Intro2Python.md

Goals of this class

• How to take take a programming class
• How to mentor others to help them learn how to program
• Free & open materials , everything here is free to share

###Chapter 1 Why Program?/ Hardware Basics/About Python

*python has reserved words:

• AND
• DEL
• FOR
• IS
• RAISE
• BREAK
• ASSERT
• ELIF
• FROM
• LAMBDA
• RETURN
• ELSE
• GLOBAL
• NOT
• TRY
• CLASS
• EXCEPT
• IF
• OR
• WHILE
• CONTINUE
• EXEC
• IMPORT
• PASS
• YIELD
• DEF
• FINALLY
• IN
• PRINT

Chapter 2 Variables and Expressions

• /** power of operator 4**3
• integer division truncates 9/2 yields 4 ( unless you make it a float)

Chapter 2.2 Types

• traceback is a py error. python's way of saying "i'm lost, i don't understand what you're trying to do."
• type() will tell you the type of a variable
• raw_input() built in function, takes a string, issues a prompt, waits for input, converts input to a string
• use "#" to comment in python

Chapter 3.1 Conditional Execution

• < less than

• < = less than or equal to

• greater than

• = greater than or equal to

• == equal to

• != not equal to

• INDENTATION IS SUPER DUPER IMPORTANT IN PYTHON

Chapter 3.2 Examples of Conditional Statements

• if x<2: print small elif x< 10: print medium else: print large

Chapter 3.3 Try and Except

• used to protect from dangerous code
• try to have as little in "try" as possible, so you know what has failed when you get an error msg in your code.