Python Bootcamp

Day 1: Control Flow

Introduction
Introduction: Ice Breaker

1. What is your name?

2. What subject do you teach?

3. What programming, if any, have you done?

4. What what do you want to learn in this

bootcamp?
Introduction: Whoami?
Bootcamp
Bootcamp: Website

All of the course information can be found at:

http://yld.me/pbc-su19
Bootcamp: Topics

Programming Basics Special Topics

● Control Flow ● Visualizing Data

● Data Structures ● Filtering Data

● Image Processing

● Machine Learning
What is a Computer?
A Computer is...

A general purpose information processing

machine.

A digital computer is an electronic device that processes

binary data.
Logical Construction
What is Programming?
Program

● Concrete statement of steps that a real

computer must perform to accomplish a
task.

● One or more algorithms expressed in a

form that a computer can process directly.

A sequence instructions that a computer

can interpret and execute.
Programming

● Act of encoding the steps a computer must

perform to accomplish a task.

● The most important skill required for

programming is problem-solving.

○ What are the steps required to solve problem?*

○ What is the best way to encode the steps to the

computer?
Activity: Design Max Height Algorithm

Design an algorithm for determining the

maximum height of the people in the class.

● How would you do this without a computer?

● What information must be stored or recorded?

● What is the sequence of steps required to solve this

problem?
What is Python?
Python

Python is an interpreted, object-oriented,

high-level programming language with
dynamic semantics.
Interpreter vs Compiler

The computer only understands machine language,

therefore we need a way to translate our high-level code
into the low-level machine code.

1. Interpretation
A program reads, parses,
and translates our source
code on-the-fly for execution

2. Compilation
A program processes our source code all at once and
produces an executable
Why Python?

1. Encourages very readable and well

structured code

2. Rich ecosystem of libraries and

frameworks (NumPy, SciPy, Pandas,
NLTK, Django, Flask, Requests, Keras, etc.)

3. Free and open source, widely spread, with

vibrant community
Who Uses Python?
Activity: Install Anaconda

For this bootcamp, we will be using the Python

3.7 flavor of the Anaconda distribution:

https://www.anaconda.com/distribution/

Download and install this

software development kit.
Python Basics
Control Flow
Activity: Code Max Height Algorithm

Once Anaconda is installed, launch the Jupyter

Notebook.

This will open a webpage in your web browser

that will allow you to type in Python code and
execute it.

We will now translate our max height

algorithm into functional Python code
together!
Activity: Fizz Buzz

Write a program that prints the numbers from 1 to 100. But

for multiples of three print "Fizz" instead of the number and
for the multiples of five print "Buzz". For numbers which
are multiples of both three and five print "FizzBuzz".
Expressions
Expressions: Values

Every object in Python has a value. Likewise,

every value belongs to a certain type which
determines the behavior and properties of that
object.

>>> type(5)
int
Expressions: Evaluation

An expression is a combination of values,

variables, and operators.

x + 1

● An operator is a symbol that represents a

kind of computation.

● Every expression has a value when

evaluated.
Expressions: Arithmetic
Operator Description
x + y Adds x and y
x - y Subtracts y from x
x * y Multiplies x by y
x ** y x to the y Power
x / y Divides x by y (float)
x // y Divides x by y (int)
x % y Divides x by y (remainder)

Evaluate from left-to-right, following

PEMDAS.
Expressions: Boolean

Python has the notion of boolean values: True

and False. We can form boolean expressions
using the and, or, and not operators:

>>> True and False

False
>>> True or False
True
>>> not True
False
Expressions: Comparisons

To create boolean expressions, we can use

logical comparisons:

Operator Description
x == y True if x is equal to y, otherwise False

x != y True if x is not equal to y, otherwise False

x < y True if x is less than y, otherwise False

x <= y True if x is less than or equal to y, otherwise False

x > y True if x is greater than y, otherwise False

x >= y True if x is greater than or equal to y, otherwise False

Variables
Variables: Assignment

A variable is a name for a location in memory

that holds a value:

x = 13 # Set x to 13
print(x + 5) # Print 13 + 5
● To set this value, we use the assignment statement
whereby the expression on the right is evaluated and
then stored in the variable on the left

● To use this value in an expression, we simply use the

variable name
 Python Tutor

Variables: Tracing

# Code x Description
1. x = 1 1 Set x to 1
2. x + 1 1 No update
3. x = x + 1 2 Set x to 1 + 1
4. x - 1 2 No update
5. x = x * x 4 Set x to 2 * 2

We only update a variable if there is an

assignment operation.
Functions
Functions: Use

A function is a named sequence of

statements that performs a computation.

>>> int('10', 2)
2
● To execute a function, we call it by name and pass it
an appropriate set of input arguments.

● The output or result of a function is called the return

value.
Functions: Definition

A function definition specifies the name of a

new function, the list of input arguments, and
the sequence of statements to execute when
the function is called.

def function_name(argument): # Header

''' Docstring '''
statement(s) # Body
return result
Functions: Execution

● Programs are always executed

sequentially, one statement at at time.

● Function definitions create new functions,

but do not execute the bodies or
statements within the functions until they
are called.

● When we call a function, we jump to the

function being called, execute the callee’s
body of statements, and then return to the
Functions: Return Values

To output a result, a function uses the return

statement to pass results back to the caller.

def double(x): vs def twice(x):

return x + x print(x + x)

>>> x = double(2) >>> x = twice(2)

>>> x >>> x
4 None
Functions: Scope

● Inside a function, the arguments are

assigned to local variables called
parameters.

● The name of the parameter inside the

function is separated or isolated from the
name outside the function. This separation of
namespaces is called scoping.
Conditional Execution
Conditional Statements

We use conditional statements to check

boolean expressions (which we call
conditions), and change the behavior of the
program accordingly.

if condition: if n == 0:
statement(s) print('n is zero')
Alternative Execution

Alternative execution is when we have two

possibilities and the condition determines
which one gets executed.

if condition:
statement(s) # Condition is True
else:
statement(s) # Condition is False
Chained Conditionals

When we want to if condition 1:

statements(s)
check more than one
elif condition 2:
condition, we can use statements(s)
chained conditionals. elif condition 3:
Each condition is statements(s)
else:
checked in the order statements(s)
that they appear; if one
is triggered, then the
rest are skipped.
Nested Conditionals

Conditional statements can be nested or

placed inside another conditional statement.

Example

if a > b:
if a < c:
print('a is between b and c')
Repeated Execution
While: Overview

We can use a while statement to repeatedly

execute a series of tasks (i.e. a loop).

Syntax Example

while condition: n = 0
statement(s) while n < 10:
print(n)
n = n + 1
While: Control Flow

1. Evaluate condition (which is a boolean

expression).

2. If condition is False, then exit loop and

continue program.

3. If condition is True, then execute statements

in body and then go to step 1.
While: Notes

● Each time through the body of a loop is

called an iteration.

● The condition normally contains a variable

that changes within the body of the loop so
that we can eventually exit the loop.

● If a loop never exits, then this is called an

infinite loop.
For: Overview

Iterating through a definite set of objects is a

common looping pattern, so Python provides
the for statement.

Syntax Example

for item in dataset: for i in [0, 1, 2, 3]:

statement(s) print(i)
For: Control Flow

1. Extract one element from the dataset.

2. Execute the body of for loop with item bound

to the element.

3. Go to step 1.
For: Range

We can generate a list of numbers using the

range function:

>>> range(0, 3)
[0, 1, 2]

>>> for i in range(0, 3):

print(i)
0
1
2
For: Enumerate

We can generate a list of pairs consisting of

the index and the item using enumerate:

>>> list(enumerate(['a', 'b', 'c']))

[(0, 'a'), (1, 'b'), (2, 'c')]

>>> for index, letter in enumerate('abc'):

print(index, letter)
0 a
1 b
2 c
Break

We can exit a loop immediately by using the

break statement

import random

while True:
r = random.randint(0, 10)
if r == 0:
break
print(r)
print(r)
Continue

We can skip the rest of the loop body and

move on to the next iteration by using
continue

while True:
r = random.randint(0, 10)
if r == 0:
break
if r % 2:
continue
print('{0} is even'.format(r))