Course Content

🔍Course Content - Overview

Here you will get a week overview of the entire course, the workload, topics and what needs to be done. Refer to pages for specific weeks for more details.

Week 1️ - Foundations of Computer Science

We start with a week of fundamentals and basics. This will cover computer science history, ethics, and an overview of the computer - hardware and software. We also discuss how to mentally approach programming and problem solve like a coder. This can really help you develop a positive mindset and learn how to approach coding with confidence and less frustration. The topics covered in Week 1 are contextual and foundational - they provide a crucial base that will benefit you in the long run.

There is no examination deadline this week, no tutorials, or real practical elements this week, to allow you time to absorb the information.

📚 MATERIALS

📖 PDFs

  • Part 1 - Intro to Computer Science - History & Context
  • Part 2 - Programmer Mentality - A Guide
  • Part 3 - Hardware vs Software
  • Part 4 - Markdown

📺 VIDEOS & SLIDES

  • Part 1 - Intro to Computer Science - History and Context
  • Part 2 - Programmer Mentality - A Guide
  • Part 3 - Hardware vs Software
  • Part 4 - Markdown

Week 2️ - Core Computer Skills for Coders

Week 2 will consist of reading that is essential to the hands-on work you will be doing. This includes IDEs (integrated development environments), terminal work, programming languages, development tools, version control, and files and filesystems on your computer. This is a week with more technical texts, and therefore the reading is lessened from Week 1. There is more focus on practical work, and there will be a fair amount of tutorials available for you to follow.

❗TAKE TIME to understand the material❗Topics covered this week are the MOST IMPORTANT in the entire course.

These concepts are NOT explained during the fall semester.

They cover computer literacy and practical skills such as understanding your computer’s setup, file systems, terminal work, and hierarchy.

They are foundational for programming - this is information you need in order to learn how to code.

📚 MATERIALS

📖 PDFs

  • Part 1 - Programming Environments - Components, Tools, & Platforms
  • Part 2 - Coder's toolkit - Terminal, Files Systems & Version Control

📺 VIDEOS & SLIDES

  • Part 1 - Programming Environments - Components, Tools, & Platforms
  • WATCH TUTORIAL - npm date-and-time
  • Part 2 - Coder's toolkit - Terminal, Files Systems & Version Control

🖥️ TUTORIALS

  • Tutorial 1 - VSCode
  • Tutorial 2 - The Terminal
  • Tutorial 3 - File systems
  • Tutorial 4 - Git & Github

⬇️ DOWNLOADS & ACCOUNTS

  • Make an account on GitHub
  • Download Git bash
  • Download Git
  • Download VS Code
  • Download - An extension inside VS Code

The account on GitHub is NOT connected to the school. It will be your private Github for future use - when you make an account, take that into consideration. For example, which username you choose and which email you use will be up to your discretion.

Week 3️

This week we will go deeper into actual code, and understand how it works. We will go through the layout of code, how programming languages work, variables, logic, and the essential building blocks of computing.

Again, this is a week with less reading and more hands-on work. You will write your first code! There will be tutorials available for you to follow.

📚 MATERIALS

📖 PDFs

  • Part 1 - Intro to Code - Overview and Essential Concepts
  • Part 2 - Intro to Code - Programming Basics

📺 VIDEOS & SLIDES

  • Part 1 - Intro to Code - Overview and Essential Concepts
  • Part 2 - Intro to Code - Programming Basics

🖥️ TUTORIALS

  • Tutorial - Coding - Variables and basic logic in REPLIT

⬇️ DOWNLOADS & ACCOUNTS

  • Make an account on Replit

Week 4

During Week 4, we’ll dive deeper into coding and enhance our understanding of programming concepts by writing a function. We’ll also dive into the web, explore networking and how data travels across the internet.
For example, we’ll examine how webpages load when you type in a URL and delve into the underlying mechanics of web functionality. We’ll also explore how programmers work with web technologies, including the client/server model and the differences between front-end and back-end programming.

The week's work is balanced between practical and reading. There is not a lot of practical work, but you might want to give yourself time to understand functions and how they work. There will be tutorials available for you to follow.

📚 MATERIALS

📖 PDFs

  • Part 1 - Networks
  • Part 2 - Foundations of Web Development
  • Part 3 - Functions()!

📺 VIDEOS & SLIDES

  • Part 1 - Networks
  • Part 2 - Foundations of Web Development
  • Part 3 - Functions()!

🖥️ TUTORIALS

  • Tutorial 1 - Functions and parameters

🖋️ COURSE EXAMINATION

  • DEADLINE DATE - Pending