YEAR 1
First-Year Foundations
How computers, code and the web really work: number systems, logic gates, algorithms and flowcharts, the Linux terminal, Git and GitHub, HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
0%complete
- Lessons
- 11
- Runnable examples
- 17
- Quiz questions
- 44
- Visualizers
- 4
What you will be able to do
- Explain what happens inside a computer when a program runs
- Convert between binary, octal, decimal and hexadecimal
- Plan solutions with algorithms, flowcharts and pseudocode
- Get comfortable in the Linux command line
- Use Git and GitHub to save and share your work
- Build a simple web page with HTML, CSS and JavaScript
Syllabus
Unit 1Computer Basics
- 1How Computers WorkWhat is inside a computer — CPU, memory, storage and I/O — the fetch–decode–execute cycle, the memory hierarchy, and what an operating system does for your programs.
- 2Number SystemsBinary, octal, decimal and hexadecimal: place values, converting between any two bases, and why programmers use hex — with an interactive converter.
- 3Data RepresentationHow computers store everything as bits: unsigned and signed integers, two's complement, overflow, floating point, characters with ASCII and Unicode, and images and sound.
- 4Logic Gates & CircuitsThe building blocks of hardware: AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR and XOR gates with truth tables, building circuits, the half adder and full adder, and how they add numbers.
Unit 2Problem Solving
- 5Algorithms, Flowcharts & PseudocodeThink before you code: computational thinking, writing step-by-step algorithms, drawing flowcharts with the standard symbols, and writing clear pseudocode.
- 6From Code to Running ProgramHow source code becomes a running program: compilers vs interpreters, the build steps, IDEs and editors, and the three kinds of errors — syntax, runtime and logical — with debugging strategies.
Unit 3Developer Tools
- 7The Linux Command LineWork like a developer in the terminal: the file system tree, navigating and managing files, viewing and searching text, permissions, pipes and redirection, processes and compiling code.
- 8Git & GitHubVersion control for every project: repositories, the staging area, commits, history, branches and merging, and sharing work on GitHub with push, pull, clones and pull requests.
Unit 4The Web
- 9How the Internet & Web WorkWhat happens when you open a website: clients and servers, IP addresses, DNS, TCP and packets, HTTP requests and responses, status codes, HTTPS, and front end vs back end.
- 10HTML & CSS EssentialsBuild and style a web page: HTML document structure, common elements, links, images, lists, tables and forms, then CSS selectors, the box model, colours, fonts and Flexbox — with a live editor.
- 11JavaScript EssentialsThe language of the web: variables, types, functions, arrays and objects, loops, and making pages interactive with the DOM and events — with runnable examples.