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Jörn Loviscach

Introduction to Computer Graphics
= ECG Einführung in die Computergrafik
= DM-301-1 Computergrafik

If you attend this course, please send me an e-mail so that I can compile a mailing list.
 

Schedule

Intended Learning Outcomes

• Students are able to apply basic algorithms and methods in the field of computer graphics (GUIs, 2D, 3D, animation).
• Students are able to use selected graphics and GUI APIs and tool kits (this year, Managed DirectX and Windows Forms) for basic tasks.
• Students are able to develop (genuinely!) object-oriented software consisting of a few hundred lines of code.
• Students are able to employ standard debugging techniques.

Prerequisites

Lecture

The day before each lecture, I prepare lecture notes and put them in the corresponding directory beneath this Web page, together with example code. The notes are no work for eternity; I typically focus on content and on didactics rather than on form. According to the regulations, your attendance in the lecture is not required. However, if you don't attend the lecture, you will have a hard time working on the assignments.

Laboratory

I recommend that you collect information from everywhere. But I expect everybody to understand the program he or she submits. Furthermore, any material (text, code, images, sounds, etc.) that you did not create on your own has to be clearly declared as such. In the assignments, you will achieve a better grade with self-developed material, although in later business practice you would of course strive to reuse somebody else's work.

Attendance at the lab is compulsory, limited by the typical exemptions such as illness. As an alternative to attend the lab, you may contact the corresponding tutor in advance (!) for a special meeting or electronic communication. Note that most of the work has to be done at home. You may also use the computer graphics lab when there are no classes.

Assignments are to be submitted via e-mail to the tutors, who may also be approached with questions. According to the regulations, you need to include not only source code and executable files, but also substantial documentation:

• Objectives (merely my description of the assignment)
• Requirements (formulate precisely how the software has to behave)
• Software Design (e.g., UML diagrams)
• Test documentation (What are points to be tested intensively? What have you tested in which way? Consequences?)
• User guide and an example application (e.g., commented screen shots)

I grade every assignment with zero to three points, and that is the least point number according to the following categories:
 

Points	Solution of Problem	Structure	Naming	Comments	Documentation
0	vital part missing	spaghetti	muddled	virtually no comments	important part(s) missing
1	mostly complete, but for instance erroneous behavior in important exceptional cases	some logical problems, no defensive programming	partially confusing	every class and every non-trivial method explained with comments that are automatically extractable (in the context of C# that means XML)	mostly complete, but for instance not covering important problems or gaps
2	complete up to minor gaps	basically object-oriented, basic defensive programming	comprehensible	in addition: explanations of code that cannot be understood on first linear reading (If there are no difficult-to-read passages in the code, that's even better!); do not comment every single line	virtually complete
3	complete	clean classes built using design patterns; defensive programming; instrumented code	self-explaining	in addition: comments describing vital algorithms in brief	exhaustive

If you achieve three points in every category and if your solution clearly exceeds the original task in features, structure, or documentation, you are awarded four points instead. If you achieve one point for every assignment, your total mark will be 4.0 (sufficient). If you achieve four points for every assignment, your mark will be 1.0 (excellent).

Book and Web Recommendations

• Brill/Bender: Computergrafik, ISBN 3-446-22150-6: introductory and practical book
• Shirley: Fundamentals of Computer Graphics, Second Edition, ISBN 1-56881-269-8: somewhat more strict concerning the maths, but still very much application-oriented; the second edition is very comprehensive
• Miller: Managed DirectX 9 Kick Start: Graphics and Game Programming, ISBN 0-672-32596-9: written by the chief developer; complete and easily comprehensible; needs updates for recent minor changes in Managed DirectX, however
• Gunnerson: C# Tutorial und Referenz: first edition for free
• McConnell: Code Complete 2, ISBN 0735619670: how to program clearly and to avoid bugs
• Eckel: Thinking in Patterns: work in progress, but free and already useful
• Programming references at Microsoft^® Developer Network MSDN on C#, .NET, DirectX^®, etc.
• Programming references for OpenGL^®: OpenGL.org, Coding4Fun
• Tutorials and forums regarding Managed DirectX^® and iother .NET technologies: GotDotNet.com
• Guide to faster, less frustrating Debugging

Schedule, Syllabus