Below is the tentative course schedule for the term. The “tentative” is key since the schedule will almost certainly change throughout the term.

Each reading on the schedule has a corresponding forum on the course Moodle page. For each reading, you must post your question or comment by noon of the corresponding day.

Date Topic Reading
Week 1
M: 04/01 Introduction to CS
Due: Assignment 1 (Tue by 10pm)
No Reading
W: 04/03 Getting Started with Python
Lab: Getting Started With Python
Reading 1:
  • Zelle §§1.1–1.9
F: 04/05 Basic Types and Operations
Lab: Exploring Types And Operations
Reading 2:
  • Zelle §§2.1–2.5
Week 2
M: 04/08 Numbers
Lab: Computing With Numbers
Due: Assignment 2 (Tue by 10pm)
Reading 3:
  • Zelle §§3.1–3.3, 3.5
W: 04/10 Conditionals
Lab: Using Conditionals
Reading 4:
F: 04/12 Strings, Sequences, and Lists
Lab: Working With Sequences
Reading 5:
  • Zelle §§5.1–5.6
Week 3
M: 04/15 Functions
Lab: Writing Your Own Functions
Due: Assignment 3 (Tue by 10pm)
Reading 6:
  • Zelle §§6.1–6.2, 6.4–6.6
W: 04/17 Loops
Lab: Simple Loops
Reading 7:
  • Zelle §§2.6, 3.4, 8.1–8.3.2
F: 04/19 Files
Lab: More Loops
Reading 8:
  • Zelle §§5.9, 8.3.3–8.5
Week 4
M: 04/22 Debugging
Lab: Debugging
Due: Assignment 4 (Tue by 10pm)
Reading 9:
W: 04/24 Debugging, Continued No Reading
F: 04/26 Objects and Graphics
Lab: Using Graphics
Reading 10:
  • Zelle §§4.1–4.5, 6.3, 6.7
Week 5
M: 04/29 Objects and Graphics, Continued
Lab: More Graphics
Reading 11:
  • Zelle §§4.6–4.9
W: 05/01 Documentation and Exceptions
Lab: Documentation And Exceptions
Due: Assignment 5
Reading 12:
F: 05/03 Exam 1 No Reading
Week 6
W: 05/08 Recursion and Binary Search Reading 13:
  • Zelle §§13.1–13.2
F: 05/10 Recursion, Continued
Lab: Basic Recursion
No Reading
Week 7
M: 05/13 Classes
Lab: Simple Classes
Due: Assignment 6 (Tue by 10pm)
Reading 14:
  • Zelle §§10.1–10.3
W: 05/15 Encapsulation Reading 15:
  • Zelle §§10.4–10.5
F: 05/17 Object-Oriented Design Reading 16:
  • Zelle §§12.1, 12.4
    (§§12.2–12.3 are optional but recommended)
Week 8
M: 05/20 OO Design, Continued
Due: Assignment 7 (Tue by 10pm)
No Reading
W: 05/22 Dictionaries Reading 17:
  • Zelle §11.7
F: 05/24 Sorting No Reading
Week 9
M: 05/27 Sorting, Continued
Lab: Sorting
Due: Project Proposal (Tue by 10pm)
Reading 18:
  • Zelle §§13.3.1–13.3.2
W: 05/29 Measuring Efficiency
Lab: Comparing Sorts
Reading 19:
  • Zelle §13.3.3
F: 05/31 Exam 2 No Reading
Week 10
M: 06/03 Project Work Day No Reading
W: 06/05 Hard Problems Reading 20:
  • Zelle §13.4
Final Exam Days
Sa: 06/08 Final Presentations (at 7:00pm) No Reading