CSci 1001: Introduction to the Computing World -- Resources.

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In-class examples

• Jan. 23. A simple XHTML web page
• Feb. 1. the same page formatted with a simple CSS style sheet; the CSS file for the page
• Feb. 1. A similar page formatted differently, the CSS file for the page
• Feb. 6. A similar page formatted using CSS classes, the CSS file for the page
• Feb. 8. The first JavaScript example
• Feb. 15. Adding parseFloat, JavaScript variables, JavaScript conditionals
• Example from quiz 2: quiz2.html, quiz2.css
• JavaScript example from quiz 3: quiz3.html
• Feb. 27. More on JavaScript conditionals
• March 8. Loops: Printing numbers with JavaScript loops, drawing lines with JavaScript loops, checking user input
• March 20. Review for the midterm. A Javascript example for review. This program doesn't work. Copy its source from "View Source" and correct all mistakes.
• March 27. Writing JavaScript functions:
  • A function to convert from celsius to fahrenheit,
  • Using a celsius-to-fahrenheit conversion function in a loop,
  • Printing the Old MacDonald song using a function.
  Exercise: write a function that, given a string and a color, displays that string as a one-cell table with that color as the background. Start here.
• April 3. JavaScript events and forms.
  • Clicking on a button to change the page
  • Clicking on a button to call a function
  • Getting input from a form
  • Displaying output in a form
• April 12. More JavaScript events: rollovers
• May 3. Review for the final: Forms and text, Images and events

Computer (and computing) history

This is by no means an exhaustive list, just samples of various history-realted sources.

• Some quotes from http://www.sysprog.net/quothist.html:
  • 1977 There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home. (Ken Olson of Digital Equipment)
  • 1981 640K ought to be enough for anybody. (Bill Gates), denied it in 1996: I've said some stupid things and some wrong things, but not that.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_computing - a reference to various resources on computing timeline.
• ENIAC (construction started in 1943) is generally considered to be the first large-scale, electronic, digital re-programmable computer.
• Overview and history of microprocessors
• History of a hard disk
• Overview and history of computer mice
• History of computers:
  • History of computing hardware page at wikipedia
  • Jacquard's loom (1801)
  • Charles Babbage - the inventor of the first general purpose programmable device (1837)
  • Ada Lovelace - wrote the first computer program in 1840s.
  • Analog computers (based on the strength of electrical signal rather than on on/off switches that encode 0/1)
  • Konrad Zuse inventor of the first functional program-controlled computer in 1941
  • Special purpose computers: Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC), Mark I, Colossus
  • ENIAC (construction started in 1943) is generally considered to be the first large-scale, electronic, digital re-programmable computer.
  • Vacuum tubes (I generations of computers, 1945 - 1954)
  • Transistors (II generations of computers, 1955-1963)
  • Integrated circuit (III generation of computers, 1963-1973)
  • VLSI (Very-large-scale integration) (IV generation of computers, 1973-1985)

Software downloads (free)

• Firefox browser
• Netscape browser
• Opera browser
• Text editor jEdit. It has built-in support for HTML, CSS, and Javascript code (color-coding, automatic keyword completion, etc.) jEdit is Java-based, so you need to install the latest (1.4 or above) version of Java first, it's available here. Then download and install jEdit (get the stable version, not the development version).
• WinSCP - a secure FTP program available at university labs. To install it on your home machine (Windows) download and run the installation package for the latest stable (not beta!) version. Read the documentation to learn how to use WinSCP. The Quick Start Guide has enough to get you started. Fugu is a similar program for a Mac

XHTML and CSS

• W3 schools is an excellent collection of tutorials on all major web languages and technologies with loads of examples and try-it-yourself exercises.
• XHTML at W3 Schools.
• HTML and XHTML validator. Checks if your page follows XHTML standard.
• CSS at W3 Schools.
• CSS validator at W3 Schools.
• Font resources:
  • Samples of commonly used fonts at Browser News - just what you need if you want to design a web site that will work in the majority of browsers
  • W3 description of generic font families. Lists several popular fonts in each family.
  • Another description of generic font families with specific fonts, Advice on choosing fonts.
  • A guide to fonts at Browser News
• HTML forms (scroll down to see examples of different form elements)
• XHTML events (onclick, onmouseover, and more)

JavaScript

• JavaScript Tutorial at W3 Schools
• JavaScript form handling
• The table for naming CSS style properties in JavaScript This will be helpful for changing the page appearance via JavaScript.

Data representation

• ASCII characters (omitting the leading 0)
• Unicode - a newer text encoding standard
• Bitmap graphics

Security and cryptography

• Demonstration of Vigenere cipher
• Description of Vigenere cipher at Wikipedia