High school math (not calculus). We do not assume you have any programming
experience or programming understanding coming into this class.
We do assume you have
some familiarlty with using computers, specifically web browsers and text
editors.
The goal of this course is to teach the fundamental concepts
of programming a modern computer.
Though we will use the JavaScript language to write the
programs we study, the concepts the student will learn
are expressible in all programming languages.
When the course is completed, each student will have
- been exposed to the concept of a model
- learned the major internal components of a modern computer
- practiced binary notation (the internal language of a computer)
- become more familiar with powers of 2 (the binary base)
- learned 7 fundamental concepts of programming
- written code in the JavaScript programming language
- effectively tested computer programs for correctness
- learned how to execute JavaScript programs in three different ways
- used some basic HTML webpage notation to prepare simple
Web content
- practiced systematic problem solving by developing programs
in a top down incremental fashion
- learned a few best practices in software development, such as
working in small increments
COMP 110 is a hands-on course. Lectures are practical,
often comprising concept explanations paired with in-class
programming demonstrations to illustrate how to apply the
concepts.
The class has a midterm exam, a final exam, and programming
assignments. The grade is based entirely on performance on both
the exams and the programming assignments.