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Lab 01

Lab 01 for CSCI 112 focuses on reviewing Python basics and coding efficiency through two tasks involving random number generation. Students must analyze and modify provided code in main.py, documenting their findings in analysis.txt, while adhering to strict submission guidelines. The lab emphasizes individual work, proper file naming, and the importance of running code without errors before submission.

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6 views3 pages

Lab 01

Lab 01 for CSCI 112 focuses on reviewing Python basics and coding efficiency through two tasks involving random number generation. Students must analyze and modify provided code in main.py, documenting their findings in analysis.txt, while adhering to strict submission guidelines. The lab emphasizes individual work, proper file naming, and the importance of running code without errors before submission.

Uploaded by

wafflewaffler06
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lab 01 – CSCI 112

Information
● This lab is intended to be completed individually.
● The files must be submitted with the exact file name provided in this file. If the file names do not
match you will receive zero points for that file.
● Before you submit, make sure that your code runs. Any code which does not run without errors
will receive zero points.
● Do not share your work with anyone other than Professor Khan. You may discuss algorithms,
approaches, ideas, but NOT exact code.
● Late work will be graded according to the course policy.

Review
This lab is designed to review the basics of python as well as introduce you to the concept of coding
efficiency. Read the following categories thoroughly, even if you are familiar with the concepts from CSCI
111.

Print method in Python: The print() method displays text to the terminal. Given no extra
parameters beyond the desired print string, the method will buffer the output (it will wait to display to the
screen until it has enough data). The print method also defaults to adding a newline after each print
method invocation. To change these, named parameters can be used. The end parameter indicates what
character to apply after the string, defaulted to "\n". To change this, simply add
end="desiredCharacter" to the print method invocation. To force the print method to be non-
buffered, the flush parameter can be set to True: flush=True inside the print method invocation.
Calling print by itself with no parameters will print a single new line character, moving the cursor down
one line in the terminal.

String and Number Formatting: Python has a formatting style available to make numbers/strings look
"pretty" while printing. This requires the format() method invoked on a string. The string to be formatted
will indicate the space in which the formatted variable should go via {} and a letter indicating the type of
data to be formatted.

An example of a string which formats a string, an integer and a floating point number could be:

"{:s} {:d} {:f}".format(name, age, weight)

This string can also be printed in the same line of code:


print("{:s} {:d} {:f}".format(name, age, weight))

These formatted variables can be padded with white space to left or right align the information as well as
indicate how many decimal points to show. An example of right-aligning the variables in the previous
code, which will pad the age variable to 10 spaces, the weight variable to 20 spaces, and limit the weight
variable to 5 decimal points.

print("{:s} {:>10d} {:>20.5f}".format(name, age, weight))

There are more formatting options available with python which can be found in most python
documentation sources.

Assignment
This lab contains only one code file: main.py. There are total of two tasks in this lab that deal with
random number generation. Your job is to analyze and modify the code, as well as to use critical thinking
to demonstrate the differences between the possible approaches to creating a list of random about the
two approaches used. Run the code to see the output of the two approaches (note, this may take a while,
sometimes longer than a full minute, to complete).

Task 1 - Random Number Lists

First, take a close look at the two approaches provided to you, randomNumbers and randomIndexes.
These functions attempt to create lists containing the numbers 0 through n-1, given an integer as a
parameter, in random order. In a plain text file named analysis.txt (no word doc or otherwise), write
a brief description of what each function is doing in English. Try to explain the approach as if someone
did not understand coding terms. Also explain why these approaches are inefficient ways to code. Have
one paragraph (or more) per approach, don't combine the analysis of the two into one paragraph. It's
okay to get a bit redundant in your writing here. Include your name at the top of the file.

Task 2 - RandomShuffle()

Add another function to main.py named randomShuffle(). This function will take a more nuanced
approach to creating a random list by first creating an in-order list of numbers and then shuffling these
numbers amongst themselves. The approach follows the following algorithm:

This approach is guaranteed to give a random ordering as each individual number as an equal probability
of being in any given index. The algorithm for randomShuffle()is provided below:

1. Create a list of numbers in order from 0 to n-1.


a. This is easy with list comprehension, try to create this list with one line
of code
2. For each index i:
a. Calculate a random number between i and n-1
b. Swap the values at the indexes i and this random number
Use showList() to test your new function to be reasonably confident that the numbers are in a random
order. Add randomShuffle() to the main()function to result in a printout similar to the following image:

Note that your runtimes may vary depending on your computer and random values. In a separate
paragraph in analysis.txt, add a description of what randomShuffle() is doing (again, explain to
a non-coder), and why it is better than the previous two approaches.

What To Turn In
You only need to submit the following completed files: main.py and analysis.txt. No other files are
needed.

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