C490Computer Science Seminar
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Overview
The course primarily covers development of applications for mobile computing devices. Mobile devices range from consumer electronics such as cell phones to off-the-shelf robots to data acquisition devices. Application topics to be considered will include the application development cycle, mobile devices in a client-server or peer-to-peer relationship, wireless networking, user interfacing, mapping and GPS, and graphics.
The consumer devices targeted for development will generally be the Apple iOS and Android operating system. Application development for the iOS devices requires an iMac Intel-based computer and the most recent OS X upgrade. Android development is possible on Windows, Linux or Mac platforms. IUS Computer Science has a iMac lab in LF115 and machines in LF111 and LF105 for Android.
Programming experience is necessary at a level similar to C343. That implies experience using dynamic data structures and object oriented programming in C++ or a similar language. The primary development language for iOS will be Objective C, and Java for Android; students may elect to use others for assignments where possible.
Some networking background will be helpful but not necessary as critical skills will be developed in the course.
Contact the instructor if you have questions about the appropriateness of your experience.
The course consists mainly of several smaller projects focused on developing foundational skills, class discussions to develop foundational concepts, and a large, individual final project.
When
Fall, 2011.
What to expect
The syllabus give you some idea regarding the course organization and some of the topics. Many of the topics are important regardless of the platform, there will be considerable additional material to cover, given the user interface and graphics, and a few interesting devices (e.g. accelerometers).
The Fall 2011 course will start with a few weeks on Android and iOS using Objective C and the development environment.
Keep in mind that the course will be developing over the semester, the syllabus will not be completed until December 2011.
Past projects using cell phones included:
- GPS Phone tracking - Displayed a map showing location of a paired phone.
- Robot control - Driving a Scribbler via Bluetooth and touch screen.
- Relational database implementation
- Textbook barcode reading and price lookup
- Home control - Turn on/off home appliances, start/stop recording.
Why
How many people have a cell-phone? Mobile computing is the fastest growing sector in computing.
The course satisfies a 400-level elective required for the Bachelors of Science in Computer Science degree.
This stuff is fun!
Instructor
Ray Wisman has been on the Computer Science faculty at IUS for over twenty five years, fifteen year teaching networking and eight years teaching client-server programming. His experience in mobile computing includes cell phone applications to analyze sound frequencies, acceleration and control external circuits using the headset.
Course Organization
We meet four hours per week on-campus for discussion.
Scheduled on-campus office hours for individual assistance.
Scheduled, staffed on-campus laboratory.
The majority of course material will be online.
The final project will be presented at the last class meeting on-campus. The project will comprise a major portion of the grade for the course.
Equipment/Software
You may need to use equipment at IUS; unless you have an iPhone, iTouch and a Mac or a Windows or Linux machine and and Android device.
Text
The syllabus lists the required text. Depending upon your experience, you will need more or less other resources, much available online. Some of the better books:
The Android Developer's Cookbook by James Steele and Nelson To, Addison-Wesley, ISBN-13 978-0-321-74123-3
iOS Programming 2e by Joe Conway and Aaron Hillegass, The Big Nerd Ranch, ISBN-13 978-0321773777
Programming in Objective C by Stephan G. Kochan, Developers Library ISBN 0-672-32586-1
COCOA Programming for the Mac OS X 3e by Aaron Hillegass, Addison Wesley, ISBN-13 978-0-321-50361-9
The iPhone Developer's Cookbook by Erica Sadun, Addison Wesley ISBN-13 978-0-321-55545-8
iPhone 3.0 SDK Development by Dudney and Adamson, The Pragmatic Programmers ISBN-13 978-1-93435-625-8
Beginning iPhone Development by Mark and LaMarche, Apress ISBN-13 978-1-4302-1626-1
Questions - On scale of 0 (none) to 4 (lots):