CSC208 Fall 2025 Day 01

Class today will be an introduction to the course and the course tools

• Homepage: https://rebelskyw.cs.grinnell.edu/
• Syllabus TPS:
  • What stood out to you
  • What was confusing
  • Where should I add detail?
• Why do we care about this course?
  • In other words, why is Math relevant to Computer Science/computer scientists
• Course Materials:
  • Website: https://rebelskyw.cs.grinnell.edu/
  • Readings: https://osera.cs.grinnell.edu/ttap/mathematical-foundations/introduction.html
  • Tools (recommended by PM): https://osera.cs.grinnell.edu/ttap/mathematical-foundations/course-tools.html
  • Tools (recommended by Me):
    • Latex: https://www.overleaf.com/
      • Overleaf makes latex easier to use
    • Python: https://colab.research.google.com/
      • While you can use a more traditional latex installation, a notebook environment will be more useful for this course
    • Overleaf Template: https://www.overleaf.com/read/bxhvcmcsmtkm#91b7fa
• When submitting a lab, for every problem do the following
  • Do the problem by hand
  • Take a picture of the problem
  • Insert the picture in latex
  • Try to convert the handwritten solution to latex
    • At the start of the semester, doing the problem correctly is the most important part, not necessarily the latex syntax

Lab 0: Exploring Python and Latex

1. Install and set up latex (however you wish to do so)
   • We will walk through how to do this in Overleaf as a class
2. Install and set up python (however you wish to do so)
   • We will walk through how to do this in Google Colab as a class
3. Lab problems
   1. Discuss (and record) reflections to the following questions:
      • What is the relevance of mathematics to computer science?
      • How do you go about understanding how a program works?
      • How should you go about studying a new programming language?
   2. Fun with python:
      • figure out how to create a function that multiplies the input by 2
        • first write it out by hand, then implement it in python
      • create a second function that calls the first function and then adds 3
        • first write it out by hand, then implement it in python
      • Test both functions with the numbers 1, 0, -1, and 0.1
   3. Latex Basics (using the template)
      • Question 1 should have the answers to part 1
        • Try to work out how to make a list and put each answer under a separate bullet
      • Question 2: add a photo of your handwritten work for part 2
        • Then add the code as a code segment (lstlisting)
        • Try copy-pasting the code outside of the code segment, what happens?
      • Question 3: Playing with latex
        • Using the image from question 2, make a figure with a caption. (make it smaller)
        • Justify with examples why and when you would want to use inline math mode vs display math mode
4. Compile the latex file to pdf and submit it on gradescope