JOHN GUTTAG: Computational devices have
become so pervasive that most of
the time we don't even realize
that we're using them.
Computation keeps our planes in the
air and our cars on the road.
It manages our electrical,
communications, and financial systems.
It controls everything from
homes to pacemakers.
And most importantly, computation
has changed the way people
think about the world.
Hello.
My name is John Guttag, and I want to
tell you a little something about the
course Introduction to Computation
and Programming in Python.
On the surface, this course may appear
to be just another introduction to
programming in Python.
But if that's all you get out of
it, I'll be very disappointed.
In particular, you should come away from
this course with a good start on
understanding how to use computation
to solve real problems.
The idea is to simultaneously Python,
how to be a good programmer, and do
both of these in the context of solving
problems of genuine interest.
Now for some truth in advertising.
Like all good engineering courses,
this course is mostly
about learning by doing.
We've worked hard at preparing
the online lecture material.
But truth be told, you'll learn a lot
more by doing the problem sets and
attempt to apply the things we've
talked about in the lectures.
If you've never programed before,
you're in for a treat.
It may take you a little while to get
the hang of it, but once you do,
you'll discover that programming
is an enormous amount of fun.
