CSci 127: Introduction to Computer Science - Course Notes and Syllabus Overview
General Course Information and Administrative Details
Department and Institution: Department of Computer Science, Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY).
Course Identifier: CSci 127: Introduction to Computer Science.
Academic Term: Fall 2025.
Course Overview: A foundational introductory course in computer science, taught primarily in Python.
Course Announcements: Enrolled students must consult Brightspace for all official course announcements.
Credit by Examination / Test-out Option:
Students who already possess mastery of the course material (as outlined in the course schedule and past final examinations) may earn departmental credit by passing the credit by exam / test-out exam.
Detailed information, including upcoming summer test-out dates, is available on the departmental website under credit by exam.
Weekly Lecture Schedule:
Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 10:00am–11:15am.
Start Date: August 26.
Lecture Location: 118 HN (Assembly Hall, 1st floor of the North Building).
File Stamp: Syllabus document last modified on December 9, 2025.
Lab Operations, Tutoring, and Special Course Sections
Weekly Lab, Quiz, and Code Review Location:
Lab Location: 1001E HN (10th floor of the North Building).
Attendance Options: Self-scheduled appointments via Navigate or drop-in tutoring.
Lab Opening Date: Opens for the semester on Tuesday, August 26.
Peer-Mentoring and Tutoring Hours:
Location: 1001E HN (active when classes are in session).
Monday through Thursday: 11:30am–5:15pm.
Friday: 11:30am–2:30pm.
Honors Sections Details:
Maucauly Honors College: Enrolled under HC1 (5160/5168); governed by the honors syllabus.
Daedalus Scholars Program: Enrolled under XCS1 (5164/5166); governed by the honors syllabus.
Honors Section Instructor / Lecturer: Melissa Lynch.
College Now Section Details:
Target Audience: High school students taking the course on Saturdays.
Enrollment Identifier: CN1 (5158/5159).
Administrative Details: Available on the College Now website.
Comprehensive Weekly Schedule: Weeks 0 to 4
Week 0 (8/19–8/25):
Topics: Course Tools; Setting up at home.
Handouts: Installation Guides.
Coursework: Lab 0, Quiz 0.
Reading: N/A.
Week 1 (8/26–9/2):
Topics: Class Policies: Syllabus & Introductions; Introduction to Python: definite loops, simple output, primitive data types, overview of objects & modules; What is an algorithm? Getting started with Python & IDLE.
Lecturer: Melissa Lynch (Daedalus Honors Section Instructor).
Handouts: Syllabus, Hello, World, Hexagon example, Fancier hexagon, Homework List.
Coursework: Lab 1, Code Review 1, Quiz 1, Programs 1–5.
Reading: Think CS: Chapter 1 & Chapter 4.
Key Dates & Schedule Events:
Tuesday, 8/26: 1001E HN Lab Opens for the Semester.
Monday, 9/1: No Classes (Labor Day).
Week 2 (9/2–9/8):
Topics: Strings & Lists: looping through strings, console I/O, ASCII representation, string methods; Problem solving and the design process (simple parsing and translating).
Handouts: Loop Puzzle 1, Loop Puzzle 2, for-loop examples, input() example.
Coursework: Lab 2, Code Review 2, Quiz 2, Programs 6–10.
Reading: Think CS: Chapter 2 & Chapter 3.
Week 3 (9/9–9/15):
Topics: Slicing Challenges, Color Challenges; Arithmetic; Indexing & Slicing; Colors & Hexadecimal notation; Arrays and image processing in numpy.
Handouts: Arithmetic Challenge.
Coursework: Lab 3, Quiz 3, Code Review 3, Programs 11–15.
Reading: Think CS: Section 8.11 & Chapter 11, Numpy tutorial (DataCamp).
Week 4 (9/16–9/29):
Topics: More on Lists & Arrays: List Comprehensions; Decisions; Programming with decisions & files (flood maps).
Handouts: Loop & Slice Challenges, Decision Challenges, turtleString.py.
Coursework: Lab 4, Quiz 4, Code Review 4, Programs 16–20.
Reading: Think CS: Chapter 7, Section 10.23 & Chapter 11.
Key Dates & Schedule Events:
Monday–Wednesday, 9/22–9/24: Lab closed (no tutoring, quizzes, or code reviews available).
Comprehensive Weekly Schedule: Weeks 5 to 9
Week 5 (9/30–10/7):
Topics: Logical Expressions & Circuits; More on Decisions (snow pack); CS Survey presentation by Elise Harris (Tech Career Success Director, Hunter College).
Handouts: Logical Expressions Challenges, Basic Gates, Circuit Challenge1, CircuitVerse (blank workspace).
Coursework: Lab 5, Quiz 5, Code Review 5, Programs 21–25.
Reading: Think CS: Chapter 7, Burch's Logic & Circuits, Explain Logic Gates.
Key Dates & Schedule Events:
Wednesday–Thursday, 10/1–10/2: No Classes (Lab closed: no tutoring, quizzes, or code reviews available).
Week 6 (10/7–10/20):
Topics: Accessing formatted data via standard libraries: Images & CSV files (numpy, matplotlib, & pandas); Shell Scripts & GitHub; Design Pattern: Max & Accumulator (in final exam review).
Handouts: String Challenge, Arithmetic Challenges, Logical Operators & List Comprehensions.
Coursework: Lab 6, Quiz 6, Code Review 6, Programs 26–30.
Reading: Think CS: Chapter 6, 10-minutes to Pandas Tutorial, DataCamp Pandas Tutorial, UC Berkeley's Pandas Tutorial, Ubuntu Terminal Reference Sheet.
Key Dates & Schedule Events:
Monday, 10/13: College Closed.
Tuesday, 10/14: Classes follow Monday Schedule (No Lecture).
Week 7 (10/21–10/27):
Topics: More on Pandas: Selection; Using OpenData NYC (shelter data & parking tickets); Structuring Programs with main() functions; Python's zip; Python from the command line.
Additional Lecturer: Savannah Thais (NYC Open Data, Honors Section Instructor).
Handouts: Hello with main(), Tax Example, Jam example, Greet Example.
Coursework: Lab 7, Quiz 7, Code Review 7, Programs 31–35.
Reading: Chapter 6, 10-minutes to Pandas Tutorial, DataCamp Pandas Tutorial.
Key Dates & Schedule Events:
Friday, 10/24: Classes follow Monday Schedule.
Week 8 (10/28–11/3):
Topics: Programming with Functions, Top-down Design; Dictionaries; Design Pattern: Finding Duplicates; Regular expressions (command line).
Handouts: Month String Example, Dessert Example, Mock S23 Example, List Example, Nested Triangles, koalas.
Coursework: Lab 8, Quiz 8, Code Review 8, Programs 36–40.
Reading: Think CS: Chapter 6 and Chapter 12.
Week 9 (11/4–11/10):
Topics: Mapping GIS Data with Plotly Express; Indefinite Loops; Error Checking; Finding Errors, Checking Style & Code Quality (pylint).
Handouts: Sisters Example, Max Num, Swapping Example.
Coursework: Lab 9, Quiz 9, Code Review 9, Programs 41–45.
Reading: Think CS: Chapter 6, Plotly Maps.
Comprehensive Weekly Schedule: Weeks 10 to 14
Week 10 (11/11–11/17):
Topics: Random Number Generation & Simulations; Design Pattern: Max; More on command line scripts; CS Survey presentation by Prof. Susan Epstein (Hunter College).
Handouts: Random Walk, Search for Center.
Coursework: Lab 10, Quiz 10, Code Review 10, Programs 46–50.
Reading: Think CS: Chapter 8.
Week 11 (11/18–11/24):
Topics: Python Recap; Simplified Machine Language; Design Pattern: Searching; WeMIPS.
Additional Lecturer: Anany Srivastava (senior TA).
Handouts: Search, Human Resource Machine, WeMIPS Emulator.
Coursework: Lab 11, Quiz 11, Code Review 11, Programs 46–50.
Reading: U Idaho reference sheet, MIPS Wikibooks.
Week 12 (11/25–12/1):
Topics: Introduction to C++: program structure, data representation and I/O.
Handouts: cin/cout example (C++), Kg/Lbs example (C++), Loops example (C++), Growth example (C++), Nested loops example (C++), Guide to C++.
Coursework: Lab 12, Quiz 12, Code Review 12, Programs 51–55.
Reading: Cplusplus Tutorial, C++ Tutorials Point, The Rook's Guide to C++.
Key Dates & Schedule Events:
Thursday–Friday, 11/27–11/28: No Classes (Lab closed: no tutoring, quizzes, or code reviews available).
Week 13 (12/2–12/8):
Topics: C++: loops, conditionals & logical expressions; Semester Recap.
Additional Lecturer: Isabel Stec (HCI instructor).
Handouts: Decision example (C++), Logical Expressions (C++), Input Checking (C++), Input Checking, II (C++), Growth Example (C++).
Coursework: Lab 13, Quiz 13, Code Review 13, Programs 56–60.
Reading: Cplusplus Tutorial, C++ Tutorials Point, The Rook's Guide to C++.
Week 14 (12/9–12/15):
Topics: Mock Exam.
Handouts: Exam Information.
Coursework: Quiz 14, Code Review 14, Programs 56–60.
Reading: Exam Information.
Key Dates & Schedule Events:
Monday, 12/15: 1001E HN Lab Closes for the Semester.
Academic Calendar Exceptions and Final Examination
Schedule Exceptions and Holidays:
Tuesday, August 26: 1001E HN Lab Opens for the Semester.
Monday, September 1: Labor Day (No Classes).
Monday, September 22 – Wednesday, September 24: Lab closed (no tutoring, quizzes, or code reviews available).
Wednesday, October 1 – Thursday, October 2: No Classes (Lab closed: no tutoring, quizzes, or code reviews available).
Monday, October 13: College Closed.
Tuesday, October 14: Classes follow a Monday Schedule (No Lecture held).
Friday, October 24: Classes follow a Monday Schedule.
Thursday, November 27 – Friday, November 28: No Classes (Lab closed: no tutoring, quizzes, or code reviews available).
Monday, December 15: 1001E HN Lab Closes for the Semester.
Final Examination Details:
Date: Monday, December 22.
Time: 9:00am–11:00am.
Location: Assembly Hall (118 HN).
Associated Coursework / Materials: Exam Information.