These pages are the clean statement of an idea you have already met — usually in an exploration, a warm-up, or something that went wrong on your screen. The order below is the order the course needs them in, not the order they appear in a textbook. Come here after class, when you want the idea in one place and in plain words.
Unit 1 — Programs that decide, and the machine that runs them
- What a Program Is
- Variables and Data Types
- Input and Output
- Inside the Machine
- Reading a Spec Sheet
- Applications, Languages, and Operating Systems
- Making Decisions
- Boolean Logic
- Testing and Debugging
Unit 2 — Repetition, data, and what computing costs
- Repetition
- Formulas as Algorithms
- Lists
- Working with Text
- From Source to Running Program
- Keeping Data Safe
- Computers and the Environment
- Where to Take It, and Who to Ask
Unit 3 — Structure, files, and design
- Functions
- Parameters, Returns, and Scope
- Decomposition and Design
- Files and Persistence
- The Software Development Process
- Where the Field Is Going
- Pathways After This Course
Unit 4 — Building for someone else