Welcome to Comp 115.

Course Descritpion: Problem-solving techniques and algorithm development with emphasis on program design, introductory numerical methods and object-oriented programming from the client perspective. This course is intended for those seeking a thorough and rigorous exposure to programming; an ideal course for those considering graduate school in any field. Topics covered include programming language syntax (using Python), coding, debugging, testing and good documentation style. Concepts include arithmetic and logical operations; simple input and output; functions and the introductory data structures of arrays/lists, records and classes.

Course Basics

Lecture, section A:	Mon-Wed-Fri 10:30AM-11:20AM, Science Center B334
Lecture, section A01:	Tue-Thurs 9:30AM-10:50AM, Science Center B246
Lab L01:	Tuesday 3:30PM - 5:20PM, Science Center 1349
Lab L02:	Wednesday 3:30PM - 5:20PM, Science Center 1349
Lab L03:	Wednesday 3:30PM - 5:20PM, Science Center 1315 (lab instructor: Zhou (Tony) Tong)

Instructor:	Martin Gagné
Email:	lastname_firstname at wheatoncollege dot edu
Office:	Science Center 1323
Office Hours:	Monday 2:00PM-3:00PM Tuesday 11:00AM-12:00PM Thursday 1:00PM-3:00PM and by appointment
Tutors:	Francesca Sajedi (Mon 6PM - 8PM) Eammon Littler (Mon 6PM - 8PM) Jackson Reed (Wed 7PM - 9PM) Danny Mullen (Thur 7PM - 9PM)

Course Discussion:

Piazza (by invitation, mandatory enrollment)

Course Textbook

I will be very loosely following the online textbook from Runestone Academy:

• Foundations of Python Programming. Login (or create an account) and select course: Comp115 (no spaces)

If you insist on having a physical book, the following is also a good reference:

• Python Programming: An Introduction to Computer Science, 3rd Ed. by John Zelle.

Both books follow more or less the same course order, but I will on occasion (well, ok, somewhat often...) deviate from their order. I will post on the schedule the chapter from the book that corresponds to the material covered in class.

Additional references

This course provides an introduction to programming as well as to the Python program language. Each could warrant their own course of study and we highly recommend you study them further. Some references of use:

• The online Python 3 documentation for when it's 3am and you can't remember how to use print. A great source for looking up Python functions.
• How to Think Like a Computer Scientist, based on the work of Jeffrey Elkner, Allen B. Downey, and Chris Meyers. Just another online reference on Python because more references are good.
• Google. Seriously, it's a really good place to look for stuff, but make sure that you look for explanations, not for solutions (see section on Academic misconduct).