Computer programming is profoundly empowering.  With the ability to program computers, even at a very basic level, comes the ability to make the most ubiquitous tool in modern society perform the tasks you want it to.  This course introduces basic computer programming concepts and skills, with an aim to empowering you.  If you are pursuing any of the science-Informatics (Bioinformatics, Chemical Informatics, Complex Systems, Cybersecurity, etc.), you will most definitely need and use these skills.  If you are in the Design area, the concepts learned in this class will help you create better tools and work more effectively with professional programmers.  In the area of Social Informatics, data analysis and models are frequently computer based these days.  And many modern companies employ programmers and IT specialists for all aspects of their business, so even if you successfully enter a management track in business, you will need to understand and manage the programming work done by employees and contractors.

To make sure everyone acquires the basic skills, we will assume no knowledge of computer programming whatsoever.  If you have experience programming already and must take this class, please talk to us and we will see about making things a bit more interesting for you.  We don't want anyone getting lost or bored.

This semester you will be learning the Python programming language.  Python is a very intuitive and easy to use, yet very powerful language, that is highly regarded in industry, and is in use at NASA, Google, Microsoft, and Disney.

During the semester you will write lots of little programs.  By the end of the course you should feel entirely comfortable designing and writing a program to accomplish whatever you need to accomplish.  Almost all of the programs you will be writing are games or relating to computer gaming!  Learning should be fun, and hopefully you will enjoy this semester (even though you have to work hard to succeed).

We’re excited about sharing our passion for computer programming with you, having applied it to wildly varying applications from network analysis, to cognitive science simulations, to web analytics.  Sometimes we code for fun, sometimes we code for work, but it is (nearly) always a rewarding and stimulating experience.  What you do with the skills will depend on your interests, your educational choices, and your professional career choices, but they will stand you in good stead regardless of what those might be.

Prerequisites: 

INFO I101 Introduction to Informatics, INFO I201 Mathematical Foundations of Informatics.

Required textbook: Guide to Programming with Python, by Michael Dawson. Do NOT install anything from the included CD-ROM.  Instead, download this: http://informatics.indiana.edu/larryy/i210/PythonTextbookCDContent.zip.