COMP 200 Elements of Computer Science &
COMP 130 Elements of Algorithms and Computation
Spring 2012

[Rice University]

A person well-trained in computer science knows how to deal with algorithms: how to construct them, manipulate them, understand them, analyze them. This knowledge prepares him for much more than writing good computer programs; it is a general-purpose mental tool which will be a definite aid to his understanding of other subjects, whether they be chemistry, linguistics, or music, etc. The reason for this may be understood in the following way: It has often been said that a person does not really understand something until he can teach it to a computer, i.e., express it as an algorithm.

Donald Knuth

What is COMP 200?

This course is an introduction to computer science aimed at non-majors, especially social science and humanities students. The emphasis is on "Computational Thinking", i.e., how to articulate problem-solving. We will introduce programming in Python as one way to express solutions, and no prior programming experience is expected. Most examples will come from tasks related to social science and humanities.

What is COMP 130?

This course is an introduction to computer science aimed primarily at majors. The emphasis is on "Computational Thinking", i.e., how to articulate problem-solving. We will introduce programming in Python as one way to express solutions, and no prior programming experience is expected.

It is an experiment in offering an introductory major course in the spring as part of an alternate course sequence. We will attempt to prepare you for COMP 215 in the following semester. You would then take COMP 182 after these, instead of in between. You should be taking ELEC 220 this semester, also.

Two courses in one?!?

COMP 130 was a last-minute experimental addition to our course offerings. To reduce duplicated effort in teaching these two introductory courses, we decided to partially combine them. The two courses will use the same set of examples and cover similar material, but COMP 130 will go into greater technical depth. We will accomplish this by sharing some class time to introduce topics, but also separate to better address each course's needs. With one more credit hour, COMP 130 will have one more class period per week. Assigned work will similarly be partially shared.

COMP 130 will hold its additional class session on Fridays at 1:00–1:50pm in Sewall 207.