Introduction
Congratulations, You are about to take your first steps toward becoming not only a programmer but a computer scientist or engineer! This book aims to provide you with the tools and context that you will need during your university years. Especially related to programming and computing.
This material will also try to create a common ground so that assumptions can be made in later courses. For example, we will teach you how to correctly set up Virtual Machines, a tool for running other operating systems (OS) isolated on your machine without having to reinstall your day-to-day OS, so that courses that you take in the future may assume you have access to other operating systems such as Windows or Linux.
This book will use the official programme codes: TKDAT (Datateknik 300hp), TKITE (Informationsteknik 300hp) and N1COS (Datavetenskap 180hp) instead of the full names.
Who is this for?
This book mainly targets those who have just started a programme relating to Computer science and have no, or very little, previous knowledge. This means that we will write using as much easy language as possible.
If your only experience comes from a course or two during Gymnasiet then you should still find much useful information here but may find the steps to be a bit too granular, hopefully, you can look past this!
If you think that something there is a topic that needs improvement or have ideas for new topics please look here!
Structure
Begin by reading the beginner chapters sequentially. These will prepare you for your real courses and can be deemed essential. We will go through each topic from the bottom up and each sub-chapter is meant to be self-contained, meaning you can take 10 minutes and read a small bit every day. To receive the greatest benefits, these should preferably be read during the reception. Once you have read all the beginner chapters you can progress to whichever chapters you are interested in.
We cannot stress enough how important it is that you actually try what you are reading. Just like any other craft, it is impossible to master computer tools without hands-on experience.
Under studies you will find course-specific information, these chapters provide tips & tricks from older students and should generally be looked at just before beginning the course and can be used as a reference during the course. You will also find guidance on how your studies are structured and what choices you should make. These become more relevant later in your education but we still recommend that you become familiar with the basics and exams.
Boxes like these are used to give interesting information or context that is not necessary to understand the guide but can provide further reading or useful tips for those interested.
The student division
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If you get stuck
While we have tried to be as thorough as possible, there might still be cases we haven't thought about, feel free to email the authors any questions you might have. You can reach the authors at david.hedgren@dtek.se or love.lyckaro@dtek.se.
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Lectures
There will be two lectures where we go through some of the early chapters. The first will be on the 29th of August 12:00 in HB3 (same as the TDA555 lecture just before), where we will go through how to use Git. The authors will also be available during the PISS-kväll in the afternoon to help you.
The second lectures will be at 12:00 on the 14th of September (HA1) where we will go through the CLI and the Editor. The authors will also be attending the hackkväll at 18:00 in NC and will be assisting you with any problem you might be having!
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