CSci 370

Fall 2012

Schedule of lectures, readings, and exams

This is a tentative schedule of lectures and readings, and is likely to change as we progress through the semester.  I will try and keep exam dates fixed (and will provide adequate notice of changes in exam dates), but all else is subject to change.  The date and time of the final exam is, of course, set by the University and is not subject to change.  Please see The Official Schedule  for details of the schedule for University events.  Please note that if any date in the following conflicts with the official schedule and exam schedules, the official schedules apply.

I intend, this semester, to revisit this schedule from time to time to make adjustments to it.  Please check back occasionally.  For more up-to-date information, please consult the This Week and Next Week pages

Last updated:  8/5/2012

Fall 2012 Exam Schedule:

• Exam #1 will be Friday, September 28
• Exam #2 will be Friday, October 19
• Exam #3 will be Friday, November 16
• The final exam for CSci 370 is scheduled for Friday, December 14, 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM.  It will be a mandatory, two-hour, in class, comprehensive exam. University regulations require that all students take the final exam at this date and time.  The exam will be held in our usual classroom (Thompson 383).

All exams (including the final exam) will be held in our usual classroom (Thompson 383).

Week 1:  Monday, August 27

• Topics
• Introduction to the course
• Mathematical preliminaries
• Reading
• Chapter 0
• Other Notes
• Classes begin Monday, August 27
• Monday of next week is Labor Day (no classes or office hours).

Week 2:  Monday, September 3

• Topics
• Finite State Automata (FSA)
• Reading
• Sections 1.1 - 1.2
• Other Notes
• Monday is Labor Day (no classes or office hours)
• Office hours begin this week.

Week 3:  Monday, September 10

• Topics
• Nondeterministic FSA
• Regular Expressions
• Reading
• Sections 1.2 - 1.3
• Other Notes
• Monday is the last day to drop without record.

Week 4:  Monday, September 17

• Topics
• The Pumping Lemma for FSA
• Applications of finite state automata to compilation
• Reading
• Section 1.4
• Other Notes
• No classes or office hours Thursday, September 20 (instructor has a doctor's appointment)
• Exam #1 will be next Friday, September 28

Week 5:  Monday, September 24

• Topics
• Context Free Grammars (CFG)
• Context Free Languages (CFL)
• Reading
• Section 2.1
• Other Notes
• Exam #1 will be Friday, September 28

Week 6:  Monday, October 1

• Topics
• Push Down Automata (PDA)
• Reading
• Section 2.2
• Other Notes

Week 7:  Monday, October 8

• Topics
• The Pumping Lemma for CFL's
• Applications of context free languages and push-down automata to compilation
• Reading
• Section 2.3
• Other Notes
• Friday is midterm (not an exam date for us)
• Hour Exam #2 will be next Friday, October 19

Week 8:  Monday, October 15

• Topics
• Turing Machines
• Reading
• Section 3.1 3
• Other Notes
• Monday and Tuesday are Fall Break (no classes or office hours)
• Hour Exam #2 will be Friday, October 19

Week 9:  Monday, October 22

• Topics
• Turing Machines and the Turing-Church Hypothesis
• Algorithms
• Reading
• Sections 3.1 - 3.3
• Other Notes

Week 10:  Monday, October 29

• Topics
• Decidability
• Reading
• Section 4.1
• Other Notes

Week 11:  Monday, November 5

• Topics
• The Halting Problem
• Reading
• Section 4.2
• Other Notes
• Hour Exam #3 will be next Friday, November 16

Week 12:  Monday, November 12

• Topics
• Reducibility
• Reading
• Chapter 5
• Other Notes
• Hour Exam #3 will be Friday, November 16
• We will skip chapter 6

Week 13:  Monday, November 19

• Topics
• Complexity Theory
• Reading
• Section 7.1 (Skipping chapter 6)
• Other Notes
• Wednesday, November 21, is a travel day.  No classes or office hours.
• Thursday and Friday, November 22 and 23, are Thanksgiving Holiday.  No classes or office hours.

Week 14:  Monday, November 26

• Topics
• P and NP
• Reading
• Sections 7.2 - 7.3
• Other Notes

Week 15:  Monday, December 3

• Topics
• NP Completeness
• Reading
• Section 7.4
• Other Notes
• Wednesday, December 5, is the last day of classes.
• Thursday and Friday are Reading Period.  Regular office hours cease for the semester.  Office hours during Reading Period will be announced.

Week 16:  Monday, December 10

• Topics
• Final Examinations
• Reading
• Other Notes
• The final exam for CSci 370 is scheduled for Friday, December 14, 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM.  It will be a mandatory, two-hour, in class, comprehensive exam. University regulations require that all students take the final exam at this date and time.  The exam will be held in our usual classroom (Thompson 383).