How to code in

Python
GCSE, iGCSE, National 4/5 and Higher

Greg Reid

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ISBN: 978 1 5104 6182 6
© Greg Reid 2020
First published in 2020 by
Hodder Education
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 Contents
Chapter 1 – Introduction 1

Section 1 – Input, output and simple calculations 4

Chapter 2 – Examples of input, output and simple
calculations 4
Chapter 3 – Computational thinking puzzles (input
and output) 8
Chapter 4 – Examples of simple calculations 10
Chapter 5 – Computational thinking puzzles
(simple calculations) 12
Chapter 6 – Examples of simple string functions 14
Chapter 7 – Computational thinking puzzles
(string functions) 16
Chapter 8 – Examples of simple mathematical functions 19
Chapter 9 – Computational thinking puzzles
(mathematical functions) 21
Chapter 10 – Programming challenges for Section 1 22

Section 2 – Selection (if) statements 30

Chapter 11 – Examples of selection (if) statements 31
Chapter 12 – Computational thinking puzzles
(if statements) 36
Chapter 13 – Programming challenges for Section 2 40

Section 3 – Repetition (loop) statements 43

Chapter 14 – Examples of repetition (loop) statements 44
Chapter 15 – Computational thinking puzzles (loops) 48
Chapter 16 – Programming challenges for Section 3 55
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 Contents

Section 4 – Storing multiple values using lists 63

Chapter 17 – Examples of lists 66
Chapter 18 – Computational thinking puzzles (lists) 72
Chapter 19 – Programming challenges for Section 4 80

Section 5 – Predefined functions 86

Chapter 20 – Examples of predefined functions 86
Chapter 21 – Computational thinking puzzles
(predefined functions) 92
Chapter 22 – Programming challenges for Section 5 96

Section 6 – Modular programming 100

Chapter 23 – Examples of modular programming 101
Chapter 24 – Computational thinking puzzles
(modular programming) 106
Chapter 25 – Programming challenges for Section 6 109

Section 7 – File handling 112

Chapter 26 – Examples of file handling 113
Chapter 27 – Computational thinking puzzles
(file handling) 117
Chapter 28 – Programming challenges for Section 7 120

Section 8 – Standard algorithms 123

Section 9 – Large project tasks 136

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 Section 1 – Input, output
and simple calculations
Almost all computer programs are written to input, process and output data. For example:
■ A calculator takes numbers and instructions from a keypad
(input), performs the calculation requested (process) and 2.
displays the answer on the calculator's small screen (output).
■ A washing machine senses the weight of clothes (input) and the

selected wash cycle from the machine's control panel (input).

The amount of water required and length of the wash cycle
are calculated (process). Electrical signals are sent to pumps,
heaters and motors to control the wash cycle (output).
While it would be great to write program code that reads data from sensors or controls a
water pump, the first steps in learning to program usually involve writing simple code that
■ allows the user to enter text or numbers using the keyboard (input)

■ changes the text or performs simple mathematical calculations with numbers (process)

■ displays text or numbers on the user's screen (output).

In programming, the user is the person who will use the executing (running) program.

Chapter 2 – Examples of input, output and simple

calculations
Some examples of Python 3 input and output instructions are shown below. Try typing
each of these programs into your Python editor. Execute (run) the code and observe
what happens.

Example 1 – Output using a simple print( ) statement

To display text or numbers on the user's screen we use the print( ) statement.
Notice that displaying text requires quotation marks " " around the words, while
displaying numbers does not.
Program Code Output (as seen on the user's screen)
print("Hello World") Hello World
print("I am") I am
print(44) 44
print("years old.") years old.
    
Each print( ) statement will display its output on a new line.

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 Chapter 2 – Examples of input, output and simple calculations

Example 2 – Output using a complex print( ) statement

A print( ) statement can be made up of several parts, with each part separated by a
comma.
Note that Python automatically replaces the comma with a space when the output is
displayed.
Program Code Output
print("Hello World") Hello World
print("I am",44,"years old.") I am 44 years old.
    

Example 3 – Keyboard input using a simple input( ) statement

Input statements are used to ask the user to type in text or numbers.
Program Code Input (typed by the user) & output
print("Please enter your name.") Please enter your name.
userName = input( ) Greg
    
When an input( ) statement is used, the program must store whatever data the user
enters.

Variables
The second line of the code in Example 3 above creates a variable (or storage location)
called "userName". When the user types the name (enters text) and then presses enter,
the keyboard input "Greg" is stored in the variable.
You might want to imagine variables as boxes that your program Gre
temporarily stores data in while it's running. g
A variable can be given almost any name made up of letters and
numbers. Some exceptions to this are: userN
ame
■ You cannot use two or more separate words as a variable name.

Note that this book uses camel case (using capital letters in the
middle of a word) in place of two words. For example, "userName" instead
of "user name".
■ In Python, variable names should always start with a lower case letter. This is because

capital letters are reserved for something else.

■ A variable cannot be called any of the statement words of the Python language.

For example, "print" or "input" would not be valid variable names.

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 Section 1 – Input, output and simple calculations

Chapter 3 – Computational thinking puzzles

(input and output)
Any good programmer is able to predict what their code will do. Learning to predict the
effect of code will improve your ability to read code, write code and solve problems. This
skill is known as 'computational thinking'.
The puzzles throughout this book will improve your computational thinking skills. Each
puzzle consists of a short bit of code. You will be asked to predict the output produced
when each short program is executed.
For example, the following code would produce the output shown below.

Program code (question)

street = "Dover Drive" Output from program (answer)
donation1 = 120 The total donations for Dover Drive are: 120 80 60
donation2 = 80
donation3 = 60
print("The total donations for",street,"are:",donation1, donation2, donation3)

Puzzle set 1 – Input and output

For each of the following puzzles, think through the code and write down the exact output
produced by the code (including any spaces). The puzzles deliberately get harder.

1 productName = "Bicycle Chain" Output

print(productName)

2 dogBreed = "Labradoodle" Output

dogAge = "Two"
print(dogBreed, dogAge)

3 name = "Scott" Output

age = 23
print(name, "aged", age)

4 coffee = "Lava Java" Output

print(coffee + coffee)

5 State the output if the user enters "video".

game = input("Please enter a word") Output
print(game, game + game)

6 var1 = "Going" Output

var2 = "Gone"
print(var1, "Going" + var2)

7 print("This,"+" is a plus +","symbol") Output

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 Chapter 3 – Computational thinking puzzles (input and output)

8 textOne = "Be kind" Output

textTwo = "possible"
textThree = textOne + " whenever"
print(textThree, textTwo + ".")
Output
9 con1 = "c"
vow1 = "e"
con2 = "m"
print("energy(" + vow1 + ") =", con2 + con1, "squared")

10 For this puzzle, state the two inputs that would produce the output shown below.
Output

Love the life you live. Live the life you love.

word1 = input("Please enter the first word") Input

word2 = "the " + word1 + " you"
word3 = input("Please enter the first word")
print("Love", word2, word3 + ". Live the", word1, "you love.")

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