Math 119: Computers and the Internet
You've reached the work-in-progress page for Math 119, to be
taught this Fall.
This course is for all students, regardless of
computer background.
It could well be that by the close of the twenty-first century, a new form
of truly accessible programming will be the province of everyone and will
be viewed like writing, which was once the province of the ancient
scribes but eventually became universally accessible...
Michael Dertouzos,
"What Will Be:
How the New World of
Information Will Change Our Lives"
This is a course in basic Computer Literacy. The student will
learn how to use a Personal Computer and various popular
software packages. However, it is the perspective of this course
that Computer Literacy comprises an appreciation and a
rudimentary mastery of Computer Programming.
We will learn how to write HTML and how to program in JavaScript.
Each student will developWeb Pages using text and word processors,
paint programs, and JavaScript.
Building a better Web Page is a model for the deeper goals of this course.
This task provides an example of how a student can
use computers to accomplish objectives.
Among the skills acquired are:
- Competence with basic Personal Computer tools and concepts.
- A working understanding of a computer's organization,
enabling the student to rationally attack problems which arise
when using computers.
- Problem solving skills in the use of Computers.
It indicates to the student what difficulties are normally associated
with adapting the computer to a certain tasks, and what methods are
used to overcome those difficulties.
- It gives the student a feeling for what can and cannot be
easily accomplished by a computer. For this, an understanding of
programming is essential: what a computer can or cannot do is
whatever a program can or cannot do.
Sample JavaScript Pages
- Hello World!
- Enter Name
- Compute Average
- Compute Standard Deviation
- Blast Off!
- Number Build
- Linear Regression
- Loan Calculations
Resources
- The HTML
RFC
- HTML
3.0
- Image
Mapping
- JavaScript Specification
Preliminary, Ver. 1.1,11/18/96 (In PostScript)
- On
HTML Comments
- Jukka Korpla's
Tutorial
(Also a Local Copy)
- HTML 3.2 Reference copy from WWW3.
- Using
frames from
Creating Net Sites from Netscape.com.