Coding is how we communicate with computers. Code is basically a list of instructions for the computer to follow. The computer will read each of these instructions in order and if programmed correctly will do what we wanted it to do. There are many different types of coding, but we will focus mostly on using code to create simulations through the coding language Python.

The language we will be using is called Python, specifically we will be using VPython, which is a very common coding language with physicists that want to create visualizations of their code.

In the code to the right, you should be able to click on the play button. Once you've done that, you should see what looks like a ball on a spring attached to the ceiling. If you click your mouse on the simulation it will run. While this is a more complex program, it is my hope we will be able to use programming to help us use our physics to create realistic simulations.

A lot of coding involves problem solving and working through mistakes. Every programmer makes mistakes, but the best programmers know how to fix them.