Week 1 — Readings & Resources

Introduction to Computer Science Free sample edition

Your primary reading is Chapter 1 (in this module). Everything below is the optional, go-deeper layer — pick what helps, skip the rest.

How to use this page

This page has 11 items (5 readings and 6 videos). Allow 76–93 minutes for everything. Each group points back to the matching chapter section and class-session segment, so use the full menu when you want more, or take the quick path below.

Every video here has captions: turn them on with the CC button in the player. The chapter covers the same ideas in text.

Pick-one quick path (17–22 min total)

① Writing steps a machine can follow

Chapter 1, Section “Algorithms and programs: steps a machine can follow” · Session 1, Segment 1, “Algorithms and programs” · Remember: an algorithm is the plan in plain words, and a program is that plan written so a computer can run it.

Computer Science Basics: Algorithms — LearnFree — a short animated explainer that treats an algorithm as a set of exact steps, the way a recipe is; as you watch, write the larger-of-two steps from the chapter in the same style. Use it while working through the Week-1 module overview. (video, 3 min) (captions: creator)
Intro to Algorithms: Crash Course Computer Science #13 — CrashCourse — a lively tour of why some step lists solve a problem better than others; watch the opening minutes on what makes a list of steps an algorithm, and treat the sorting examples later in the video as a preview, not as this week's work. (video, 12 min) (captions: creator)

② Printing and predicting

Chapter 1, Section “Predict, then run: tracing your first expressions” · Session 2, Segment 4, “Predict, then run” · Remember: say what a line will print before you run it, and let the run settle any argument.

Using Print, Python for Beginners 5 of 44 — Microsoft Developer — a short demo of the print function showing text on the screen; the presenter works in an installed editor, but every line also runs in the free browser runner this course uses, so type each one there as you watch. (video, 4 min) (captions: creator)
Python print() Function — W3Schools — a one-screen reference for print, including what happens when you hand it several values at once; read the part on separating several objects with a space and try the example in the page's try-it box. (reading, 4–6 min)
Python Operator Precedence — Programiz — a short tutorial with a table of which operator Python works out first and examples where parentheses change the result; read the opening section on precedence and check one example by running it. Stop at the arithmetic operators; next week, Variables, Data Types & Expressions, takes up more of them. (reading, 5–8 min)

③ Reading an error message

Chapter 1, Section “Reading an error message: start at the last line” · Session 2, Segment 5, “Reading an error message” · Remember: read an error from the bottom up, because the last line names the error type.

How to Read Tracebacks — Exercism — a guide from a free coding-practice site that says to start reading at the exception on the bottom line and work upward; read the opening explanation and the SyntaxError example, and skip the debugger tools near the end for now. (reading, 10–15 min)
Error Handling, Python for Beginners 17 of 44 — Microsoft Developer — a walk through the kinds of errors a program can hit, from text Python refuses to read to problems that appear while it runs; watch the first part on telling those kinds apart, and leave the error-handling code at the end for a later week. (video, 13 min) (captions: creator)

④ Where programming came from

Chapter 1, Section “Where it came from, and the tools you will use” · Session 2, Segment 6, “History and tools” · Remember: people have been writing exact steps for machines for a long time, and every claim about code still gets checked by a run.

The First Programming Languages: Crash Course Computer Science #11 — CrashCourse — an illustrated history of how programmers moved from raw machine instructions to languages people can read, including the first compilers; listen for why a compiler made programming faster and less error-prone. (video, 12 min) (captions: creator)
Python Introduction — w3schools.com — a two-minute overview of what Python is and what people use it for, from a reference site's video series; note one use that connects to your own major or work. (video, 2 min) (captions: creator)
Timeline of Computer History: Software and Languages — Computer History Museum — a museum timeline of programming languages and software; read the entries from the 1952 compiler through the late 1950s and see how quickly new languages followed. (reading, 6–10 min)

Optional one-stop reference (free online reference)

Errors and Exceptions, The Python Tutorial — Python Software Foundation — the official tutorial's sections on syntax errors and exceptions, the course's free reference for every language fact; read the two opening sections and skip the exception-handling sections that follow. (reading, 5–8 min)

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell your instructor and use the reference above in the meantime.

Provenance: Built with The Course Maker · samples.thecoursemaker.com