Introduction to Programming (Summer 2026)

This is the Summer 2026 version of the Introduction to Programming course. This 5 ECTS course teaches you the fundamentals of programming in Python — from writing your very first lines of code to reading and transforming real-world data. Along the way you will also learn how to work effectively alongside generative AI tools, and — just as importantly — how to tell when they are wrong.


The course materials will be available for a while, after which they will be archived. The updated course will be available here.

Course Parts

We recommend starting from the first one, but you can also browse around.

Getting Started with Programming

Start programming in Python by learning how programs are run, how to write small interactive scripts, how to read code line by line, and how to take an early stance on working with AI assistants.
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Making Decisions and Repeating Work

Write programs that branch on conditions, repeat work over lists, store many values together, and find the edge cases that surface-level tests miss.
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Organizing Code with Functions

Reorganize working code into named, testable functions that can be called from other locations of code, and learn to write function specifications.
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Reading and Writing Files

Move your project to your own computer, read and write text and CSV files, hold table-shaped data in nested lists, and detect AI file code that runs but does not work.
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Summarizing Your Data

Turn the records your program has been accumulating into useful summaries -- filtered totals, per-subject averages, time-window summaries, daily totals, and streaks of consecutive days.
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Structuring Your Data

Give your data structure. Use dictionaries for named lookup, JSON for storing named data, and classes for defining your own record types.
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Using Libraries

Learn how Python libraries extend the language, revisit standard-library tools, install third-party packages, use NumPy and pandas to summarize study-log data, and verify AI-generated library code.
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Data Visualization

Learn how to turn trusted pandas summaries into readable visual summaries with matplotlib and seaborn, critique chart choices, and add visualizations to the study log.
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Games and Programming in the Wild

Use the programming skills you have built so far to make small games with Pyxel, learn the game loop, and finish by designing, iterating on, and completing a game of your own.
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