Who you are…

You already had a general introduction to programming, but it didn’t stick, or you mistakenly decided most of it had nothing to do with your long term goals. You are now trying to pull together the skills you need for further studies in Mechanical Engineering or a similar area where it is assumed you already know the basics. If that describes you, then this part of the book is for you. We will assume much less:

• You understand enough math that makes sense and you could draw a graph of versus with a pencil if you had to.
• You are mostly interested in solving computing problems that involve numbers. You will use text and words mostly as headings and labels for your numbers.
• You prefer to have a tangible, physical picture of the system you are working with, understanding the “nuts and bolts” of how things work together.
• You have access to a computer and a few dollars to spend on an Arduino compatible microcontroller.

Queen’s Context

In 2018, APSC 143, Introduction to Computer Programming for Engineers, is taken by all first year engineering students at Queen’s to provide the basics of C programming and and introduction to MatLab. MECH 217, Measurement in Mechatronics expects those C programming skills to be there a year later to support the use of Arduino compatible microcontrollers in the course. Close observation of students in MECH 217 highlights that many of them don’t have those foundational skills and this part of the book aims specifically to help them recover and reinforce the basics from APSC 143. Some students got their introduction from MNTC 313 which provides similar background.

Everything in this part of the book is in the “must know” category for Mechanical Engineering. That makes it incomplete with regards to many general programming basics and many of the capabilities of the languages presented. This is a minimalist survival kit for getting through programming tasks.