COMPX101 Introduction to Programming

Resources in the form of lecture notes, videos of lectures, course outline, background material, various user guides, lab and test sign-ups, practice tests, sample code, data files and weekly quizzes will be made available through the course Moodle website. Also available on the course Moodle website will be support through various interactive forums. Class attendance is expected. The lecture material, tutorials and laboratory practicals are all integral parts of the paper. Failure to attend any of these means the student may miss material not presented elsewhere. Students are responsible for all material covered in class.

There is no required textbook for this paper. A recommended textbook is:

1. Perform basic application development using event-driven programming of graphical user interfaces or console programming. (WA1)
2. Design, build and execute applications using an Integrated Development Environment. (WA3)
3. Apply a broad range of programming constructs and language supported data structures to process data. (WA5)
4. Explain in general terms a range of foundational computer science concepts, such as number systems, file systems, and algorithms. (WA1)
5. Apply the computing principles and examples learned to new problems. (WA2)

An overall mark of 50% is required for a pass, with a minimum of 40% in the final exam. An RP grade will not normally be accepted as fulfilling a prerequisite for a more advanced paper.

Samples of your work may be required as part of the Engineering New Zealand accreditation process for BE(Hons) degrees. Any samples taken will have the student name and ID redacted. If you do not want samples of your work collected then please email the engineering administrator, Natalie Shaw ([email protected]), to opt out.

The practical tests will test your individual understanding of the programming skills that you have been practicing in the laboratory exercises. NOTE: Due to the size of the class, practical tests may be run in multiple sessions. The tests for each session are different, but are similar in material and level of difficulty.

The written test will test the material covered up to that point. Details about the test will be given out in lectures prior to the test.

Tutorial exercises are completed in each tutorial over the semester. Each tutorial involves exercises that you should read before going to the tutorial. Tutorial exercises will be worked through during the tutorial, under the guidance of the tutor. You will be asked to attempt an exercise in a small group and hand in your attempt in the tutorial. You will receive either a 0 or a 1 for your attempt at the tutorial exercise, a 0 being an unsatisfactory attempt and a 1 being an attempt to the satisfaction of the tutor.

Moodle Quizzes are completed each week over the semester. You can resubmit moodle quizzes until you reach 100%.

Practical Exercises are completed each week in the computer labs. Each week you will be asked to design or modify a simple program in your laboratory sessions. After you have implemented a program, you will discuss it with your demonstrator in the lab, and will be given a mark for it.