The course is designed to provide students with a sound background in structured programming logic and design. These foundational concepts can be applied regardless of which programming languages a student eventually uses to write programs. The demonstration language for programming concepts will be C++. The course covers the key mathematical and logical constructs that are the basis of much programming. Topics include the software development life cycle, particularly the programming phase, structured programming techniques, problem-solving and algorithm development, decision control structures, including selection (IF/CASE) and repetition (looping) structures, variables and arrays, and data structures. Proficiency in Excel is necessary for success in this course.

This course addresses the foundations of cybersecurity, including threats and vulnerabilities as well as the tools, technologies, and strategies used to manage those threats and vulnerabilities.

In this introductory programming with Python course, students will have the opportunity to learn about data types, control flow, object-oriented programming, and graphical user interface-driven applications. The examples and problems used in this course are drawn from diverse areas such as text processing, simple graphics creation, and image manipulation. This course will explore the large standard library of Python 3, which supports many common programming tasks.

This course will introduce students to the foundations of modern cryptography with an eye toward practical applications. The course will cover the role of cryptography in privacy topics, such as passwords, privacy in school settings, and privacy in social media platforms.