Introduction to Computer Science: Survey
Discussion Questions - Unit Three

Please answer all of the questions below and submit them to your instructor when you are finished with unit three. You should have read chapter 4, Can We Trust the Computer, of your text and viewed the video The World at Your Fingertips before answering these questions. All written worked should be typed with double-spaced lines. I will not accept any answers that are simply copied from the text.

You can get help with definitions at http://www.pcwebopedia.com. Use this site as a resource, not a crutch. Don't simply copy definitions, explain concepts in your own words.

1. Answer question 1 on page 154 of your text.

2. Answer question 2 on page 154 of your text.

3. Answer question 10 on page 154 of your text

4. Answer question 13 on page 154 of your text

5. Answer question 16 on page 155 of your text

6. Answer question 25 on page 156 of your text.

7. Explain the role played by scientists at Xerox Parc in making computing easier.

8. What does an operating system like Windows do for a user? What's the difference between a command driven user interface and a graphical user interface? Incidentally, Apple Computer used to take the credit for the invention of the graphical user interface (GUI). The tape makes clear that this isn't exactly the case. What kinds of claims about the GUI can Apple legitimately make?

9. Mitch Kapor (the person behind Lotus 1-2-3) says that mistakes (bugs) in computer programs are not like mistakes in physical systems like airplanes or bridges. In particular, he says programming mistakes do not obey the law of "proximity of cause and effect" and this makes fixing (debugging) programs extremely difficulty. Can you explain what he means?

10. What is virtual reality? What are some of the uses of virtual reality?