Specialised Programming
Course Offerings
2016 Semester 2 (current)
Course SELTS
2015 Semester 1 Course SELT summary
2014 Semester 1 Course SELT summary
2010 Semester 1 Course SELT
Background
Programming is the discipline of
creating software machines to solve a diverse
range of problems.
Programming is a skill. Like any skill,
programming can be learned with practice,
feedback, and the application of useful tools.
This course aims to measurably improve your
programming skills by
- working on interesting programming problems
that leave room for creativity;
- encouraging group-interaction for learning, practice,
and teaching;
- providing basic, graduated, instant feedback on
potential solutions; and
- presenting material that focuses not only on basic
algorithmics but also on higher-level programming skills.
Course Outline
This course is based on group-learning and individual
assessment.
The basic components of the course are:
- Lectures (1-2 hours per week)
- will cover basic algorithms as well as higher-level skills
such as understanding a problem, drafting a basic design,
debugging, and testing. Some lecture content will be tailored to
the needs of the class.
- Practice Sessions (1-3 hours per week in class + 6 hours
per week out of class-time)
- group-work in a laboratory: learning, and teaching, how to solve
programming problems. Sessions in class time will be supervised.
Groups are expected to spend more time practicing outside of class.
- Practical Exams (approx 3 hours per fortnight)
- will be held under exam conditions. Most of your marks for this course
will come from practical exams. You will work individually
in the practical exams though there will be formal recognition
of outstanding team and individual performance. Each exam will
consist of a mix of more and less challenging problems.
There is no written exam for this course. All marks
come from writing solutions that pass the tests used in practical
exams. Groups are carefully allocated on
the basis of performance in exams in order
to minimise academic differences between groups.
Resources
Programming questions are chosen (with permission)
from the large number
of problems available on TopCoder.
Students are encouraged to use this site but access to it is not
compulsory for this course.
Brad Alexander, Febrary, 2008.
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