Dr.

Jinlin Chen
CS111 NSB A118
Dept. of Computer science
Tel:
Fax:
718-997-3497 (o)
718-997-3513
Course Syllabus Queens College, CUNY
Flushing, 11367, NY
E-mail:
Url:
jchen@cs.qc.edu
http://alpha.cs.qc.edu

CS111: Algorithmic Problem Solving

1. General Information

™ The Course
Name: Algorithmic Problem Solving (CS111)
Credit: 3.0
Who: Dr. Jinlin Chen (Instructor), Mr. Gerald Landau (lab instructor)

™ Official Description
Introduction to the principles and practice of programming. Topics include primitive data
types; concepts of object, class, and method; control structures; arrays; procedures and
functions; parameter passing; scope and lifetime of variables; input and output;
documentation.
Prerequisite(s): MATH 120 or MATH 141 or 151 or equivalent
™ Course Objectives
After successful completion of this course, you are expected to be able to
• Understand basic concept of programming
• Write basic programs using C++
• Understand basic technique of problem solving using a programming language
• Build necessary programming background for advanced topics in computer science

2. Course Policies
™ Lectures and Lab sessions
The course is delivered in two different formats, classroom lectures and lab practices.
Classroom lectures focus on basic concepts and theory. Lab sessions focus on code-writing
and problem solving in a developing environment, explaining and demonstrating language-
specific details not covered in lectures, as well as exercises other than code-writing.
™ Academic Integrity
Please be fully aware of maintaining integrity in all of your work. All work must be your
own. By submitting work under your name, you are indicating that you have completed the
assignment independently. You should not have copied it from others or let others copy your
work. Any violation will result in no credit for the affected assignment and may be subject to
immediate failure from the course.
™ Attendance
Class attendance is one of the most important factors for your success in learning. Course
books are only references for the course, and they do not always cover our specific
requirements. Interaction in class learning is not substitutable. Therefore, please try to attend

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 Dr. Jinlin Chen
CS111 NSB A118
Dept. of Computer science
Tel:
Fax:
718-997-3497 (o)
718-997-3513
Course Syllabus Queens College, CUNY
Flushing, 11367, NY
E-mail:
Url:
jchen@cs.qc.edu
http://alpha.cs.qc.edu

the class if possible. If you miss any lectures, make sure you have a copy of the slides which
can be found from the course site in Blackboard.
™ Practicing
This course will focus on basic common features of programming languages for problem
solving. The best way to learn programming is to write code for real problems. Therefore, it
is very important that you have enough time for practicing. The time spent for practicing will
pay off generously - you will learn much more by yourself and will be more efficient for
your future work.
™ Communication
Discussion board of the course site in Blackboard will be the major tool for our
communication. Please try to send technical questions concerning the course via Blackboard.
Your questions are the best feedback to the course. You are also encouraged to answer other
students' questions in Blackboard. Email will be used ONLY for non-technical issues.
™ Students with Disabilities
If you have a disability that requires special accommodations, please contact both your
instructor and Office of Special Services as early as possible in the session.

3. Course Assessment
™ Projects
There will be four projects for this course. Detailed project policy will be specified during
lab session by lab instructor.
™ Exams
There will be two CLOSED book exams for this course. There will be NO make-up exam
unless an official document is submitted and pre-approved by the instructor.
™ Quizzes
Quizzes are designed to help you better understand what you have learned. The lowest quiz
score will NOT be counted towards the course grade. This allows for sickness, emergencies
etc. Therefore please do not ask for remedy if you miss one or more quizzes.
™ Bonus points
You will be rewarded up to 5 activity bonus points when determining your final grade. By
activity I mean raising good questions in Blackboard, volunteering to solve problems at the
Blackboard if prompted, and providing creative suggestions that improve the course, etc.
™ Time load
Attending lectures is only part of the whole learning process. The actual learning also takes
place outside the classroom. You are expected to spend about 4-6 hours (or even more)
quality time outside the classroom for each lecture. The actual load will vary depending on
your background.
™ Grading
Your final score for the course will be determined as follows:
Projects (30%) + Quizzes/participation (20%) + Midterm exam (20%) + Final exam (30%) +
Bonus points

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 Dr. Jinlin Chen
CS111 NSB A118
Dept. of Computer science
Tel:
Fax:
718-997-3497 (o)
718-997-3513
Course Syllabus Queens College, CUNY
Flushing, 11367, NY
E-mail:
Url:
jchen@cs.qc.edu
http://alpha.cs.qc.edu

The final score will be converted to a letter grade using the following scale:
A: Score≥90; B+: 87≤Score<90; B: 80≤Score<87;
C+: 77≤Score<80; C: 70≤Score<77; D: 60≤Score<70;
F: Score<60

4. Books and Tools

™ Course Textbooks
Required:
1. C++ Without Fear
Author: Brian Overland
Publisher: Prentics Hall
ISBN: 0-321-24695-0
Reference:
1. Thinking in C++, Volume 1 (2nd Edition) (You can download it freely at
http://www.mindviewinc.com/)
Author: Bruce Eckel
Publisher: Prentice Hall
ISBN: 0139798099
™ Course Tools
Blackboard and computer accounts
The key tool for the course is Blackboard. You need have an effective account to login. We
will use Blackboard as the major communication tool during this course, to raise/answer
questions and to submit electronic version of the assignments. Make sure that you have
correctly registered your email account in your user profile in Blackboard.
Note: accessing the CUNY Central BlackBoard site is through www.cuny.edu. All you need
is a Portal ID. To get a Portal ID, go to www.cuny.edu and click on "Log In" at the bottom
left. Then click on "Register New User".
Software for the course
Visual Studio.net (you can access it in the lab or install it at home. The department hold a
site license which can be used freely by students)

- 6/6 -
 Dr. Jinlin Chen
CS111 NSB A118
Dept. of Computer science
Tel:
Fax:
718-997-3497 (o)
718-997-3513
Course Syllabus Queens College, CUNY
Flushing, 11367, NY
E-mail:
Url:
jchen@cs.qc.edu
http://alpha.cs.qc.edu

5. Tentative Course Schedule (Summer class)

(Note: lab session details will be given by the lab instructor)

Lecture Content Note

Unix commands, pine, pico, g++

and a few others to see what is,
such as ls, cat.
Lab 1 Create hello.cpp using g++ -c
followed by g++ -o to stress
compile, link, and execute

Course policy overview,

Programming overview
Lecture
C++ overview Reading: Ch1 (P1-20)
1
First simple C++ program

More unix commands, such as

Lab 2 passwd, pico .bash_profile
Project 1
Lecture Basic concept of data type, I/O Reading: Ch 1(P20-30)
2 Basic concept of String
Continued work on project 1. New
Lab 3
unix commands make and tar
Decisions (1)
Lecture If else
Reading: Ch 2(P33-51)
3 True and false
while
Lab 4 Project 2
Decisions (2)
Increment and decrement
Lecture
Statements vs. expressions Reading: Ch 2 (p51-63)
4
Boolean logic
Math library
Lab 5 Project 2
Lecture
For loop Reading: Ch. 3
5
Lab 6
Lecture
Midterm exam (close book)
6
Lab 7
Functions (1)
Lecture Concept of function Reading: Ch 4 (P81-95)
7 Function calls and program flow
Using functions

- 6/6 -
 Dr. Jinlin Chen
CS111 NSB A118
Dept. of Computer science
Tel:
Fax:
718-997-3497 (o)
718-997-3513
Course Syllabus Queens College, CUNY
Flushing, 11367, NY
E-mail:
Url:
jchen@cs.qc.edu
http://alpha.cs.qc.edu

Lab 8
Functions (2)
Lecture Local and global variables
Reading: Ch 4 (P95-110)
8 Recursive functions

Lab 9
Arrays(1)
Reading: Ch5 (P111-122)
Lecture Concept of array
9 Array initialization
Array index
Lab 10
Arrays(2) Reading: Ch5 (P122-137)
Lecture
Arrays of strings
10
Multi-dimensional array
Lab 11
Lecture
Strings Reading: Ch 7
11
Lab 12
Lecture
Final exam (close book) Room SB C205
12

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