This document provides an overview of lessons for mastering programming in Python. It introduces fundamental programming concepts like variables, selection statements, iteration, functions, lists, dictionaries, file handling and more. Each lesson includes information, tasks to complete some code, challenges to try own code, and suggested projects. It encourages learning at your own pace and consolidating skills through practical programming exercises.

1. www.teachingcomputing.com
Mastering Programming in Python
Lesson 1

2. • Introduction to the language, SEQUENCE variables, create a Chat bot
• Introduction SELECTION (if else statements)
• Introducing ITERATION (While loops)
• Introducing For Loops
• Use of Functions/Modular Programming
• Introducing Lists /Operations/List comprehension
• Use of Dictionaries
• String Manipulation
• File Handling – Reading and writing to CSV Files
• Importing and Exporting Files
• Transversing, Enumeration, Zip Merging
• Recursion
• Practical Programming
• Consolidation of all your skills – useful resources
• Includes Computer Science theory and Exciting themes for every
lesson including: Quantum Computing, History of Computing,
Future of storage, Brain Processing, and more …
Series Overview
*Please note that each lesson is not bound to a specific time (so it can be taken at your own pace)
Information/Theory/Discuss
Task (Code provided)
Challenge (DIY!)
Suggested Project/HW

3. In this lesson you will …
 First things first, BE INSPIRED! ..and get some perspective!
 Learn about the language: Python
 How to download Python 3 (and Pygame)
 create your very own chat bot in Python!
 learn about variables, sequence, programs, Alan
Turing and Artificial Intelligence
 Big Ideas: DNA Coding and Intelligent Design
 Challenge yourself to see if you can extend your
code!
 Random number and item generation
 Suggested videos: History of Computing
 Learn about mathematical and comparison operators
 Learn about the importance of Indentation in Python
*For this series we
assume students know
how to open, save and
run a python module.
Version: Python 3

4. First things first – Be inspired!
Before you start you need to be inspired by the wonderful
world of Computer Science and know that learning how to
program is going to be an amazing journey!
You need to pay attention, persevere, and practice. Soon
you’ll be good enough to create your own apps, games
and who knows what else!
The potential in this field is HUGE! Technology and
software is crucial to our every day lives. You can help
people, solve problems in small or big ways, and yes there
is also a lot of money to be made!
INFORMATION IS POWER! ….and learning how to code is going to give you power.
How will you use it? Be inspired …and you will really enjoy TeachingYourselfPython!
A big percentage of the world’s millionaires and billionaires
were computer scientists.
So much to think about! What will the future look like?

5. Any ideas how these two pictures are connected?
John Von Neumann was an amazing man (left). He was a child prodigy and legend has it he made his secondary
school maths teacher weep at his sheer genius even at that young age! Here he is with one of the world’s first
computers – it was called the MANIAC.
?

6. The Maniac …and the Hydrogen bomb!
The Maniac was the computer that was used to perform the calculations that led to the creation of the atomic bomb.
The devastation that followed is something you would have read all about ….
So …. information is POWER – but how we use that power is what is really important! Quantum Computing is
another emerging field that has great potential but also very great security risks. We’ll come to that in a later lesson.
>

7. Computer Science has also changed the world for good!
In small and big ways, computer science is continually providing opportunities to do good, solve problems and
change the world. Every field imaginable is now reliant on Computer Science. Lots to think about! Once you’re a
competent computer programmer, what will you use your skills to do?
Millions of apps are used to help people. Think of the
simple bus finder app. A simple but wonderful creation!
Computer Science has revolutionised the way the health
service works. Advances in all areas of medicine are
rapidly moving ahead thanks to clever software.
Dating sites and apps have helped millions find love
online! Without the internet they may have never found
each other!
Sophisticated Computer Software helps keep us safe.
Here’s a chap sitting at some air traffic control screens.
Video conferencing for business or just skyping your
grandma … communication has been hugely advanced
thanks to applications like SKYPE.

8. Getting started for the absolute beginnerSkip this if you have already installed python
https://www.python.org/downloads/
We have downloaded Python 3.4.3
You can read more about the
difference between Python 2 and 3
on the site.

9. Getting started for the absolute beginner
Visit the following site to
download python. The version
we use in these tutorials is:
Python 3.4.3
Once you’ve followed the
instructions and have python
on your computer, create a
short cut on your desktop (if
possible).
Open the IDLE SHELL and
create a new file (module)
see screenshot on the right.
You are ready to start programming in python,
Remember to save all files with the ending“.py”
Skip this if you have already installed python

10. Did you know?
Guido van Rossum, the guy on the right, created python!
He is a Dutch computer programmer and completed his
degree in the university of Amsterdam
He was employed by Google from 2005 until December
2012, where much of his time was spent developing the
Python language. In 2013, Van Rossum started working
for Dropbox.
Python is intended to be a highly readable language. It
has a relatively uncluttered visual layout, frequently using
English keywords where other languages use punctuation.
Guido van Rossum, the creator of Python
An important goal of the Python developers is making Python fun to use. This is
reflected in the origin of the name which comes from Monty Python

11. Want to create your own games?
You may also want to download Pygame. Pygame is basically a library of commands
that will help writing games be much easier.
Run the Python installer downloaded
from:
ProgramArcadeGames.com/python-
3.4.3.msi
http://programarcadegames.com/pytho
n-3.4.3.msi
Run the Pygame installer downloaded
from:
http://programarcadegames.com/pyga
me-1.9.2a0.win32-py3.4.msi

12. What is a program anyway?
Many algorithms (in our brain) are inbuilt
We eat, drink, speak, respond and appear to
have been pre-programmed to do so. There is
‘Free will’ too, but that’s a more philosophical
discussion.
DEFINITION: Algorithm = sequence of
instructions which performs a meaningful task
The very simplest definition is that: a program is just a sequence of
instructions.
Each of your cells contains what we call the
DNA CODE.

13. Interesting facts about DNA Code
The letters of the genetic alphabet – A, T, G,
and C – are meaningless on their own, but
they are combined into useful instructions in
genes.
The DNA code in your cells is like a library of instructions. It is probably the
most complex code we have ever come across. Is a programmer behind it?

14. The anatomy of a typical program
You can think of any program or system as
being comprised of these three parts:
Think about your very own brain: We don’t often realize it but our brains are
pretty awesome. The brain is storing values and processing data (as well as
producing outputs) all the time. Ever wondered how a lump of flesh (your
brain) stores data?!
INPUT – PROCESSING - OUTPUT
Inputs need to be stored, and that’s what we
are looking at in this first lesson. In Computing,
we need VARIABLES to store inputs

15. 15 47
Number 1 Number 2
Consider the following example:
By simply looking at the screen, your brain has now STORED these two values.
But how do we get a programming language to ‘remember’ values?
The key word you need to remember is VARIABLE (or identifier)

16. Variable Name: NumberToStore FirstName
47 Joe
A useful analogy …
Variables are like storage boxes that can hold or store values in them.
In programming, we need to DECLARE Variables, also called Identifiers
Numbertostore = 47
Firstname = “Joe”

17. Task 1: Creating a Chat Bot using variables
1. Open a Python
Module
2. Copy and paste the
code on the right into
the module >>
3. Run the program to
see what it does
4. See if you can add
additional variables to
make it do more!
#This is a chatbot and this is a comment, not executed by the program
#Extend it to make the computer ask for your favourite movie and respond
accordingly!
print('Hello this is your computer...what is your favourite number?')
#Declaring our first variable below called 'computerfavnumber' and storing the
value 33
computerfavnumber=33
#We now declare a variable but set the variable to hold whatever the *user*
inputs into the program
favnumber=input()
print(favnumber + '...is a very nice number indeed. So...what is your name?')
name=input()
print('what a lovely name: ' + name + '...now, I will reveal what my favourite
number is:')
print (computerfavnumber)
Copy and paste the code below

18. Online chat bots you can check out!
http://www.mitsuku.com/ http://chatwithigod.com/
Try chatting with these bots. Can you tell you are not talking to a ‘real’ person.
How do you know? How could the program be improved?

19. Artificial Intelligence and the Turing Test
The Turing test is a test, developed by Alan Turing in
1950, of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour
equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human.
A picture of the young Alan Turing
If you were chatting with a
computer would you be able to tell
the difference between it and a
real human being?
How?
What makes us different?
Will computers ever truly think?

20. Recent Developments in AI
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_artificial_intelligence
You may find Wikipedia’s timeline of AI interesting reading (see link below)
Google’s artificial
intelligence (AI) software
has been developed to
the point that it is ready
to go head to head with
the world’s highest
ranked GO player.
This is seen as a pivotal moment for AI, similar to IBM’s DEEP BLUE beating Gary
Kasparov at chess!

21. Random Generation of stuff in Python
Random numbers are used A LOT in Computer science. Especially in gaming!
There is no such thing
as a truly random
number ...or that’s
what experts say any
way. But Python allows
you to generate random
stuff by importing a
code library that does
this for you!
The examples above generate random numbers and random items from a list.
*see if you can incorporate something random into your Chabot

22. Challenge: Extend the code and get
someone to try out your program!
Some suggestions but get
creative with your own
ideas!
1. Get the computer to ask the
user what his/her favourite
movie is and then respond
2. Declare a few other integer
variables and carry out an
addition!
3. Ask the user to think of a
colour in their head. Get the
computer to randomly
generate a colour from a
list.
4. What else will you do!?
#This is a chatbot and this is a comment, not executed by the program
#Extend it to make the computer ask for your favourite movie and respond
accordingly!
print('Hello this is your computer...what is your favourite number?')
#Declaring our first variable below called 'computerfavnumber' and storing the
value 33
computerfavnumber=33
#We now declare a variable but set the variable to hold whatever the *user*
inputs into the program
favnumber=input()
print(favnumber + '...is a very nice number indeed. So...what is your name?')
name=input()
print('what a lovely name: ' + name + '...now, I will reveal what my favourite
number is:')
print (computerfavnumber)
Copy and paste the code below

23. More on data types/variables in Python
Python has five standard data types (that can be
declared)
 NUMBERS
 STRING
 LIST
 TUPLE
 DICTIONARY
In this lesson you can primarily focus on
declaring numbers and strings.
Counter = 100 ‘An integer assignment
Pounds = 124.5 ‘A floating point
Name = “Joe Bloggs” ‘ A string
Here are some examples of numbers
Int long float complex
10 51924361 0.0 3.14
Python has four standard data
types (that can be declared)
 INT (signed integers)
 LONG (long integers also
represented in hex or octal)
 FLOAT (floating point real
numbers)
 COMPLEX (complex numbers)

24. • It is helpful to know some of the handy things
you can do with Strings. Just google Python 3
documentation and check out the official
tutorial. In a nutshell however, you can:
 Print strings to new lines
concatenate strings (stick them together!)
access individual characters in strings
Slicing: obtaining substrings from strings
Finding the length of a string
Go to https://docs.python.org/3.4/tutorial/introduction.html#strings to try more examples yourself!
Things you can do with strings.
• Watch this demo video
https://docs.python.org/3.4/tutorial/introduction.html#strings

25. Operator Operation Examples Code
List of common mathematical operators
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Can you fill in the blanks?

26. Operator Meaning
List of common comparison operators
?
?
?
?
?
?
Can you fill in the blanks?

27. The following code which asks you how many weeks pregnant you are, and
calculates how many months that translates into, doesn’t work. Any idea why?
Defining input correctly – what’s wrong?

28. We need to tell the computer that we are working with numbers. You can do that by
specifying that the input is either a FLOAT float() or a plain old INTEGER int()
Defining input correctly – the solution!

29. if password == “moose”:
print("If password is ‘moose’, this will print.")
print(“This will print too")
print("And this.")
print(“this will confuse the computer”)
print("This will always print because it is not
indented.")
In Python you can have blocks of code grouped together. You know when one block
begins and ends by checking out the indentation of the lines of code.
In Python, INDENTATION matters!
There are some simple rules for blocks (indentation)
1. When the indentation increases this indicates the BEGINNING of a block
2. Blocks can contain other blocks!
3. When the indentation decreases to a zero, blocks end!
Note the examples below:
Block 1 = Line 4
Block 2 = Line 6
Block 3 = Line 8

30. Useful Videos to watch on covered topics
https://youtu.be/poLZqn2_dv4 https://youtu.be/667ZeuZ0Q8M
Exploring Artificial Intelligence today Recommended video on Python Variables

31. An entertaining history of Computing
Triumph of the Nerds – Part 1/2/3
•Triumph of the Nerds Part 1
•Triumph of the Nerds Part 2
•Triumph of the Nerds Part 3

32. What next? Be inspired to learn!
The field of Computing and Computer Science is at the
forefront of everything that is happening today.
Just think about it … where would we be without
computers and software?
And what’s more, things are moving FAST! The advances
in technology are stunning. And the capacity to make
money, innovate and most of all help people, is HUGE!
And what’s more, things are moving FAST! The advances
in technology are stunning. And the capacity to make
money, innovate and most of all help people, is HUGE!
YOU can start here! By
learning how to
program! And reading
around the subject and
taking an interest in past,
current and future
developments

33. Suggested Project / HW / Research
 Create a research information point on Alan Turing.
 Basic facts about him
 Achievements
 Turing Test
 His involvement in code breaking at Bletchley park
 High level languages use variables as memory locations –but how does a
computer, at its very lowest level (Binary 1s and 0s) store information? Write a
short essay, based on your research, to explain how computers store
 Numbers
 Text
 Images
 Sound/Video

34. Useful links and additional reading
http://www.python-course.eu/variables.php
http://www.programiz.com/python-programming/variables-datatypes
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/python/python_variable_types.htm
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Python_Programming/Variables_and_Strings