Python 3 home

Introduction to Python

davidbpython.com

Introduction; Installations and Setup

class goals

• learn Python Fundamentals from the ground up
• learn practical skills that model what Python programmers do every day
• get to know our new partner, the Python Interpreter
• think like a coder: learn specific strategies for debugging

about python

Python's popularity is due to its elegance and simplicity.

• first released in 1991 by Guido van Rossum
• most popular language in use today
• designed to be readable, simple, and even beautiful
• emphasis on explicitness, consistency and practicality
• it is an elegant language -- usually only one way to do something

the zen of python

Do other languages have a manifesto like this one?

The Zen of Python, by Tim Peters Beautiful is better than ugly. Explicit is better than implicit. Simple is better than complex. Complex is better than complicated. Flat is better than nested. Sparse is better than dense. Readability counts. Special cases aren't special enough to break the rules. Although practicality beats purity. Errors should never pass silently. Unless explicitly silenced. In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess. There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it. Although that way may not be obvious at first unless you're Dutch. Now is better than never. Although never is often better than *right* now. If the implementation is hard to explain, it's a bad idea. If the implementation is easy to explain, it may be a good idea. Namespaces are one honking great idea -- let's do more of those!

about me: David Blaikie

I am dedicated to student success.

• software developer, release engineer, teacher
• worked in the IT industry since 1998
• worked at Google, AppNexus and DoubleClick (advertising tech)
• taught at New York University School of Profesional Studies since 2000
• taught at NASA, U.S. Navy, Cisco, Inuit, Salesforce, and many others

about you: welcome!

Prior exposure to Python is helpful, but not required.

You do not have to know anything about Python or programming, but some personal qualities will be very helpful. These are "soft skills" that will benefit you greatly as you proceed:

• being observant: considering carefully what you are seeing -- error messages and program output
• curiosity: wondering why things work the way they do
• patience: considering what you are seeing before trying your program again
• thoughtfulness: realizing that you are discovering a system of logic that follows specific rules. Our most important work will be in discovering how Python responds in different situations
• wisdom: seeing mistakes as a learning opportunity, and not something only to be avoided
• taking ownership: an "owner" wants the language to work for themselves, not just to pass a test

three technical requirements to write and run programs

If you already have an editor and Python installed, you do not need to add these.

• editor: PyCharm (or you may use another editor if you are familiar with it)
• python: Python distribution from python.org
• class files: unzip and open folder in PyCharm (see instructions)

Please keep in mind that if you are already able to write and run Python programs, you only need to add the class files.

the course materials

The zip file contains all files needed for our course exercises.

1. Please look for the file called python_data.zip in your course files.
2. Unzip the folder so that it has the following structure:



python_data/
├── session_00_test_project/
├── session_01_objects_types/
├──── inclass_exercises/
│       ├── inclass_1.1.py
│       ├── inclass_1.2.py
│       ├── ..etc..
│       ├── inclass_1.6_lab.py
│       ├── inclass_1.7_lab.py
│       ├── ..etc..
├──── notebooks_inclass_warmup/
├── session_02_funcs_condits_methods/
├──── inclass_exercises/
│       ├── inclass_2.1.py
│       ├── inclass_2.2.py
│       ├── ..etc..
├── session_03_strings_lists_files/
├── session_04_containers_lists_sets/
├── ..etc..
└── session_10_classes/



3. Place this folder in a location where you can find it
4. Use PyCharm to open the folder (a project)
5. Link the project to your version of Python

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