Computer Science 217: Introduction to Computer Science for Multidisciplinary Studies I is designed to

introduce students to the fundamental concepts of computer science with an emphasis on problem-
solving, analysis, and design. This course is intended for students who wish to integrate their computer
science studies with other disciplines. In this course, students will learn how to develop small-scale
computational systems and implement them using a procedural programming language.

The following notes provide an overview of the topics covered in this course:

I. Introduction to Computer Science

A. What is Computer Science?

1. Definition of computer science

2. Historical background of computer science

3. Fields of computer science

B. Problem-Solving Techniques

1. Problem-solving methodology

2. Steps in problem-solving

3. Algorithms and flowcharts

4. Pseudo-code

C. Overview of Programming Languages

1. Types of programming languages

2. Syntax and semantics of programming languages

3. Compilers and interpreters

II. Programming Fundamentals

A. Introduction to C Programming

1. History of C

2. Features of C

3. Basic structure of a C program

B. Variables and Data Types

1. Types of variables

2. Declaration and initialization of variables

3. Data types in C

C. Operators and Expressions

1. Types of operators

2. Arithmetic, logical and relational operators

3. Precedence and associativity of operators

D. Control Structures

1. Conditional statements: if-else statements

2. Looping statements: for, while, do-while loops

3. Nested loops and branching statements

III. Functions

A. Introduction to Functions

1. What is a function?

2. Types of functions

3. Function declaration and definition

B. Function Arguments and Return Values

1. Passing arguments to a function

 2. Return values from a function

C. Recursive Functions

1. Definition of a recursive function

2. Examples of recursive functions

3. Advantages and disadvantages of recursive functions

IV. Arrays

A. Introduction to Arrays

1. What is an array?

2. Declaration and initialization of arrays

3. Accessing array elements

B. Multi-Dimensional Arrays

1. Two-dimensional arrays

2. Three-dimensional arrays

3. Applications of multi-dimensional arrays

C. Strings

1. Definition of a string

2. String operations

3. String manipulation functions in C

V. Pointers

A. Introduction to Pointers

1. What is a pointer?

2. Declaration and initialization of pointers

 3. Accessing data using pointers

B. Pointer Arithmetic

1. Incrementing and decrementing pointers

2. Pointer arithmetic operations

C. Dynamic Memory Allocation

1. Malloc and free functions

2. Allocating memory for arrays and structures

3. Memory leaks and memory management

VI. Structures

A. Introduction to Structures

1. What is a structure?

2. Declaration and initialization of structures

3. Accessing structure members

B. Arrays of Structures

1. Declaring arrays of structures

2. Accessing structure members in arrays

C. Structures with Pointers

1. Pointer to a structure

2. Accessing structure members using