Williams College Computer Science Department

The table below gives the topic we plan to discuss in each lecture and the readings associated with each topic. In general, readings should be completed before their associated lecture.

We will add readings and revise the schedule of topics as the semester progresses, so please check this page regularly.

Date	Topic	Readings
[1] 02.02.07	Being Digital	Ch. 1: Being Digital from Understanding Digital Communications
[2] 05.02.07	Encoding in Binary	Ch. 2: Encoding with a Small Alphabet from Understanding Digital Communications §4.1 "Protocols" from Ch. 4: Let's Talk in Programming with Java, Swing and Squint
[3] 07.02.07	Providing a GUI Interface	Ch: 1: What is Programming Anyway? from Programming with Java, Swing and Squint Ch. 2: What's in a Name? from Programming with Java, Swing and Squint
[4] 09.02.07	Network Communication in Java	Ch. 3: Probing Questions §2 & 3 of Ch. 4: Let's Talk from Programming with Java, Swing and Squint
[5] 12.02.07	Huffman Codes for Text	Ch. 3: Variable Length Codes from Understanding Digital Communications
[6] 14.02.07	Conditional Execution	Ch. 5: Pro-Choice from Programming with Java, Swing and Squint
[7] 19.02.07	Transmitting Binary Signals	Ch. 4: Digital Transmission from Understanding Digital Communications
[8] 21.02.07	Processing Strings in Java	Ch. 8: String Theory (draft of 2/13/07) from Programming with Java, Swing and Squint
[9] 23.02.07	Iteration	Looping, from Introduction to Java and Software Design by Nell B. Dale, Chip Weems, and Mark R. Headington (We have "annotated" this reading with a few notes to guide you around aspects of Java it presents that we will not use in our course.)
[10] 26.02.07	Transmission Delays and Framing
[11] 28.02.07	Java Class Definitions	§1 through §6 of Ch. 6: Class Action from Programming with Java, Swing and Squint §7.1 and §7.2 of Ch. 7: Primitive Technology from Programming with Java, Swing and Squint
[12] 02.03.07	Java Class Definitions	§7 through §9 of Ch. 6: Class Action from Programming with Java, Swing and Squint §7.4 of Ch. 7: Primitive Technology from Programming with Java, Swing and Squint
[13] 05.03.07	Ethernet Operation	§1 through §5 of Ethernet: distributed packet switching for local computer networks by Robert M. Metcalfe and David R. Boggs, Communications of the ACM, Volume 19, Issue 7, pp. 395 - 404 (July 1976). A copy of this paper can be found at the back of the Understanding Digital Communications section of the course packet, or you can obtain a copy by clicking on the "Full Text" link on the page that appears when you click on the link above. §2.1 and 2.2 of Chapter 2, Ethernet Frame Structure from the TechFest Ethernet Technical Summary §3.1 of Chapter 3, Ethernet Media Access Control from the TechFest Ethernet Technical Summary
[14] 07.03.07	Recursive Class Definitions	No readings
[15] 09.03.07	Recursive Class Definitions	No readings
[16] 12.03.07	Ethernet Analysis	§6 through §8 of Ethernet: distributed packet switching for local computer networks by Robert M. Metcalfe and David R. Boggs, Communications of the ACM, Volume 19, Issue 7, pp. 395 - 404 (July 1976).
[17] 14.03.07	Ethernet Analysis
[18] 15.03.07	Midterm Exam at 8PM	Sample Midterm from F06( with solutions)
[19] 02.04.07	Switched Networks	Ch. 6: Switched Networks from Understanding Digital Communications
[20] 04.04.07	Arrays & Image Manipulation
[21] 06.04.07	Arrays & Image Manipulation
[22] 09.04.07	Internetworking	Internetworking: Concepts, Architectures, and Protocols , D. Comer, Computer Networks & Internets
[23] 11.04.07	Arrays & Image Compression
[24] 13.04.07	Arrays & Image Compression
[25] 16.04.07	IP Addressing, Forwarding, and Configuration	IP: Internet Protocol Addresses , D. Comer, Computer Networks & Internets (you can skip Section 18.12 through 18.19) Binding Protocol Addresses (ARP) , D. Comer, Computer Networks & Internets IP Datagrams and Datagram Forwarding , D. Comer, Computer Networks & Internets IP Encapsulation, Fragmentation, and Reassembly , D. Comer, Computer Networks & Internets (you can skip from Section 21.6 to the end of this chapter)
[26] 18.04.07	Routing Algorithms
[27] 20.04.07	HTTP, HTML & Server Programming
[28] 23.04.07	HTTP, HTML & Server Programming
[29] 25.04.07	Transport Protocols & TCP	Comer, TCP
[30] 27.04.07	TCP Retransmission & Connections
[31] 30.04.07	Understanding Squint and Swing
[32] 02.05.07	Error Detecting Codes	A. Leon-Garcia and I Widjaja, Communication Networks, § 3.9.1-3, Error Detection and Correction
[33] 04.05.07	Error Detecting Codes
[34] 07.05.07	Problem Reductions and Intractability
[35] 09.05.07	Network Address Translation
[36] 11.05.07	Network Address Translation
17.05.07	Final Exam	Sample final exam ( with solutions )