Introduction to Programming and Computer Science
(Spring 2026)

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  • See our Canvas page for the listing of all our announcements.

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Calendar

Jump to current week.

Week 1
Mon, 2 Feb: Lecture 1
Intro, Objects, Variables, Branching
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 2.1–2.4
Pset 1 released after class
Wed, 4 Feb: Lecture 2
Looping, Enumeration, Functions
pre-lecture code, slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 2.5–2.7, 3.1, 5.2, 4.1.1
Fri, 6 Feb: Recitation
TBD
code
Notes:
Mon, 2 Feb: First day of class
Tue, 3 Feb: First day of office hours
Week 2
Mon, 9 Feb: Lecture 3
Lists, Mutation, Scope
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 5.3, 4.1–4.3
Wed, 11 Feb: Lecture 4
Simulation, Stochastic programs
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 18, 17.1
Pset 2 released after class
Fri, 13 Feb: Recitation
TBD
code
Pset 1 due at 10 PM
Week 3
Tue, 17 Feb: Lecture 5
Random walks, Functions as arguments
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 16, 4.4
Pset 1 checkoffs start
Wed, 18 Feb: Lecture 6
Probability, Distributions, Variance
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 17.2–17.4
Fri, 20 Feb: Recitation
TBD
code
Pset 1 checkoff due at 9 PM
Notes:
Mon, 16 Feb: Presidents' Day holiday – no lecture, no office hours
Tue, 17 Feb: Monday schedule
Fri, 20 Feb: Last day to switch to 6.100A
Week 4
Mon, 23 Feb: Lecture 7
Confidence, Statistical significance
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 19, 21.1–21.4, 22
Pset 3 released after class
Pset 2 due at 10 PM
Tue, 24 Feb:
Pset 2 checkoffs start
Wed, 25 Feb: EXAM 1
Covers Lectures 1–6
Fri, 27 Feb: Recitation
TBD
code
Week 5
Mon, 2 Mar: Lecture 9
Continuous optimization, Bisection search
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 3.2–3.4
Tue, 3 Mar:
Pset 2 checkoff due at 9 PM
Wed, 4 Mar: Lecture 10
Curve-fitting, Validation
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 20
Fri, 6 Mar: Recitation
TBD
code
Notes:
Fri, 6 Mar: Institute Add Date
Week 6
Mon, 9 Mar: Lecture 11
Dictionaries, Tuples, Graphs
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 5.7, 5.1, 5.5, 14.2.1
Pset 4 released after class
Pset 3 due at 10 PM
Tue, 10 Mar:
Pset 3 checkoffs start
Wed, 11 Mar: Lecture 12
Hashing, Sets, Depth-first search, Recursion
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 17.5, 5.6, 14.2, 6.1–6.2
Fri, 13 Mar: Recitation
TBD
code
Week 7
Mon, 16 Mar: Lecture 13
Shortest paths, Breadth-first search
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 14.2
Pset 3 checkoff due at 9 PM
Wed, 18 Mar: Lecture 14
Dijkstra's algorithm, Other graph problems
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 14.2.1
Fri, 20 Mar: Recitation
TBD
code
Pset 4 due at 10 PM
Week 8
Notes:
Mon, 23 Mar: Spring Break
Tue, 24 Mar: Spring Break
Wed, 25 Mar: Spring Break
Thu, 26 Mar: Spring Break
Fri, 27 Mar: Spring Break
Week 9
Mon, 30 Mar: Lecture 15
Review, Lambda, Comprehensions
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 4.4, 5.3.2, 5.8
Pset 4 checkoffs start
Wed, 1 Apr: Lecture 16
Combinatorial optimization, Decision trees
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 6, 14.1
Pset 5 released after class
Fri, 3 Apr: Recitation
TBD
code
Pset 4 checkoff due at 9 PM
Week 10
Mon, 6 Apr: EXAM 2
Covers Lectures 1–14
Wed, 8 Apr: Lecture 18
Knapsack, Dynamic programming
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 14.1, 15
Fri, 10 Apr: Recitation
TBD
code
Week 11
Mon, 13 Apr: Lecture 19
Classes, Attributes, Methods
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 10.1
Pset 6 released after class
Pset 5 due at 10 PM
Tue, 14 Apr:
Pset 5 checkoffs start
Wed, 15 Apr: Lecture 20
Exceptions, Assertions
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 9
Fri, 17 Apr: Recitation
TBD
code
Notes:
Thu, 16 Apr: Campus Preview Weekend
Fri, 17 Apr: Campus Preview Weekend
Week 12
Tue, 21 Apr:
Pset 5 checkoff due at 9 PM
Wed, 22 Apr: Lecture 21
Inheritance
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: 10.2
Pset 7 released after class
Fri, 24 Apr: Recitation
TBD
code
Pset 6 due at 10 PM
Notes:
Mon, 20 Apr: Patriots' Day holiday – no lecture, no office hours
Tue, 21 Apr: Institute Drop Date
Week 13
Mon, 27 Apr: Lecture 22
Revisit simulation using classes
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: None
Pset 6 checkoffs start
Wed, 29 Apr: Lecture 23
Revisit graphs using classes
slides, code, finger exercise
Readings: None
Fri, 1 May: Recitation
TBD
code
Pset 6 checkoff due at 9 PM
Notes:
Fri, 1 May: All finger exercises due by 11:59 PM
Week 14
Mon, 4 May: EXAM 3
Covers Lectures 1–23
Wed, 6 May: Lecture 25
TBD
slides, code, no finger exercise
Readings: None
Pset 7 due at 10 PM
Thu, 7 May:
Pset 7 checkoffs start
Fri, 8 May: Recitation
TBD
code
Week 15
Mon, 11 May: Lecture 26
TBD
slides, code, no finger exercise
Readings: None
Tue, 12 May:
Pset 7 checkoff due at 9 PM
Notes:
Tue, 12 May: Last day of office hours