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Programming for Engineers Course Notes

Title Page [65 KB]

Table of Contents [52 KB]

1. Introduction. Getting Started [121 KB] Introduction to the course. Introduction to programming languages. Introduction to Mathematica. References and resources. Getting started. Exercise: A Tour of Mathematica.

2. Expressions and Evaluation [114 KB] Introduction. Expressions. Evaluation. Assignment. Lists and tables. Problems.

3. Rules and Patterns [87 KB] Introduction. Rules. Patterns. Compound expressions. Problems

4. Writing Functions [82 KB] Introduction. Understanding function definitions. Clearing function definitions. An example with three variables. Summary: The form of a function definition. Problems.

5. Writing Modules [112 KB] Introduction. The need for modules. A template for using a module. How to develop a module. Advanced concept: How modules keep values local. Problems.

6. Functional Programming [114 KB] Introduction. Map. Apply. Thread. Outer. Anonymous functions. Nest. NestList. FixedPoint. Summary: When to use functional programming. Problems.

7. Rule-based Programming [101 KB] Introduction. Constraining rules with simple patterned arguments. Constraining rules with x_Head. Constraining rules through predicates. Constraining rules through conditions. Problems.

8. Graphics Programming [227 KB] Introduction. Showing graphics objects. The FullForm of a graphics object expression. Two dimensional graphics primitives. Graphics options. Style directives. Controlling graphic output. Graphics packages. Graphics arrays. Animation. Problems.

9. Concluding Techniques [107 KB] Introduction. Timing. Printing. Advanced patterns. Recursion. Dynamic programming. Procedural programming. Problems.

A. Packaging Your Program [87 KB] Introduction. Documenting a program. Your workbook. Your journal. The package. The User Guide. Problem. A final note on the art of programming.

B. Programming Project [170 KB] Introduction. Build your model. Setting up your data. Exploring the performance.

C. Past Test Questions [138 KB]

• Teat 1: Expressions evaluation, rules, and patterns
• Test 2: Writing functions
• Test 3: Using modules
• Test 4: Functional programming
• Test 5: Rule-based programming
• Test 6: Graphics programming
• Test 7: Concluding techniques
• Test 8: Packaging your program