Listed in: Computer Science, as COSC-111
Formerly listed as: COSC-11
Kristy Gardner (Section 01)
This course introduces ideas and techniques that are fundamental to computer science. The course emphasizes procedural abstraction, algorithmic methods, and structured design techniques. Students will gain a working knowledge of a block-structured programming language and will use the language to solve a variety of problems illustrating ideas in computer science. A selection of other elementary topics will be presented, for example: the historical development of computers, comparison and evaluation of programming languages, and artificial intelligence. A laboratory section will meet once a week to give students practice with programming constructs. Two class hours and one one-hour laboratory per week.
Restricted to Amherst College students. Limited to 40 students per class (20 per lab). (In the Fall, 25 seats per class are reserved for first-year students.) Fall and spring semesters. The Department.
If Overenrolled: Preference to first-year and sophomore students.