Overview of the Course

The Big Questions

• What is computer science all about?

• Why have computers taken over the world?

• How do they really work inside?

• How can they be programmed to do interesting things?

• Are there any limitations to what they can do, in principle?

• Could they ever become super-intelligent?

• In what ways are they impacting our society?

Our Approach

We will focus on problem-solving throughout the semester.

Outline of topics:

• History of computer technology and the Web
• Writing and understanding algorithms
  • Pseudocode
  • Sorting and searching
  • Efficiency of algorithms
• Computer hardware
  • Binary numbers
  • Boolean logic and logic gates
  • Basic architecture of a computer
• Computer software
  • Machine language
  • Assembly language
  • Networks
• Programming languages
  • Introduction to programming in Python
  • Object-oriented programming
  • Parsers and compilers
  • The limits of computation
• Applications of computers
  • Artificial intelligence and robotics
  • Encryption
  • E-commerce and the Internet
• Social impact of computers and the Web

Course Goals

• Learn to think in a rigorous, precise, and logical way

• Understand the concept of an algorithm

• Learn the basics of programming using the Python programming language

• Understand the fundamental principles of computers and computation

• Gain a deeper appreciation of the role of technology in society from a liberal arts perspective