Course information
Learning outcomes
After the course a student can implement small programs in the Python programming language and can apply basic programming concepts to solve small programming tasks. After the course the student understands the basic functionality of a computation device and how one can control it with programs.
Content
Functionality of a computation device. Basic programming tools and structures, such as variables, loops, conditional statements, reading from and writing to files, functions, and classes.
Teacher
Juho Leinonen
Study material
Course materials and assignments, supporting materials from lectures.
Workload
Attending lectures in addition to independent study including but not limited to studying course materials and external resources and working on course assignments.
Prerequisites
The ability to use a typical personal computer and basic applications such as e-mail. No prior programming knowledge is required.
Evaluation
Assessment is based on (1) attendance, (2) coursework, and (3) exam. Exams and retakes are organized during the course (retakes are not organized after the course).
Teaching time and location
The teaching time and the location of the course can be found in the Sisu information system.
- The link leads to Completion methods tab of the course page
- From the top of the page (Version drop-down menu), check that the academic year 2026-2027 is selected
- From the blue bar, choose the right teaching and open the Groups and study events tab to see the teaching time and location of the course. To see exam times, click Exam.
Exam instructions at the Open University
The teacher has four (4) weeks to grade the exam submissions starting from the exam date.
Further information
Equivalences to other courses:
CS-A1111 Ohjelmoinnin peruskurssi Y1
ELEC-A7050 Basics in programming
Online learning environment for the course
The MyCourses online learning environment is a tool for both students and teachers for communication and managing everyday course work. You need an Aalto User ID to log in to the course's MyCourses workspace and participate in teaching.
Digital workspace of the course:
MyCourses
More details on completing the course will be available at MyCourses closer to the start of the course.
Registration and course fee
Registration for Open University courses is done via the link below:
Course registration
Registration for this course starts on 10.8.2026 at 9.00
Registration for this course ends on 5.9.2026 at 23.59
It is not possible to register before the registration period has started or after it has ended.
This course is organized by the Aalto University School of Science.
The course fee is paid upon registration for each course at a time and it is binding. Familiarize yourself with registration and payment rules as well as other guidelines for students:
Registration, payments and rules
