This workshop introduces fundamental concepts of computer programming to a non-technical audience. It is intended to assist faculty and students establish a sound understanding of programming constructs that are useful for working with more advanced tasks, for example, in NLP, Computational Linguistics, and other language data processing endeavors. Concepts such as the use of variables, functions, loops, basic input and output will be addressed. Additionally, recommended best practices for working with Python script files and tools will be demonstrated. Participation does not require prior experience or exposure to computer programming.

This is the first in a series of three workshops on introducing computer programming concepts and techniques to language researchers and students. Python is the programming language used throughout the series. Python is a popular programming language that is increasingly adopted by scientists and scholars to carry out computational aspects of their work.