The objective of this course is to show to the students the fundamental aspects of computer science, aiming at introducing them to coding and at providing them with specific skills. Particular attention will be paid to the development of their logical and problem-solving skills.
After a first introductory part, where the basic aspects of Boolean algebra and of the functioning of a computer will be sketched, the software Matlab® will be presented, in order to show to the students the basics of coding (variables and formats, functions, alternatives, iterations etc.), and to make them capable of solving some mathematical problems algorithmically. Then, the language Python will be presented, since the basics to the classes, so as to introduce object-oriented programming.
During the course, some specific topics will be also addressed, as statistical operations, image representation/elaboration via computer and contents acquisition from web pages (scraping).
The expected learning results consists in:
1) Knowledge and understanding of the touched topics;
2) Application of sknowledge and understanding to real problems in which computer science can be employed;
3) Making judgements independently;
4) Communication skills;
5) Learning and self-learning skills.