Make sure that you have installed:
1. Python 3.7 (www.python.org/downloads/)
2. PyCharm Community Edition (www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/download/)
Python Session 1
Course overview:
1. Data types, variables and operations
2. Input, loops and functions
3. If statements
4. Lists and dictionaries
5. Files, modules and APIs
6. Project planning and group project
7. Group project
8. Group project and presentations
Instructor Introductions
Put a coloured Post-It note on the back of your laptop monitor during exercises:
Red/pink: I need instructor support
Green: I do not need instructor support
Topics this session:
1. Run Python with les and console
2. Recognise data types (Integers, Floats and Strings)
3. Identify different maths operations
4. Understand Error Messages
5. Use variables in your programs
PyCharm
Why Python?
Programming Language: A language with a set of rulesthat are used to
communicate instructionsto a computer
Program: A set of instructionsthat are run by a computer
Human languages are used to communicate between people
Programming languages are used to communicate instructions from people to computers
Python:
1. Designed to be readable
2. Wide selection of 3rd party libraries
3. Popular
4. Open Source
Your rst Python Program
Open PyCharm and click Create New Project
Call the project cfg-python
Under Project Interpreter: New Virtualenv environment , set Base interpreter to Python 3.7
Right click on cfg-python > New > Python File
Name the le hello ( .py is added automatically)
Add this code to hello.py
print('Hello, World!')
Right-click in your new le > Run 'hello'
��Congratulations!��
You've just run your rst Python program
Function: A reusable piece of code that completes a specic task
You can recognise a function as they are a word followed by round brackets () e.g. print()
The print() function is used to output a message to the programmer You
can change the data given to the function to change the output
print('I hope it is sunny this weekend')
Exercise 1.1: Now that you've run your rst program, try the following:
Change the message to anything you want
Repeat the code on multiple lines to output several messages
Find out what happens when you remove different parts of the code (e.g. brackets)
Don't worry if something unexpected happens. Think about what you changed and why it might have
caused it to happen.
Numbers and Operators in Python
Integer: a Python data type for whole numbers. For example 5 , -99 and 1048 are all integers. Float: a
Python data type for decimal numbers. For example 5.6 , 9.0 and -67.1001 are all oats.
Opening the Python Console
Exercise 1.2: Type these lines into your Python console:
5-6
8*9
6/2
5/0
5.0 / 2
5%2
2 * (10 + 3)
2 ** 4
What does each one do and what is its output?
Are there any outputs you didn't expect?
Subtraction:
5-6
Multiplication:
8*9
Division:
6/2
Division by zero:
5/0
Float division:
5.0 / 2
Modulo (remainder):
5%2
Brackets:
2 * (10 + 3)
Exponent (x to the power of y)
2 ** 4
Operator types
+: add
-: subtract
*: multiply
/: division
**: exponent
%: modulo (remainder)
Python Console
There are two main ways to write and run Python programs:
1. With les
2. On the Python console (also called the shell)
Python File Python Console Runs all lines from top-to-bottom Runs
one line as it is entered Only shows output when using print() Shows
output for every line For code that will be ran multiple times Interactive
for exploration
The String Data Type
String: a Python data type for text and characters.
For example 'Hello' , "abcdef1234" and 'cats' are all strings
Strings must be written between a pair of single or double speech marks
'...' or "..."
"This is a string"
'This is also a string'
Forgetting the speech marks
hello
Will cause this exception
Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line
1, in <module> NameError: name 'hello' is not
defined
To x it add speech marks
"hello"
The * and + operators work on strings as well as integers.
Let's investigate what they do
Exercise 1.3:
In your Python console type each of these
"Cat"
"Cat" + " videos"
"Cat" * 3
"Cat" + 3
"Cat".upper()
"Cat".lower()
"the lord of the rings".title()
What is the output for each one and why?
One of them causes an exception. Read the exception message. What do you think it means?
Results:
"Cat"
"Cat" + " videos"
"Cat" * 3
"Cat" + 3
"Cat".upper()
"Cat".lower()
"the lord of the rings".title()
1. The + operator can join two strings together, this is called concatenation
2. The * operator repeats a string a number of times
3. .upper() , .lower() and .title() are methods
method: A repeatable piece of code that completes a task for specic data-type
Methods are like funcitons, but they are tied to a specic data-types e.g. .upper() can only used with a
string and not an integet or a oat
Running this code
print("Cat" + 3)
Will cause this exception
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: can only concatenate str (not "int") to str
Putting a number in str() converts it to a string
print("Cat" + str(3))
Variables
Variable: a reusable label for a data value in Python
Creating (assigning) a variable has three parts:
1. The variable's name
2. An equals sign =
3. The data value it references
username = 'sarah_1987'
age = 23
variable name
value
Values and variables are interchangeable
A variable can be put anywhere that a data value can be used
print('spaghetti')
food = 'spaghetti'
print(food)
Variables can be reused. This program calculates the cost of 12 oranges.
oranges = 12
cost_per_orange = 0.5
total_cost = oranges * cost_per_orange
print(str(oranges) + " oranges")
print("costs " + str(total_cost))
The oranges variable is reused twice in the program
Exercise 1.4: In a new Python le called cat_food.py , create a program that calculates how many cans
of cat food you need to feed 10 cats
Your will need:
1. A variable for the number of cats
2. A variable for the number of cans each cat eats in a day
3. A print() function to output the result
Extension: change the calculation to work out the amount needed for 7 days
An Example Solution
cats = 10
cans = 2
total_cans = cats * cans
output = str(cats) + " cats eat " + str(total_cans) + " cans" print(output)
Extension Solution
cats = 10
cans = 2
days = 7
total_cans = cats * cans * days
msg = str(cats) + " cats eat " + str(total_cans) + " cans in " + str(days) + " days" print(msg)
String Formatting
Python strings have a method ( .format() ) that substitutes place-holders {} for values
oranges = 12
cost_per_orange = 0.5
total_cost = oranges * cost_per_orange
output = "{} oranges costs £{}".format(oranges, total_cost)
print(output)
This could have been written as:
oranges = 12
cost_per_orange = 0.5
total_cost = oranges * cost_per_orange
output = str(oranges) + " oranges costs £" + str(total_cost) print(output)
Exercise 1.5: Rewrite cat_food.py to use string formatting instead of joining strings with + . An
example of string formatting:
user_name = 'sarah_1987'
age = 23
output = '{} is {} years old'.format(user_name, age)
print(output)
Solution
cats = 10
cans = 2
total_cans = cats * cans
output = "{} cats eat {} cans".format(cats, total_cans) print(output)
Comments
Comment: a way for a programmer to write human-readable notes in their code. When running a
program, comments are ignored by Python.
# This is a comment
Comments in Python start with a #
# A program to calculate the cost of some oranges
oranges = 12
cost_per_orange = 0.5
total_cost = oranges * cost_per_orange
output = "{} oranges costs £{}".format(oranges, total_cost) print(output)
Recap
1. Run Python with les and console 2. Data
types (Integers, Floats and Strings) 3.
Maths operations
4. Understanding Error Messages
5. Variables
Question 1: What are the names of the maths operators?
Question2: InwhatsituationshouldyouuseaPythonleandwhenshouldyouusethePython
Console?
Question 3: What is the output of this code?
days = 31
hours = "24"
total_hours = days * hours
msg = "There are {} in {} days".format(total_hours, days) print(msg)
Homework: Session 1 homework questions in your student guide
