Category Archives: Computer Science

Turing Machine in Bare Bones

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Eric

The most recent release of my Bare Bones interpreter made identifiers case-insensitive, and added an optional peephole optimizer that recognizes a common idiom: while N not 0 do;   decr N;   incr X; end; Such a loop adds N … Continue reading →

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Bare Bones interpreter

Posted on February 11, 2008 by Eric

Over the weekend I finished the homework assignment for the “Theory of Computation” chapter of Computer Science: An Overview, Ninth Edition, by J. Glenn Brookshear. Brookshear defines a very minimal programming language called Bare Bones, in which variables may contain … Continue reading →

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Prizes for winning Core War entry

Posted on April 4, 2007 by Eric

I just received the prizes for the wining Core War entry Luke and I submitted in CSC 387 class.  There is a nice University of Illinois at Springfield pen and a UIS logo key fob.

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Luke and I won the Core War contest

Posted on March 7, 2007 by Eric

In CSC 387 class, we were offered extra credit points for participating in a Core War style challenge, with entries were required to run on the machine defined in Appendix C of Computer Science: An Overview by J. Glenn Brookshear.  … Continue reading →

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“FF Bombs” competition

Posted on February 22, 2007 by Eric

In CSC 387 Foundations of Computer Science, we were offered an extra-credit assignment to form teams of two students, and develop programs for a game called FF Bombs, which is similar to Core Wars.  The programs need to run on … Continue reading →

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Lack of practical information in CS text books

Posted on January 18, 2007 by Eric

Today I received the book for my CSC 376 Computer Organization class, Computer Systems Organization & Architecture by John D. Carpinelli (Addison Wesley Longman, 2001). It has a full-page sidebar on page 32: “PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVE: Why LEDs Are Usually Active … Continue reading →

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Back to school

Posted on January 17, 2007 by Eric

My classes at the University of Illinois at Springfield just started this week.  I’m taking three CS classes.  They’re online, so I don’t have to travel to Springfield.  That’s fortunate, because it would be a terrible commute from California! In … Continue reading →

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CS classes; 17-20% per year hike in the cost of education at UIS

Posted on October 4, 2006 by Eric

My Academic Advisor indicates that I am not required to take the CSC 410A Java Programming class, so in the Spring I’ll take two other CS classes and one of the three Liberal Studies Colloquia or Public Affairs Colloquia courses … Continue reading →

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I’ve been admitted to UIS and accepted into the BSCS program!

Posted on October 3, 2006 by Eric

Woo-hoo! I’ve been unbelievably anxious about this over the last three weeks, but I just received email notification of my acceptance.  The official notification will be in the mail. I can hardly wait to get started!  The Spring semester begins … Continue reading →

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Black Box game

Posted on September 4, 2006 by Eric

The Computer Science deparment at UIS requests of applicants a sample of Java code they have written. They don’t give any particular guidance as to the desired size or complexity of the code. I am submitting a Black Box game … Continue reading →

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