Welcome

This page containts the public content for the course Introduction to Programming with Scientific Applications offered by Aarhus University, Department of Computer Science. The lectuerer is Gerth Stølting Brodal. Class lists, discussions, student handins and feedback are handled using Brightspace at brightspace.au.dk.

The course gives an introduction to the Python 3 programming language and applications using Python. Throughout the course students are encouraged to seek online information in e.g. the Python language specification.

The course will be run with 2 x 2 hours of weekly lectures (alternatively recorded lectures on YouTube), 3 hours of TA classes (“øvelser”), and 3 hours of staffed study café.

During the course students are required to hand in 10 weekly handins and one larger implementation project. Handins and the project are done in groups of up to three persons. Approval of the weekly handins is a prerequisite to attend the exam. The final exam will be a programming exam with all aids, incl. internet, and the final grade will be based on an overall evaluation of the implementation project (20%) and the programming exam (80%).

Course content

The course gives an introduction to programming with scientific applications. Programming concepts and techniques are introduced using the Python programming language. The programming concepts are illustrated in other programming languages. The following content is included.

• Basic programming constructs: Data types, operators, variables, flow of control, conditionals, loops, functions, recursion, scope, exceptions.
• Object orientation: Abstract data types, classes, inheritance, encapsulation.
• Basic algorithmic techniques: Sorting, binary search, dynamic programming.
• Systematic development of programs: Testing and debugging.
• File-based input/output, numerical analysis, functional programming.
• Scientific computing using standard packages for Python.

After the course the participants will have knowledge of principles and techniques for systematic construction of programs. At the end of the course, the participants will be able to:

• apply constructions of a common programming language,
• develop well-structured programs and perform testing and debugging of these,
• explain fundamental programming concepts and basic algorithmic techniques,
• apply standard tools for scientific applications,
• use the documentation for a programming language and available software packages.