computer science assignment meaning

CS50: Introduction to Computer Science

An introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming.

Associated Schools

Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

What you'll learn.

A broad and robust understanding of computer science and programming

How to think algorithmically and solve programming problems efficiently

Concepts like abstraction, algorithms, data structures, encapsulation, resource management, security, software engineering, and web development

Familiarity with a number of languages, including C, Python, SQL, and JavaScript plus CSS and HTML

How to engage with a vibrant community of like-minded learners from all levels of experience

How to develop and present a final programming project to your peers

Course description

This is CS50x , Harvard University's introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming for majors and non-majors alike, with or without prior programming experience. An entry-level course taught by David J. Malan, CS50x teaches students how to think algorithmically and solve problems efficiently. Topics include abstraction, algorithms, data structures, encapsulation, resource management, security, software engineering, and web development. Languages include C, Python, SQL, and JavaScript plus CSS and HTML. Problem sets inspired by real-world domains of biology, cryptography, finance, forensics, and gaming. The on-campus version of CS50x , CS50, is Harvard's largest course. 

Students who earn a satisfactory score on 9 problem sets (i.e., programming assignments) and a final project are eligible for a certificate. This is a self-paced course–you may take CS50x on your own schedule.

Instructors

David J. Malan

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Browse Course Material

Course info, instructors.

• Prof. Eric Grimson
• Prof. John Guttag

Departments

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

As Taught In

• Programming Languages

Introduction to Computer Science and Programming

Assignments.

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Kenneth Leroy Busbee

An assignment statement sets and/or re-sets the value stored in the storage location(s) denoted by a variable name; in other words, it copies a value into the variable. [1]

The assignment operator allows us to change the value of a modifiable data object (for beginning programmers this typically means a variable). It is associated with the concept of moving a value into the storage location (again usually a variable). Within most programming languages the symbol used for assignment is the equal symbol. But bite your tongue, when you see the = symbol you need to start thinking: assignment. The assignment operator has two operands. The one to the left of the operator is usually an identifier name for a variable. The one to the right of the operator is a value.

Simple Assignment

The value 21 is moved to the memory location for the variable named: age. Another way to say it: age is assigned the value 21.

Assignment with an Expression

The item to the right of the assignment operator is an expression. The expression will be evaluated and the answer is 14. The value 14 would be assigned to the variable named: total_cousins.

Assignment with Identifier Names in the Expression

The expression to the right of the assignment operator contains some identifier names. The program would fetch the values stored in those variables; add them together and get a value of 44; then assign the 44 to the total_students variable.

• cnx.org: Programming Fundamentals – A Modular Structured Approach using C++
• Wikipedia: Assignment (computer science) ↵

Programming Fundamentals Copyright © 2018 by Kenneth Leroy Busbee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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CS50: Introduction to Computer Science

This is cs50x.

An introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming in an online course from Harvard.

What You'll Learn

This is CS50x , Harvard University's introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming for majors and non-majors alike, with or without prior programming experience. An entry-level course taught by David J. Malan, CS50x teaches students how to think algorithmically and solve problems efficiently. Topics include abstraction, algorithms, data structures, encapsulation, resource management, security, software engineering, and web development. Languages include C, Python, SQL, and JavaScript plus CSS and HTML. Problem sets inspired by real-world domains of biology, cryptography, finance, forensics, and gaming. The on-campus version of CS50x , CS50, is Harvard's largest course. 

Students who earn a satisfactory score on 9 problem sets (i.e., programming assignments) and a final project are eligible for a certificate. This is a self-paced course–you may take CS50x on your own schedule.

The course will be delivered via edX and connect learners around the world. By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• A broad and robust understanding of computer science and programming
• How to think algorithmically and solve programming problems efficiently
• Concepts like abstraction, algorithms, data structures, encapsulation, resource management, security, software engineering, and web development
• Familiarity in a number of languages, including C, PHP, and JavaScript plus SQL, CSS, and HTML
• How to engage with a vibrant community of like-minded learners from all levels of experience
• How to develop and present a final programming project to your peers

Your Instructors

David J. Malan

Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Computer Science, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Senior Preceptor in Computer Science, Harvard University

CS50 Recommended

"Harvard's Free coding courses are excellent. You need to take them." by Python Programmer. https://youtu.be/WwEcPcfRlD0?feature=shared

"I tried Harvard University's FREE CS50: Introduction to Computer Science course | CS50 review 2020" by Sunny Singh. https://youtu.be/DSA34lhJvw4?feature=shared 

"Learn To Code For FREE At Harvard University // CS50: Introduction To Computer Science Review" by Dorian Develops. https://youtu.be/He4jqZ2EjrE?feature=shared

Ways to take this course

When you enroll in this course, you will have the option of pursuing a Verified Certificate or Auditing the Course.

A Verified Certificate costs $219 and provides unlimited access to full course materials, activities, tests, and forums. At the end of the course, learners who earn a passing grade can receive a certificate. 

Alternatively, learners can Audit the course for free and have access to select course material, activities, tests, and forums.  Please note that this track does not offer a certificate for learners who earn a passing grade.

Have Questions?

Can I enroll in this course if I'm not a programmer? Are there any prerequisites? Learn the answers to these and more in our FAQs.

Course FAQs

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An operator is symbol that takes one or more values (or expressions, in programming jargon) and yields another value (so that the construction itself becomes an expression) [2] .

There are many different types of operators, but the ones we primarily concern ourselves with are boldfaced below. If you'd like to learn more about different types of operators in PHP, please click here .

• Operator Precedence
• Arithmetic Operators
• Assignment Operators
• Bitwise Operators
• Comparison Operators
• Error Control Operators
• Execution Operators
• Incrementing/Decrementing Operators
• Logical Operators
• String Operators
• Array Operators
• Type Operators
• 1 Assignment operators
• 2 Arithmetic operators
• 3 Comparison operators
• 5 The way the IB wants you to use operators
• 6 Python operators cheatsheet
• 7 Standards
• 8 References

Assignment operators [ edit ]

An assignment operator assigns a value to its left operand based on the value of its right operand. [3]

Arithmetic operators [ edit ]

Arithmetic operators take numerical values (either literals or variables) as their operands and return a single numerical value. The standard arithmetic operators are addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*), and division (/). [4]

An example of some arithmetic operators in PHP can be found below [5] .

An example of some arithmetic operators in Python can be found below [6] .

Comparison operators [ edit ]

Comparison operators, as their name implies, allow you to compare two values. [7]

An example of some conditional operators in PHP can be found below [8] .

An example of some conditional operators in Python can be found below [9] .

A video [ edit ]

This video references the C programming language and scratch, but the ideas about operators are excellent. In the case of conditionals, PHP and C share similar syntax (but not exact).

The way the IB wants you to use operators [ edit ]

Please know all code submitted to the IB (with the exception of object oriented programming option) is in pseudocode . The way we write operators in pseudocode is different than the way we might write them in the real world.

Click here to view a file describing approved notation, including pseudocode This is the approved notation sheet from the IB.

Below is a graphic that is taken from the above PDF file to help you understand how the IB wants operators to look.

Python operators cheatsheet [ edit ]

Click here for an excellent python cheatsheet

Standards [ edit ]

• Define the terms: variable, constant, operator, object.
• Define common operators.
• Analyse the use of variables, constants and operators in algorithms.

References [ edit ]

• ↑ http://www.flaticon.com/
• ↑ http://php.net/manual/en/language.operators.php
• ↑ https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Operators/Assignment_Operators
• ↑ https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Operators/Arithmetic_Operators
• ↑ http://php.net/manual/en/language.operators.arithmetic.php
• ↑ https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/basic-operators-python/
• ↑ https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.operators.comparison.php
• ↑ http://php.net/manual/en/language.operators.comparison.php

A natural number, a negative of a natural number, or zero.

anomalous or exceptional conditions requiring special processing – often changing the normal flow of program execution

Give the precise meaning of a word, phrase, concept or physical quantity.

Break down in order to bring out the essential elements or structure. To identify parts and relationships, and to interpret information to reach conclusions.

• Computational thinking
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Computer Science

• Sample Assignments

In addition to the flexibility which comes from the breadth of the computer science discipline, the computer scientist has a wide range of career options. Generally, careers that focus on the development of applications and specialized software for business and scientific areas require the Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree. With either degree, students are prepared for employment immediately after graduation. Students with an interest in the development of computer systems, including hardware and major software, will find that the Bachelor of Science degree provides a firm foundation for a career that may require a Master of Science degree and result in employment by a major computer manufacturer. A student hoping to perform advanced computing research or to be a university professor will find that the Ph.D. degree is essential.

The depth, breadth and flexibility of the computer science program includes the ability to apply classroom knowledge to real world projects as part of independent study, directed projects and regular classroom requirements. The following are a sampling of the recent projects students have been involved with

Video Game Creation

Students worked in groups for their final project to create a video game using Java Swing libraries. The project allowed them to apply their knowledge of data storage and organization to a real world software project, and produce readable documentation for a developer. Below are a couple of the projects: Snake, BlackJack and Pong:

Interactive Graphical User Interface

In a recent independent study, a senior computer science major developed an interactive graphical user interface (GUI) for molecular dynamics simulations. His GUI could visualize a molecule using three views while stepping through a simulation and checking results. The GUI was built with the TKInter libraries for Python, while the simulation was executed by the open source MDLab (mdlab.sourceforge.net) software.

Biology and the Game of Life

This course offered students a hands-on atmosphere for applied computing in the biological sciences and mathematics. By running simulations of biological cells using Conway’s Game of Life and the Cellular Potts Model (CPM), students study how the application of simple mathematical rules to behavioral entities result in patterns similar to those observed in nature. In the screenshots below, student projects captured foam bubble dispersion, cell sorting analogous to those in the eye, and the slime mould Dictyostelium Discoideum using CompuCell3D which runs the CPM:

Computer Architecture

Students explored the internal hardware of a computer and for their final project create a machine which can add two numbers using (shown below) breadboards, logic gates and LEDs. The LEDs illuminate to show the result of the addition.

Graphical User Interface Design

Students explored the various design issues which affect the appearance of a graphical user interface and provide the means by which a user may communicate with the underlying applications software, realizing that good design facilitates effective communication. Graphical user interface features such as mouse interaction, menus, dialog boxes, tool bars, error messaging and direct manipulation are evaluated and implemented.

In this particular assignment, students were asked to create simple word processing application in Java, using traditional GUI components, such as menus, dialog boxes, sliders, etc., from the Java Swing GUI widget toolkit.

Computer Graphics

Students were introduced to the theory and programming issues involved in rendering graphic images. Theory includes the physics of light and surfaces, surface illumination equations, and algorithms for rendering scenes using ray tracing. Visual surface algorithms, 3D viewing transformations and projections, anti-aliasing, 3D model transformation, illumination models, texture mapping, animation, and interactive graphic techniques are also presented.

In this assignment, students were asked to create an animation using a number of graphic objects, with one object demonstrating an attempt to model a real world object as accurately as possible. Object shape and surface properties, such as reflectance and texture, were chosen to realistically model the object. Another object had its surface appearance based at least partially upon the use of a two dimensional “texture” map. The project also demonstrates an object based animation as well as a camera based animation.

Evolutionary Computation

Students were encouraged to envision and implement projects in evolutionary computation that are of research level quality. Here is a sample student project, which after additional research and review led to a peer-reviewed publication at a major conference.

Project Title: Communication as a Model for Crossover in Genetic Algorithms

Abstract: We have created an evolutionary model of multiple ant colonies searching for a resource using swarm intelligence and a modified genetic algorithm. In place of the standard crossover we have employed a modified crossover which models communication; we call this a communicative GA (CGA). The communicative crossover operation sums up the moves of the most fit and least fit chromosome. The most frequent high move and low move are selected for altering. For each chromosome, the lowest move is changed into the highest fit chromosome’s most frequent allele. Statistics were recorded in each generation, including; max fitness, min fitness, the average fitness, the average number of generations it took to reach the resource, and the percent of variation of fitness. The statistics were compared to the same model implemented using a standard GA with a crossover.

Our model simulates N different ant colonies competing for one resource. We used N=4 colonies for our experiment. For illustrative purposes we have created a square shaped habitat. The ants’ path towards the resource originates from the colony and the ants may not go off the edge as seen in Figure 1. Six circular tiers were placed radiating outward from the resource representing some indicating factor from the resource. These tiers are used to calculate the fitness of each individual.

Creation of an Expert System

Students use an expert system shell to create expert systems in an area of their choice. Some of the most remarkable Expert Systems created include:

• Advising system for purchasing a boat
• What to do when a hurricane approaches
• Restaurant recommendation system
• Recommendation system for computer games
• Football head coach
• Academic Adviser
• Automobile troubleshooting system
• Recommendation system for music studio equipment
• Surf adviser
• Recommendation system where to spend your vacation
• Kelly R. Debure
• Michael L. Hilton
• Holger Mauch
• Why Computer Science at Eckerd College

Quick Contact

Dr. Kelly Debure Professor of Computer Science MPC 208 [email protected] 727-864-7749

St. Petersburg, Florida 33711 800.456.9009 or 727.867.1166

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