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1 Getting Started

The document outlines a course on programming using Python, covering topics from basic concepts to functions and error handling. It targets beginners, students, career changers, and IT professionals, emphasizing the accessibility and versatility of Python. Additionally, it provides installation guidance and best practices for coding, including the importance of comments and using Visual Studio Code for enhanced readability.

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kalosaelijah3
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0 views

1 Getting Started

The document outlines a course on programming using Python, covering topics from basic concepts to functions and error handling. It targets beginners, students, career changers, and IT professionals, emphasizing the accessibility and versatility of Python. Additionally, it provides installation guidance and best practices for coding, including the importance of comments and using Visual Studio Code for enhanced readability.

Uploaded by

kalosaelijah3
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Course Topics

Introduction to Programming using Python


01 | Getting started 05 | Working with dates and times

02 | Displaying text 06 | Making decisions with code

03 | String variables 07 | Complex decisions with code

04 | Storing numbers 08 | Repeating events


Course Topics

Introduction to Programming using Python


09 | Repeating events until done 13 | Functions

10 | Remembering lists 14 | Handling errors

11 | How to save information in files

12 | Reading from files


Setting Expectations

• Target Audience
– People new to programming
– Students
– Career changers
– IT Pros
– Anyone with an interest in learning to code
• If you want to follow along...
– Install VS Code
– Install Python
Getting started
Why and How
Why learn to code?

• Programming is a powerful tool you can use to solve all kinds of


problems
• What do you want to do?
– Build a phone app to help you find directions
– Calculate how much money you need to buy a car
– See what people are saying about your business on social media
– Program a wearable device so it tweets you when you should re-apply
sunscreen
Why Python?

• There are a LOT of different programming languages out there


• Python is one of the easier ones to learn
• There are lots of free tools out there you can use to code or
learn Python
• There are a lot of different ways to use Python code
And as a bonus

• Once you learn how to code in one programming language it


will be easier to learn another programming language, and
another, and another…

JavaScript ???

C# C++

Perl
Does anyone really use Python?

• Industrial Light and Magic uses Python to help with image


processing and lighting special effects
• ForecastWatch.com uses Python to help with weather forecasts
• DevNet uses Python to aggregate news feeds
• A student in the England made a desktop dinosaur roar every
time it was mentioned on twitter with Python and Raspberry Pi
So how do I get started?
Geek Tip!
• There are actually a lot of
different flavors of Python:
• IronPython, IPython, CPython,
PyPy, Jython, Canopy,
Anaconda, …
• We will be using the CPython
interpreter with Python 3.4
• So, if you copy code from a
website and it doesn’t work
don’t panic! It might just be a
slightly different version of
Python
How do I know I installed everything correctly?

• There is a tradition among


programmers Hello World!

• We always test our


installation by writing the
same program:
You have now created your first application
print('Hello World')
Best practices
Pick up good habits right away!

• Comments in your code help you or someone else understand


– What your program does
– What a particular line or section of code does
– Why you chose to do something a particular way
– Anything that might be helpful to know if I am looking at the code later
and trying to understand it!
In Python we use a # to indicate comments
#My first Python Application
#Created by me!
#Print command displays a message on the screen
print('Hello World')
Visual Studio Code uses color coding to make your
code easier to read
• You can change the colors if
you want
• Go to Quick Launch, type
Colors, select Options |
Environment | Fonts and
Colors
• Change it to whatever you
want

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