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Certificate in Python for Problem Solving

Department of Computer Science In-person class

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In this Python programming course, you will delve into the essentials, including data types, operators, control flow, and functions, while also venturing into advanced topics such as modules, file handling, and object-oriented programming. The course includes hands-on projects to provide practical experience, preparing students for real-world Python programming challenges.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

  • Introduction to Programming and Python:
    Overview of Programming, Introduction to Python and its applications, Python Installation & Setup, Invoking Python: Interactive mode / Program Script running, Invoking IDLE built-in to Python.
  • Data types and variables in Python:
    Data types, Introducing Numbers, String, List, Tuple, Range object, Dictionary, Set and Boolean; Variables (Naming, and type casting), Input/output (Ways to input data from the keyboard and to print on screen)
  • Operators in Python:
    Operators on various data types, relational operators, logical operators, and assignment operators.
  • Control Flow:
    Sequence of statements, Conditional statements (or Selection), Repetition (for and while loops, range function, mechanism of break, continue, else clauses of loops, and  pass statements),  with the emphasis on Indentation  for grouping statements (block statements)  in if-elif-else statements, and in loops.
  • Functions:
    Defining functions (function name, parameter list, single line, multiline comments, documentation string), Indentation for grouping statements at various levels, returning values
  • Types of Parameters:
    Positional, default valued, keyword parameters. Indeterminate number of parameters
  • Calling Function:
    argument passing, default argument values, Keyword arguments, Arbitrary argument lists, assigning the result to a variable(s)
  • Scope of Variables:
    local, nonlocal, and global variables, Anonymous function: Lambda expression
  • Python Collections:
    More Lists, tuples, and dictionaries, and applications of them, List comprehension and Nested List comprehension, Tuples and operations on them, and stacks and queues
  • Modules:
    Standard Modules (installed along with Python interpreter), Ways of Importing and using them, User defined modules.
  • File Handling:
    Reading and writing text files, Working with CSV and JSON files
  • Object Oriented Programming in Python:
    Creating Classes and Objects in Python, Defining initialiser and methods, instance fields (attributes), class fields instance methods, class methods and static methods, concept of private variables, encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism.