Lecture Materials

Introduction and Course Overview

notes, syllabus

Unit 1: Databases

Fundamentals

The Relational Model

The SQL Query Language

         sqlite3 documentation

         other SQLite documentation

         practice-problem solutions

Database Design and the Entity-Relationship Model

         extra-practice problems (solutions)

Unit 2: Programming in Python

Programming Basics

         Python resources: download page, documentation, IDLE documentation

         example program: changeAdder.py

Working with Numbers

         example programs: changeAdder2.py, gradeCalculator.py

Making Decisions

         example programs: squareRootCalculator.py, numberAnalyzer.py, ticketSales1.py, ticketSales2.py

Strings and Lists

Accessing a Database

         example programs: getMoviesByYear.py, getMoviesByYearSafe.py,

         getMoviesByDirector.py, getMoviesByDirector2.py, getPerson.py, getPersonExtended.py

Working with Files

         example programs: getMoviesByYearFile.py, getMoviesByYearFile2.py, processFile.py, extractRecords.py, discretizeYears.py (sample input file)

Unit 3: Information Design and Data Visualization (guest lectures by Prof. Wayne Synder)

notes (use the solutions password)

Hans Rosling's TED talk

Gapminder World, which allows you to explore the interactive graphics from Rosling's talk

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte (Graphics Press, 2000)

Unit 4: Data Mining

Introduction

Classification Learning

         datasets: credit-card promotions, medical diagnosis (with Temp instead of Fever)

         Weka resources: software download (use version 3.4 -- the book version), documentation

Numeric Estimation

Preparing the Data

Association Learning

Predicting Patient Outcomes