Introduction to Computing

1. Introduction to Computing Nathan Friedman Fall, 2006 Computing for Engineers

2. Why Am I Taking This Course? Computing for Engineers

3. Why Am I Taking This Course? Reason #1: My faculty made me!! Computing for Engineers

4. Why Am I Taking This Course? Reason #1: My faculty made me!! Reason #2: I’m actually going to learn a lot of interesting new things Computing for Engineers

5. Why Am I Taking This Course? Reason #1: My faculty made me!! Reason #2: I’m actually going to learn a lot of interesting new things (Believe it or Not) Computing for Engineers

6. What Are We Going to Study? There are three components to this course Computing for Engineers

7. What Are We Going to Study? There are three components to this course • FORTRAN • C • Algorithms Computing for Engineers

8. FORTRAN Fortran was one of the first high level programming languages. It was designed to be used for scientific applications and has been updated several times. It remains an important language in the engineering community. We will spend about four weeks studying how to design and implement programs using Fortran Computing for Engineers

9. C We will spend four weeks studying a language called C. This language was developed in the 1970’s for systems programming applications. It is very powerful and efficient and very widely used in many applications areas including scientific and engineering computations. Many modern languages are based on C, making it a useful springboard to learning new languages Computing for Engineers

10. Algorithms There are many fundamental problems that arise in engineering and other areas of application. These include sorting data, searching for specific data values, numerical integration, finding roots of functions, solving ordinary differential equations and solving systems of linear equations We will spend about four weeks studying important algorithms for these problems. Computing for Engineers

11. Why Study This Stuff? Computers play a central role in almost every branch of engineering You will often have to put into practice the theoretical ideas you study in your courses. This may involve the use of software packages with limitations on their applicability. You may have to write programs during to modify or extend this software. Even using programs developed by others may require some knowledge of the programming process. Computing for Engineers

12. What if I never write a program again? Besides programming this course will give you: • A basis for interpreting and appraising the results and limitations of software • Tools for the analysis and design processes that underlie engineering practices • Sharper logical thinking and problem solving skills • Tools for scientific and mathematical applications Computing for Engineers

13. In short, this course will make you a better person Computing for Engineers

14. In short, this course will make you a better person Computing for Engineers

15. Course Staff This course is taught by a team that includes a course coordinator/lecturer, a lecturer for the second section and a number of teaching assistants. The lecturers will present the course material in the lectures and be available during office hours to assist you. The teaching assistants will run tutorials, assist you during their office hours and grade your assignments. Computing for Engineers

16. Instructors Nathan Friedman (course coordinator) nathan@cs.mcgill.ca MC325, (514) 398-7076 Yi Lin ylin30@cs.mcgill.ca MC105, (514) 398-7071 ext 0664 http://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~ylin30/courses/cs208/ Computing for Engineers

17. Teaching Assistants Nicolas Gervasi nick.gervasi@mcgill.ca Zouhair Mahboubi zouhair.mahboubi@mail.mcgill.ca Marina Malkova marina.malkova@gmail.com Omar Skalli omar.skalli@mail.mcgill.ca Computing for Engineers

18. Timetable • Lectures are Tuesday, Thursday 2:30-4:00 • Tutorials • Weekly tutorials will be held • Time and place to be announced • Attendance is not mandatory but highly recommended Computing for Engineers

19. Sections Assignments and tests will be the same for both sections of the course. You are free to attend whichever lecture you prefer Section 1 is taught by Nathan Friedman in ENGTR 0100 Section 2 is taught by Yi Lin in ENGTR 1080 Computing for Engineers

20. Computing Facilities • The Faculty of Engineering computers have all the software required for the course • The main facilities are in FDA 1 and MDHAR G15 • Software used in the course can also be downloaded from the class web site on WebCT Computing for Engineers

21. Computers in Engineering Please see the course description and outline that is available (in pdf format) on WebCT (at www.mcgill.ca/webct/) That document was prepared by Jean Francois Bastien, a former TA for the course. It will be an invaluable tool for you to use throughout the course. Computing for Engineers

22. Resources • Textbook FORTRAN, C and Algorithms by G. Ratzer and J. Vybihal • WebCT resources include • Lecture notes • Code for algorithms studied in class • Previous midterm and final examinations Computing for Engineers

23. Grading Assignments • There will be 3 assignments in Fortran and 3 in C • They will be worth 20% of the final grade Midterm • A 90 minute midterm will be held during class time • It will be worth 30% of the final grade Final Examination • A 3 hour final exam will be held at the end of term • It will be worth 50% of the final grade Computing for Engineers

24. Academic Integrity • You are encouraged to attend tutorials to get ideas for solving the assignments • You can discuss approaches to solving the problems • BUT: You must code the programs yourselves and not copy from anyone else • Copying all or portions of a program can be detected by software • If you copy an assignment, you will receive a zero on it • Please read the McGIl Code of Student Conduct at www.mcgill.ca/integrity for the University policy on cheating and plagiarism and disciplinary procedures Computing for Engineers

25. How do I Ace this course? • Prepare for lectures • Slides for the lectures will be available on WebCT for you to read and download • Ask questions about anything you find unclear Computing for Engineers

26. How do I Ace this course? • Prepare for lectures • Attend the tutorials • We will try and set times to accommodate as many of you as possible • This is an opportunity to see more examples, get pointers on how to approach assignments and benefit from the experience the TA’s have had with this course in the past Computing for Engineers

27. How do I Ace this course? • Prepare for lectures • Attend the tutorials • See the TA’s during lab hours (in FDA 1) Computing for Engineers

28. How do I Ace this course? • Prepare for lectures • Attend the tutorials • See the TA’s during lab hours • See your instructor during office hours • Don’t be afraid to ask questions • I will also try to answer emails within 24 hours Computing for Engineers

29. How do I Ace this course? • Prepare for lectures • Attend the tutorials • See the TA’s during lab hours • See your instructor during office hours • Do the assignments by yourself • The only way to learn how to program is to program • There is no substitute for practice Computing for Engineers

30. How do I Ace this course? • Prepare for lectures • Attend the tutorials • See the TA’s during lab hours • See your instructor during office hours • Do the assignments by yourself • Study using old midterms and finals as well as sample programs on WebCT Computing for Engineers

31. Let’s Get Started Computing for Engineers

32. A Brief History The Abacus is considered to be the first mechanical computing device Computing for Engineers

33. Mechanical Calculators • 1612 – John Napier used floating point arithmetic and invented the logarithm • 1622 – William Oughtred created the slide rule based on Napier’s logarithms. This was the primary calculator used by engineers until the 1960’s • 1642 – Blaise Pascal created a machine that could add and subtract, automatically carrying numbers Computing for Engineers

34. The Pascaline -- 1642 Computing for Engineers

35. Mechanical Calculators • 1612 – John Napier used floating point arithmetic and invented the logarithm • 1622 – William Oughtred created the slide rule based on Napier’s logarithms. This was the primary calculator used by engineers until the 1960’s • 1642 – Blaise Pascal created a machine that could add and subtract, automatically carrying numbers • 1673 – Gottfried Leibnitz built a calculator that could multiply as well Computing for Engineers

36. The Industrial Age Joseph-Marie Jacquard invented an automatic loom using punched cards to control patterns in the fabrics. (Leading to riots against replacing people by machines.) Computing for Engineers

37. Charles Babbage • 1822 – Charles Babbage designed the Difference Engine for comuputing navigational tables • 1833 – Designed the Analytical Engine that had the basic components used in a modern computer • 1847-1849 – Work on Difference Machine but technology too primitive to build it. In 1991 the Science Museum in London built it Computing for Engineers

38. Early Modern Machines • 1935-38 Konrad Zuse developed Z-1 and Z-2 computers using binary arithmetic • 1936-39 John Vincent Atanasoff and John Berry built ABC computer for solving linear systems in Physics. Introduced ALU and rewriting memory. Computing for Engineers

39. ENIACThe First Electronic Computer • 1943 Work started on ENIAC at University of Pennsylvania under John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert with Herman Goldstein • A general purpose computer used for computing artillery tables Computing for Engineers

40. ENIAC • Used 18,000 vacuum tubes • U shaped, 25m long, 2.5m high, 1m wide • Programmed by plugging cables and setting switches • From 1 hour to 1 day to program Computing for Engineers

41. Von Neumann Computer • 1944 – John von Neumann joined ENIAC team. • Credited with the idea of storing programs as numbers • 1945 – von Neumann proposed a stored program computer called EDVAC Computing for Engineers

42. The 1950’s • IBM produces series of computers with Jean Amdahl as chief architect • Memory upgraded to magnetic core memory, magnetic tapes and disks with movable read/write heads • 1957 – Fortran introduced • 1958 – Integrated Circuit invented Computing for Engineers

43. The 1960’s • 1963 – ASCII code introduced • 1965 – IBM/360 introduced using integrated circuits • 1965 – DEC introduced PDP-8, first minicomputer • 1969 – Work began on ARPAnet (the predecessor of the internet) Computing for Engineers

44. The Early 1970’s • 1971 – Intel 4004 the first microprocessor and the first floppy disk introduced • 1973 – Xerox invents Ethernet • 1775 – First PC, MITS Altair 8800 (no keyboard, no display, no auxilliary storage) • Bill Gates and Paul Allen wrote a BASIC compiler for the Altair, their first product Computing for Engineers

45. The Later 1970’s • 1976 – Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak develop Apple I in their parent’s garage • 1976 – Cray-1, first supercomputer announced Computing for Engineers

46. IBM PC • 1981 – IBM enters market with IBM PC based on Intel 8088 chip • Release of Microsoft DOS for the PC • 1982 Computer chosen by Time Magazine as “Man of the Year” Computing for Engineers

47. Apple Macintosh • 1984 – Macintosh introduced, based on Xerox Alto. The icon and mouse became the main tools for interacting with computers Computing for Engineers

48. INTERNETS • SUN • THE NETWORK IS THE COMPUTER • WHO NEXT? Computing for Engineers