Lectures
Lecture 15 – Quiz 1 review – Wednesday 25 February 2026
Quiz review
Past questions in-scope for quiz
Board work
Announcements
  • Lecture on Friday is an in-person on-paper quiz, with questions resembling (but not identical to) those in homeworks and labs.
Lecture 14 – Undecideable problems – Monday 23 February 2026
Board work
Displayed text
Relevant readings
Announcements
  • Lecture on Wednesday is quiz review.
  • Lecture on Friday is an in-person on-paper quiz, with questions resembling those in homeworks and labs.
Lecture 13 – P, NP, Intractable, Undecideable – Friday 20 February 2026
Slides
Halt and other Undecideable (impossible) problems
Relevant readings
Lecture 12 – P ≠ NP, intractable problems – Wednesday 18 February 2026
Board work
2026-02-18.pdf
Relevant readings
Announcements
Lecture on Friday will be optional and taught by a TA, Ashish.
Lecture 11 – Algorithms, Efficiency – Monday 16 February 2026
Board work
2026-02-16.pdf
Relevant readings
Lecture 10 – Problems, Algorithms – Friday 13 February 2026
Board work
2026-02-13.pdf
Relevant readings
Lecture 9 – Programming Languages, Abstraction – Wednesday 11 February 2026
Board work
2026-02-11.pdf
Relevant readings
Announcements
  • Class will be held next week on Wednesday, February 18th. It will not be held on Friday February 20th.
Lecture 8 – Programming Languages – Monday 9 February 2026
Board work
2026-02-09.pdf
Relevant readings
Lecture 7 – Modern Processors – Friday 6 February 2026
Board work
2026-02-06.pdf
Relevant readings
Announcements
  • A progress tracker has been added to this site. It requires some manual updating and will generally by updated on Fridays. If you see something wrong in it, let the instructor know on teams or in email.
Lecture 6 – Basic Processors – Wednesday 4 February 2026
Board work
2026-02-04.pdf
Relevant readings
Announcements
  • Attendance counts starting today. As a reminder, you can also fill out the absences form linked from the main page if you need to miss class.

  • There’s a homework due this Thursday (and most Thursdays going forward).

Lecture 5 – Logic Gates, Arithmetic Machines – Monday 2 February 2026
Board work
2026-02-02.pdf
Relevant readings
Announcements
  • Attendance will begin counting towards you grade next lecture.

  • Quizzes are administered on paper and will include questions like those given in the first page of each lab and in the homeworks.

Lecture 4 – Data in Parts, Logic Gates – Friday 30 January 2026
Board work
2026-01-30.pdf
Relevant readings
Announcements
  • Homeworks going forward will be on PrairieLearn.

    Make sure you choose the university-based login option, not the Google or Microsoft login options, when logging in to PrairieLearn.

    Homework questions can be repeated until you get them right. They are released on Friday and due on the following Thursday.

  • Attendance is not yet part of your grade, but will be starting after the deadline to add the course next week.

Lecture 3 – Data as Bits – Wednesday 28 January 2026
Board work
2026-01-28.pdf
Relevant readings
Beyond 1s and 0s
Announcements
  • The forms that previously required UIUC Google logins now accept any Google account (even your personal one).
Lecture 2 – Place-Value Numbers, Binary – Friday 23 January 2026
Board work
2026-01-23.pdf
Relevant readings
1s and 0s (and so on)
Announcements
  • We will use Microsoft Teams for asynchronous communication between students and staff. Expect to be added to that later today.

  • UIUC Google account activation is having trouble. We’ll give IT a few days to work on it before seeking alternatives.

    For the first homework, wait until next week if you’re having google account trouble.

    For the lecture absence form, email the professor (luthert@) with your absence request if you can’t access that form.

Lecture 1 – Welcome and Overview – Wednesday 21 January 2026
Board work
2026-01-21.pdf
Relevant readings
Announcements
First homework released early; if you haven’t already, you’ll need to enable UIUC Google account to file this form.