Engineering 102 Programming, Credits, and Course Structure Overview

How many credits is ENGR 102 and how are they allocated between lecture and lab

ENGR 102 is 2 credits total: 1 credit for lecture and 1 credit for lab.

How many hours per week does ENGR 102 meet, and how is that time divided between instructor-driven and hands-on activities

4 hours per week total: about 1 hour instructor-driven plus about 3 hours hands-on work.

For ENGR 102, how many outside-of-class hours per week should you plan to spend per credit hour

2-3 hours per credit hour weekly outside class.

What outside-of-class activities are listed for ENGR 102 (homework, reading, labs, studying)

College of Engineering homework (0.5 h/wk), reading (Runestone and others) up to 1 h/wk, lab assignments (3-5 h/wk), studying (regularly; exam study time may replace some lab time).

Is prior programming experience required for ENGR 102

Not required.

Why are we studying programming in this course

Computing is a fundamental tool across all of engineering and will be used in classes and jobs; understanding tools makes you more proficient.

How has computing transformed engineering and most of society in the last 20 years

Computing has transformed engineering and society via the Internet, mobile computing, data analytics, simulations, ML, AR/VR, etc.

Which majors are likely to include computer programming as a fundamental part of their study

Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and several other majors; many programs require computing as a core component.

What is the main programming language focus of ENGR 102

Python.

Why is Python chosen as the primary language for this class

Easy to learn, powerful, flexible, popular, and has extensive libraries.

What warning is given about using SymPy in ENGR 102 or MATH 151

Do not use SymPy in ENGR 102; do not rely on it for solving course problems.

What is the difference between a compiler and an interpreter

A compiler translates the whole program to machine instructions and often saves them to a file; an interpreter translates line by line and may execute without a separate file.

How does execution differ for compiled programs versus interpreted programs

Compiled programs are executed from machine code (often via a saved file); interpreted programs run as they are interpreted, often without a separate machine code file.

What is a program, in terms of a file containing text

A program is a file containing programming language text that can be run by an interpreter or compiler.

What is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

A code editor tied to a compiler/interpreter and debugging tools; provides an integrated workflow.

Why is there no single best programming language

No language is best for all tasks; different languages have different strengths and use cases; many have trade-offs.

What is assembly language and why is it still not ideal for large programs

Assembly provides a direct mapping to machine code but is verbose and hard to manage for large projects; high-level languages are more productive.

Why do we use high-level programming languages instead of writing code in binary or assembly

They are easier to read, write, maintain, and translate into machine code; they improve productivity and correctness.

Name a few programming languages that were listed in the slides. Python, R, Perl, C++, COBOL, Scheme, Haskell, Java, Lisp, Prolog, Matlab, PHP, ML, C, C#, Fortran, Pascal, Scheme, Ruby, Javascript, Basic, Ada.

Which TAMU courses or colleges include programming as part of their curriculum

AERO 222, BAEN 201, BMEN 207, CHEN 320, almost all CSCE courses, CVEN 302, DAEN 300, ECEN 250, ESET 269, IDIS 450, ISEN 355, MEEN 357, MMET 410, MSEN 330, NUEN 329, OCEN 361, PETE 219, and many more.

What is the stance on academic honesty in this class compared to the real world

In class, using unauthorized resources is cheating; unlike the real world, do not rely on external aidsâ€"ask the instructor when in doubt.

What warning is given about using ChatGPT for answers in this course

Do not rely on AI tools in this class; many ChatGPT answers are incorrect or contextually flawed; think critically and use your brain.

What are the four steps of the basic programming problem-solving process mentioned in the slides

1) Understand the problem, 2) Make a plan (pseudocode/test cases), 3) Execute the plan (code, test, debug), 4) Review your work (verify output, improve).

How do you write a string in Python for printing, i.e., how are quotes used

Enclose text in quotation marks within the print function, e.g., print("Howdy, World!").

What does the Python print statement do

It outputs the specified values to the screen, with text in quotes printed as-is and numbers evaluated.

How can you print multiple items in a single print statement, and what is the output behavior

Separate items with commas inside print; Python prints them separated by spaces on one line.

What are the basic arithmetic operators supported by Python

+, -, *, /

How does Python enforce order of operations and the use of parentheses

Follows standard mathematical precedence; use parentheses to override order.

Which Python operators are used for exponentiation, floor division, and modulus

Exponentiation: **; Floor division: //; Modulus: %.

Why do we add the line from math import * at the top of a Python program

To import additional mathematical functions (e.g., sqrt, sin, cos) for use in the program.