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 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Undergraduate (School of Physics and Astronomy) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
WebCT |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| 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. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, it is intended that a student will be able to:
- Explain why it is appropriate to solve certain physical problems, such as integration and modelling interacting particles by computation
- Apply the techniques of discretisation and iteration to solve open-ended physical problems and demonstrate an awareness of the origin and impact of numerical errors inherent in such techniques
- Apply the key concepts of OO programming (data encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism) by analysing a problem statement to produce a simple OO design and implementing it in Java
- Make use of classes and interfaces of the Java SE API, in particular to read and process data from external sources and to construct simple graphical applications
- Predict when variables are copied by reference or by value according to their type, and the consequences thereof
- Recognise the importance of clear, consistently-documented and error-tolerant codes, making use of Java's language features for achieving this
- Locate and use additional sources of information (to include discussion with peers where appropriate) to resolve practical problems that arise
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Assessment Information
6 checkpoint assignments, 30%
Project (code and report), 40%
Degree Examination, 30% |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
* Key concepts of OO programming; data encapsulation, objects and classes, inheritance and polymorphism;
* Analysis of problem statements to produce simple OO designs;
* Classes and class hierarchies containing multiple constructors and methods;
* Declaration and initialisation of objects and arrays of objects;
* Creation of multiple instantiations (objects) of a class;
* Method execution on objects and classes;
* Pass by reference copy and pass by value; how arrays, objects and primitive types are passed;
* Utilisation of classes and interfaces of the Java SE API;
* Reading and parsing text from a file and writing data to a file;
* Checked and unchecked exceptions; handling exceptions (throw and try/catch);
* Simple graphical applications, including drawing objects, simple animation and user interaction (event handling).
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| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | CSim |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Kevin Stratford
Tel: (0131 6)50 6759
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Jillian Bainbridge
Tel: (0131 6)50 7218
Email: |
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