LE/EECS1015: Introduction to Computer Science and Programming

[!WARNING]
Per the academic calendar, Fall classes end on Tuesday December 3, 2024. As a result, there will be no more lab sessions.

Note: This repository will no longer be maintained after December 15, 2024. I may post some exam review if some students reach out.

Final Words: It has been a rewarding experience having had the opportunity to be your TA. Thank you all for being such wonderful students! I wish you all the best in your future courses and endeavours 😊.

Welcome to LE/EECS 1015 Section A (LAB 04)! The goal of this repository is to help students familiarize themselves with programming in Python to solve computational problems. You will learn about data types, control structures, and data structures.

Contact Information

For logistical inquiries, please reach out to eecs1015fall2024@gmail.com.

Helpful Resources

1. Course-Related Materials
   • Lecture Programs / Lab Files
   • TA Slides
   • TA Demos
2. Video Tutorials
   • String methods in Python are easy 〰️
3. Programming IDE
   • Wing IDE: The recommended IDE for complete beginners!
   • Visual Studio Code: A decent IDE for people with pre-existing experience. It is fairly self-contained, however, things can begin to get difficult when dealing with large-scale projects sometimes.
   • PyCharm: A comprehensive toolkit with moving parts and cool gizmos designed for large-scale projects.
4. Documentation & Cheat Sheets
   • TBD
5. Textbooks & Miscellaneous References
   • Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist
   • Python for Everyone
   • Letters to a New Student: Tips to Study Smarter from a Psychologist (Gary W. Wood)
   • LeetCode: Practice Problems
   • CodingBat: Practice Problems

Frequently Asked Questions / Troubleshooting

Session 1: Friday September 20

Task	Submission	Resources
Create an EECS activ8 account	Recorded on eClass (No Submission)	Account Creation
PrarieLearn Sign-Up	Recorded on eClass (No Submission)	Use your my.yorku.ca email to register with PrarieLearn
Set Up Coding Environment	eClass Submission	Wing IDE or PyCharm
General Q&A	No Submission	Ask me questions, let me know how you are doing in the course! 😊

Commonly Asked Questions

1. Where do I submit Lab 1 (Task 3)? I cannot find it on eClass!

   • You can find the submission box from the course calendar. Make sure that you look under Friday, 20 September 2024.

Session 2: Friday September 27

Task	Submission
Task 1: Follow the Steps (/30)	PrarieLearn
Task 2: Debugging (/30)	PrarieLearn
Task 3: Implementation (Donuts) (/10)	PrarieLearn
Task 4: Implementation (Course Grade) (/10)	PrarieLearn
Task 5: Implementation (BMI) (/10)	PrarieLearn
Task 6: Implementation (Average of Min and Max) (/10)	PrarieLearn

Commonly Asked Questions

1. For Q1, do I submit all of the components?

   • No, please only submit the last component to PrarieLearn.

2. How do I convert a data type from one type to another? (e.g., float to integer)

   • You should refer to functions such as int(...) or float(...).

3. How do I get the maximum number from Lab 1 and Lab 2?

   • You can technically use if-else, however, I encourage you to take a look at the in-built functions that Python supports.

4. How do I round a float to two decimal places?

   • Please read the documentation for the round(...) function.

Session 3: Friday October 4

Task	Hints	Submission
Task 1: Follow the Steps (/30)	N/A	PrarieLearn
Task 2: Debugging (XOR) (/30)	Think about logical equivalence!	PrarieLearn
Task 3: Implementation (Tickets) (/10)	Break it down. Think about each of the conditions in isolation first.	PrarieLearn
Task 4: Implementation (Phone Number) (/10)	Break it down. Think about the requirements in isolation first.	PrarieLearn
Task 5: Implementation (Full Name) (/4)	NA	PrarieLearn
Task 6: Implementation (Last Name) (/8)	Conceptually, it is straightforward, however, you must think about boundary conditions.	PrarieLearn
Task 7: Implementation (First Name) (/8)	Conceptually, it is straightforward, however, you must think about boundary conditions.	PrarieLearn

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask me during the scheduled lab session!! 🙌

Commonly Asked Questions

1. I am struggling with the phone number validation. Can you give me a hint?
   • Break the problem down. First, check that the String is made up of the proper characters (numbers, brackets, and dashes).
   • If this passes, then you need to ensure that the length-requirement is met. Only consider the numerical characters.

Session 4: Friday October 11

Task	Hints	Submission
Task 1: Follow the Steps (/30)	N/A	PrarieLearn
Task 2: Debugging ($x^2 - y^2$) (/30)	NA	PrarieLearn
Task 3: Implementation (Wheels) (/10)	NA	PrarieLearn
Task 4: Implementation (Tickets) (/10)	NA	PrarieLearn
Task 5: Implementation (XOR) (/10)	NA	PrarieLearn
Task 6: Implementation ($x^2 - y^2$) (/10)	Write each assertion one at a time. Consider the ordering of each assertion prior to writing any code.	PrarieLearn

Commonly Asked Questions

1. I am confused by the method signature. What are argument annotations? How do I specify the return type of a function?

   Please see the example below.

   def check_for_good_vibes(bio: str) -> bool:
      return True
   

   Essentially, the method signature tells us (1) the data type you expect for each argument, and (2) what data type the function is expected to return.

   In the above example, the function check_for_good_vibes(bio) expects one argument with a string data type. It is expected to return a boolean value (True, False).

2. For Task 1, I have copied the code but my doctest is failing! Why is this happening to me!?

   Please make sure that you have copied it exactly. Whitespaces and individual character differences from the existing code will throw errors. Doctest is very sensitive, haha.

3. I am totally lost for task 6: $x^2 - y^2$... Can you offer me some guidance?

   Read the instructions carefully. Before you start writing any code, consider the order of assertions that makes sense to test for.

   Do not try to write one single assertion to handle all of the test cases!!!! Break it down into components.

Session 5: Friday October 25

Task	Hints	Submission
Task 1: Follow the Steps (/30)	N/A	PrarieLearn
Task 2: Debugging (/30)	N/A	PrarieLearn
Task 3: Implementation (Store Revenue) (/10)	N/A	PrarieLearn
Task 4: Implementation (Food Rivals) (/10)	N/A	PrarieLearn
Task 5: Implementation (Absolute Value) (/10)	N/A	PrarieLearn
Task 6: Implementation (Even Numbers)(/10)	N/A	PrarieLearn

Commonly Asked Questions

1. I am having difficulty understanding how to solve Task 2. Why does the code not work properly? How can I fix it?

   Firstly, it is important to understand that the variables x and y are global. This means that the state of the variables are shared across all of the functions and main method.

   Now, given this, take a look at function1 and function2.

   function1 relies on y to instantiate x.

   This means that we must initialize the value of y first before we assign x.

2. For Task 4, how should I be decomposing the given function into smaller components? Can you give me some advice?

   Try to think about the code structure in terms of maintainability. Consider if it would be easier to debug code and write unit tests if independent functions are responsible for calculating yours and the opponents scores!

Session 6: Friday November 1

1. The exam will be in-person, running for 90 minutes.
2. You will only be allowed to use the lab computers. This means that you must set up an EECS account. If you haven't done so, please see: https://webapp.eecs.yorku.ca/activ8/
3. The structure of the midterm is as follows, covering material from Weeks 1 - 7 (including Functions III):
   • 10 Multiple-Choice
   • 2 Coding Questions
   • 1 Debugging Question
4. The test is closed-book. Once the test begins, the desktops will enter lab-test mode. You will have limited internet access and all of your files saved in /home/ will be unavailable.

Good luck, you've got this!!

Session 7: Friday November 8

Task	Hints	Submission
Task 1: Follow the Steps (/30)	N/A	PrarieLearn
Task 2: Debugging (/30)	N/A	PrarieLearn
Task 3: Implementation (Leibniz) (/10)	Make sure that you enforce proper order of operations!	PrarieLearn
Task 4: Implementation (Caesar) (/10)	Make sure that you account for the shift going past the original end of the alphabet. In ASCII, A - Z is synonymous with 65 - 90 (ASCII). While this can be done in many ways, using a List may make things more clear.	PrarieLearn
Task 5: Implementation (Reverse String) (/10)	N/A	PrarieLearn
Task 6: Implementation (Remove Vowels) (/10)	N/A	PrarieLearn

Commonly Asked Questions

1. I am having problems with Task 3. Why are my summations negative?