Creating a Quantum Programming Course from Scratch A Computer Science Professor's Journey

Quantum Computing is generating significant excitement within the interdisciplinary academic community, government, and industry. Despite rapid growth in the area, formal education in non-classical computing is limited or absent in many computer science programs. Among the contributing factors is the cutting-edge nature of the field and, until somewhat recently, lack of available platforms for development. Consequently, many computer science graduates will enter the field with little or no background, or even conversational fluency in basic quantum principles. In the near term this will hinder broader adoption of quantum technologies, and will leave interested students underprepared for possible careers in the area or continued studies in graduate school. This experience report details the creation of a new course in Quantum Programming at a mid-sized, regional comprehensive university from initial conception to deployment. This work differs from previous treatments, as the professor came into the project without any background in quantum computing or physics. The course was written from a software-development perspective and is intended for a post-secondary audience from interdisciplinary, technical backgrounds. The course was successfully deployed in the fall semester of 2022 with positive reactions by both students and the professor. The author hopes that this project will add to the growing body of literature in this area, and serve as a template for other educators.