MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

EECS Fall 1997 Catalogue Supplement

6.096 Introduction to Interactive Programming

MW 11-12:30, 36-839; labs M 2-5, 14-0637; T 2-5, 1-115; W 2-5, E53-220 and F 3-6, E53-220
3-3-6
Prof. Lynn Stein, NE43-811, x2663

This class is an introduction to computer programming. It will be taught in the Java programming language, and will teach the language (i.e., no prior programming experience is assumed), but it is not about the language.

The theme of this class is interactive programming. Most computation these days is not algorithmic question-answering in desktop boxes (as typically taught in introductory computer science). Instead, this class will focus on a model of computation as a set of simultaneous ongoing entities embedded in and interacting with a dynamic environment: computation as interaction; computation as it occurs in spreadsheets and video games, web applications and robots.

A major component of the class will be a weekly three hour in-class laboratory. Much of this laboratory will be spent in collaborative work on program development, with an emphasis on student-student interaction and student-student teaching, facilitated and enriched by the staff. In addition, design and implementation work will be supplemented with observational laboratory assignments, inviting students to consider not only how to build a program, but how to anticipate its behavior and how to modify that behavior.

Notes:

This class does not overlap significantly with 6.001, and it will not satisfy the 6.001 requirement for course VI students.

To enroll in this class: You must attend the first meeting of this class to enroll in it. If the class is oversubscribed, registration will be determined on/by the second meeting. Pre-registration is encouraged (to assist in our planning), but not required, and is no guarantee of enrollment. 6.096 is intended for students with no prior programming experience.