CSE 374 Programming concepts and tools

Summer 2024 Instructor: Audrey Seo

Today:

• Reminder to fill out course evaluation
• Reviewing Wednesday’s lecture
• Course Recap
• Q&A

Course evaluation!

https://uw.iasystem.org/survey/294543

Open through this Friday, 8/16 at 11:59pm

If we get to 100% by class today, everyone will get 10 points.

If we get to 100% by end of day this Friday, 8/16, then 5 points.

4

Review: CPU

The CPU parses the instruction string.

• Takes action based on what is encoded
• Interacts with other components as needed (e.g. ALU for math)

Fetch -> Decode -> Execute

Review: The Big Picture

5

Recap

6

What You Accomplished

• Learned how to use a text interface to control a computer over the internet
• How to write bash scripts to automate various parts of your workflow
• Learned how to write code in one of the most foundational languages ( C )
• Computer and memory architecture (e.g. stack vs. heap)
• Wrote a substantial C program of ~200 lines (that implements a trie)!
• Used design patterns from C++ to make your programs more robust and efficient
• Discovered how code gets transformed into binary that controls your computer
• ...and more!

7

Put simply, you learned how a computer actually works!

"Why did we learn this?"

• Should I program everything in C now?
• No, definitely not
• C gives us a window into how all programs work
• In a way, it is the simplest programming language
• How will this help me if
• … I don't program in C?
• … I don't use concurrency?
• … I don't pursue a career in the software industry?

​

If you can learn how to write in C, you can learn how to write in any language.

8

Takeaways

All of these skills help with

• Problem solving
• Critical thinking
• Creativity
• Communication (e.g. clear writing)

​

Thinking in abstractions is like working out a muscle.

• The more you do it, the better you get at breaking down large problems into smaller components.
• A valuable skill no matter what you pursue.

Software is still so new

Everything we’ve learned was only invented in the last ~70 years or so.

• Ada Lovelace first invented programming in the 1880s (but huge gap between)
• “Ada Lovelace was able to discern the importance of numbers, realizing that they could represent more than just numerical values of things.” (HP)
• Assembly: 1949.
• FORTRAN: 1957.
• C (which was considered high-level at the time): 1972
• …

Although these technologies feel so old, they really aren’t.

• We exist at an incredible time.
• Technology is being invented all around us!

What’s next?

We’ve covered so many huge subdomains in this course.

• Compilers
• Networks
• Operating Systems
• Computer Architecture
• Command line interfaces
• The hardware/software interface

You’re now well-equipped to dive deeper into any of these disciplines.

• Move towards what you’re interested in!
• Get involved in OSS (via GitHub!) or research (here at UW!)

Career

Programming and software can be used in so many disciplines

• My sister uses programming to create interfaces for psych studies
• Scientists use R and python to run statistical analyses
• SQL is the most widely-used programming language (after excel spreadsheet formulas)
• Used by every company, from Amazon to Walmart
• and much more!

Whatever you do, you can probably find a use for the skills in this class

• Need to search all your documents for a certain keyword? You can use grep!
• Want to move all documents in your downloads ending with .pdf to a particular folder? You can use mv!

Keeping in Touch

Don’t hesitate to email me: alseo@cs.washington.edu or audreyleeseo@gmail.com, or find me on my website https://audreyseo.github.io

​

🎉 Thank You! 🎉

​

Q&A

​