Program Overview

Program Overview

The program is titled Fundamentals of Programming and Computer Science, offered by Carnegie Mellon University. It is denoted as CMU 15-112, Fall 2025.

Program Details

• Units: 12
• Department: Computer Science
• Prerequisites: None
• Textbook: None, with course notes available on CMU CS Academy.

Program Description

A technical introduction to the fundamentals of programming with an emphasis on producing clear, robust, and reasonably efficient code using top-down design, informal analysis, and effective testing and debugging. Starting from first principles, the course covers a large subset of the Python programming language, including its standard libraries and programming paradigms. This course assumes no prior programming experience but is a fast-paced and rigorous preparation for 15-122. Students seeking a more gentle introduction to computer science should consider first taking 15-110.

Program Requirements

Undergraduate students must achieve a C or better in order to use this course to satisfy the pre-requisite for any subsequent Computer Science course.

Faculty Instructors

• David Kosbie
• Mike Taylor

Learning Objectives

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Computationally solve problems in Python using:
  • sequential, conditional, and loop statements
  • strings, lists, tuples, sets, and dictionaries
  • objects and classes
  • recursion
  • interactive graphics
• Analyze code through code tracing to deduce the output of small programs
• Recognize patterns to identify possible solutions to a given problem
• Construct code using top-down design by breaking problems into smaller steps
• Apply debugging techniques to find and fix errors
• Design and implement a substantial program in Python with minimal guidance```