and low-level (close to the hardware) capabilities. We will tackle C's syntax, type system, and program layout, as well as arrays, pointers, and control structures, giving students the ability to translate familiar techniques into this lower-level language. In this project-based course, students will be guided through the implementation of an interpreter for a very basic Lisp, designed to give them a sense of what the computer, whether they use low-level languages or continue with high-level ones, is doing. We'll also cover file I/O, memory management, C's standard library, and the tools necessary to implement common data structures like hash tables and resizable arrays.

Independent research conducted under the guidance of a faculty member.

Recitation for CS 1371

Object-oriented programming methods for dealing with large programs. Focus on quality processes, effective debugging techniques, and testing to assure a quality product.

Motion techniques for computer animation and interactive games (keyframing, procedural methods, motion capture, and simulation) and principles for storytelling, composition, lighting, and interactivity.

"This course teaches operating system abstractions, mechanisms, and their implementations, including for concurrency (threads) and synchronization, resource management (CPU, memory, I/O), and distributed services."