About the workshop
Introduction to Programming is a six-week course 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 covers the concepts of types, values, expressions, conditional execution, looping, functions, and data structures. These concepts will be taught using a creative, graphical programming system called p5.js. P5.js, based on Processing, is a JavaScript library that facilitates the creation and manipulation of images and audio in a modern web environment. It is used by artists, designers, and educators to create art, animations, data visualizations, and simulations. It is a lot of fun to work with, and it is often used to teach basic programming concepts.
All course examples and exercises will use the JavaScript programming language. Since all of the concepts discussed apply equally well to other modern programming languages, this course provides a good foundation for the exploration of a variety of programming languages and environments. There are no prerequisites for this course. Students are not be expected to have any prior programming experience. 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 six weeks at the following dates and times:
February 27, 7-9pm
March 6, 7-9pm
March 13, 7-9pm
March 20, 7-8pm [note early dismissal!]
March 27, 7-9pm
April 4, 7-9pm
Class time will consist of approximately half lecture and half individual practice. Optional homework assignments will be provided for extra practice.
About the instructors
Michael Perkins, Ph.D. is a technologist, musician and philosopher with special interests in discrete mathematics, data science, and algorithmic music and art. 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.
Noah Kumar Wotring is a software developer with experience in JavaScript, Ruby, C# and .Net. Upon graduating from the Ohio State University with a B.A. in Strategic Communications, Noah quickly found himself fascinated with software development. Compelled to learn more about this field incredibly foreign to him, he kickstarted his unorthodox journey into programming with the completion of several coding bootcamps. Now a software developer with Prosper Insights and Analytics, Noah works with data management and visualization systems. In his free time, he can be found honing his programming skills by working on a number of web-based applications.