Syllabus for CS 4500 Fall 2009
=================================

This syllabus is subject to change. Some topics may be
shifted and repeated to stress their importance.

SCG = Specker Challenge Game

SCG Complexity Layers:

Level 1: T Ball
  (one relation per classic challenge)
Level 2: Slow pitch softball: several relations reducible to one.
  (one implication tree of relations per classic challenge.)
Level 3: Fast pitch softball: several relations.
  Level k Independent: k relations without implication relationships.
  Level k Reduced: Several relations that can be reduced to 
    Level k Independent.
Level 4: Base ball
  (classic and secret challenges)

Level i challenges can also be offered and sold at level i+1.

Week 1:
*********************************************************
Subproject 1

The software development process

Incremental software development with SCRUM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrum_(development)

Software Development Course by Immersion:
Learn about Process, Tools, Application Domain
Requirements Analysis: The requirement is simple:
maximize life energy or maximize money.

Intro to course (Immersion, etc.)
Games for agents: learn about
  software development and computer science in general
DemeterF: class dictionaries for OOD and language definition
Classic SCG SAT
Classic SCG CSP

Week 2:
*********************************************************
Subproject 2

Classic SCG CSP T Ball
Classic SCG CSP Slow Pitch Softball
Classic SCG CSP Fast Pitch Softball

Mapping a raw material M to a polynomial f[M](b),
called the look-ahead polynomial for the raw material.

Focusing on Classic SCG CSP T Ball
Computing break-even(d) for challenge d
The Generic Player 
(by Bryan Chadwick, the developer of DemeterF)
The Administrator
(by Alex Dubreuil)

Lab 1: DemeterF class dictionaries
Lab 2: DemeterF classes: Traversal, ID, Bc, TUCombiner 
                methods: traverse, combine

Week 3:
*********************************************************
Subproject 3
The Relation class: methods reduce and q
Definition of fsat(r,J)
Reducing a raw material in DemeterF
Computing the agent IQ.

Testing with JUnit 4 using annotations with DemeterF examples 
regression test suite to make your player robust

Playing T Ball game in class (allowed relations 1 - 7 and 128 and above, 
  only 4 variables per raw material)
Software development processes and their models
(requirements analysis testing design implementation)

Preview of Slow Pitch Softball: Chemical metaphor:
Each relation corresponds to a chemical which has a phase transition point (e.g., boiling point)
When we use two relations (chemicals) they have a new phase transition point
  that is determined in a non-trivial way by the two relations.
Phase transition = fraction that can always be satisfied in any 
  raw material for challenge.
Connection between SCG and the P=NP problem.
For R22: 4/9 is polynomial and 4/9+10^-6 is NP-complete.

TBall slides

Week 4: 
*********************************************************

Classic SCG CSP T Ball Competition 1

Subproject 4
Exploring other representation for relations 
  (Boolean and Pseudo Boolean expressions)
Translating to the Relation representation

Improving the raw material construction 
  using a combination generator
Improving the buying algorithm for maximizing profit

Use outsourced software to compute maximum bias

Source code management, subversion.

Agile Software Development Methods
  are better for small and large projects

Testing( test early, test often, test automatically, 
the roles of unit, integration, and stress testing,
the roles of black-box and glass-box testing, test coverage)

Coupling in software, lowering coupling, measuring coupling
Law of Demeter


Week 5:
*********************************************************

Classic SCG CSP T Ball Competition 2

Subproject 5
Road map for your player as it goes through the stages:

Classic SCG CSP T Ball
Classic SCG CSP Slow Pitch Softball
Classic SCG CSP Fast Pitch Softball
Classic SCG CSP Fast Pitch Softball Level k Reduced, k increasing
Classic SCG CSP Baseball 
Classic/Secret SCG CSP Baseball (with both classic and secret challenges)

Compare implementation of Administrator against requirements document
Compare implementation of Your Player against requirements document

Project planning

People issues

Deal with implications between relations:
SCG CSP Slow Pitch Softball

Compute weighted fractions of constraints for
SCG CSP Fast Pitch Softball 

Week 6:
*********************************************************

Classic SCG CSP Slow Pitch Softball Competition 3
Code reviews

Subproject 6
Class dictionary review
Self-describing cds

Software architectures used in our agents/administrator
implicit invocation
aspect-oriented architecture
black board architecture
patterns used

Speeding up your agents (College has 120+ quadruple core machines)
  using ParTraversal

Solving min-max problems using steepest descent techniques

Week 7:
*********************************************************

Classic SCG CSP Fast Pitch Softball level 2 Independent (Competition 4)
(2 relations not in an implication relationship)
Code reviews

Subproject 7
SCG component market 
Contracts 

Product families
  How is DemeterF useful?

Derandomize the assignment generation: Shannon Decomposition

Requirements analysis for Secret SCG

Midterm review

Week 8:
*********************************************************
Midterm (Feb. 24)
Classic SCG CSP Fast Pitch Competition 5 
(any number of relations)
Code reviews
Continued requirements analysis for Secret SCG

Week 9:
*********************************************************
Classic/Secret SCG CSP Competition 6 
Code reviews

Subproject 8
Linear Programming to play SCG
Rock-Paper-Scissors Game and SCG

Week 10:
*********************************************************
Classic/Secret SCG CSP Competition 7 (base ball)
Code reviews

How else can we measure your agent (besides determining its IQ)?
correctness
reliability
robustness
maintainability
evolvability
testability 
reusability 
utility 
performance

Pragmatic programmer tips

Other Java data binding tools (XML based)

Week 11:
*********************************************************
Classic/Secret SCG CSP Competition 8 (base ball)
Code reviews

Abstraction barriers and modularity,
    isolation of clients from details
    separation of concerns
    independence of views from models


Week 12:
*********************************************************
Classic/Secret SCG CSP Competition 9 (base ball)
Code reviews
Final Project Document due

Week 13:
*********************************************************
Classic/Secret SCG CSP Competition 10 (base ball)
Code reviews