With the groundwork laid last week, we begin the course itself this week, and we begin with a big picture overview of what computer science is, and how it relates to algorithms, and to computer programming. You will spend most of your effort in this course learning how to program, but hopefully this week's material will provide context for why. You should start by reading through the pages in the section Introduction to Computers and Programming.
Next up is to take Python for a small test drive and so get some experience using the Python interpreter interactively: Using the Python shell will show you what to do.
Which brings us to the final item for the week: Do Assignment 1!
Unlike the other assignments which just ask you to write programs, this one is a mixed bag. It begins in Parts I and II with an attempt to verify that you did indeed:
read over the course description last week,
and that you successfully installed a Python interpreter.
Parts III and IV are I hope somewhat more interesting. Part III asks you to write some short algorithms. Algorithm design is at the heart of Computer Science and programming, and while the assignment just asks you to write some algorithms for stacking sugar cubes (really!), it will give you a feel for the challenge of specifying actions precisely. Part IV gives you a non-computer exercise to do (sorting a deck of cards) that illustrates the importance of memory and processor capacities in computational tasks.
The assignment is due next Sunday night, January 18, and late assignments are not accepted, so start early. For that matter feel free to submit early and then take advantage of my feedback to improve your assignment.
Have a good week!