Lecture: Course Overview & Big Ideas

Slides

PDF files of the lecture slides:

• Part 1: Logistics (mostly reiterating parts of this website)
• Part 2: Big Ideas

These slides are the primary "textbook" of the course. Relevant slides will always be posted ahead of the corresponding class meeting. Each instructor may use them differently during class. If you wish to have paper copies of these materials for notetaking during or outside class, you are free to print your own.

Readings

There are no readings for the first class. In general though, you should do all the reading before the class. Even a surface understanding of the day's topics before class can make a big difference in your learning.

Code

Click on this lec_course_intro.zip link to download the .zip file to your computer. Unzip the downloaded lec_course_intro.zip file (by double-clicking on it) to reveal a folder with a few files we will use during lecture. Note that some computers may automatically unzip the file after you download it.

In order to run Python code during class, you will need to launch the Anaconda app. Once opened, launch Jupyter Notebooks. It should bring up a page in your web browser which will allow you to navigate to your downloaded code. Open up the notebook code. All notebooks end with the extension .ipynb. Select the file lec_course_intro.ipynb.

Here is a description of the content of the files in this folder:

• lec_course_intro.ipynb: The ending .ipynb stands for interactive python notebook. This is a special file that you can open with Anaconda, which we'll use often during lectures. You will not be creating such files yourselves. Every input cell is "run" independently of the others. However, order matters, especially when some variables are declared in previous cells. You can save all changes to this file (the outputs of the instructions), and "relive" the lecture at your pace. Alternatively, you can download the file again and test yourself in the short activities that these notebooks contain.

• turtleBeads.py: This is a Python module that needs to be present in order for us to create the Tinman graphics. You will not need to open or run the code of this file. We will only import its content in our program via a special Python instruction.

Solutions (for after class)

Use these sample solutions for review only after you have completed the code exercises. You will learn much more by trying them first and comparing your approach with the solutions.