Schedule > 1. Introduction

Welcome to the course! COVID-19 edition. We’ll all be figuring this online situation out together – let’s help each other stay engaged, motivated, productive, and healthy! By the end of this course, we want each of you to have written many computer programs, and have a solid grasp of some fundamental programming concepts.

To do this, you’re going to have to teach yourself the skills that you need to accomplish this goal by actively participating in the class. Active participation means (1) doing the readings, (2) watching the videos, (3) attending the lectures and tutorial sessions, and (4) doing the practice assignments. We also want you to discuss ideas / ask questions with your peers and with the course staff.

Credits: the above animation was created by former CS110 student Harcourt Allen.

Course Format

For the Tuesday and Thursday class sessions, we will post, in advance (ideally), some slides, videos, coding activities, and / or readings that you will be expected to do on your own. Then, during the regularly scheduled class time, we will be discussing the concepts and ideas synchronously (i.e. live) on Zoom, doing Q&A, and doing activities. During Zoom lecture, we can go over anything you want, and I can do some live-coding activities and pause to make sure folks are getting their questions answered.

Please Complete the Following Tasks

1. Review the Slides

1. Course Logistics
2. Intro to Hardware & Software

2. Watch the Lecture Video(s)

3. Review / Study the Supplemental Materials

Note: these readings / videos are suggested for additional context / examples, but not required.

1. Charles Severance Ch1: Intro to Computing. Python for Everybody
   reading • video
2. Brian Heinold Ch1: Getting Started. A Practical Introduction to Python Programming