COMS W1005 Course Homepage 2010

Introduction to Computer Science and Programming in MATLAB

Syllabus

Topics are listed according to the computer-science curriculum, with tentative examples covered in brackets.

  1. Introduction: Administration. Why computer science and programming? Calculating with MATLAB (the MATLAB environment, built-in numeric functions and operators, command history) [calculate BMI]
  2. Using variables (motivation, practice, conventions, several MATLAB commands, saving workspace) [E=mc2,BMI calculator, bank]
  3. Writing programs (motivation, practice, editing, saving, conventions, commenting,  printing, debugging ) [BMI calculator, quadratic equation]
  4. Writing your own functions (motivation, practice, conventions, namespace) [BMI calculator, genetic risk]
  5. Vectors with data (motivation, access and assignment, properties, visualization – plots , operators, builtin functions, strings, input and printf) [genome statistics, GC content]
  6. Matrices with data (motivation, access and assignment, properties, visualization, operators, builtin functions, random numbers, vectors of strings) [translation, translation, gene expression]
  7. Selection statements (motivation, conditionals, errors, switches)
  8. Files (motivation, saving and loading tabular data) [gene expression]
  9. GUI [evolution]
  10. loops, algorithms)[evolution, ungapped sequence comparison, biochemical reaction simulation]
  11. Matlab solvers MATLAB modules, [reaction kinetics]
  12. Recursion [evolution]
  13. Structures [Gene annotation]
  14. Cell arrays [Gene and exon annotation]
  15. Writing larger projects[High throughput sequencing]

Pre-requisites

None. The course is aimed at non-Computer-Science students, seeking to acquire computing skills to support other research and analysis in non-CS careers. No previous knowledge is assumed in computer science, but basic proficiency in college-level mathematics is.

Mode of Instruction

Course intended for very hands-on work on practical exercises.

Grading

Problem sets 40% [Submitted through courseworks]
Midterm        25%
Final             35%

Administration

  • Teacher: Itsik Pe'er
  • Time: TuTh 1:10p - 2:25p
  • Regular place: 717 Hamilton Hall (TBA)
  • All course material is being accumulated on CourseWorks , so please see there for the most up-to-date content.

FAQ

  1. Q: What are the office hours?
    A: See my contacts.
  2. Q: Is there a book with the course material?
    A: Yes. We will be generally following MATLAB - a practical introduction to programming and problem solving by Stormy Attaway, ISBN     9780750687621. Additional recommended reading will be the MATLAB Documentation and Mastering MATLAB 7 by Duane C. Hanselman, Bruce L. Littlefield, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-143018-1