Accelerated I

Welcome to the accelerated section of Fundamentals I at Northeastern University, College of Computer Science.

This section is a fast-paced version of Fundamentals I, an introduction to computing and programming. Its major goal is to introduce students to the Please familiarize yourself with this web site and the web site of the text book early on, while you have time to browse. principles of systematic programming and the basic rules of computation. This accelerated version will cover additional topics such as the limits of computations, the techniques for building a programming language, and similar topics on the intellectual and philosophical foundations of computer science.

By the end of the course, majors in computer science will have a sense for the difference between a programmer and a well-trained software developer. Students from all majors will have a sense of the complexities involved in developing solid software (highly useful in case they ever collaborate with such professionals) and they ought to be able to use the principles of programming to solve many non-computational problems in a systematic manner.

Like regular Fundamentals I, this accelerated variant does not assume any prior programming experience, but it is targeted at those students who love to learn, who are sad when a school year ends, who enjoyed algebra, who are self-motivated to study additional, non-assigned material, and who don’t mind working hard on those rare occasions when they are stuck. If you think these attributes describe you, start reading

the Preface of the text book

and keep on going into the Prologue and then Part I because summer will be over soon.