CMPSCI 250: Introduction to Computation

David Mix Barrington

Fall, 2010

This is the home page for CMPSCI 250. CMPSCI 250 is the undergraduate core course in discrete mathematics and will deal with logic, elementary number theory, proof by induction, recursion on trees, search algorithms, finite state machines, and a bit of computability.

Instructor Contact Info: David Mix Barrington, 210 CMPSCI building, 545-4329, office Monday 11-12, Thursday 2-3:30. I generally answer my email fairly reliably.

TA Contact Info: Ed Mazur (mostly section 01), office hours Friday 2-3:30, LGRT 220.

John Brattin (mostly section 02), office hours Wednesday 2:30-4:00, LGRT 220.

The course is primarily intended for undergraduates in computer science and related majors such as mathematics or computer engineering. CMPSCI 187 (programming with data structures) and MATH 132 (Calculus II) are corequisites and in fact most students in the course have already taken both.

The course meets for two lecture meetings a week, Tuesday and Thursday 9:30-10:45. Both sections will now meet in Goessmann Lab Addition 151, with Dave lecturing.

There is one discussion meeting per week, Tuesday 2:30-3:20. Section 01 section meets again in Goessmann Addition 151, and Section 02 meets in room LGRT 113. Discussion attendance is required, so that missing a discussion will incur a grade penalty.

The textbook is several chapters of Dave's draft version of Discrete Mathematics: A Foundation for Computer Science. Photocopies of this are available, for $48 (two volumes), at Collective Copies in downtown Amherst. (Dave gets none of this money -- it is the copying cost only.) Note that the printed volume is missing section 2.11 through Dave's error -- printed copies of these five pages are available in class.

There is also an honors section for the course called CMPSCI H250, a one-credit seminar (run by Dave) intended for undergraduates in Commonwealth College (but open to non-CC students as well if there is room). In this we are reading Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach and discuss how it relates to the topics of the main course. The seminar meets on Thursdays 4-5 p.m. in room 243 of the Computer Science Building.

• Course Requirements and Grading
• Homework Assignment Directory (with HW #6)
• Discussion Assignment Directory (none so far)
• Exam Directory (with final exam and solution)
• Questions and Answers on Homework (with some on #6)
• Syllabus
• Errata in the Textbook

Announcements (22 December 2010):

• (22 Dec) I have now posted solutions to the final exam. The final exam scores were 126, 120, 119, 117, 113, 111, 108, 108, 107, 107, 107, 107, 106, 106, 103, 103, 96, 94, 93, 93, 93, 92, 88, 88, 88, 87, 85, 84, 84, 83, 82, 80, 79, 77, 77, 77, 76, 75, 75, 73, 72, 70, 68, 63, 62, 61, 59, 52, 49, 49, 48, 46, 42, 40, 39, 38, 36, 34. I can give back corrected finals in person when you get back. Thanks to all of you for an enjoyable course.

• (21 Dec) I have now emailed everyone their grades and posted the final exam text. The solutions and some more statistics will follow tomorrow.

• (20 Dec) I have completed grading the exam and have posted grades to SPIRE. I'm not sure when they become visible to you, so I will email you individual grades by tomorrow morning early Tuesday afternoon. Sometime tomorrow I will post the exam and its solution, along with some statistics.

  Briefly, the exam scale was A = 102, B = 84, C = 66, D = 48, F = 30. Of the 57 of you who took it, the high was 126 and there were fifteen in the A range. The median was an 84 -- for just over half of you it was better to count the final as 50%. The low was 34 and there were fourteen exams below the C range. Overall for the course there were 12 A's (six of them unofficial A+), four A-'s, four B+'s, six B's, ten B-'s, five C+'s, four C's, eight C-'s, two D+'s, and three D's. The C-'s should repeat the course before taking another course that has 250 as a prerequisite, though a C- can be used for major or minor requirements as long as the total GPA in courses used for the major or minor is above 2.0.

• (9 Dec) As promised, here is an outline of the sort of things I hope you will be able to do on the final exam:
  • First Third of Course, Chapters 1, 2, 3 (25%):
    • Translate statements to and from propositional logic.
    • Prove statements of propositional logic using truth tables and/or propositional proof rules.
    • Translate statements to and from predicate logic.
    • Prove statements of predicate logic using the four quantifier proof rules.
    • Know and work with the definitions of types of relations (partial orders and equivalence relations) and properties of functions (one-to-one, onto, bijections).
    • Be familiar with primality and modular arithmetic.
    • Know the statements (not proofs) of the Inverse Theorem, Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic, and Chinese Remainder Theorem.
  • Middle Third of Course, Chapters 4 and 9 (25%):
    • Prove statements about naturals by ordinary induction.
    • Prove statements about naturals by strong induction.
    • Prove statements about other data types (strings, trees, etc.) by induction on the definition of the type.
    • Work with a completely new inductive definition.
    • Prove correctness and termination of a recursive algorithm by induction.
    • Write a recursive algorithm to operate on an object of an inductively defined class, such as the boolean expressions of Discussion #7.
    • Describe the behavior of general search, depth-first search, breadth-first search, uniform-cost search, or A^* search on an example.
    • Make simple arguments about a two-player game using a game tree.
  • Last Third of Course, Chapters 5, 14, and 15 (50%):
    • Work with formal languages defined by regular expressions.
    • Prove a property of regular expressions by induction on the definition.
    • Determine the behavior of a DFA on a string or set of strings.
    • Use the Myhill-Nerode Theorem to argue about whether a given language has a DFA, or how many states its minimal DFA has.
    • Find the minimal DFA equivalent to a given DFA.
    • Understand the language of a given ordinary NFA or λ-NFA.
    • Convert a λ-NFA to an equivalent ordinary NFA.
    • Convert an ordinary NFA to an equivalent DFA.
    • Convert a regular expression to an equivalent λ-NFA.
    • Convert a DFA to an equivalent regular expression, by working through r.e.-NFA's (called "GNFA's" in lecture).
    • Argue about the class of regular languages using the different equivalent definitions and various conversion algorithms.
    • Understand, informally, the behavior of a two-way DFA.
    • Understand, informally, the behavior of a Turing machine.
    • Informally describe how a Turing machine might solve a given computational problem.
    • Know the definition of Turing Recognizable and Turing decidable languages.
    • Understand the argument for the unsolvability of the Halting Problem.

• (9 Dec) As promised, here is a review of the exams from my prior offerings of CMPSCI 250, available on my web pages. As the content of 250 has changed, not all questions on these exams would be fair game, but the length and difficulty of my final exams is pretty consistent. Solutions to each of these exams are available from the linked pages:
  • Fall 2007: Question 1a is ok but 1b and 1c deal with probability and would not be. 3a uses Floyd's algorithm which we didn't cover, but 3b and 3c are the only questions on any of these exams dealing with Chapter 9. Question 4 is all counting and probability and thus no good for this term.
  • Spring 2006: Questions 2a and 2b deal with counting and probability. 2c and 2d are fair examples of what I might ask about Chapter 15. 4c and 4d also deal with counting and probability.
  • Spring 2005: Question 1 is counting and probability, but the rest of the exam would do for this term.
  • Fall 2004: This term there was both a practice final and a real final. The practice final is ok except for Question 5. The real final is ok except for Question 3.

• (8 Dec) I will hold a review session for the final exam on Tuesday 14 December from noon to 2:00 p.m. in room 151 of the computer science building. Some of you will have an exam for either the first or last half-hour of this period, but you could make it for some of the time.

• (8 Dec) There are now eleven HW#6 questions answered on the Q and A page, including a correction to a typo in Problem 14.7.1.

• (1 Dec) I have posted the first questions and answers on HW#6, which includes a pseudo-Java class LambdaNFA that you will need to answer Problem 14.8.5.

• (1 Dec) Remember that if you work with another student or students on the homework, you should note this fact on what you turn in.

• (28 Nov) I have posted the last homework assignment, which is due by 4:00 p.m. on Friday 10 December, the last day of classes. There are two extra credit questions, if you want to read ahead -- they are on the last material we will be doing.

• (16 Nov) I have posted the second midterm and its solution. There is a slight correction to Problem 9.8.3 on the homework, which I am putting on the new question and answer page for HW#5.

• (14 Nov) I have posted the next homework assignment, due a week from Tuesday in discussion class. The last homework will be due on the last day of classes, Friday 10 December, at 4:00 p.m. to the CMPSCI main office. I did intend to post this assignment earlier, but I've been tied up with grading and with three shows this weekend. I do still expected to have graded midterms available on Tuesday morning.

• (14 Nov) A note on course advising for the spring. Many of you will want to take CMPSCI 311 next term, as it follows directly on what we are doing in this course and it is required for all tracks of the BS-CMPSCI. I've talked to some of you for whom it would make sense to take both 240 and 311 next term, but unfortunately this cannot be done due to a schedule conflict. Given the choice, you should probably take 311 unless you are particularly interested in courses that have 240 as a prereq, like 370, 383, or 446. If you are likely to get an A in 250 and you are interested in the formal language stuff we are doing in the remainder of the course, I can give you an override to take CMPSCI 401 with me next term along with 311. (Normally 311 is a prerequisite for 401, which is why I am only offering this to A students.)

• (14 Nov) There is a Distinguished Lecture next Thursday in the honors meeting period, so we will all go to the lecture instead of having class. The following Thursday is a holiday. So we need to start thinking about final projects for each of you (half-hour presentations to the rest of the class) without having class time to do it in. So please email me your ideas for a project, related to either 250 or something in GEB.

• (9 Nov) We will have an honors class tomorrow (Wednesday) at the usual time because it is a Thursday schedule.

• (9 Nov) A couple of more notes on the schedule -- I will try to grade the exams by Tuesday (16 Nov) and will post the exam and solution then. The TA's will also try to have HW#4 graded by then. I will post HW#5 soon, probably tomorrow, and it will be due on Tuesday 23 November. HW#6 will then be due at the last possible moment, 4:00 p.m. on the last day of classes, Friday 10 December. I expect a number of you will blow off class tomorrow morning -- if you do, you should have a good look at sections 5.1 and 5.2 so you will be ready for lecture and discussion next Tuesday.

• (9 Nov) I handed out paper solutions to HW#4 and Discussion #7 in lecture today. I will bring more to the help session, which will be held in Goessmann 151 during discussion period. Note that tomorrow (Wednesday) is a Thursday schedule, so we will have lecture in the morning (on new material from Chapter 5) and I will have office hours in the afternoon. I will be around for advising on Thursday afternoon, but there is no class Thursday.

• (8 Nov) As I said by email, I have corrected an error in the HW#4 assignment. I have also posted a few more questions and answers on HW#4. I will be answering email tonight.

• (7 Nov) I've posted some more questions and answers on HW#4.

• (5 Nov) As I mentioned in class today, I am performing (as part of the tenor chorus) in the Valley Light Opera production of Iolanthe by Gilbert and Sullivan, this weekend and next. Tonight (Friday) is a paid dress rehearsal with all tickets $5 -- the other shows are this Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, and next Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon -- see vlo.org for details.

• (5 Nov) This afternoon at 3:30 the department will hold its November First Friday event in room 150 of the computer science building. This will be devoted to advising for Spring 2011 course choices, and majors may get their registration advisor holds removed. Refreshments will be served.

• (5 Nov) Next week's honors assignment is to read Chapter XI of GEB and the dialogue following.

• (3 Nov) I have posted the first questions and answers on HW#4.

• (3 Nov) I've corrected two typos on the HW#4 assignment sheet.

• (2 Nov) Problem 9.4.5 on HW#4 contains errors which I have corrected on the HW#4 assignment page.

• (2 Nov) Here is the xkcd cartoon I referenced in today's lecture.

• (2 Nov) Here is some information about the second midterm, which will be next Tuesday 7-9 p.m. in Goessmann 20. It will cover the middle third of the course, specifically Lectures L10 through L17 on the revised syllabus. This means about 25% on sections 3.1-3.6, though not the implementation of the Euclidean Algorithm, inverse algorithm, or Chinese Remainder Theorem. You should know the statements of the major results of 3.1-3.6. About 3/8 will be specifically on Chapter 4 (though note that 4.5, 4.6, and 4.10 are not covered) and 3/8 on 9.1-9.8. (Thus next Tuesday's lecture is not fair game for the exam.) Remember that we have a single review session with me in Goessmann 151 in place of a discussion next Tuesday 2:30-3:20.

  I'm not writing a specific practice exam for this midterm because there are plenty of suitable questions on the second, practice third, and third midterms from Fall 2007 CMPSCI 250 exam page. Each of these questions is appropriate for length (assuming I picked out 100 points worth) and difficulty, but a few of them are on content you are not responsible for -- Question 3 on the second midterm (too much number theory), Question 3 on the practice midterm (the path-matrix theorem, now covered in 240), and Questions 5 (path-matrix theorem) and 6(b) (A^* search) on the third midterm.

• (27 Oct) I have posted the HW#4 assignment, due the morning of the exam, Tuesday 9 November. Note that starting with tomorrow morning's lecture we are dealing with Volume II of the text, with the darker and less yellowish green cover. We are also now back on track with the syllabus printed in the books, but as you can see from the updated syllabus, we have skipped section 4.6, covered Chapter 3 more lightly, and done different Excursions.

• I forgot to post the honors assignment for the next class, which is now tomorrow. You should read Chapter IX, thus finishing Part I of GEB, and work on the exercises of Excursion 3.7 of my book, on the "power of 10" exercise from Chapter VIII of GEB.

• (23 Oct) As I announced in class on Thursday, I am extending the deadline for HW#3 -- it is now due this Thursday, 28 October, in lecture. I will post the HW#4 assignment by Tuesday 26 October, and it will be due in lecture class on Tuesday 9 November.

• (20 Oct) I've posted the first question and answer on HW#3.

• (20 Oct) The first midterm and its solution are now up.

• (19 Oct) I've just finished the grading for the midterm, so I will not get to posting the exam and its solution before class -- I may be able to do it tonight. The 61 exams were fairly evenly distributed across the grade ranges:
  • A+ (93-102) 6 (high was 102)
  • A (88-92) 6
  • A- (83-87) 5
  • B+ (78-82) 6
  • B (73-78) 5
  • B- (68-72) 5 (median was 70)
  • C+ (63-68) 4
  • C (58-62) 6
  • C- (53-57) 5
  • D+ (48-52) 3
  • D (43-47) 5
  • F (31-42) 5 (low was 31)

  The D's and F's should probably talk to me about their status. It is still possible to drop the course if you have 12 other credits for the term to maintain full-time status, but the "W-drop date" is this Thursday. It is possible for even the F's on this midterm to get C or better if they do well on the homework, second midterm, and final, but an F on this test indicates that you have weaknesses in your understanding that may make it hard to do that.

• (14 Oct) The reading assignment for next week's honors class is to read Chapter 7 of GEB, Typographical Number Theory, and the following dialogue, A Mu Offering. You should also hand in answers to the exercises on pages 212-3 and 215, except for the "b is a power of 10" statement which he rightly says is hard. This exercise is the subject of Excursion 3.7 in my book, but try to do the exercises before looking there.

• (14 Oct) I have posted the HW#3 assignment, which is due 26 October, a week from Tuesday. HW#4 will be due in lecture class on Tuesday 9 October, the day of the second midterm.

• (12 Oct) I hope to have the exams graded by Tuesday -- I will post the exam and solution sometime over the weekend. Graded HW#2 may or may not be ready tomorrow morning -- if not, it should be ready by Tuesday. I will post HW#3 soon, due a week from Tuesday -- about half of it will be on the number theory material from last Thursday and tomorrow. Note that we are only doing certain sections of Chapters 3 and 4, and since there are 3-4 sections of the book covered only in tomorrow's lecture, those sections will be less emphasized on the next exam. (There is great stuff in the number theory section that we can't get to this term, particularly if you are interested in cryptography -- you might want to read the other sections of the book when you have more leisure to do so.) The updated syllabus will tell you which sections you are responsible for.

• (12 Oct) Ed needs to cancel his office hours Friday, which should be ok because there is no pending exam or homework.

• (11 Oct) I've put up the exam index page which has the dates, times, and locations of all three exams. The first midterm will be Wednesday night 13 October, 7-9 p.m., in Goessmann 20, a large chemistry lecture hall at the other end of Goessmann from our classroom. I've heard from one student about a conflict -- anyone else with a conflict should have contacted me alredy but if not I will see what I can do.

• (11 Oct) Since tomorrow is a Monday schedule, I will hold my normal Monday office hours from 11 to 12 in my office.

• (10 Oct) As I announced in class on Thursday, I will hold a review session for the exam on Monday (the Columbus Day holiday) from 2-4 p.m. in LGRT 101. (I haven't reserved the room, but if there is a problem with it we will find a nearby room and I will post a sign.) Note that if you are driving to campus, you should be aware that Governors Drive (the road from LGRC past the computer science building to the Mullins) is scheduled to be closed all weekend.

• (10 Oct) The honors assignment for next week is to read Chapter 7 of GEB (The Propositional Calculus, which overlaps heavily with Chapter 1 of the main text) and the following dialogue, Crab Canon.

• (6 Oct) Here are links to the first midterm exams of the last four times I have taught CMPSCI 250. Really they are all pretty good approximations of what our first midterm is going to be -- there will be translations, a propositional proof, a predicate proof, and questions requiring you to understand properties of functions, partial orders, and equivalence relations. There might be a small amount of number theory, based on tomorrow morning's lecture, but it will primarily be a way to get you to work with quantifiers if I put it on at all. Now my problem is to come up with good questions I haven't asked on any of these exams. Oh, one more hint -- one or more of the logic questions will probably involve dogs.

  • Practice exam from Fall 2004 (solutions) (The question about strings would not be fair game this term.)

  • Real exam from Fall 2004 (solutions) (This one was definitely too long. It also has a number theory question, that would be fair for this term.)

  • Real exam from Spring 2005 (solutions)

  • Real exam from Spring 2006 (solutions)

  • Real exam from Fall 2007 (solutions)

• (5 Oct) I have posted six questions and answers on HW#2 and will add to this page as I get more questions by email or in office hours.

• (5 Oct) I will hold an optional review session for the test on Monday 11 October (the Columbus Day holiday), location TBA, time TBA but likely 2-4 p.m. or so. More details later.

• (5 Oct) As I said in email, I will hold extra office hours tomorrow (Wednesday) 10:30-12:00. These will be in my office, room 210 in the computer science building.

• (5 Oct) Graded HW#1's were handed back in lecture today -- I will bring the unclaimed ones to lecture on Thursday. The high was 75, median 49, and low 25 -- I set a (rather generous) scale at A = 70, B = 56, C = 42, D = 28. (All these numbers are raw scores, out of 80.) If you got below 40, you should figure out what you want to do to do better on HW#2 and the exam -- the TA's and I will help however we can.

• (1 Oct) I have revised the syllabus to remove one lecture on number theory and the one on proving the basic facts of number theory. These topics are important but the rest of the course does not depend on them as much -- I hope you find the book useful as a reference if they come up in future courses. (For example, number theory is used in cryptography, and the rest of Chapter 3 goes into this although we won't do it this semester. I also changed two discussion topics to better fit with where we will be when those discussions occur. The changes mean that the first midterms, from the other times I have taught CMPSCI 250, are pretty good matches for this term's first midterm and can be used as practice tests. I'll give direct links and some more detailed comments on these exams next week.

• (1 Oct) The honors section assignment is to read V and VI of GEB and the dialogues following each. Also, be prepared to discuss the problem on page 137, where he defines two functions M(n) and F(n) by mutual recursion.

• (24 Sept) Henceforth I will be the sole instructor for this course. Both sections will now meet in Goessmann 151 for lecture 9:30-10:45, starting Tuesday. The two sections will still meet separately for discussions 2:30-3:20 in their current rooms, doing the group problem-solving exercises from the book, with John leading section 02.

  My understanding from John is that section 02 has covered the material of my Chapter 1 pretty well but has not done much on Chapter 2 yet. So in order to synchronize the sections, the two lectures this coming week will reprise sections 2.6, 2.8, and 2.9, and will thus be optional for section 01. (I will thus accept HW#1 in discussion class Tuesday as well as in lecture.) The discussion on Tuesday will be on Excursion 2.7 as planned, and HW#2 will still be due on Thursday 7 October in lecture. I will need to revise the syllabus to remove two lectures, and will do this soon.

  Let me take this opportunity to thank Hava publicly for her work on the course.

• (23 Sept) I've learned that Hava tried to notify the department this morning in time for us to do something about the class, but was unsuccessful. We will have something figured out for Tuesday's classes if she is not available.

• (23 Sept) The HW#2 assignment is now posted, due two weeks from this morning, on 7 October.

• (23 Sept) The reading assignment for next week's honors class is Chapter 4 and the dialogue Little Harmonic Labyrinth. We discussed Fibonacci numbers, and left with the assignment to explain why the following Java method is a correct but unwise way to calculate the n'th Fibonacci number: public int fib (int n) {if (n <= 1) return n; return fib (n-1) + fib (n-2);}

• (22 Sept) Important news about HW#1 -- we are extending the deadline to hand it in until next Tuesday, 28 September. But, if you are able to hand it in tomorrow you should do so, because HW#2 will be posted tomorrow night and will be due on Thursday 7 October (the last class before the first midterm).

• (22 Sept) I've gotten some questions about the content of the midterms, given that the two lecture sections have not been covering exactly the same material. Hava and I will jointly write the exam, with consideration for the different content and possibly different vocabulary. We will try to get a sample exam to you a week before the real one, and we will be clear what content is covered.

• (21 Sept) One more note about the textbook -- each chapter has an index at the end, which contains every word or phrase defined in boldface in the main text, with the page number where that happens. So if you want to know what "set builder notation" means, for example, the index of Chapter 1 tells you to look on page 1.4.

• (21 Sept) Here is an embarassing error in the textbook -- Section 2.11 is missing! I will print up copies of it to be handed out on Thursday -- we are scheduled to talk about it on next Tuesday, 28 September.

• (21 Sept) A few minor additions: Ed, Hava, and John's office hours (above), and some small errata in the textbook, and the "dog example" from Dave's lecture today:
  • Premises:
    • I: All dogs like walks. (∀x:W(x))
    • II: All poodles are smaller than Ebony. (∀x:P(x)→S(x,e))
    • III: If one dog is smaller than a second, and the second is smaller than a third, then the first dog is smaller than the third. (∀x:∀y:∀z:(S(x,y)∧S(y,z))→S(x,z))
    • IV: Ebony is smaller than some Rottweiler. (∃y:R(y)∧S(e,y))
    • V: Holly is a poodle. (P(h))
  • Proof of: "There exists a Rottweiler that is larger than some poodle who likes walks" (∃a:∃b:R(a)∧S(b,a)∧P(b)∧W(b))
    1. P(h) (premise V)
    2. W(h) (specification, premise I)
    3. P(h) → S(h,e) (specification, premise II)
    4. S(h,e) (modus ponens, lines 1 and 3)
    5. R(r) ∧ S(e,r) (instantiation, premise IV, r is a new variable)
    6. R(r) (separation)
    7. S(e,r) (separation, line 5)
    8. S(h,e) ∧ S(e,r) (conjunction, lines 4 and 7)
    9. (S(h,e) ∧ S(e,r)) → S(h,r) (specification, premise III)
    10. S(h,r) (modus ponens, lines 8 and 9)
    11. R(r) ∧ S(h,r) ∧ P(h) ∧ W(h) (conjunction, lines 6, 10, 1, and 2)
    12. ∃a:∃b:R(a)∧S(b,a)∧P(b)∧W(b) (existence)

• (19 Sept) I have posted the first questions and answers on HW#1.

• (16 Sept) Honors section assignment for next week: Read chapters 2 and 3 of GEB and the dialogues following. Try to solve the two questions I posed about the MU-puzzle: (1) Can every "class 1 or 2" string be derived from MI, and (2) Can any "class 1 or 2" string be derived from any other such string?

• (14 Sept) Both sections looked at Excursion 1.9 of the book in discussion today, so you should all now have an idea of how comfortable you are with the idea of proofs in boolean logic. If you are uncomfortable, one good resource is a small book called How To Read and Do Proofs by Daniel Solow, which illustrates proof techniques in greater detail than our textbook, using examples from high-school mathematics.

• (14 Sept) Thanks to the student in Dave's section who pointed out that the SPIRE page for CMPSCI 250-1 had a bad link for the syllabus -- this has been fixed for section 1 and will shortly be fixed for section 2.

• (13 Sept) HW #1 is now posted -- it has nine questions, all about Chapter 1, and is due on Thursday 23 September in class. It is probably a little smaller than future homeworks. Remember that our first discussion is tomorrow so that we will meet twice, once at 9:30 and once at 2:30.

• (9 Sept) Dave will have only limited email over this weekend and will miss his regular 11-12 office hour on Monday 14 September. We will have the HW#1 assignment ready by next lecture class on Tuesday 14 September.

• (9 Sept) (Announcements of primary interest to the honors section will be in orange.) The honors section met for the first time today -- if you were not there, you should contact me very soon if you want to join. Its meeting time is 4-5 Thursday in room 243 of the Computer Science building. The assignment for students in that section for next Thursday is to (1) buy the book, (2) read up the beginning of Chapter 2, and (3) work on the MU-puzzle without looking at Section 5.6 of the 250 textbook.

• (9 Sept) The Computer Science First Friday meeting is tomorrow (Friday) at 3:30 in room 150-1 of the Computer Science building. All majors, minors, potential majors, and friends of the department are invited.

• (6 Sept) Tomorrow, Tuesday 7 September, both sections will have lecture at 9:30. At 2:30 Hava will have discussion class. Dave will not, but he will be in Goessmann 151 for an optional open office hour.

• (3 Sept) The Course Requirements and Grading page is now ready. Also note that the discussion room for Hava's section has changed.

• (2 Sept) The syllabus is now available -- I hope to put up the course requirements and grading tomorrow. The texts should be ready on Tuesday.

• (23 Aug) We have reorganized the course to have two instructors! This will be the common web site for both sections. Lectures will be coordinated and exams and homework assignments will be common. The 56 students registered for the single section were arbitrarily divided into two groups of 28. As of today Hava's section is full at 30 and Dave's has six more spots with 29. If you want to add the course but cannot do so on SPIRE, please contact Dave.

• (4 Aug) Welcome to the preliminary version of the web site for CMPSCI 250 for Fall 2010. I am setting up the bare bones of the web site today. In most respects the course will run like the Fall 2007 version of CMPSCI 250. One difference is in the syllabus -- the fourth quarter of the course will deal with finite-state machines rather than counting and probability, which are now covered in CMPSCI 240. The text will be largely the same as was used in Spring 2006 and Fall 2007, except to account for the changes in syllabus. The new texts are not available yet -- I will post here when they are ready.

Last modified 22 December 2010