μPython: non-majors programming from the very first lecture

We wanted to give first-year non-major students experience programming very early, right from the first lecture. To support this endeavor, we built a web-based subset of Python, called ¼Python. It allowed immediate use by students, overcame a number of practical constraints, and gave a gradual introduction and transition into the full version of Python. Our data demonstrate that ¼Python has a miniscule impact on the server side, running easily on a desktop computer. A student survey shows an overwhelmingly positive response to programming in the first class; it also shows that a lot of students were using ¼Python to try examples from lecture, that they thought ¼Python was helpful for learning Python, and that they liked being able to write Python code within their browser.