Warning: This website has not yet been fully updated for Spring 2025.

Resources

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. 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. The course's teaching staff cannot manage precept assignments. Dramatic unresolved scheduling concerns can be addressed to the department's Undergraduate Program Manager: Colleen Kenny (ckenny@princeton.edu).

Week at a glance

F = Friend Center, CS = Computer Science Building, C = Corwin Hall, N = 221 Nassau Street, L = Lewis Library

9:00am

10:00am

11:00am

12:00 noon

1:00pm

2:00pm

3:00pm

4:00pm

5:00pm

6:00pm

7:00pm

8:00pm

9:00pm

10:00pm

11:00pm

L01

TBA 10:00 Christopher Moretti

L01

TBA 10:00 Christopher Moretti

P01

TBA 1:30 Xiaoyan Li

P01

TBA 1:30 Xiaoyan Li

P02

TBA 3:30 Xiaoyan Li

P02

TBA 3:30 Xiaoyan Li

P03

TBA 12:30

P03

TBA 12:30

P04

TBA 12:30

P04

TBA 12:30

P06

TBA 1:30

P06

TBA 1:30

P07

TBA 1:30

P07

TBA 1:30

P08

TBA 3:30

P08

TBA 3:30

P09

TBA 7:30

P09

TBA 7:30

Intro COS Lab Hours

Lewis 7:00-11:00

Intro COS Lab Hours

Lewis 3:00-7:00

Intro COS Lab Hours

Lewis 5:00-11:00

Concept Hours

TBA 11:00-12:00 Christopher Moretti

Concept Hours

TBA 11:00-12:00 Christopher Moretti

Concepts Study Hall

Frist 7:30-10:30 McGraw Tutors

Concepts Study Hall

Frist 7:30-10:30 McGraw Tutors

Course staff


Christopher Moretti
Lead Instructor

Xiaoyan Li
Lead Preceptor

Yang Duan
Preceptor

Lana Glisic '24
Preceptor

Ryan Oet
Preceptor

Tolulope Oshinowo
Preceptor

Indu Panigrahi '23
Preceptor

Andrew Sheinberg
Preceptor

The staff is complemented by a team of undergraduate course assistants: .

About the course

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 TBA. Attendance is required. Laptops, tablets, and phones are prohibited, except for activities directly related to lecture, such as answering iClicker questions or annotating notes on lecture slides.

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.

Textbooks and Other Readings

Required Textbooks. These books have been registered with the University's online bookstore for purchase. They are also accessible on limited electronic reserve from the Reserves menu on Canvas.

Recommended Textbooks.

Reference Manuals. The course uses these manuals, for reference only: