Webinar: Thinking like a Computer: The Fundamentals of Programming

Event Name
Webinar: Thinking like a Computer: The Fundamentals of Programming
Date
24 November 2020
Time
12:30 pm - 01:30 pm
Location
Online

Address (Room): Zoom

Description

This webinar discusses the different ways that humans and computers approach and solve problems, and teaches in a very basic way the foundational concepts found in every programming language.

Human brains are extremely good at evaluating a small amount of information simultaneously, ignoring anomalies and coming up with an answer to a problem without much in the way of conscious thought. Computers on the other hand are extremely good at performing individual calculations, one at a time, and can keep the results in a large bank of short-term memory for quick recall. These two approaches are fundamentally different.

Humans can only reasonably retain seven plus or minus two pieces of information in short-term memory, and new items push older items out, whereas a computer is hopeless when given multiple pieces of information simultaneously.

Understanding this fact is key to being able to write instructions for computers – also known as programs – in a way that takes advantage of their strengths, and overcomes their drawbacks.

Suitable for the programming novice, this webinar is good preparation for researchers wanting to learn how to program.

Speakers: Intersect Trainers

Web page: https://intersect.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wck8xQqNSamd2F3af_Xd2g

Contact
Name: Jeff Wang

Jeff.Wang@westernsydney.edu.au

Phone: 0456 269 623

School / Department: Research Services