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TDA452 / DIT143 Functional programming lp2 HT21 (7.5 hp)

The course is offered by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Contact details

Teaching Assistants: 

Course Representatives

Course purpose

In this course you will learn about functional programming through the Haskell programming language. Concrete topics encountered in the course include:

  • functions as first-class values
  • data structures (lists, tuples, user-defined data types)
  • recursion and recursive data types
  • polymorphism and type classes
  • pure functions vs input-output
  • modules and abstract data types
  • testing functional programs
  • lazy evaluations and infinite objects
  • introduction to monads

Schedule

Lectures are pre-recorded. Class meetings are usually on Mondays (13.15) and Thursdays (10.00); week 1 will be slightly different (one extra lecture and one moved).

In addition we will schedule lab supervision hours where you can chat over Slack, and invite course assistants to your zoom rooms for more specific discussion of your lab solution:

Lab Supervision times are 15:15-17 on Mondays and 13:15-15 on Wednesdays!

Course literature

There is no mandatory literature for this course.  The following links are a sample of potentially useful resources: 

  • Slides and other material from the pre-recorded lectures
  • Video lectures
  • Book: Programming in Haskell by Graham Hutton
    • 2nd edition of a compact and well-written Haskell book that is a good fit for this course. 
  • Book: Learn You a Haskell for Great Good! (Links to an external site.) (freely available online).
  • Real World Haskell by Bryan O'Sullivan, Don Stewart, and John Goerzen (freely available online).
    • This is more advanced and more oriented towards practical Haskell programming. A good book to have on the shelf if you continue with Haskell. This is the course book for the Advanced Functional Programming course.

Course design

Teaching is through pre-recorded lectures and self-study exercises, supported by on-line meetings related to the most recent lecture.  Class meetings are given two times a week. 

There are four programming labs which are done in groups of two.  Some of the labs are divided into two parts, so there are hand-in deadlines most study weeks.  The final lab is a choice between an own mini project or a more conventional lab.   Conventional labs are graded electronically; if a lab is not passed then students get chances to resubmit until the given final deadline.  The project lab is graded by an oral presentation of the lab (over zoom). 

The lab submission is through the Fire system (see links from the labs).

Changes made since the last occasion

The content and labs will be very similar to 2020; we will have physical meetings for quizzes, questions and small exercises.

Learning objectives and syllabus

Learning objectives:

- write small to medium-sized functional programs for a variety of applications;
- exploit a variety of programming techniques typical in functional programming, such as: use of recursion, modelling with recursive datatypes, abstraction and reuse with the help of higher order functions and monads;
- appreciate the strengths and possible weaknesses of the functional programming paradigm.

Link to the syllabus Chalmers.
Link to the syllabus GU.

Examination form

The examination of the course has two parts:

  • Weekly assignments ("labs"), done in groups of 2 students.
  • An individual written exam after the end of the course (in January). The re-exam is given in April.
    Exam dates, once decided, are given on the student portal  (search: TDA452 - the exam time is the same for GU students) https://www.student.chalmers.se/sp/examdates_list
Course code Examination date Begins Location Length First day
for sign-up		 Last day
for sign-up
TDA452 11 Jan 2022 8.30 am Halls at Lindholmen 4 hours 11 Oct 2021 20 Dec 2021
TDA452 12 Apr 2022 2.00 pm Johanneberg 4 hours 08 Feb 2022 25 Mar 2022

 

  • Remember that you have to sign up for the exam ahead of time!

To pass the course it is necessary to pass all assignments and the written exam. Your final grade is determined by your grade on the written exam only.

Written Exam

The grades awarded on the exam are 3, 4, 5 for Chalmers students, and G, VG for GU students. (G on the GU side corresponds to 3 or 4 on the Chalmers side; VG corresponds to a 5.)

A sample of old exams is available. Note that the exam includes a list of useful functions.  The only other permitted materials are a dictionary. 

Lab Assignments

In the table below you will find links to lab assignments which have to be handed in.

  • Each assignment has a submission deadline at which you must submit your solutions. Your first submission is expected to be a serious attempt to complete the lab.
  • If your submission does not pass (it's incorrect or simply badly coded) then you must resubmit. You can resubmit several times if need be, until the cutoff deadline.
  • The cutoff deadline is absolute: it is the last possible date to hand in your solutions. If your solutions are not passed you get no further chances this term.
  • Lab 4 here refers to the project option. Note that you need to be present at an oral presentation of your project (times will be posted nearer week 7).
Lab Part Submission deadline Cutoff deadline
Lab 1 Wednesday, Week 1
(2021-11-03)		 Friday, Week 2
(2021-11-12)
Lab 2 A Wednesday, Week 2
(2021-11-10)		 Friday, Week 4
(2021-11-26)
B Wednesday, Week 3
(2021-11-17)
Lab 3 A Wednesday, Week 4
(2021-11-24)		 Friday, Week 6
(2021-12-10)
B Wednesday, Week 5
(2021-12-01)
Lab 4 Proposal Monday, Week 6
(2021-12-06)		 Thursday, Week 6
(2021-12-09)
Project/Standard Lab Wednesday, Week 7
(2021-12-15)

Monday

2021-01-11

 

Course summary:

Date Details Due