T-Th 9:05
or
T-Th 11:15
in Olin 155

CS 1110: Introduction to Computing Using Python

Fall 2015

Alternatives to CS 1110

CS 1110 is a 4 credit course designed for freshmen and sophomores. While it offers an introduction to computer programming concepts, it goes a lot deeper than that. It also emphasizes techniques of problem analysis and the development and analysis of algorithms. Depending on your needs, you may find that other classes are a better fit.


CS 1133: The Short Course

CS 1110 is not an ideal class for graduate students who need to learn some programming for their research. It involves a significant amount of work both in and out of class; the typical graduate student does not have time for all this work. In our experience, most graduate students drop the course in the first month.

CS 1133 is a 1-credit course that focuses on the basics in programming in Python. It does not include a lot of the computer science material that CS 1110, but it is enough to get you up and running in Python, if you need to use it for another class. This is the course that we recommend for graduate students.

If you look at the Course Catalogue you may see that CS 1133 requires experience in another language. This is no longer the case. We have revamped this course so that it assumes no previous programming experience.


Other Introductory Courses

CS 1112 is the primary alternative to CS 1110. Both courses are designed to prepare students for CS 2110 and future computer science courses. CS 1110 has a slight emphasis on software application development. CS 1112, which uses MatLab, and has a slight emphasis on scientific computation. While CS 1113 assumes not programming experience, it does require a firm background in mathematics and at least one semester of calculus. If you are engineering student whose interests lie outside the digital major cluster (CS, ECE, ORIE, ISST), you might consider that course instead.

We occasionally offer CS 1114 and 1115. These are faster-paced courses designed for students with previous programming experience. However, we are not offering those at this time. You should refer to http://www.cs.cornell.edu/ugrad/FirstCSCourse/index.htm for more information about these courses.


Nontraditional Alternatives

INFO 1300 is a course on design and programming for the web. This course does not cover as many computer science concepts as CS 1110. However, it does an excellent job emphasizing application design, and is one of the best courses available for this. If you are interested in the design aspects of software development, you might want to consider this course instead.


Course Material Authors: D. Gries, L. Lee, S. Marschner, & W. White (over the years)