Programming Fundamentals

1. Syllabus

2. Course Outcomes

3. Lab Rules

4. Course Info Slides

5. Aspirations in Computing Award (for women, genderqueer, or non-binary students with strong interests in computer technology)

1. https://vscodeedu.com/

2. W3Schools - Python

3. CMU Academy... maybe?

4. Python Cheatsheet 2.7

5. Python Cheatsheet 3

Free eBooks to Peruse:

1. Automate the Boring Stuff with Python

2. The Book of Small Python Projects

3. Beyond the Basic Stuff with Python

4. Cracking Codes with Python

1. Desktop - IDLE (General programming + graphics)

2. VS Code for Education (General programming, no graphics yet)

Turtle Library

Cheat Sheet

Python Help Sheet

Slides - Lesson 1 - Fundamentals

Code Chunks

print("Hello World")

print("Number: ", num)

print("Number: " + str(num))

print(f"Number: {num}") --> This type of print uses f-strings to quickly add variables to outputs (it's my favorite)

W3 Schools Supplemental

• Python Home

• Python Intro

• Python Getting Started

• Syntax

• Comments

Challenge:

• Go to your home page in VS Code for Education

• Navigate to "My Projects"

• Create a new Project

  • Name: "My Python Challenges - YourName"

  • Description: "This is where I'll store my Python Challenge code."

• VSCode will auto create a main.py file. Ignore this.

• Create a new File called "Challenge01_Poem.py"

• Using multiple print statements, write out the lyrics of a poem 

  • this could be the lyrics to your favorite song

  • this could be something you make up off the top of your head

Level Up

• Not all characters are printable due to how the computer interprets text.

  • print("I love the " symbol, it's my favorite.")

• In the above example, the " (quotation mark, not apostrophes) messes everything up.

• Read up on Python Escape Characters to get a better understanding of special printing situations

Slides - Lesson 2 - User Interactions

Code Chunks

name = input("What is your name")

print("Nice to meet you, ", name)

W3 Schools Supplemental

• Python User Input

• Strings

• String Concatenate

• Formatting Strings

• Escape Characters

Challenge:

• Write a MadLibs program

  • Must take 5+ values from the user

  • Must plug those values into a story.

  • See Chef's MadLib as an example

Level Up

• Explore using conditionals to be able to respond to the user when certain inputs are provided

  • Example: When the user inputs a name, always with respond with "Oh, [name they typed] is such a cute name!" unless the name is "Jack", then respond with "Who! like Jack Jack from the Incredibles!"

Slides - Lesson 3 - Values

W3 Schools Resources

• Python Casting (Converting Data Types)

• Variables

  • Variable Names

  • Assign Multiple Values (Optional, advanced)

  • Output Variables

• Data Types

• Numbers

• Casting (Converting) Data Types

• Operators - Focus on Arithmetic, Assignment, & Precedence.

  • Arithmetic: +, -, *, /, %, **, //

  • Assignment: =, +=, -=, *=, /=, %=, //=, **= ... ignore Bitwise operators.

  • Precedence: 

    • ()

    • **

    • *, /, //, %

    • +, -

Challenge:

• Variable Exercises

Level Up

Rounding Strings

price = 59.9899999999

txt = f"The price is {price:.2f} dollars"

print(txt)

In the example above:

• price holds the ugly number that you want formatted. 

• Txt holds the formatted version of the text, and the portion that says "{price:.2f}" gets replaced with price's value formatted by 2 digits after the decimal. 

• This also takes care of rounding, so the example above (58.9899999) rounds up to 58.99.

Extra Resources

• Global Variables (Specific to Python)

W3Schools

• Booleans

• Operators - Focus on Comparison, Logical, & Precedence. Optional: Identity Operators

  • Comparison: <, >, <=, >=, ==, != 

  • Logical: and, or, not

  • Identity: is, is not (specific to objects, not values)

  • Precedence:

    • ()

    • not

    • and

    • or

While Loop Vocabulary

While Loop W3Schools

Complete this quiz - If the paper is handed to you, fill it out on the paper. Otherwise, write your answers on a separate piece of paper, to be turned in by the end of the period.

W3Schools Python For Loops

• Iterate over a sequence (list, set, String, etc.)

Don't use break statements.

Make use of the range option:

• range(#) --> for i in range(6)  will 6 times (0-5)

• range(#, #) --> for i in range(3, 7) will loop from 3 to less than 7 (3-6)

• range(#, #, #) --> for i in range(10, 100, 5) will loop from 10 to less than 100, increasing by 5 (10, 15, 20, 25... 90, 95)

W3Schools

• Strings

• String Concatenate

• Formatting Strings

• Escape Characters

• Slicing Strings (Substring)

• Modify Strings - Important Note: These functions create a copy that is modified. The variable itself remains unchanged.

• String Methods

• String Exercises

Rounding Strings

price = 59.9899999999

txt = f"The price is {price:.2f} dollars"

print(txt)

In the example above:

• price holds the ugly number that you want formatted. 

• Txt holds the formatted version of the text, and the portion that says "{price:.2f}" gets replaced with price's value formatted by 2 digits after the decimal. 

• This also takes care of rounding, so the example above (58.9899999) rounds up to 58.99.

A sentence is said to be balanced if the number of spaces + vowels is the same as the number of other symbols (including punctuation).

You need to figure out whether or not the characters are balanced.

• Hello --> Not Balanced (3 consonants, 2 vowels/spaces).

• Here We'll Be --> Not Balanced

• AEIOU BCDFGH> Balanced (5 vowels + 1 space, 6 consonants)

Take the Final Multiple Choice Test - 31 questions - 45 minutes to take

You're writing a program meant to take in 2 numbers and count how many operations it takes for the 1st number to get to the 2nd number using only the following operations:

• You can add 1 to the number.

• You can divide the number by 2 (but only when the number is currently even).

You have approximately 45 minutes to complete this challenge.

Starting #: 21

Ending #: 5

Process:

• 21+1 --> 22

• 22/2 -->11 

• 11+1 --> 12

• 12/2 --> 6

• 6/2 --> 3

• 3+1 --> 4

• 4+1 --> 5

Return 7

Try your hand at your own examples

set a counter to 0

as long as the currentNum isn't the targetNum

if the currentNum is less than the targetNum

increase the counter by 1

increase the currentNum by 1

otherwise

if the currentNum isn't even (ie. is odd)

increase the currentNum by 1

otherwise

divide the currentNum by 2

increase the counter by 1

return the counter

'''

    countSteps takes in a currentNum and a targetNum

    and follows the logic provided in the "Programming 

    Challenge Logic" statement.

    @param currentNum the starting number passed in which

        eventually transforms into the ending number.

    @param targetNum the number that currentNum is trying

        to transform into.

    @return the number of steps it takes for currentNum to

        transform into the targetNum.

'''

#define countSteps here as described above

##################################################

'''

    Main Section

    Do not change anything below here

'''

numLoops = int(input("How many loops?"))

for i in range(numLoops):

    startNum = int(input("What is the starting number?"))

    targetNum = int(input("What is the ending number?"))

    answer = countSteps(startNum, targetNum)

    print(f"The total number of steps to go from {startNum} to {targetNum} is {answer}")

Youtube Short - isPrime filter

Python Institute PCEP Exam (Python Certified Entry-Level Programmer