Introduction to Programming

The Intro to Programming training course is designed to teach students the art of computer programming. This course targets students who have either never written a computer program, or those who learned to program long ago and are not daily programmers. The course will be taught in Python, a language which is easy to get started with, yet powerful enough that students will likely continue to use it on a regular basis.

The course begins with a brief look at the basics of computer architecture, offering students a high-level understanding of the concepts and terminology of a computer enabling them to understand what's going on "under the hood." The course then goes on to explain programs, algorithms, errors, debugging, and the processes necessary for a programmer to take a problem statement and turn it into working code which will solve real-world problems. Converting problems into code will be a recurring theme throughout the course, and students will have many opportunities to write code through hands-on labs and challenges. At the end of the course, students will have the knowledge and skills necessary to write code, and if desired, enroll in our Introduction/Core programming courses (e.g., Java, JavaScript-or even Python), all of which assume knowledge of programming as a prerequisite.

An optional third day will consist primarily of additional programming exercises and challenges, one-on-one help, and additional material which will further students' knowledge of programming. The course is definitely NOT for developers who write code on a regular basis.

Productivity Objectives

• Associate programming terminology (e.g., variables, keywords, statements, conditionals, expressions, loops, functions, algorithms, debugging, etc.).
• Transform a problem statement into an actionable mental model.
• Write Python code to solve real-world problems.
• Translate and debug Python programs at a beginner level.
• Transition to other programming languages/courses.