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Degree Regulations & Programmes of Study 2010/2011
- ARCHIVE as at 1 September 2010 for reference only
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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Physics and Astronomy : Undergraduate (School of Physics and Astronomy)

Undergraduate Course: Computer Simulation (PHYS08026)

Course Outline
School School of Physics and Astronomy College College of Science and Engineering
Course type Standard Availability Available to all students
Credit level (Normal year taken) SCQF Level 08 (Year 2 Undergraduate) Credits 20
Home subject area Undergraduate (School of Physics and Astronomy) Other subject area None
Course website None
Course description This course covers the methodologies of solving scientific problems using computers. It provides a training in the computational modelling of scientific problems and their representation using computer graphics. It also provides a grounding in object-oriented programming through the practical application of the Java language. Students will carry out extensive practical and project work.
Entry Requirements
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: ( Applicable Mathematics 1+2 (Physics) (MATH08049) AND Mathematical Methods 1+2 (Physics) (MATH08050)) OR ( Practical Calculus (MATH08001) AND Solving Equations (MATH08002) AND Geometry & Convergence (MATH08003) AND Group Theory: An Introduction to Abstract Mathematics (MATH08004))
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements Students should have programming experience (not necessarily of Java) to the level of, for example, Informatics 1B or the introductory computing module in Physics 2A.
Additional Costs None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites None
Prospectus website http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/visiting-exchange/courses
Course Delivery Information
Delivery period: 2010/11 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1) WebCT enabled:  Yes Quota:  None
Location Activity Description Weeks Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
King's BuildingsLaboratory1-11 14:00 - 17:00or 14:00 - 17:00
King's BuildingsLecture1-11 12:10 - 13:00
First Class First class information not currently available
Additional information Computational Physics Lab Sessions Tu & Th. If, due to timetable constraints, students are unable to attend scheduled lab sessions, they are expected to fulfil the time commitments of the course outside of scheduled hours.
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, it is intended that a student will be able to:


1. Demonstrate an understanding of the key concepts of OO programming; data encapsulation, objects and classes, inheritance and polymorphism;

2. Analyse a problem statement to produce a simple OO design;

3. Write classes and class hierarchies containing multiple constructors and methods;

4. Declare and initialise objects and arrays of objects;

5. Create multiple instantiations (objects) of a class;

6. Execute methods of these objects and classes;

7. Understand the difference between pass by reference copy and pass by value, and how arrays, objects and primitive types are passed;

8. Utilise classes and interfaces of the Java SE API;

9. Read and parse text from a file and write data to a file;

10. Understand the difference between checked and unchecked exceptions and be able to handle exceptions (throw and try/catch);

11. Write simple graphical applications, including drawing objects, simple animation and user interaction (event handling).
Assessment Information
6 checkpoint assignments, 30%
Project (code and report), 40%
Degree Examination, 30%
Please see Visiting Student Prospectus website for Visiting Student Assessment information
Special Arrangements
Not entered
Contacts
Course organiser Dr Judy Hardy
Tel: (0131 6)50 6716
Email: j.hardy@ed.ac.uk
Course secretary Mrs Linda Grieve
Tel: (0131 6)50 5254
Email: linda.grieve@ed.ac.uk
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copyright 2010 The University of Edinburgh - 1 September 2010 6:34 am