Lower Division

Summary of Course Content:

1. Introduction and Course Overview
2. Going Digital: Representing different types of information in a computer
   1. Representations of numbers: from integers and real numbers to binary formats
   2. Analog vs digital signal. Sampling and discretization
   3. Representing music, pictures, and movies in a computer
   4. Computer hardware: processors, interfaces, storage
   5. Basic principles of computer operations
3. The logic behind computing
   1. Propositional and first order logic
   2. Basic set theory
   3. Methods of proof. Induction and recursion. Inductive definitions.
   4. Combinatorics and counting. Permutations, combinations. The Pigeonhole principle.
4. Introduction to Algorithms by examples
   1. Program design
   2. Algorithms: correctness and complexity
   3. Basic algorithms: sorting and searching
5. Ethical issues: computer and society
   1. Data collection and privacy
   2. Data forgery and deep fakes

Illustrative Reading:

• S. S. Epp, Discrete Mathematics with Applications, 5th edition, Cengage Learning, 2019.
• K. Rosen, Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications, 7th edition, McGraw-Hill, 2011.
• M. Lipson, Schaum’s Outline of Discrete Mathematics, revised 3rd edition, 2009.
• Selected review papers and technical papers and class notes will be used.

Potential Course Overlap:
The course overlaps with ECS 20 (Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science) but this course does not include asymptotic notation, combinatorics, discrete probability, graphs, or trees. The course overlaps with MAT 108 (Introduction to Abstract Math) but this course does not include topics like cardinal numbers. ECS 17 includes topics on ethical issues related to computer uses which neither ECS 20 nor MAT 108 cover. ECS 17 is a fundamental, preparatory course for Data Science majors.

Summary of Course Content

1. Programming in C
   1. Basic syntax and difference of C and other languages such as Python.
   2. Data types: scalar, single and multidimensional arrays, character strings, structs.
   3. Use of system files such as library and “include” files.
   4. Use of I/O including the use of file manipulation and command line arguments.
   5. Pointers and dynamic memory allocation.
   6. Functions: declaration and calls, & and * operators, parameters, function call stacks.
   7. Modular programming: programs composed of multiple C files and headers, overview of the compilation/linking sequence
2. The UNIX Environment
   1. First-level understanding of the nature of UNIX processes and job control.
   2. UNIX hierarchical file system.
   3. UNIX utilities (e.g. find, grep, sort, uniq, head, etc.).
3. Software Engineering & Tools
   1. Version Control (e.g. git).
   2. Program development and use of the UNIX “make” program to organize them.
   3. Software debugging techniques.
   4. Other Tools (e.g. IDEs, ssh clients, linters, etc.).
4. Implementation of Data Structures
   1. Singly-and doubly-linked lists.
   2. Stacks and queues.
   3. Trees (e.g. binary, AVL, Red-Black etc.).

Illustrative Reading
J. Hanley and E. Koffman, Problem Solving and Program Design in C, 8th edition, Pearson, 2015.
W. Shotts, The Linux Command Line 2nd Edition, No Starch Press, 2019.

GE3
Science & Engineering

Overlap
The course overlaps with ECS 36A and ECS 34 in the coverage of UNIX but does not include shell scripting. The course overlaps with ECS 34 and ECS 36B in the coverage of version control and ECS 36B in the implementation of some data structures; however, ECS 34 and ECS 36B cover the implementations in C++. The course overlaps with ECS 36C in the implementation of some more advanced data structures but ECS 36C implementations are in C++.

Summary of Course Content
Student facilitated course intended for undergraduate students, under the supervision of a faculty mentor. Course content and structure vary.

Illustrative Reading
Varies by topic

Potential Course Overlap
None

Summary of course contents

Illustrative Reading
Varies by course offering in the special topic areas

GE3
Science & Engineering

Overlap
None

Instructors
Staff

Summary of Course Contents

1. Basic Memory Architecture
   Review of ECS 40 C-language material on bits, bytes and memory addresses. Linear versus segmented address forms.
2. Introduction to Processor Architecture
   Introduction to instruction sets, addressing modes and register sets, and their variation from one machine to another. Comparison of at least one CISC architecture and at least one RISC architecture, via extensive assembly-language programming on each. Memory-mapped versus separate-address-space I/O. I/O devices. Hardware interrupts. I/O programming—wait-loop, interrupt-driven, and via calls to operating system services or keyboard, video and file access.
3. The Role of System Software in Producing an Abstract Machine
   Distinction between the roles of hardware and software. The use of compilers and operating systems in providing abstractions and machine independence to the programmer. Compiler implementation of C/Pascal data types, and storage allocation of variables in memory. Role of the operating system in helping the programmer to create, store and execute his/her programs, and in managing system resources.
4. Machine Capability and Speed
   Transportability/nontransportability of programs on different machines, and under different operating systems and compilers. Efficiency of compiled vs. hand-coded programs. Writing mixed C-language/assembly language programs for extra efficiency or for special capabilities. Tradeoffs between the speed of hardware implementation of a function and the flexibility of software implementation.

Goals
Students will (1) learn fundamental concepts of computer architecture; (2) learn fundamental concepts of software systems; (3) be able to write programs in assembly language for at least two different architectures .

Illustrative Reading

• Norm Matloff, Below C Level: An Introduction to Computer Systems, 2012. Open-source book, available at http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/~matloff/50/PLN/CompSystsBook.pdf
• Gerald Karam and John Bryant, Principles of Computer Systems, Prentice Hall, 1992

Engineering Design Statement
Students in the course write sophisticated, systems-level programs according to their own design. Many of the programs involve analysis of tradeoffs between efficient use of the hardware and ease of programming.

ABET Category Content
Engineering Science: 2 units
Engineering Design: 2 units

GE3
Science & Engineering

Overlap
Substantial overlap with EEC 70, but large student demand justifies the overlap in content.

Instructors
S. Davis, M. Farrens, and N. Matloff

Outcomes

Summary of Course Content

A systematic study of data structures, including stacks, queues, lists, skip lists, trees, binary search trees, AVL trees, splay trees, B-trees, priority queues, hash tables, and the union/find data structure. Analysis of algorithms, including sorting, graph algorithms, topological sort, depth-first search, shortest path, minimum spanning tree. Amortized analysis. If time permits, any of the following topics: tries, Huffman codes, branch-and-bound, digital search trees, Fibonacci heaps, network flow, and critical path analysis.

Goals
Students will:

• learn to think clearly about and solve complex and poorly-defined programming tasks
• be able to (a) find appropriate abstractions to solve a complex problem, (b) choose appropriate data structures and algorithms, (c) analyze simple algorithms and discuss tradeoffs among data structures, (d) get it all working

Illustrative Reading

• M. Weiss, Data Structures and Algorithms in C++, 3rd edition,Addison Wesley, 2006
• E. Horowitz, S. Sahni, D. Mehta. Fundamentals of Data Structures in C++, Second Edition , Silicon Press, 2006

GE3
Science & Engineering

Engineering Design Statement
Programming assignments involve design of the proper data-structure, design of the associated program, coding, and testing of open-ended problems requiring independent solution by the students. The function of the programs are specified, but design details of possible solutions are not specified. Engineering design skills are further developed by increasing the complexity and open-ended nature of the assignments throughout the term.

ABET Category Content
Engineering Science: 2 units
Engineering Design: 2 units

Overlap
ECS 36C/60 and ECS 32B both cover data structures. 

Instructors
Staff

Outcomes

Summary of Course Contents

1. Object-Oriented Programming and the C++ Language.
   1. Object-oriented design and implementation, polymorphism, operator overloading, encapsulation, derivation, exceptions.
2. Programming in C
   1. Basic syntax and difference of C and other languages, including Python, and semantic differences of C with C++
   2. Data types: single and multidimensional arrays, character strings, structs.
   3. Use of system files such as library and “include” files
   4. Pointers and dynamic memory allocation.
   5. Functions: declaration and calls, & and * operators, parameters, function call stacks.
   6. Function pointers and inversion of control
3. Software Engineering & Tools
   1. Integrated Development Environments
   2. Debugging techniques, especially using UNIX debugging aids such as gdb/ddd.
   3. Version Control
   4. Unit Testing (e.g. GoogleTest)
   5. Program development using third party libraries, and use of the UNIX “make” program to organize them.
   6. Function pointers and inversion of control
4. Advanced Programming Concepts in C++
   1. Singly-and doubly-linked lists, recursion, and, if time permits, one or more topics chosen from: binary trees, stacks, queues
   2. Templates and the Standard Template Library
   3. Modern C++

Illustrative Reading
Stanley Lippman, Josee Lajoie, and Barbara Moo: C++ Primer, 5th ed., Addison-Wesley, 2013. 

GE3
Science & Engineering

Overlap
ECS 36B/40 and ECS 34 both cover object-oriented programming.