Computer Programming

Variables, Expressions and Statements

Eyob S.

SITE, AAiT

May 27, 2024

Eyob S. (SITE, AAiT) Computer Programming May 27, 2024 1 / 34

Table of Contents

1 Variables, Expressions and Statements

2 Order of Operations

3 Data Types

4 TypeErrors and Type Conversions

5 Debugging

6 Comments

Eyob S. (SITE, AAiT) Computer Programming May 27, 2024 2 / 34

What is a Variable?

A variable is a name that refers to a value. We can use this name later
in our code to access the value.

An assignment statement "=" creates a new variable and gives it a

value:

x=3 - assign a value 3 to the variable named ‘x‘

message="hello" - assign a string value ”hello” to the variable named

‘message‘

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What is a Variable? (continued...)

More formally a variable is a named place in the memory where a

programmer can store data and later retrieve the data using the variable
name

Programmers generally choose names for their variables that are mean-
ingful—they document what the variable is used for

Variable names can be as long as you like. They can contain both
letters and numbers, but they can’t begin with a number.

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What is a Variable? (continued...)

More formally a variable is a named place in the memory where a

programmer can store data and later retrieve the data using the variable
name

Programmers generally choose names for their variables that are mean-
ingful—they document what the variable is used for

Variable names can be as long as you like. They can contain both
letters and numbers, but they can’t begin with a number.

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Python Variable Name Rules

Must consist of letters, numbers, or underscores

Must start with a letter or underscore

Case Sensitive

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Python Variable Name Rules (continued...)

Good: spam, result, result23, speed

Bad: 23spam, #sign, var.12

Different: spam, Spam, SPAM

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Reserved Words (keywords)

The interpreter uses keywords to recognize the structure of the pro-

gram, and they cannot be used as variable names.

You don’t have to memorize this list. In most development environ-

ments, keywords are displayed in a different color

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Mnemonic Variable Names

We name variables to help us remember what we intend to store in

them (“mnemonic” = “memory aid”)

x1q3z9ocd = 65.25

x1q3z9afd = 30

x1q3p9afd = x1q3z9ocd * x1q3z9afd

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Mnemonic Variable Names (continued...)

a = 65.25

b = 30

c = a * b

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Mnemonic Variable Names (continued...)

mass = 65.25

acceleration = 30

Force = mass * acceleration

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Named Constants

They are similar to variables: a memory location that’s been given a

name.

Unlike variables their contents shouldn’t change.

PI = 3.14

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Literal (unnamed constant)

A literal is a fixed value directly written in your code. It represents a

specific data element and cannot be changed during program execution.

Literals come in various forms depending on the data type they repre-
sent:

Numbers: 42, 3.14, -100

Strings: "Hello, world!"
Boolean values: True, False
Characters: ’a’, ’$’, ’&’

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Expressions and Statements

An expression is a combination of values, variables, and operators.

A value all by itself is considered an expression, and so is a variable

42

x + 18

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Expressions and Statements

A statement is a unit of code that has an effect, like creating a variable

or displaying a value.

n = 17 ⇒ assignment statement

n = 4 * x * ( 1 - x) ⇒ assignment statement

print(n) ⇒ print statement

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Expressions and Statements

A statement is a unit of code that has an effect, like creating a variable

or displaying a value.

n = 17 ⇒ assignment statement

n = 4 * x * ( 1 - x) ⇒ assignment statement

print(n) ⇒ print statement

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Arithmetic Operators

Table: Python Arithmetic Operators and Operations

Operator Operation Example

+ Addition 3 + 2
- Subtraction 3 - 2
* Multiplication 3 * 2
/ Division (float) 3 / 2
// Division (floor) 3 // 2
% Modulus (remainder) 3 % 2
** Exponentiation 3 ** 2

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Order of Operations (operator precedence)

When an expression contains more than one operator, the order of

evaluation depends on the order of operations.

Table: Python Arithmetic Operator Precedence

Precedence Operators
() Parentheses
** Exponentiation
*, /, //, % Multiplication, Division, Floor division, Modulus
+, - Addition, Subtraction

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Order of Operations (operator precedence)

Operators with the same precedence are evaluated from left to right
(except exponentiation).

x = 1 + 2 * 3 - 4 / 5 ** 6

(3 * 100) / 60

3 * 100 / 60

4 / 2 * 8

4 / (2 * 8)

4 / 2 / 8

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String Operations

The + operator performs string concatenation, which means it joins

the strings by linking them end-to-end.

'throat'+ 'warbler'⇒ 'throatwarbler'

The * operator also works on strings; it performs repetition.

'Spam'* 3 ⇒ 'SpamSpamSpam'

’2’ - ’1’ ⇒ ???

’eggs’ * ’easy’ ⇒ ???
’third’ * ’3’ ⇒ ???

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Python Data Types

Type is a category of values.

In Python, data types specify the kind of values a variable can hold.

They determine how data is stored and manipulated in your code.

Understanding data types is essential for writing efficient and accurate

programs.

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Python Data Types: Numeric Types

Numeric types are used to represent numbers.

There are three distinct numeric types:

int: integer numbers: -5, 0, 17

float: decimal numbers: -4.44, 0.86, 3.4, 5.0
complex: Complex numbers: -3 + 2j, 2.4 - 3j

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Python Data Types: Text Type

The str type represents textual data.

Strings are sequences of characters enclosed in single quotes (') or

double quotes (”), or even triple quotes(”””).

Examples:

'Hello', "World", '2', 'a', '1+3'

'''This is a multi-line string'''

”””This is also a multi-line string”””

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Python Data Types: Other Types

Sequence types: list, tuple, range

Mapping Type: dictionary

Set Types: set, frozenset

Boolean Types: True(1), False(0)

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Mixing Integer and Floating

99 // 100

99 / 100

99 / 100.0, 99.0 // 100 ⇒ Type Casting

1 + 2 * 3 // 4.0 - 5

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TypeError

message = 'hello '+ 'there'

type(message) ⇒ ???

message + 1 ⇒ ???

message + '1'⇒ ???

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Type Conversions

num = '2 '+ '1'

type(num) ⇒ ???

result = int(num) + 1 ⇒ ???

type(result) ⇒ ???

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Type Conversions (continued...)

num = 42

float(num) ⇒ ???

int(42.56) + 1 ⇒ ???

str(1) + str(2) ⇒ ???

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Debugging

Programming errors are called bugs and the process of fixing these
errors is called debugging.

Three kinds of errors can occur in a program: syntax errors, runtime

errors, and semantic errors.

Syntax error: “Syntax” refers to the structure of a program and the

rules about that structure.

If there is a syntax error anywhere in your program, Python displays an

error message and quits, and you will not be able to run the program.

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Debugging (continued...)

For example, parentheses have to come in matching pairs, so (1 + 2)

is legal, but 8) is a syntax error.

Runtime error: this error does not appear until after the program has
started running.

These errors are also called exceptions because they usually indicate
that something exceptional (and bad) has happened.

For example, division by zero.

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Debugging (continued...)

Semantic error: The third type of error is “semantic”, which means

related to meaning.

If there is a semantic error in your program, it will run without gener-

ating error messages, but it will not do the right thing.

For example, using // instead of /.

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Comments

As programs get bigger and more complicated, they get more difficult
to read.

Formal languages are dense, and it is often difficult to look at a piece

of code and figure out what it is doing, or why.

For this reason, it is a good idea to add notes to your programs to

explain in natural language what the program is doing. These notes
are called comments, and they start with the # symbol:

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Comments (continued...)

#compute the percentage of the hour that has elapsed

percentage = (minute * 100)/60

percentage = (minute * 100)/60 #percentage of an hour

v = 5 #assign 5 to v ⇒ not good

v = 5 #velocity in meters/second ⇒ good

Good variable names can reduce the need for comments, but long
names can make complex expressions hard to read, so there is a trade-
off.

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END

Thank You!!!

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