Thomas Gross: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2018

Award: The Golden Owl
Name Prof. em. Dr. Thomas Gross
FieldInformatik
Address
Lehre D-INFK
ETH Zürich, CAB H 69.2
Universitätstrasse 6
8092 Zürich
SWITZERLAND
Telephone+41 44 632 73 42
E-mailthomas.gross@inf.ethz.ch
DepartmentComputer Science
RelationshipProfessor emeritus

NumberTitleECTSHoursLecturers
252-0027-00LIntroduction to Programming Information 7 credits4V + 2UT. Gross
AbstractIntroduction to fundamental concepts of modern programming and operational skills for developing high-quality programs, including large programs as in industry. The course introduces software engineering principles with an object-oriented approach based.
ObjectiveMany people can write programs. The "Introduction to Programming" course goes beyond that basic goal: it teaches the fundamental concepts and skills necessary to perform programming at a professional level. As a result of successfully completing the course, students master the fundamental control structures, data structures, reasoning patterns and programming language mechanisms characterizing modern programming, as well as the fundamental rules of producing high-quality software. They have the necessary programming background for later courses introducing programming skills in specialized application areas.
ContentBasics of object-oriented programming. Objects and classes. Pre- and postconditions, class invariants, Design by Contract. Fundamental control structures. Assignment and References. Basic hardware concepts. Fundamental data structures and algorithms. Recursion. Inheritance and interfaces, introduction to event-driven design and concurrent programming. Basic concepts of Software Engineering such as the software process, specification and documentation, reuse and quality assurance.
Lecture notesThe lecture slides are available for download on the course page.
LiteratureSee the course page for up-to-date information.
Prerequisites / NoticeThere are no special prerequisites. Students are expected to enroll in the other courses offered to first-year students of computer science.
252-0912-00LExperimental Computer Systems
Only for Ph.D. students at the Institute of Computer Systems. All other students need the approval by the lecturer.
2 credits2ST. Gross
AbstractThis graduate seminar provides doctoral students in computer science a chance to discuss their research. Enrollement requires permission of the instructor.
Credit units are granted only to active participants.
ObjectiveLearn how to formulate a research project, how to conduct research and how to improve presentation skills in an academic setting.
ContentThe seminar will explore different topics from a research perspective. The seminar is open to assistants of the Department of Computer Science (Informatik), Computer Systems Institute. Others should contact the instructor.
Lecture notesSupporting material will be distributed during the seminar.
Prerequisites / NoticeCredit will be given only to those who present a paper/project. No credit for "attendance".
263-2810-00LAdvanced Compiler Design Information
Does not take place this semester.
7 credits3V + 2U + 1AT. Gross
AbstractThis course covers advanced topics in compiler design: SSA intermediate representation and its use in optimization, just-in-time compilation, profile-based compilation, exception handling in modern programming languages.
ObjectiveUnderstand translation of object-oriented programs, opportunities and difficulties in optimizing programs using state-of-the-art techniques (profile-based compilation, just-in-time compilation, runtime system interaction)
ContentThis course builds conceptually on Compiler Design (a basic class for advanced undergraduates), but this class is not a prerequisite. Students should however have a solid understanding of basic compiler technology.

The focus is on handling the key features of modern object-oriented programs. We review implementations of single and multiple inheritance (incl. object layout, method dispatch) and optimization opportunities.

Specific topics: intermediate representations (IR) for optimizing compilers, static single assignment (SSA) representation, constant folding, partial redundancy optimizations, profiling, profile-guided code generation. Special topics as time permits: debugging optimized code, multi-threading, data races, object races, memory consistency models, programming language design. Review of single inheritance, multiple inheritance, object layout, method dispatch, type analysis, type propagation and related topics.

This course provides another opportunity to explore software design in a medium-scale software project.
LiteratureAho/Lam/Sethi/Ullmann, Compilers - Principles, Techniques, and Tools (2nd Edition). In addition, papers as provided in the class.
Prerequisites / NoticeA basic course on compiler design is helpful but not mandatory. Student should have programming skills/experience to implement an optimizer (or significant parts of an optimizer) for a simple object-oriented language. The programming project is implemented using Java.