ITI1120 E

Professor: Dr. Sadiq Abbas

– Course Web page: Blackboard Learn

• Office: DMS 5140

– Office hours: 14:00 – 16:00

– TAs: posted on the BB

 Labs and Lectures
We are at the maximum capacity. Thus

– Go to your section’s lectures

– Go to your labs

 Read all the announcements carefully

Course webpage and online material
Blackboard Learn:
– Supplemental course material (code from lectures,
videos, some notes, labs ..)
– All communication via Blackboard Learn
– Discussion forum (use it and subscribe to all topics)
– Assignments and Assignment Submission
– Grades

To access Blackboard Learn go to

https://uottawa.blackboard.com/
 Textbook
Main textbook (required):
“Practical Programming (2nd ed): An Introduction to
Computer Science Using Python 3”
by Paul Gries, Jennifer Campbell, Jason Montojo

The eBook is available as an eBook for $25.00.

http://pragprog.com/book/gwpy2/practical-programming

If you want a paper copy of the book order it on amazon.ca since the
shipping and customs costs on pragprog.com are excessive.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/cart/view.html/ref=gno_cart
 Other recommended books
Free book: "Think Python, How to Think Like a Computer Scientist" by
Allen Downey

Here are three Python 3 versions of the book:

• a pdf eBook version
http://faculty.stedwards.edu/mikek/python/thinkpython.pdf
a "web" version here
http://openbookproject.net/thinkcs/python/english3e/
an interactive version (some material here is still in Python 2 instead of Python 3 )
http://interactivepython.org/runestone/static/thinkcspy/toc.html

Not free: "Introduction to Computing Using Python: An Application

Development Focus, 2nd Edition”
by Ljubomir Perkovic
The eBook is available here for $62.50
http
://ca.wiley.com/WileyCDA/countryConfirm?originalUrl=%2Fmarketbasket.cgi%3Fisbn%3D111889
1058
 On line (interactive) references
On-line course developed by UofT for their equivalent class:

Learn to Program: The Fundamentals

https://www.coursera.org/course/programming1

Learn to Program: Crafting Quality Code

https://www.coursera.org/course/programming2

create an account coursera

 Labs
• Scheduled labs will be in groups of about 40+ students, with help
available from a Teaching Assistant.

• You will be in a room with computers available for each student.

• All labs will involve programming in Python

• You should have been assigned to one of the available lab sections,
and you must attend that session each week.
–Your lab section assignment is available via BB – Assignment folder

• The STE 0110 general lab is available at other times.

 Labs
 Labs will start on Monday, 14th of Sept

 Labs are mandatory

 The first lab:

– Assignment 0
– How to use the Blackboard Learn to submit assignments
– Bring your own laptop if you had problems installing
python. TA may be able to help
 Assignments
• There will be up to 5 programming assignments
during the term.

• All assignments will involve programming in Python;

and maybe some will involve written work.

• Learn how to submit assignments.

• As test, submit Assignment 0 (in 1st lab).

 Midterm Examination
 Duration: 1h20m

 Date: Tuesday 1st. November class time – class room

 Put this in you calendar today

 written exam, closed-book

 Final Examination
• To be scheduled by the University Registrar
– The exam date and time will be scheduled during
the exam period
– Check the university web site later for the date,
time, and location.

• Written exam, closed-book.

 Determination of Final Grade
• Labs (11 labs): 10%
(1% each, 10 out of 11 labs)
• Assignments (5 assignments): 25%
(each worth 5%)
• Midterm: 20%
• Final examination: 45%
 Things to do right away
1. Check your lab schedule
2. Familiarize yourself with Blackboard Learn System
3. Get the textbook
4. If you want to work on your own computer, install
Python 3.4 as per instructions given in my email.
5. Choose the right version according to your laptop
system 32 bit or 64 hit
6. Find out how to start IDLE, write your first python
program. run it, save it, close it, open it again (in
lab, at home …)
 Course Policies

• Missed/late assignments: mark of zero.

– One assignment may be exempted only if a the University of
Ottawa Health Services certificate is given to the professor within
one week of the due date.
– In that case, the weight of missed assignment will be transferred to
the final.

• Absence from midterm / final examination: see Engineering faculty

regulations.
– Illness requires The University of Ottawa Health Services certificate
– Travel, employment, misreading the timetable are not valid excuses
 Plagiarism
To reduce the need to worry about plagiarism, follow this rule of
thumb:

Never look at any other person/group’s assignment code, or

have their code in your possession, in any portion or form
whatsoever. Also never share your assignment code with other
students.

Read the following three pages in detail

 Academic Integrity
• What is academic fraud?
– Misrepresenting someone else’s work as your own:
• Failure to cite sources, including the internet and
discussions.
• Use of the words of someone else without quotation
marks or other highlighting.
– Falsified lab data or citations.
– Violation of examination regulations.
– Tampering with academic evaluations.
– Helping another student do any of the above.
Policy on plagiarism
Plagiarism is a kind of fraud: passing off someone else's work or ideas as your own in order to get a higher
mark. Plagiarism is treated very seriously. The assignments you hand in must be your own and must not
contain anyone else's ideas. Refer to the University of Ottawa's Policy on Academic Fraud for a more detailed
description of plagiarism and sanctions. http://web5.uottawa.ca/mcs-smc/academicintegrity/regulation.php

Guidelines to help avoid plagiarism

You may discuss assignments with friends and classmates, but only up to a point: you may discuss and
compare general approaches and also how to get around particular difficulties, but you should not leave
such a discussion with any written material. You should not look at another student's solution to an
assignment on paper or on the computer screen, even in draft form. The actual coding of your programs,
analysis of results, writing of reports and answering assignment questions must be done individually.

Downloading code or any other material from the Internet, and submitting it as your own work without
credit is also plagiarism. If you do talk with anyone about an assignment, please state this in your assignment
and state the extent of your discussion. If you use another resource (such as textbooks, internet resources,
etc) when solving your assignment, include the proper reference.

Note that it is also a serious offense to help someone commit plagiarism. Do not lend your assignment
answers, printouts, reports or diskettes, and do not let others copy or read them. To protect yourself against
people copying your work without your knowledge, retain all of your old printouts and draft notes until the
assignments have been graded and returned to you. If you suspect that someone has stolen a printout or
diskette, contact your instructor immediately.
Helping Each Other

Although you must not solve your assignments with the help of others, there are still many ways in
which students can help each other. For instance, you can go over difficult lecture or lab material,
work through exercises, or help each other understand an assignment handout. This sort of course
collaboration can be done in study groups or through the discussion group.

The Blackboard Learn discussion forum can be used to discuss techniques and tools used in
assignments, but the discussions should never mention or present any potential or partial solutions
to assignment questions. You can consider creating a study group.

If in doubt about whether a question you are asking or answering is against these guidelines, ask
your TA (teaching assistant) the question instead.

Detecting Plagiarism

Measures taken to detect plagiarism

1. TAs have been instructed to report any suspicious of plagiarism they find, when they mark
assignments, to the professor.
2. Programs that you submit may be screened using plagiarism detection software that is very
effective at detecting similarities. The professor will take appropriate measures, once plagiarism
is detected on part or on the whole of an assignment. Note that copying or lending is
considered to be equally serious offenses.
Reference
This document is a translation of the the French document prepared by Daniel Amyot and is based
in part on "Policy on Plagiarism" by Dr. Amy Felty (Septembre 2002).
 Faculty Eng. Regulations
• Mandatory withdrawal, if second failure in a
mandatory course
• Academic standing is evaluated after students have
attempted 24 course credits
–Mandatory withdrawal, if CGPA is below 3.5
–Probation, if 3.5 ≤ CGPA < 4.5
• Note that the passing grade for first year courses is D
(2), whereas 3.5 is between D+ and C, and 4.5 is
between C and C+ (65-69%)
• http://www.uottawa.ca/about/policies-and-regulations
 Faculty regulations (2016)
• Mandatory withdrawal, if second failure in a
mandatory course
• Academic standing is evaluated after students
have attempted 24 course credits
– Mandatory withdrawal, if CGPA is below 3
– Probation, if 3 ≤ CGPA < 5
• 5 corresponds to C+ (65-69%)
 General Suggestions
• Based on problems identified by the the Committee on
Academic Standing
– Stay engaged: attend classes, tutorials, etc.
– Understand academic regulations
• Do not take too many courses,
• Consider dropping a course in which you have low
average
– Take university seriously
– Do not work too many hours (in part-time jobs)
– Not making connect between mathematics and science to
engineering and computer science applications
 Suggestions for ITI1120
– Do not fall behind
– Program as much as possible (assignments, labs …)
– After class, run the code we did in class. See if you
understand why it does what it does. Play with it.
– Consider bringing the laptop to lectures and type as I
do (if you are fast typer and can multitask)
– When programming, do not be afraid to make
mistakes (make sure each small part of program is
correct before moving to next part)
– Make use of office hours
Mentoring Centre
• Designed to compliment tutorials and office hours.

• Designed to teach study skills in the context certain

courses.

• Helps students meet other students in the courses.

• Workshops are going to be provided on:

– Time Management
– Stress and Anxiety
 Workshop: Introduction to Programming Using the Turtle Graphics Python
Library

When: Saturday Sept 10, 10am-1pm in STE B0138

Intended audience: students from ITI120 and IT1520 who are

absolute beginner programmers.

Covers: Gentle introduction to programming concepts such as if

statements, for loops and a bit of graphics.

The workshop will be bilingual.

Bring your own laptop !!!

ITI1120 Introduction to Computing I Python
This course is about computational thinking, not about learning a
programming language.

Python is a programming language that is easy to learn and very

powerful.
 Used in many universities for introductory courses.
 Main language used for web programming at Google
 Widely used in scientific computation, for instance at NASA, by
mathematicians and physicists
 Available on embedded platforms, for instance Nokia mobile
phones
 Large portions of games (such as Civilization IV) are written in
Python

Once you learnt programming in one language, it is relatively

easy to learn another language, such as C++ or Java.
Some of the slides that follow are due to Otfried Cheong as made for KAIST’s course CS 101
ITI1120 Introduction to Computing I Python

Python programming language was

developed by at the end of 80s by Dutch
Programmer Guido van Rossum

In the Python community, he is known as a

"Benevolent Dictator For Life”, since he
continues to oversee the Python
development process.

Python is named after British sketch

comedy from ’70s Monty Python's Flying
Circus

Python, is free and open-source software

and has a community-based development
model.
Python 2 vs. Python 3
There are currently two major versions of Python in use: Python
2 and Python 3.

Python 2, the latest version 2. 7 released in 2000

Python 3, a new version designed to rectify certain fundamental

design flaws in the language. Unfortunately it is not backwards
compatible

We will use Python 3.

More here for those interested:

https://wiki.python.org/moin/Python2orPython3
Why are you here?
“Every scientist and engineer must know some programming. It
is part of basic education, like calculus, linear algebra,
introductory physics and chemistry, or English”
Alan Perlis 1961

And more a modern version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKIu9yen5nc
 Why are you here?

Computer science is not computer programming. We teach

programming to teach computational thinking:

 Solving problems (with a computer).

 Thinking on multiple levels of abstraction.
 Decompose a problem into smaller problems.
 A way of human thinking (not “thinking like a computer”)
 Thinking about recipes (algorithms).
 30 years ago the solution to a problem in science or
engineering was usually a formula. Today it is usually an
algorithm (DNA, proteins, chemical reactions, factory
planning, logistics).
What is a program?

A program is a sequence of instructions that solves some

problem (or achieves some effect).

For instance: Call your friend on the phone and give her
instructions to find your favorite café. Or explain how to bake a
cake.

Instructions are operations that the computer can already

perform.

But we can define new instructions and raise the level of

abstraction!

A program implements an algorithm (a recipe for solving a

problem).
Abstraction of Montreal metro system
What is debugging?
A bug is a mistake in a program. Debugging means to find the
mistake and to fix it.

Computer programs are very complex systems. Debugging is

similar to an experimental science: You experiment, form
hypotheses, and verify them by modifying your program.

Kinds of errors:
• Syntax error. Python cannot understand your program, and
refuses to execute it.
• Runtime error. When executing your program (at runtime),
your program suddenly terminates with an error message.
• Semantic (logical) error. Your program runs without error
messages, but does not do what it is supposed to do.
Why is programming fun?

Programming is a creative process.

A single person can actually build a software system of the

complexity of the space shuttle hardware. Nothing similar is
true in any other discipline.

There is a large and active open-source community: people who

write software in their free time for fun, and distribute it for
free on the internet. For virtually any application there is code
available that you can download and modify freely.
 Formal and natural languages
• Natural languages: languages that people speak. They were not
designed by people; they evolved naturally. (ambiguous: we use
contextual clues and other info to deal with this. Full of
metaphors and idioms)

• Formal languages: designed by people for specific applications.

Have strict syntax rules.(tokens & struct.)
3+3=6 vs 3$=
H2O vs 2Zz
(not ambiguous : each stmt has exactly one meaning regardless of
context.)
• Programming languages are formal languages that have been
designed to express computations.
 What is a programing language?
High-level programming languages: Java, Python, C, C++, Perl
• Enormous advantages: much easier (less time, shorter, easier
to read), more likely to be correct, portable.
• Small disadvantage: have to be translated before running
(compiling or interpreting)
• Thus, almost all programs written in them

Low-level programming languages: machine and assembly

• Big disadvantages: only run on one kind of computer. Have to
be rewritten to run on another
• Thus only used for a few special applications
 Interpreting / Compiling
There are 2 ways to translate a program written in high
level language (also called source code):

Interpreting: An interpreter is a program that reads a high-

level program and does what it says.

Compiling: A complier is a program that reads a high-level

program and translates it all at once, before running any of
the commands. It complies a program first and then runs
the complied code later. The complied code is called
executable.
Representation of numbers in Python

Integers can be represented exactly. There is no limits to their

size (other than the size of you memory).

Floating points are approximation of real numbers. Python use.

Python uses a double-precision standard format (IEEE 754) that
can represent real numbers in a range of 10-308 to 10308 with 16
to 17 digits of precision.

Operations : -, **, *, /, %, //, +, -

<, <=, ==, !=, >, >=

== should be avoided in floats

 Program Translation
A central processing unit (CPU) is designed to interpret and
execute a specific set of instructions represented in binary
form (i.e., 1s and 0s) called machine code. Only programs in
machine code can be executed by a CPU.

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.4 Computer Software 38
 Writing programs at this “low level” is tedious and error-
prone. Therefore, most programs are written in a “high-level”
programming language such as Python. Since the instructions
of such programs are not in machine code that a CPU can
execute, a translator program must be used.

There are two fundamental types of translators:

• Compiler software that translates programs into
machine code to be executed by the CPU

• Interpreter software that executes programs in

place of the CPU

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.4 Computer Software 39
 Compiler

Compiled programs generally execute faster than interpreted programs.

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.4 Computer Software 40
 Interpreter

An interpreter can immediately execute instructions as they are

entered. This is referred to as interactive mode. This is a very useful
feature for program development. Python, as we shall see, is executed
by an interpreter.

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.4 Computer Software 41
Why do we care about running time?
 The Traveling Salesman Problem

A salesman needs to visit a

set of cities. He wants to find
the shortest route of travel,
starting and ending at any
city for a given set of cities.
What route should he take?

The algorithm for solving this problem is a simple one. Determine the lengths of all
possible routes that can be taken, and find the shortest one – a brute force
approach. The computational issue, therefore, is for a given set of cities, how
many possible routes are there to consider?

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.1 What is Computer Science?
 If we consider a route to be a specific sequence of names of cities, then how many
permutations of that list are there?

New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta

New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Loa Angeles

New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta

etc.

Mathematically, the number of permutations for n entities is n! (n factorial).

How big a number is that for various number of cities?

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.1 What is Computer Science? 44
 Below are the number of permutations (and thus the number of routes) there are
for varies numbers of cities:

Ten Cities 10! 3,628, 800 (over three million)

Twenty Cities 20! 2,432,902,008,176,640,000

Fifty Cities 50! over 1064

If we assume that a computer could compute the routes of one million cities per
second:

• for twenty cities, it would take 77,000 years

• for fifty cities, it would take longer than the age of the universe!

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.1 What is Computer Science? 45
 The Game of Chess
When a computer plays chess against a human
opponent, both have to “think ahead” to the
possible outcomes of each move it may make.

Therefore, a brute force approach can also be

used for a computer playing a game of chess
of “looking ahead” at all the possible moves
that can be made, each ending in a win, loss,
or draw. It can then select the move each time
leading to the most number of ways of
winning.
(Chess masters, on the other hand, only think ahead a few moves, and
“instinctively” know the value of each outcome.)

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.1 What is Computer Science? 46
 There are approximately 10120 possible chess games that can be played. This is
related to the average number of look-ahead steps needed for deciding each move.

There are approximately,

1080 atoms in the observable universe

and an estimated

3 × 1090 grains of sand to fill the universe solid

Thus, there are more possible chess games that can be played than grains of sand
to fill the universe solid!

Therefore, for problems such as this and the Traveling Salesman problem in which a
brute-force approach is impractical to use, clever and more efficient problem-
solving methods must be discovered that find either an exact or an approximate
solution to the problem.

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.1 What is Computer Science? 47
• How many combinations you estimate in
Rubik Cube? GUESS A NUMBER !!!!!!
 Computer Algorithms
An algorithm is a finite number of clearly
described, unambiguous “doable” steps
that can be systematically followed to
produce a desired result for given input in
a finite amount of time (that is, it
eventually terminates).

The word “algorithm” is derived from the

ninth-century Arab mathematician, Al-
Khwarizmi who worked on “written
processes to achieve some goal.”

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.2 Computer Algorithms 50
 Algorithms and Computers: A Perfect Match
Computer algorithms are central to computer science. They provide
step-by-step methods of computation that a machine can carry out.

Having high-speed machines (computers) that can consistently follow a

given set of instructions provides a reliable and effective means of
realizing computation. However, the computation that a given computer
performs is only as good as the underlying algorithm used.

Because computers can execute a large number of instructions very

quickly and reliably without error, algorithms and computers are a
perfect match!

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.2 Computer Algorithms 51
 Euclid’s Algorithm
One of the Oldest Known Algorithms
Euclid’s Algorithm is an algorithm for computing the greatest
common denominator (GCD) of two given integers (A,B). It is one of
the oldest numerical algorithms still in common use.

1. Assign A the value of the larger of the two values.

2. If A = 0 then GCD(A,B)=B, and we can stop.  
3. If B = 0 then GCD(A,B)=A,, and we can stop.  
4. Divide A by B, call the remainder R.
5. assign A the value of B, assign B the value of R, and go to step 2.

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.2 Computer Algorithms 52
 Example Use
Finding the GCD of 18 and 20
1. Assign M the value of the larger of the two values, and N the smaller.
M  20 N  18

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.2 Computer Algorithms 53
 Example Use
Finding the GCD of 18 and 20
1. Assign M the value of the larger of the two values, and N the smaller.
M  20 N  18

2. Divide M by N, call the remainder R.

M/N = 20 / 18 = 1, with R  2

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.2 Computer Algorithms 54
 Example Use
Finding the GCD of 18 and 20 (first time through, second time through)
1. Assign M the value of the larger of the two values, and N the smaller.
M  20 N  18

2. Divide M by N, call the remainder R.

M/N = 20 / 18 = 1, R  2

3. If R is not 0, assign M the value of N, assign N the value of R, and go to step 2.

M  18, N  2.

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.2 Computer Algorithms 55
 Example Use
Finding the GCD of 18 and 20 (first time through, second time through)
1. Assign M the value of the larger of the two values, and N the smaller.
M  20 N  18

2. Divide M by N, call the remainder R.

M/N = 18 / 2 = 9, R  0

3. If R is not 0, assign M the value of N, assign N the value of R, and go to step 2.

M  18, N  2.

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.2 Computer Algorithms 56
 Example Use
Finding the GCD of 18 and 20 (first time through, second time through)
1. Assign M the value of the larger of the two values, and N the smaller.
M  20 N  18

2. Divide M by N, call the remainder R.

M/N = 20 / 18 = 1, with R  2
M/N = 18 / 2 = 9, with R  0

3. If R is not 0, assign M the value of N, assign N the value of R, and go to step 2.

R is 0. Therefore, proceed to step 4.

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.2 Computer Algorithms 57
 Example Use
Finding the GCD of 18 and 20 (first time through, second time through)
1. Assign M the value of the larger of the two values, and N the smaller.
M  20 N  18

2. Divide M by N, call the remainder R.

M/N = 20 / 18 = 1, with R  2
M/N = 18 / 2 = 9, with R  0

3. If R is not 0, assign M the value of N, assign N the value of R, and go to step

2.
R = 2. Therefore, M  18, N  2. Go to step 2.
R is 0. Therefore, proceed to step 4.

4. The greatest common divisor is N.

GCD is 2 (the value of N)

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.2 Computer Algorithms 58
 Animation of Euclid’s Algorithm

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.2 Computer Algorithms 59
 Information Theory

The Fundamental Theorem of Information

Science of Claude Shannon (known as the
“Father of Information Theory”) states that
all information can be represented by the
use of only two symbols, e.g., 0 and 1.

This is referred to as binary representation.

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.3 Computer Hardware 60
 Binary Digitalization
In a binary representation, each digit can be one of only two possible
values, similar to a light switch that can be either on or off. Computer
hardware, therefore, is based on the use of simple electronic “on/off”
switches called transistors that can be switched at essentially the speed
of light.

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.3 Computer Hardware 61
 The Binary Number System
For representing numbers, any base (radix) can be used. For example, in
base 10, there are ten possible digits (0, 1, ..., 9), in which column values
are a power of ten:
 

10,000,000 1,000,000 100,000 10,000 1,000 100 10 1

 

107 106 105 104 103 102 101 100

 
9 9 = 99

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.3 Computer Hardware 62
 For representing numbers in base 2, there are two possible digits (0, 1)
in which column values are a power of two:
 
128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20
 
01 1 0 0 0 1 1
 
0 + 64 + 32 + 0 +0 +0 + 2 + 1 = 99

Although values represented in base 2 are significantly longer than those in

base 10, binary representation is used in digital computing because of the
resulting simplicity of hardware design

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.3 Computer Hardware 63
 Bits and Bytes
Each binary digit is referred to as a bit. A group of (usually) eight bits is
called a byte. Converting a base ten number to base two involves the
successive division of the number by 2.

 
 

 
 
 
 

Introduction to Computer Science Using Python – Dierbach Copyright 2013 John Wiley and Sons Section 1.3 Computer Hardware 64