Introduction to Computer and Programming - Overview

Chapter 1: Introduction to Computers and Programming

This chapter begins by giving a very concrete and easy-to-understand explanation of how computers work, how data is stored and manipulated, and why we write programs in high-level languages. An introduction to Python, interactive mode, script mode, and the IDLE environment are also given.

Learning Outcomes Chapter 1

Upon completion of this week's material students should be able to:

• describe the nature and content of CIS 106;
• describe the primary components a modern digital electronic computer system;
• describe the field of computer science and common specializations within the field;
• briefly describe notion of an algorithm and its importance in computer science
• describe what compilers and interpreters do, and how they compare to one another;
• describe several major programming languages and the role of each in the history of programming languages;
• use the IDLE to initiate a new Python application project Appendix B;
• create and run a Python program with console output Appendix B;

Highlights This Week

In addition to time management to be successful in this course, you should follow these tasks weekly

• read the overview page in each assigned module
• read the chapter in the textbook
• read the lecture notes posted in modules/powerpoints
• participate in the discussion forums
• review the supplement documents and example code posted in the modules
• complete the module quiz
• complete the module assignments

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