01
Variables, control flow, functions
What is the smallest set of constructs that can express any computation?
Foundations · Module 02
Programming & Computational Thinking
Programming is not typing. It is the discipline of stating a procedure with no ambiguity left in it — which is why it teaches you to think, whether or not you ever ship software.
By the end of this module
You can decompose a problem and express the solution precisely enough for a machine to execute it.
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02
Abstraction, decomposition and naming
Why is naming things genuinely one of the hard problems?
Reading★ LandmarkFree
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs ↗Abelson & Sussman, MIT
The book that treats programming as a way of thinking about ideas.
03
Recursion and induction in code
How can a function that calls itself ever stop?
04
The shell, version control and the missing semester
What do working programmers know that no course teaches?
CourseFree
The Missing Semester of Your CS Education ↗MIT
Shell, git, debugging, editors. Genuinely fills the biggest gap in most curricula.
Check yourself
End-of-module quiz
Every answer comes with the reasoning, not just a verdict. Getting one wrong and reading why is the point.
01A recursive function terminates only if:
02Abstraction is valuable primarily because:
03Which is the strongest reason to use version control on a solo project?
Answer all 3 to finish the module.