CCOM 3030 002 - Introduction to Computer Science - Fall 2025

Institution

University of Puerto Rico
Rio Piedras Campus
College of Natural Sciences
Department of Computer Science

Professor

Field Value
Name Humberto Ortiz-Zuazaga
Office NCL A-159
Laboratory NCL A-158
Telephone 787-764-0000 x88363
email humberto.ortiz@upr.edu
Web page http://ccom.uprrp.edu/~humberto/
Office hours M-F 2:00-3:00 PM
or by appointment

Description

This course provides a panoramic view of Computer Science through various areas of specialization (e.g. databases, operating systems, networks, artificial intelligence, bioinformatics). It presents foundations from which one can appreciate the relevance and the interrelation among different subjects of Computer Science. The course also provides an introduction to skills related to problem solving and general concepts of concurrent programming. You must get a grade of A or B in CCOM 3030 to take the course CCOM 3033.

Content

  • History of computers and their impact in society
  • Numeric systems
  • Boolean algebra and logic circuits
  • Data representation
  • Introduction to computer systems
  • Algorithms and programming
  • Student reports on a topic of Computer Science

Objectives

  1. Formulate problems and present solutions to them
  2. Understand how computers can be used to solve problems and tasks
  3. Understand how different areas of Computer Science relate to each other to create solutions to problems
  4. Use control structures (statements, selection, loops) in a programming language to implement algorithms
  5. Understand the fundamentals of computer science
  6. Write algorithms using different techniques, as flowcharts, pseudocodes and a high level language
  7. Use modular programming principles to implement in a programming language (i.e. define and use functions)
  8. Moore's law
  9. Critical regions
  10. Apreciate the impact of computer science on society
  11. Recognize the imporance of Boolean algebra on the development of hardware and software

Course Schedule

LW 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM

Instructional resources

Pyret https://code.pyret.org/

Learn UXN https://metasyn.srht.site/learn-uxn/

Textbook

A Data-Centric Introduction to Computing. Kathi Fisler, Shriram Krishnamurthi, Benjamin S. Lerner, Joe Gibbs Politz. https://dcic-world.org/

Introducción a programación uxn Compudanzas https://compudanzas.itch.io/introduccion-a-programacion-uxn

Software

All class projects can be completed with open source software: pyret, python, available from https://www.python.org/, and uxn.

Evaluation

Students work will be evaluated on a 100% basis with the standard curve.

  • Participation in class, 25% final grade
  • Assignments, 25% final grade
  • Technical report, 25% final grade
  • Poster or presentation, 25% final grade

Alternative Teaching Methods

Certification No. 112 (2014-2015) of the Governing Board defines a classroom course as a course in which 75% or more of the hours of instruction require the physical presence of the students and the teacher in the classroom. This means that 25% of a classroom course could be offered without requiring the physical presence of the students and the teacher in the classroom. If necessary, this course will be able to complete up to 25% of the contact hours (11.25 hours) on a non-face-to-face basis by alternative methods such as: videoconferences, instructional modules, discussion forums and others. If so, the calendar/agenda will be modified to include the topics that will be covered by alternative methods.

REGULATION ON DISCRIMINATION BY SEX AND GENDER IN THE FORM OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE

The University of Puerto Rico prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in any of its forms, including that of sexual harassment. According to the Institutional Policy Against Sexual Harassment at the University of Puerto Rico, Certification Num. 107, 2021-2022 from the Board of Governors, any student subjected to acts constituting sexual harassment, must tum to the Office of the Student Ombudsperson, the Office of the Dean of Students, and/or the Coordinator of the Office of Compliance with Title IX for an orientation and/or a formal complaint.

Reasonable accomodations for students

Students with disabilities properly registered with the Office of Affairs for Persons with Disabilities Oficina de Asuntos para la Persona con Impedimento (O.A.P.I.) should notify the professor at the start of the semester. The professor will make reasonable accommodations to support the student, in consultation with OAPI.

Academic integrity

The University of Puerto Rico promotes the highest standards of academic and scientific integrity. Article 6.2 of the UPR Student Bylaws (Certification JS 13 2009–2010) states that “academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to: fraudulent actions, obtaining grades or academic degrees using false or fraudulent simulations, copying totally or partially academic work from another person, plagiarizing totally or partially the work of another person, copying totally or partially responses from another person to examination questions, making another person to take any test, oral or written examination on his/hers behalf, as well as assisting or facilitating any person to incur in the aforementioned conduct”. Fraudulent conduct refers to “behavior with the intent to defraud, including but not limited to, malicious alteration or falsification of grades, records, identification cards or other official documents of the UPR or any other institution.” Any of these actions shall be subject to disciplinary sanctions in accordance with the disciplinary procedure, as stated in the existing UPR Student Bylaws.

DISCLAIMER: The above statement is an English translation, prepared at the Deanship of Academic Affairs of the Medical Sciences Campus, of certain parts of Article 6.2 of the UPR Student Bylaws “Reglamento General de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Puerto Rico”, (Certificación JS 13 2009-2010). It is in no way intended to be a legal substitute for the original document, written in Spanish.

References

  1. G. Anderson, D. Ferro & R. Hilton. Connecting with Computer Science, Thomson, 2010.
  2. J. G. Brooksshear. Computer Science: An Overview (12 Edition), Addison Wesley, 2014.
  3. N. Dale & J. Lewis. Computer Science Illuminated, Jones and Bartlett, 2012.
  4. Behrouz Forouzan, Firouz Mosharraf, Foundations of Computer Science, 2013.
  5. M. Guzdial, Introduction to Computing and Programming in Python (3rd Edition), Prentice Hall, 2012.
  6. Vahid. Digital Design with RTL Design, VHDL, and Verilog. Wiley. 2010
  7. G. M. Schneider & J. L. Gersting. Invitation to Computer Science, Thomson, 2012.
  8. L. Torres, Asistencia tecnológica: una posibilidad real, Isla Negra, 2002
  9. Revistas especializadas como las publicadas por la ACM y la IEEE.
  10. Denning, Peter J. Is computer science science?. Communications of the ACM 48.4 (2005): 27­31.
  11. Colección de Referencias de Ciencia de Cómputos. http://liinwww.ira.uka.de/bibliography/