15-110: Principles of Computing


An introductory computer science course for students with little to no computing experience. Students will learn the core elements of programming in Python and will also receive a broad overview of big ideas in the field of computer science. The course begins with fundamentals of programming (data, variables, functions, conditionals, loops, and recursion) and the basics of computer organization (data representation and memory), then introduces major data structures (lists, dictionaries, trees, and graphs), the core concepts of efficiency (through runtime analysis and a case study of search algorithms), and how computing is scaled for practical use (concurrency and the internet). The course concludes with an overview of how computer science can be used as a tool to support other domains (data analysis, simulation, and machine learning) and how computer science influences and is influenced by the world (history, ethics, and modern events).

Meeting Times

SessionInstructor(s)TimeLocation
Lecture 1Kelly Rivers (krivers)MWF 2:00-2:50pm ESTGHC 4401
Recitation AEmily (egetty) and Jen (jennifex)R 9:00am- 9:50am ESTGHC 5208
Recitation BMuzaffar (mimohame) and Shivi (shivij)R 10:00am-10:50am ESTGHC 5208
Recitation CClarise (crliu) and Krishna (kpatel2)R 11:00am-11:50am ESTGHC 5208
Recitation DAlbert (kuangs) and Ben (bcarbone)R 12:00pm-12:50pm ESTGHC 5208
Recitation EEzra (eboldizs) and Nathan (nmaher)R 1:00pm- 1:50pm ESTGHC 5208
Recitation FAnishka (anishkaj) and Gabriel (gmedinaj)R 2:00pm- 2:50pm ESTGHC 5210
Recitation GFiona (cchiu2)R 3:00pm- 3:50pm ESTGHC 5208
Recitation IFlako (daniells)R 10:00am-10:50am ESTGHC 5210
Recitation JKruthi (kthangal)R 11:00am-11:50am ESTGHC 5210
Recitation KEran (eozsarfa) and Jenny (jdoan)R 1:00pm- 1:50pm ESTGHC 5210
Recitation HCANCELLEDR 9:00am-9:50am ESTGHC 5210
Recitation LCANCELLEDR 2:00pm-2:50pm ESTGHC 5208

Office Hours

In-person TA Hours take place in the Gates 5th Floor Teaching Commons and clusters. When you have a question, sign up on the OH Queue and a TA will come find you to help.

Remote TA Hours take place remotely on Zoom. When you have a question, sign up on the OH Queue with a link to a Zoom meeting you host, and a TA will join your Zoom call to help.

Instructor Hours take place either remotely or in Gates 4109 for Prof. Kelly; sign up on the OH Queue if you'd like to attend remotely. Meetings with the instructor are also available by appointment.

Drop-in Tutoring is run by the Student Academic Success Center and takes place across campus in the evenings (Posner A62 this semester). This is a good resource for more in-depth review of the course concepts.

MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday
In-person TA Hours1-5pm1-5pm
Remote TA Hours5-7pm5-7pm5-7pm5-7pm5-7pm5-7pm5-7pm
Instructor Hours10am-11am3pm-4pm11am-12pm
Drop-in Tutoring8-10:30pm