About CS123 Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008
Graphics is a flourishing field within computer science. Driven by the tremendous increase in speed and quality of hardware and software, it has rapidly gained popularity among a wide variety of users. With applications as far-reaching as special effects, graphical user interfaces, information visualization, art, industrial design, education, computer games ranging from Doom 3 to The Sims, virtual reality, and the Internet, computer graphics plays an increasingly important role in our lives, both practically and culturally. This course aims to be a comprehensive introduction to basic concepts and algorithms in this field, and topics covered will include the fundamentals of scan conversion of geometric primitives, 2D and 3D transformations, 3D viewing and projection, color, simple illumination models, modeling, animation, and user interface design.
The official prerequisites for CS123 are either CS015/16, CS017/18, or CS019. Though some introduction to linear algebra will prove to be helpful, none is required or assumed. In addition to learning about computer graphics, CS123 is a great way to familiarize yourself with C/C++ and systems level programming.