Python - IT and Informatics

Real Definitions

Capture real nature of a thing.

Nominal definitions

Objects have no real nature, qualities are what we make them

Lexical Definitions

describe what people mean when they utter it. All usage of a word

Precising Definitions

Comprise of all definitions. Cleans up boundaries about application of word

Technology as Applied Science

Tech is electronics and comp sci, applied science. Tech predates science, tools were always there, so not accurate

Tech as Hardware

Mechanical inventions defined industrial revolution, but tech without knowledge of use is useless

Tech as Rules: Technique

Rules of activity

Humans adapt to tech

Tech as a system

includes science, hardware, and know-how

Everything works together

Python is a software system called an ________

interpreter

interpreter

layer of logic between code and computer hardware

Reads your program and carries it out

Steps when Python is told to run script:

Compiled into bytecode

Routes to Virtual Machine, which carries out the code

Byte code

Lower level representation of source code (what you input). Decomposition of it into individual steps.

Python specific format, not binary machine code

PVM (Python Virtual Machine)

It’s a big code loop that gets the compiled bytecode and goes through it one instruction at a time to carry it out.

Norvig Recipe for Success

Do something because it’s fun

Learn by doing

Talk with others who do the same

College

Projects with other

Projects after others

Rubber Duck Debugging

Basic idea is talking out loud about something allows you to better understand it and actually solve the problem (if there is one)

Conceptual Hierachy of Python

Programs

Modules

Statements

Expressions

(create and process) Objects

Objects

Everything in python: Numbers, lists, functions, modules

Types

int - integers

float - decimal

bool - true/false

str - string(text)

Collections

List [1,2,3] - mutable

tuple (1,2,3) - immutable

set {1,2,3} - unordered

dict{‘a‘:1, ‘b’:2 } - key-value

Variable

Name that refers to an object

Items

Separate things in a list

3 Error Types

Syntax

Semantic

Style

Syntax

Rules or code fails

• greeting = “Hello World!”

• Print(Greeting)

  • Case sensitivity. g and G are different letters

Semantic

Code is run successfully, but not what we wanted to do

• myvar = “hello”

  • print(”myvar”)

Style

camelCase (mix of upper/lowercase letters for variable names)

Not writing in consistent style

Indentation errors, write for humans

.append()

add at the end of a list

.append(“hello“)

for loop

for *each item* in list/set/etc.:

Do this

.remove()

remove specific thing from list

.remove(“Thompson“)

.insert()

insert something in the list at a certain index.

.insert(indexnumb, “”)

.extend()

if you have a list, extend it with what’s actually in it, not just adding it in

example

my_list = [1, 2, 3]

vet_roster.extend(my_list)

print(vet_roster)

['Bradley', 'Pickleback', 5, 1, 2, 3] → .append() would’ve outputed ['Bradley', 'Pickleback', 5, [1, 2, 3]]

input()

prompts user input

user_input = input('type a number: ')

.items()

for dictionary objects, allows you to use both key and value

for capital in locations.items():

print(f"{capital[0]} is the capital of {capital[1]}!")

.set()

Turns the list into a set

fa_cup_winners_set = set(fa_cup_winners)

What is informatics

applied computing. computer applications in the every day

foundations in science, industry, and success

Intersection of people, info, tech system (interdisciplinary)

Rubber Duck Debugging and Effect

Explaining code out loud step-by-step

Self Explanation

Cognitive Load Theory

Psychological Distance

Metacognition

self explanation effect

Someone who can explain something to someone else is better able to understand the material

Cognitive Load Theory

Brains can only handle so much information at once. Externalizing it by speaking, writing, etc, you ease mental strain and free up working memory to focus on the problem

Psychological Distance

When you’re submerged in the problem, can’t see clearly. Emotions get in the way. Explaining it takes you out of the problem, making it more objective

Metacognition

thinking about thinking, Forces you to break down problem, reflect on your attempts, and look at process

can spot gaps in logic

Nested list

lists in lists

Accessed with multiple brackets

matrix = [[1,2,3], [4,5,6]]

matrix[1][0] would yield 4

list()

turns into list

.pop()

remove an item, but different

.remove() can’t be used with dictionaries

.pop() used index for lists, and key name for dictionaries