A0 module

[coastalwhite]

An PR that adds the A0 module that provides a general introduction into programming with a statically typed programming language.

This PR is far from finished, but in the end resolves #25.

[coastalwhite]

Hey,

Didn't have much time over the last few weeks, but I finally got time to finish at least a first draft of this.

I think the slides provide a good introduction into programming and for the next lecture, although it may still be a bit daunting. It may be a good idea to supply some more external materials, but it might just be an idea to have an additional document supply this to the lecturer.

As for the exercises, I feel like the tweedegolf GH organization should create the gists of them and provide links to the play.rust-lang.org with that gists. This way they don't need the development environment just yet. Please let me know what you think and which things can be improved.

[coastalwhite]

I will just add some of the planning I did for the reworking of this module based on the meeting we had.

Essentially, we will divide the A0 (which we might want to give a different name now) into 9 topics. Starting from absolute zero to the point where they can build a simple calculator and know most basic programming concepts. I have also listed exercises that might be used for the topic.

Some notes:

• It might be interesting to add a small integration project where people do a bit of file manipulation. For example, a small HTML page generator would probably be very cool for the graphically inclined people. This would not require too, too much extra explanations.
• On some parts (e.g. Vec, Box, String, modules and CLI), I would want a minimal explanation to pragmatically use those concepts rather than actually fully describing those topics. For that, there are either already topics or it is not relevant.
• The reddit thread came up with the idea of just using modules to simulate multifile projects. I did not go with that approach here. Instead, I try to explain very basic concepts for CLI. This needs to be independent of target platform.

A0.0: Introduction to Programming Concepts

Content:

• What is a programming language?
• Hello World!
• Comments
• Variables
• Conditionals
• Lists and loops

Exercises:

• Printing your name
• Print all numbers in a list
• Print all numbers on the same line, separated by comma's
• Print all even numbers

A0.1: Types

Content:

• Boolean
• Numbers (Integers, Floating-Point)
• Text
• Ranges
• Composition structures

Exercises:

• Annotate a file with types
• Use ranges to print all letters
• Define a few structures with several constraints

A0.2: Dividing and Conquering

Content:

• Why divide-and-conquer?
• Functions
• Associated Functions
• Methods

Exercises:

• Define a set of functions to fill in triple, receprical, exclusive_or, ...
• Define a new function for a EvenNumber structure
• Define a is_sum_equal_to function for a TwoNumbers

A0.3: Scopes and global variables

Content:

• Scopes
• Mutation
• Constants

Exercises:

• Annotate which variables are in scope
• Solve the mutation flag of a few functions
• Keep a loop index and skip every other element, skip the last element
• Extract constants

A0.4: Memory

Content:

• Overview of memory
• References
• Stack
• Heap (Box, Vec, String)

Exercises:

• Define stack content
• Annotate heap versus stack
• Create a vector with all numbers divisible by 7

A0.5: Inputs and Outputs

Content:

• Standard Library (very brief!!!)
• Printing
• Reading input

Exercises:

• Take user's name and print a hello message back to them
• Integration exercise: Random Number guessing game
• Integration exercise: Calculate the day at which someone was born

A0.6: Command Line and Introduction to Cargo

Content:

• Basics of the command line
• Creating a new project
• Running your project

Exercises:

• Show them usage of a few very basic commands cd, ls/dir, cat/type
• Guide users through creating their own project

A0.7: Modules and Multi-file projects

Content:

• Modules
• Use statements
• Public and private
• Projects with multiple files

Exercises:

• Calling print from multiple files
• Implement an EvenNumber struct that cannot contain invalid state

A0.8: Intermediate Programming Concepts

Content:

• Bits and bit operations
• Recursion
• Enums
• Tuples
• Copy-by-value and Copy-by-reference

Exercises:

• Implement a is_power_of_two, div_by_2 and times_by_three
• Implement factorial for recursion
• Define your own Option enum
• Return two values with tuples div_and_remainder
• Annotate copy-by-value and copy-by-reference

Final Project

Integration: Guide student through building a small polish notation calculator