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Last updated: October 2001

    This is an on-line revised and enlarged version of a course-note book created in the year 2000. It was first circulated among the students of Corso Programmatori at ITC "Denina" during the school year 2000-2001. 

These notes have been developed for the English course and NOT the Computer Science course, therefore their aim is to give basic information on computers and related issues in the English language and in no way they are intended as a handbook on computer science, which is the domain of other teachers.

The main reason why I decided to set up this work is that most ESP school books specifically designed for Corso Programmatori in the various Italian secondary schools are not wholly satisfactory: not because of the authors' faults, but because those books tend to cater for all kinds of teachers and courses, and therefore the single teacher has a feeling that a lot of material is either irrelevant or missing, for his/her purposes. Clearly this is a personal opinion, nonetheless a large number of colleagues share the same view. As a result I have resolved to make my own "book". 

The electronic version aims at suiting the students' needs better in two ways: 1) it offers the advantage of easy up-dating and revision; 2) through the external links provided, the students can expand their knowledge directly on-line.

Inevitably, also this version will probably contain mistakes and errors: for this reason I will appreciate any comments or suggestions from anybody, but especially from my students. If this work can kindle  a little discussion and an interest in computing,  then it has reached its goal: i.e. spurring the students' natural inquisitive mind and channel it towards a better knowledge of English and Computer Science alike.