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02.00 Introduction

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Overview

This course is for artists, and does not emphasize memorizing code syntax or getting bogged down in the details. We will use and pre made templates, leverage software libraries, as well as generative AI, and Large Language Models (LLMs) to write the code for the programs that express the creative ideas and concepts that we want.

Nevertheless there are fundamental and foundational concepts in programming and coding that we need to be aware of. Just like there are the basic principles of design, line, contour, depth, form, and contrast, there are basic concepts of coding, variables, conditional statements, loops, and functions. We will use hands on examples to explore these concepts and begin to build an understanding and familiarity with the ways programs work.

The emphasis will be on understanding rather than memorization. The internet exists, LLMs exist, we can look up what we don’t remember. But in order to make an internet search for a programming questions or to even ask a LLM, we need to have some understanding of the fundamentals of programming to even know what question to ask.

Learning Objectives

  • Set up a development environment for programming
  • use fundamental programming concepts