Discussion forum. The best way to ask a short question about the course materials is via Ed Discussion, an online discussion forum where you can ask (and answer) questions.
Lab TAs. Undergraduate lab TAs are available to answer general computing questions in Lewis 121/122. They can assist you in debugging, provided you have first made a reasonable effort to identify the bug and isolate the problem. For non-debugging questions, use Ed Discussion or office hours.
Canvas. You can find links for Zoom office hours, electronic reserves of course materials, and recorded versions of precepts in Canvas.
Precept Assignment. The best way to get a spot in the precept of your choice is to regularly check the registrar's Course Offerings page and/or the listings on TigerHub. In our experience, more than a quarter of the total class enrollment changes precepts during shopping period. Dramatic unresolved scheduling concerns can be addressed to our course administrator Sue Giranda (sgiranda@princeton.edu). The course's teaching staff cannot manage precept assignments.
F = Friend Center, CS = Computer Science Building, C = Corwin
 Szymon Rusinkiewicz Lead Instructor Extra office hours signup |
 Christopher Moretti Courserunner and Lead Preceptor |
 Sue Giranda Course Administrator |
 Dwaha Daud Preceptor |
 Samuel Ginzburg Preceptor |
Guðni Nathan Gunnarsson Preceptor |
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Gongqi Huang Preceptor |
Nanqinqin Li Preceptor |
Jianan Lu Preceptor |
 Indu Panigrahi Preceptor |
The staff is complemented by a team of undergraduate course assistants: Mila Bileska '25, Andres Blanco Bonilla '24, Caroline Coen '25, Spencer Doyle '26, Karim Elbarbary '24, Derek Geng '26, John Hart '24, Quinn Haverstick '25, Rafay Khan '25, Shruti Roy '25, Rin Kuroda '25, Joshua Lau '26, Annie Lin '25, Javier Linero-Quintana '25, Isabel Liu '26, Libo Tan '25, Kayla Waitman '25, Harvey Wang '24, Charles Yu '26, and Joie Zhang '26.
Description. Developing skills for composing large programs, including modularity, abstraction, programming style, and best practices for code development, testing, debugging, and performance tuning. Additionally, an overview of computing environments and architectures, through the C programming language, assembly language, and machine language.
Prerequisites. COS 126, ECE 115, ISC 231-234, or approval by the COS placement officer.
COS 217 and 226 may be taken in any order. A student planning to take both can do so in the order that best fits their interests and schedule constraints.
Lectures. Lectures meet at 10–10:50am on Mondays and Wednesdays in Friend 101. Attendance is required. Laptops, tablets, and phones are prohibited, except for activities directly related to lecture, such as viewing lecture slides and taking notes.
Precepts. Precepts meet twice per week and cover details pertinent to programming assignments and exams. Come prepared to participate in the discussion, not just ask questions. This includes reading the assignment specification before the corresponding precept.
Required Textbooks. Also accessible on limited electronic reserve from the Reserves menu on Canvas.
Recommended Textbooks.
Reference Manuals. The course uses these manuals, for reference only: