CSE 110: Introduction to Programming

Tools and Setup

Overview

Welcome to CSE 110!

This week you will set up your computer with the applications you will use this semester. You will need the following:

Once you have those in place, you will be ready to write your first programs.

Preparation Material

One of the great things about programming in this day and age is that there is a wealth of information available on the internet. In fact, professional programmers spend a good part of their days looking for answers on the internet and then piecing them together and modifying them to fit the specific problem at hand.

This means that to be a successful programmer you need the following:

  1. A strong understanding of the fundamentals of programming (what you'll study in this and subsequent courses).

  2. The ability to learn and apply new things.

  3. The ability to use information from various online sources.

This course and subsequent courses are designed to help you grow in all three of these areas.

In this course, you will be provided the information you will need to be successful, whereas in future courses you will develop your ability to find more and more of the information for yourself. But even in this course, you will start to learn to use material from many different sources on the internet. Some will be written by BYU-Idaho, but much of it will be curated for you from various resources available on the internet.

Install Python and Visual Studio Code

One of the resources we will use throughout the semester is a series of videos created by Microsoft to help new programmers learn to write Python programs. To begin this lesson, please watch the videos below.

As shown in these videos, you will need to download and install both Python and Visual Studio Code on your computer. Please note in the video where they walk through installing Visual Studio Code, they mention it is a good idea to also get the Python extension for Visual Studio Code, but don't really walk through it. Then, in the next video, they show how to install the extension in more detail.

Also, please note that your Visual Studio Code preferences may be set up slightly differently than those in the video, so don't be alarmed if your extensions bar is on the left side and theirs is on the right.

As you follow the videos above, you'll be downloading programs and an extension from:

Install and Sign in to your Team Collaboration Tool (Microsoft Teams or Slack)

This course will use a collaboration tool, such as Microsoft Teams or Slack, to help you stay connected with your group members and ask and answer questions. This collaboration tool will be the primary means of communication with the teacher and the other students in the class. Professional software engineers use tools like these everyday to coordinate their work with others. Watch for an announcement from your teacher as to whether you are going to use Microsoft Teams or Slack for this course.

Microsoft Teams Instructions (click to expand)

If your teacher has indicated in an announcement that you will be using Microsoft Teams as the collaboration tool. You will use these instructions.

A Microsoft Teams organization has been setup for this course, and you have been added as a course wide member. To access it, you need to install Microsoft Teams and sign in your your university account.

  1. Follow these instructions to install Microsoft Teams: Introduction to MS Teams
  2. Sign into Microsoft Teams with your university account.
  3. You should see a team name that matches the course name.
Slack Instructions (click to expand)

If your teacher has indicated in an announcement that you will be using Slack as the collaboration tool. You will use these instructions.

A Slack organization has been setup for this course, and the teacher will include a sign-up link in their announcement. You can use Slack via a Web browser, but you'll have the best experience if you install it on your computer or phone (or both!).

Slack download instructions can be found here.

Getting Help / Troubleshooting

You need to complete the setup of all of these tools to be successful in this course.

If you have questions or run into any problems, please post a message to Slack / Microsoft Teams or send your instructor a message directly in Canvas.

Submission

There is no submission required for this setup activity. You just need to ensure that you have completed the steps above to be prepared for the upcoming activities.

Up Next

Other Links: