Computer Science

Principles
CHAPTER 1 – COMPUTATIONAL THINKING
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Start reading Chapter 1 in the Conery textbook (Explorations in Computing)

Acknowledgement: These slides are revised versions of slides prepared by Prof. Arthur
Lee, Tony Mione, and Pravin Pawar for earlier CSE 101 classes. Some slides are based on
Prof. Kevin McDonald at SBU CSE 101 lecture notes and the textbook by John Conery.

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What is Computer Science
• Computer science is all about using computers and computing technology to solve
challenging, real-world problems in fields like science, medicine, business and society
• Computer science = computer programming ç Not True!
• Computer programming is an important aspect of computer science
• Computer programs often provide (parts of) the solutions to challenging technological
problems
• Computer science is also not:
• Computer literacy
• Computer maintenance/repair

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Computing systems
Let’s take a tour of modern computing systems
A computing system consists of two major parts: the hardware and the software
Some hardware elements of a computer:
◦ Screen, keyboard, mouse
◦ Central processing unit (CPU), main memory
◦ Hard drives and other storage units
Types of software:
◦ Applications software, like office productivity programs, video games, web browsers
◦ Systems software, like operating systems, database systems

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Computing systems
Can hardware exist without software?
◦ Sure, but is it useful?
◦ General Purpose CPUs [Intel x86, core i5, i7, etc.] Not really
◦ Specialized hardware [FPGAs, ASICs with functionality built into hardware] – Yes.
However, their functionality was developed with software tools

Can software exist without hardware?

◦ In a literal sense, no – hardware is needed to execute software
◦ But, the problem-solving techniques used by programmers to create software do exist
separately from the hardware and software
One more part to a computer system: data
◦ The software needs some kind of data to process: numbers, text, images, sound, video

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Quick History of
Computing

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A quick history of computing
• We think of computers as modern inventions, but computing devices go back
thousands of years and have many of the same basic features of modern digital
computers.
• Abacus – an early device to record numeric values and do basic arithmetic (16th
century B.C.)

What does an abacus have to do with laptops, smartphones and tablet computers???

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A quick history of computing
Modern computers borrow four important concepts from the abacus:
1. Storage
2. Data Representation
3. Calculation
4. User Interface

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A quick history of computing
1. Storage
◦ An abacus stores numbers, which are the most fundamental type of data in modern
computing.
◦ In a modern computer, all data – text, images, audio, video – is represented using binary
numbers (1s and 0s)
2. Data Representation
◦ The abacus represents numbers using beads on spindles.
◦ Modern computers employ a variety of techniques for representing data on storage media:
◦ Magnetic – e.g. used with hard disk drives (HDD)
◦ Optical – e.g. used with CDs, DVDs
◦ Electrical – e.g. used with solid-state drives (SSD)

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A quick history of computing
3. Calculation
◦ By moving beads on abacus spindles, user can perform addition, subtraction, multiplication,
and division
◦ Modern computers contain powerful central processing units that perform calculations at
astonishing speeds
4. User Interface
◦ The beads and spindles on the abacus
◦ Modern computers provide a wide variety of input and output devices for the user

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A quick history of computing
In the 17th century people began tinkering with physical devices that could do
computations and calculations
Blaise Pascal
◦ French mathematician and philosopher
◦ Designed and built a mechanical calculator
Calculator could only do addition and subtraction
◦ Input is given using dials
◦ Output is read on small windows above each dial

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Programmable devices
• Pascal’s calculator and other similar devices of that time
were not programmable
• One of the first programmable devices in history was a loom
• Joseph Marie Jacquard’s loom (1804) could be programmed
by feeding in a set of punched cards

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Programmable devices
Another leap forward came in the 19th century with
Charles Babbage’s design of the Analytical Engine – a
mechanical, programmable computer
• It was never actually built in Babbage’s time due to a
lack of manufacturing capabilities
• Design called for punched cards to be fed into the
machine to program it to perform mathematical
calculations
• Output would go to a printer or more punched cards

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Programmable computers
Now, move forward to the 20th and 21st centuries

A modern computer is defined by three basic requirements

1. Must be electronic and not exclusively mechanical.

2. Must be digital, not analog

Digital devices use discrete values (digits), not a continuous range of values to represent
data. (i.e. digital vs mercury-based thermometer)

3. Must employ the stored-program concept

The device can be reprogrammed by changing the instructions stored in the memory of
the computer

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Programmable computers
ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)
• Built in the 1940s
• Among the first computers to employ the stored-program
concept

Modern computers have four major components:

• Input device(s)
• Output device(s)
• Memory – for data storage, both temporary & permanent
• Processor – for doing computations

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Programmable computers
Again, the stored-program concept is the idea that programs (software) along with their
data are stored (saved) in the memory of a computer
• Not referring to storage on hard drives, flash drives or CDs
• Referring to main memory of the computer, sometimes called the RAM (random
access memory)

A modern processor
• Reads the machine instructions stored as 1s and 0s in the main memory
• Executes those instructions in sequence
• Key point: these instructions can be changed to reprogram the computer to do new
tasks

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Transistors
A variety of devices have been used to represent digits and to control the operation of
computing machines
In the 1940s:
◦ Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley invented the transistor, which is an electronic switch with no
moving parts
In the 1950s and 1960s:
◦ Kilby, Noyce, and others used transistors to develop integrated circuits
◦ Devised a way to manufacture thousands – later, millions and billions – of transistors on a single
wafer of silicon
A single chip contains:
◦ An integrated circuit
◦ A ceramic or plastic case
◦ External pins to attach it to a circuit board

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Transistors
Noyce and businessman Gordon Moore commercialized this technology by co-founding
Intel Corporation in 1968
Manufacturing technologies improved in the 1950s and 1960s:
◦ Engineers were able to pack many more transistors per unit area on silicon wafers
◦ Moore’s law: Moore observed that the number of transistors within an integrated circuit was
doubling about every 2 years.
◦ The trend continued for around 40 years.
◦ But transistors can be only so small!

Combating miniaturization challenges:

◦ Intel, AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) and others now make processors that feature multiple
processing cores that perform calculations in parallel with each other

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Modern computer architecture
The stored program approach used today is implemented using von Neumann
architecture, named after U.S. mathematician John von Neumann
This architecture contains input devices, output devices, a processor and a memory unit
Will now look at how they work together
to form a functioning computer

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Modern computer architecture
In modern computers (PCs), the major components in a von Neumann machine
reside physically in a circuit board called the motherboard
• The CPU, memory, expansion cards and other components are plugged into
slots so they can be replaced
• Hard drives, CD drives, and other storage devices are connected to the
motherboard through cables
The central processing unit (CPU) is the “brain” of the machine
• Its arithmetic/logic unit (ALU) performs millions or billions of calculations per
second
• The control unit is the main organizing force of the computer and directs the
operation of the ALU

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 Modern computer architecture
Optical Drives
CPU

Hard Drives
RAM
Video Controller
Card
Expansion Slots

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The fetch-decode-execute cycle
The system sends electrical signals that encode machine instructions and data
• The CPU fetches the instructions and data from memory as needed
• The control unit decodes each instruction to figure out what it is (an addition operation,
subtraction, etc.)
• Data values (e.g., numbers to be added and their resultant sum) are stored temporarily in
memory cells called registers within the CPU
• The ALU executes the instruction, saving the result in the registers and main memory

This whole process is known as the fetch-decode-execute cycle

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The fetch-decode-execute cycle

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What about the software?
Software consists of instructions for the CPU to execute
• CPUs “understand” something called machine language, which consists of 0s
and 1s
• A single instruction for a modern computer might consist of some
combination of 32 or 64 0s and 1s

Most programming done today uses high-level programming languages, which

consist of English and English-like words and some mathematical notation

We will learn the basics of Python, a popular, easy-to-learn, high-level

programming language

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Computational Thinking

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What is computational thinking?
è How computer scientists think – how they reason and work through problems

Computer science encompasses many sub-disciplines that support the goal of solving problems:
• Computer theory areas è these are the heart and soul of computer science
• Algorithms
• Data structures
• Computer systems areas
• Hardware design
• Operating systems
• Networks
• Computer software and applications
• Software engineering
• Programming languages
• Databases
• Artificial intelligence
• Computer graphics

A major goal of this course is to help you develop your computational thinking and problem solving skills

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A modern computing problem
Electronic health records are very important
Consider issues (technical + others) that arise providing a system to medical
professionals and others who need access to digital medical records:
◦ What data will be stored? How? In what format?
◦ How will the data be accessed and displayed?
◦ Who will have access? How will the data be secured?
◦ How will the data be backed up and preserved?

Answering these questions requires computational thinking

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A classic problem: Sorting data
Sorting: an important problem – arises frequently in computer science
• Suppose there is a deck of cards to be put in order
• Example: We have the Ace up to 8 of Hearts
Given:

Want the following:

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A classic problem: Sorting data
You want to explain to a young child how to put the cards in order
◦ What steps would you give?

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A classic problem: Sorting data
One sorting technique is called selection sort
• It repeatedly searches for and swaps cards in the list

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Selection sort
First, find the smallest item and exchange it with the card in the first position

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Selection sort
Select the smallest item and exchange it with the card in the first position

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Selection sort
How the cards appear after the exchange:

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Selection sort
Next, select the second-smallest item and exchange it with the card in the 2nd position

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Selection sort
Select the second-smallest item and exchange it with the card in the 2nd position

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Selection sort
How the cards appear after the exchange:

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Selection sort
Continue in this fashion, selecting the third-smallest, fourth-smallest, etc., until the
cards are sorted

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Selection sort
Continue in this fashion, selecting the third-smallest, fourth-smallest, etc., until the
cards are sorted

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Selection sort
Continue in this fashion, selecting the third-smallest, fourth-smallest, etc., until the
cards are sorted

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Selection sort
Continue in this fashion, selecting the third-smallest, fourth-smallest, etc., until the
cards are sorted

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Selection sort
Continue in this fashion, selecting the third-smallest, fourth-smallest, etc., until the
cards are sorted

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Selection sort
Continue in this fashion, selecting the third-smallest, fourth-smallest, etc., until the
cards are sorted

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Selection sort
Continue in this fashion, selecting the third-smallest, fourth-smallest, etc., until the
cards are sorted

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Selection sort
Continue in this fashion, selecting the third-smallest, fourth-smallest, etc., until the
cards are sorted

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Selection sort
Continue in this fashion, selecting the third-smallest, fourth-smallest, etc., until the
cards are sorted

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Selection sort
Continue in this fashion, selecting the third-smallest, fourth-smallest, etc., until the
cards are sorted

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Selection sort
Continue in this fashion, selecting the third-smallest, fourth-smallest, etc., until the
cards are sorted

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Selection sort
Continue in this fashion, selecting the third-smallest, fourth-smallest, etc., until the
cards are sorted

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Different Technique: Insertion Sort
Another sorting technique is insertion sort
• It repeatedly inserts the “next” card into its correct spot

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Insertion sort
Begin by leaving the first card (#5) where it is

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Insertion sort
•The second card (#3) is smaller than the first card
•Insert it in front of the first card

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Insertion sort
•The second card (#3) is smaller than the first card
•Insert it in front of the first card

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Insertion sort
•The third card (#6) is larger than the first two cards
•So, it does not need to move

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Insertion sort
•The fourth card (#1) is smaller than the first three cards
•Insert it in front of the first card, shifting the others

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Insertion sort
•The fourth card (#1) is smaller than the first three cards
•Insert it in front of the first card, shifting the others

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Insertion sort
•The fifth card (#7) is larger than the first four cards
•So, it does not need to move

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Insertion sort
•The sixth card (#4) should be inserted in between the second (#3) and third (#5) cards

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Insertion sort
•The sixth card (#4) should be inserted in between the second (#3) and third (#5) cards

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Insertion sort
•The seventh card (#8) is larger than the first six cards
•So, we don’t need to move it

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Insertion sort
•The eighth card (#2) should be inserted in between the first (#1) and second (#3) cards

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Insertion sort
•The eighth card (#2) should be inserted in between the first (#1) and second (#3) cards

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Insertion sort
•The eighth card (#2) should be inserted in between the first (#1) and second (#3) cards

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Sorting algorithms
We saw there can be different ways to solve the same computational problem
◦ è can derive many different algorithms for sorting
Algorithm:
◦ A set of concrete steps
◦ Steps solve a problem or accomplish some task
◦ Solve in a finite amount of time
The Selection Sort and Insertion Sort algorithms are only two ways of sorting a list of
values
New problem: You want to sort a list of student records by their GPAs.
◦ Would both of these algorithms work?
◦ Yes! A sign of a good algorithm is that it is general è can solve a variety of similar problems

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Limits of Computation
What a computer can do: What a computer cannot do:

Send email to a person if email address is Find email of a person we met at a coffee
known. shop.

Calculate different investment options Choose a perfect investment or predict the

based on historical data. future of companies.

Find information about colleges offering Make a perfect decision on the best school to
computer science courses. attend.

Solve well defined problems. Solve ambiguous problems.

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Intractable Problems
If a computer tries to analyze every possible sequence of moves in response to this
opening in a game of chess, it will have to consider over 1043 games.
If a computer could solve one trillion combinations per second, it will compute the
perfect game of chess if we are patient enough to wait 1021 years.

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To sum up…
Computer science is the discipline of how to solve problems using computers
We strive for efficient, general solutions that will work on a wide variety of
problems
Although computer science has existed as a field for about 70 years, its roots in
mathematics and computation go back thousands of years!
CS is a field that relies partly on old mathematical ideas but experiences
advances in development of new techniques at an extraordinary pace
This semester you will be exposed to many of the modern topics in CS and some
of the older mathematical content that is still very relevant today

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