Course Introduction

# CS 10C - Course Introduction

![:newline]

.Huge[*Prof. Ty Feng*]

![:newline]

.Large[UC Riverside - WQ 2026]

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![:scale 50%](../utils/style/ucr_cs_logo.png)

???

- Hi everyone, my name is Ty Feng
- Welcome to CS 10C, the last course of the CS 10 series!
- It's the second time that I'm teaching this course, and I'm very
  excited!

---

# Who am I?

## At UCR...

- 2025-present: **Lecturer**

## At UC Davis...
- 2024-25: **Lecturer**

## Startup experience...
- 2024-present: Created **[CourseAssist](https://courseassistai.com)** to support students with LLM-based course-specific tutoring

![:newline]

## Previously

- 2024: **MS** at UC Davis  
    *Research Areas: Computer Science Education, AI, HCI*

- 2020-23: **Software Engineer** in industry

- 2020: **BS** at University of Miami, FL

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![:newline]
- Lecturer at UC Davis for a year
- Startup founder: built CourseAssist to give students accurate learning support
- Software engineer in the industry for a few years after undergrad at U Miami
- I've learned a ton through these experiences, in terms of what is expected for
  a CS person to know to pursue a career in academia or in the industry.

![:newline]
- I try to emphasize these aspects in my teaching; for example, by paying
  attention to your program implementations and your coding style, and not only
  on the correctness of your code.

- As you can see, I've also gained experience in different settings: across
  industry and academia
- It's something that I try to incorporate in my teaching

---
# and the rest of the team...

## Graduate Teaching Assistants

<div style="display: flex; align-items: center; margin: 10px 0;">
  <div style="flex: 1;">
    <strong>Zhixu Li</strong><br>
    <small>zli538@ucr.edu</small>
  </div>
  <div style="margin-left: 20px;">
    <img src="images/zhixuli.png" style="width: auto !important; height: 100px;" />
  </div>
</div>

<div style="display: flex; align-items: center; margin: 10px 0;">
  <div style="flex: 1;">
    <strong>Sachin Chopra</strong><br>
    <small>sachin.chopra@email.ucr.edu</small>
  </div>
  <div style="margin-left: 20px;">
    <img src="images/sachin.jpeg" style="width: auto !important; height: 100px;" />
  </div>
</div>

---
# and the rest of the team...

## Graders
<div style="display: flex; align-items: center; margin: 5px 0;">
  <div style="flex: 1;">
    <strong>Kevin Loritsch</strong><br>
    <small>klori003@ucr.edu</small>
  </div>
  <div style="margin-left: 20px;">
    <img src="images/kevin.png" style="width: auto !important; height: 60px;" />
  </div>
</div>

<div style="display: flex; align-items: center; margin: 5px 0;">
  <div style="flex: 1;">
    <strong>Luke Baring</strong><br>
    <small>luke.baring@email.ucr.edu</small>
  </div>
  <div style="margin-left: 20px;">
    <img src="images/luke.jpeg" style="width: auto !important; height: 60px;" />
  </div>
</div>

<div style="display: flex; align-items: center; margin: 5px 0;">
  <div style="flex: 1;">
    <strong>Alton Qian</strong><br>
    <small>alton.qian@email.ucr.edu</small>
  </div>
  <div style="margin-left: 20px;">
    <img src="images/alton.webp" style="width: auto !important; height: 60px;" />
  </div>
</div>

<div style="display: flex; align-items: center; margin: 5px 0;">
  <div style="flex: 1;">
    <strong>Rohan Bennur</strong><br>
    <small>rohan.bennur@email.ucr.edu</small>
  </div>
  <div style="margin-left: 20px;">
    
  </div>
</div>

<div style="display: flex; align-items: center; margin: 5px 0;">
  <div style="flex: 1;">
    <strong>Adil Mohiuddin</strong><br>
    <small>adil.mohiuddin@email.ucr.edu</small>
  </div>
  <div style="margin-left: 20px;">
    <img src="images/adil.jpg" style="width: auto !important; height: 60px;" />
  </div>
</div>

---
# Undergraduate Learning Assistants (ULAs)

Get tutoring help from ULAs. Website: [ula.cs.ucr.edu/](https://ula.cs.ucr.edu/)

![:scale 100%](images/ULA_Advertisement.png)

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# Why CS 10C?

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## Important steps in CS (undergrad) education

![:scale 100%](images/why_10c.png)

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- A few important steps in cs education:
    - Step 1: learning languages
        - Beginner programmer
    - Step 2: learning a bit of math, and a bit of hardware, but most of all DS and algo
        - Apprentice computer scientist
    - Step 3: learn more of the all stack: from theory, to software and all the way down to the hardware. And piece everything together in OS.
        - Computer scientist
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- why are DS and algos so important?
    - let's start with the slightly vain answer

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## Why study data structures and algorithms?

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![:scale 100%](images/cracking_code_interview.jpg)

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- To get a job/internship as a software developer!

---

![:scale 100%](images/cracking_code_interview_list.png)

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- In the book, list of all the very important topics
- Some of which you may have heard of already, or even practiced a little
- In red, everything we will learn in this class alone; it's most of these
  topics!
    - All in first column
    - All in second column
    - Last three in third column

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- Now for the less shallow answer...

---

Kernighan & Pike:
> **Every program depends on algorithms and data structures**, but few programs
> depend on the invention of brand new ones.

???

- A better answer is that: "every program depends on algorithms and data
  structures"
    - Learning tools to write programs

- Brian Kernighan invented C language, among other things (was working at bell
  labs when they were inventing everything)
- Rob Pike was also at Bell labs (created the Go language)

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## Concrete objectives *(not in order)*

- "Must know" data structures
    - Lists, queues, stacks, trees, graphs, hash tables, etc.
- Typical algorithms
    - Sorting, graph algorithms
- Algorithm analysis
    - Big-O
- Intensive programming!
    - C++11

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# Course structure

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## Class

.center.scriptsize[
|        | Monday | Tuesday   | Wednesday | Thursday  | Friday | Saturday  | Sunday    |
|--------|--------|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|-----------|-----------|
| Week 1 |        | Lecture 1 |           | Lecture 2 |  Lab 1 |           | Lab 1 Due |
| Week 2 |        | Lecture 3 |           | Lecture 4 |  Lab 2 (last day to drop) |           | Lab 2 Due |
| Week 3 |        | Lecture 5 |           | Lecture 6 |  Lab 3 |           | Lab 3 Due |
]

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.lcol[
## Lectures
- Focused on concepts
    - Supported by slides + whiteboard
    - Lots of example code
]
.rcol[
## Labs
- Exercises for you to practice
    - Supported by TAs
    - Extension of lectures
]

???

- Please refer to syllabus to know the schedule in terms of topics that we will
  talk about throughout the quarter

---

## Assessment

.lcol66[
- Mix of written assessment...
    - Written homework, exams, quizzes
- ...and programming assessment
    - Programming homework and lab assignments
]

![:flush 1]

### Schedule

- W1: We have the first lab this week
- W2: Written HW 1 Assigned
- W3: Written HW 1 Due; Prog01 Assigned
- W4: Prog01 Due; Prog02 Assigned
- W5: Midterm 1 on 2/5-6
- W6: Prog02 Due; Prog03 Assigned
- W7: Prog03 Due; Written HW 2 Assigned
- W8: Written HW 2 Due; Midterm 2 on 2/26-27
- W9: Prog04 Assigned
- W10: Prog04 Due
- W11: Final Exam

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- You'll be busy every week on something different
- Interleaving of written assessment and programming assessment

---

## Grading Breakdown
- Labs: 10% (10 labs with the lowest score dropped)
  - grading is based on program correctness, code quality, and demos
  - you receive 4 bonus points if you demo your program to your grader during the lab 
- Quizzes: 10% (around 9 quizzes with the lowest score dropped)
  - checks your understanding of the prior week's lab and lectures
  - you will take the quiz on Canvas at the CS Test Center
  - schedule your quizzes in PrairieTest and take them on Monday or Tuesday
- HW Assignments: 30%
  - 2 written assignments
  - 4 programming assignments
     - grading is also based on correctness, code quality, and demos
     - like the lab assignments, you will also receive 4 bonus points for demos
- Exams: 
  - 2 Midterms: 15% each
  - 1 Comprehensive Final: 20% 
      - if you score <70% on the final, the highest course grade is a D+

## Late Submission Policy
Late submission for assignments will be penalized, unless you have a documented emergency due to illness or university-sponsored events.

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# [CourseAssist](https://app.courseassistai.com)

We will use CourseAssist for question-answering and class communication this quarter.

- The official AI tutor for this course
    - Trained on the course materials
    - Focus on learning, rather than writing code for you
    - Available when your TAs aren't

- Course Chat
    - If you still need help after asking the AI Tutor, make a public post on Course Chat
    - You are highly encouraged to help each other by answering questions
    - TAs and I will monitor Course Chat and answer questions 
    - AI may auto-reply if it knows the answer from previous Q&As

- Accounts will be emailed to you this week.

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# Academic Integrity

- It is your responsibility to follow the UCR Academic Integrity Policies and avoid cheating.

- You should write each line of your program yourself, and you should know what it does and why it is there.

- Copying code generated by artificial intelligence without proper citation is cheating.

---

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# Final words

## Course Syllabus

Please read the syllabus carefully:
[tinyurl.com/10cwq26](https://tinyurl.com/10cwq26)

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## Important Websites

- **Canvas**: [elearn.ucr.edu](https://elearn.ucr.edu) 
    - You may find assignment due dates, announcements, and files here
- **Course Website**: [cs.ucr.edu/~tyf/10c](https://cs.ucr.edu/~tyf/10c)
    - Check here for lecture notes
- **Textbook**: [cs10c.gitbook.io](https://cs10c.gitbook.io)
    - Our online textbook
- **Gradescope**: [gradescope.com](https://gradescope.com)
    - Where you will turn in your lab and homework assignments
- **CourseAssist**: [app.courseassistai.com](https://app.courseassistai.com)
    - AI Tutor & Course Chat Discussions

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## Disclaimer

This class may be a significant step up from CS 10A/B or the CS 9 series!

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- Data structures and algorithms can sometimes be quite conceptual
- Higher expectations regarding the quality of your code