0 - Welcome to System Programming
keyboard_arrow_down Installing Python on your computer
Option 1: Python interpreter & IDE
Go to https://python.org/downloads
Click on the Download Python 3.xx.xx button near the top of the page
An installer will be downloaded to your computer
Run the installer and follow the prompts to install Python on your computer
It is recommended that you also install an IDE, preferably Microsoft Visual Studio Code.
To do so, go to https://code.visualstudio.com/download
Download the appropriate installer for your operating system
Follow the prompts of the installer to set it up on your computer.
You are now ready to work with Python on your computer!
keyboard_arrow_down Option 2: Python's Scientific Computing package
Initial Anaconda/Spyder IDE installation/setup
Install Anaconda on your computer. Ensure Spyder and Jupyter is properly setup and working. You
can confirm by running the customary first program in a new programming language.
On Jupyter, photo_1.png Then click Run or press Ctrl+Enter
Congratulations, you're now a Python programmer! It is clear that there's significantly less code to
write to print out a statement in Python than in several other languages like C or C++!
On Spyder, photo_2.png
Then press Enter
Option 3: Python in the browser
You can also run Python in your browser on any device: personal computers, tablets, as well as
mobile phones
Go to https://colab.research.google.com/
Login to with your Google account.
Click on New Notebook and start writing Python code!
keyboard_arrow_down The Basics of Python (Student's part)
At this point, we're ready to begin to study the basics of Python.
What is Python?
Coding style and language ethos
What is Python?
Python is a general-purpose programming language that supports many programming paradigms,
such as object-oriented programming, functional programming, and procedural programming.
Python is an interpreted language, which means that programs written in it do not need to be
compiled before running, as is common in C and C++.
Question: What are programming paradigms?
Python is the dominant language in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning. It is also
very popular in other fields of scientific computing, such as data analytics, data science, web
development, and increasingly in embedded systems development (microcontrollers use a flavor of
the language known as MicroPython). A solid understanding of Python would be very beneficial to
an engineer looking to explore several exciting emerging fields in technology. The instructor
recommends that students continue striving to gain mastery of the language beyond the scope of
this course.
Coding style and langage ethos
It would interest anyone aspiring to master Python to be aware of two important documents that
touch at the very essence of what it eans to write good code in Python. The first and more
philosophical of these is can be found by running a command any python terminal. On a Python
terminal, type in:
import this
The second is a more technical document that every Python student must internalize, if they hope
to collaborate with other Python developers in the future. The document is the PEP 8 style guide.
