About the workshop
Introduction to Programming II is the second course in a two-part series that introduces students to basic programming concepts and prepares them for intermediate and advanced programming instruction in Fuse Factory classes and workshops, or elsewhere. Introduction to Programming II covers the concepts of data structures, higher order functions, and recursion. Students will explore and practice these concepts by implementing some interesting graphical programs in JavaScript using P5.js.
Introduction to Programming I (or equivalent elementary programming experience) is a prerequisite for this course. Students should bring their laptops to class. Otherwise, all materials and tools required to complete the course will be provided. The class will meet for four one-hour sessions. Students will be expected to complete some light homework assignments between sessions.
About the instructor
Michael Perkins is a technologist, musician and philosopher with special interests in Buddhist philosophy, discrete mathematics, data science, contemporary jazz, and algorithmic music. He is a graduate of Georgia State University where he studied music and philosophy and The Ohio State University where he studied philosophy and computer science. He completed a Ph.D. in Philosophy at The Ohio State University in 1983. For 35 years, Michael has developed advanced software systems for some of the world’s leading software vendors. He has designed and implemented special-purpose programming languages, data management tools, application generators, cross-platform networking software, and IT systems management software. Currently, Michael is Chief Scientist for Prosper Technologies, where he designs and implements software systems for integrating, analyzing and visualizing complex sets of data.