Course Syllabus

Course Syllabus

Part I: Basic Tools (6 weeks)

Unit 1: Introduction to Python. Elementary values and data types. Straight line programs, assignments to variables, type conversion, math library.
Unit 2: Strings, sequences, vectors, arrays. Introduction to VPython. Functions and parameters.
Unit 3: Conditionals and loop structures. Recursion.
Exam 1

Part II: Introduction to Computational Tools, Methods, and Structures (6 weeks)

Unit 4: Simulation and Monte Carlo methods. Optimization methods.
Unit 5: Introductions to Computational Physics and Computational Chemistry
Unit 6: Use of data structures: trees, traversal and exploration. Recursion.
Unit 7: Introduction to graphs and their use in science applications. Visualizing massive data sets.
Exam 2

Part III: Looking Under the Hood at Computer Science (3 weeks)

Unit 8: Object-oriented design.
Unit 9: Algorithm design, limits of computing, intractability, computability. Future models of computation: DNA computing, quantum computing
Comprehensive Final Exam