THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2023/2024

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

University Homepage
DRPS Homepage
DRPS Search
DRPS Contact
DRPS : Course Catalogue : Business School : Business Studies

Undergraduate Course: Fundamentals of Programming for Business Applications (BUST08039)

Course Outline
SchoolBusiness School CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryTHIS COURSE IS AVAILABLE TO YEAR 1 STUDENTS IN THE BUSINESS SCHOOL ONLY. The course will provide you with the basics of programming for business applications which will render you capable of solid algorithmic thinking, building your own programs, and of understanding and critically reflecting on the technical aspects of quantitative business problems. It requires no background knowledge and is specifically tailored to the novice's needs. Anyone with an interest in technology will greatly benefit from following this course.
Course description This course aims at introducing business students to the topic of software engineering and it is the building block of many quantitative courses. Indeed, being able to collect and transform data, perform analyses on them, and do this in an efficient way, is the basic setup of many topics in statistics, financial modelling, operational research, and so on. By providing a thorough background in the building blocks of programming and its applications, this course aims to provide non-technical profiles with the necessary basics to be mature in a quantitative environment. A direct connection with major quantitative business problems will be made through case studies and exercises.

Outline Content

The course will cover the following topics:
- An introduction to programming concepts: differences between programming languages, computer compiling, data types, programming styles, and programming building blocks
- Programming constructs: data structures, programming control flow, basic algorithms
- Business applications: a study on a range of business problems from statistics and operations research to illustrate the concepts

Student Learning Experience

Teaching will take the form of class lectures, and lab sessions. Since software engineering is a real learning-by-doing topic, the concepts and methods discussed during the lectures will be illustrated and transformed into exercises on Python which will help you to develop your skillset gradually. Assignments will introduce various topics one at a time, but will gradually become more difficult as they start combining different concepts. Nevertheless, they provide iterative feedback on a weekly basis and engage students to keep up with the course.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed:
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Develop an awareness and understanding of the concepts prevalent in systems engineering and adapt a problem-solving attitude that employs algorithmic thinking.
  2. Critically reflect on the level of difficulty of programming a range of problems in various business settings
  3. To employ the programming language Python in a practical and effective manner.
  4. To autonomously list the requirements in terms of procedures and data needed for tackling a precise, quantitative business-oriented problem and be able to communicate them to the relevant stakeholders.
Reading List
Learning Python (2013), Mark Lutz https://www.learnpython.org/
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills After completing this course, students should be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Demonstrate a thorough knowledge and understanding of contemporary organisational disciplines; comprehend the role of business within the contemporary world; and critically evaluate and synthesise primary and secondary research and sources of evidence in order to make, and present, well informed and transparent organisation-related decisions, which have a positive global impact.

Identify, define and analyse theoretical and applied business and management problems, and develop approaches, informed by an understanding of appropriate quantitative and/or qualitative techniques, to explore and solve them responsibly.

Practice: Applied Knowledge, Skills and Understanding

Apply creative, innovative, entrepreneurial, sustainable and responsible business solutions to address social, economic and environmental global challenges.

Communication, ICT, and Numeracy Skills

Critically evaluate and present digital and other sources, research methods, data and information; discern their limitations, accuracy, validity, reliability and suitability; and apply responsibly in a wide variety of organisational contexts.
KeywordsComputer programming basics,data analysis,business applications
Contacts
Course organiserDr Pawel Orzechowski
Tel:
Email: porzecho@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Leah Byrne
Tel: (01316) 513758
Email: lbyrne4@ed.ac.uk
Navigation
Help & Information
Home
Introduction
Glossary
Search DPTs and Courses
Regulations
Regulations
Degree Programmes
Introduction
Browse DPTs
Courses
Introduction
Humanities and Social Science
Science and Engineering
Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Other Information
Combined Course Timetable
Prospectuses
Important Information