Python : Programming Fundamentals

by Lee, Kent D.

• ISBN13: 9781849965361
• ISBN10: 1849965366
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781849965378
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-11-01
• Publisher: Springer-Verlag New York Inc
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

Computer programming is a skill that can bring great enjoyment from the creativity involved in designing and implementing a solution to a problem. This classroom-tested and easy-to-follow textbook teaches the reader how to program using Python, an accessible language which can be learned incrementally. Through an extensive use of examples and practical exercises, students will learn to recognize and apply abstract patterns in programming, as well as how to inspect the state of a program using a debugger tool.Features: contains numerous examples and solved practice exercises designed for an interactive classroom environment; highlights several patterns which commonly appear in programs, and presents exercises that reinforce recognition and application of these patterns; introduces the use of a debugger, and includes supporting material that reveals how programs work; presents the Tkinter framework for building graphical user interface applications and event-driven programs; provides helpful additional resources for instructors at the associated website: http://cs.luther.edu/Ëœleekent/CS1.This hands-on textbook for active learning in the classroom will enable undergraduates in computer science to develop the necessary skills to begin developing their own programs. It employs Python as the introductory language due to the wealth of support available for programmers.

Author Biography

Dr. Kent D. Lee is Associate Professor of Computer Science at the Department of Computer Science at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, USA. He is the author of the successful Springer textbook, Programming Languages: An Active Learning Approach.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
The Python Programming Language	p. 2
Installing Python and Wing IDE 101	p. 3
Writing Your First Program	p. 7
What is a Computer?	p. 8
Binary Number Representation	p. 10
What is a Programming Language?	p. 13
Hexadecimal and Octal Representation	p. 15
Writing Your Second Program	p. 16
Syntax Errors	p. 18
Types of Values	p. 19
The Reference Type and Assignment Statements	p. 20
Integers and Real Numbers	p. 21
Strings	p. 24
Integer to String Conversion and Back Again	p. 25
Getting Input	p. 26
Formatting Output	p. 27
When Things Go Wrong	p. 30
Review Questions	p. 33
Exercises	p. 34
Solutions to Practice Problems	p. 36
Decision Making	p. 41
Finding the Max of Three Integers	p. 45
The Guess and Check Pattern	p. 47
Choosing from a List of Alternatives	p. 48
The Boolean Type	p. 50
Short Circuit Logic	p. 53
Comparing Floats for Equality	p. 54
Exception Handling	p. 55
Review Questions	p. 57
Exercises	p. 58
Solutions to Practice Problems	p. 61
Repetitive Tasks	p. 65
Operators	p. 67
Iterating Over a Sequence	p. 69
Lists	p. 71
The Guess and Check Pattern for Lists	p. 74
Mutability of Lists	p. 75
The Accumulator Pattern	p. 79
Reading from and Writing to a File	p. 80
Reading Records from a File	p. 82
Review Questions	p. 85
Exercises	p. 86
Solutions to Practice Problems	p. 88
Using Objects	p. 93
Constructors	p. 96
Accessor Methods	p. 98
Mutator Methods	p. 98
Immutable Classes	p. 99
Object-Oriented Programming	p. 100
Working with XML Files	p. 100
Extracting Elements from an XML File	p. 103
Dictionaries	p. 104
Getting at the Data in an XML File	p. 105
Working with Time	p. 107
Parallel Lists	p. 107
Visualizing a Workout	p. 108
Review Questions	p. 110
Exercises	p. 110
Solutions to Practice Problems	p. 113
Defining Functions	p. 119
Why Write Functions?	p. 120
Passing Arguments and Returning a Value	p. 121
Scope of Variables	p. 122
The Run-time Stack	p. 126
Mutable Data and Functions	p. 129
Predicate Functions	p. 131
Top-Down Design	p. 133
Bottom-Up Design	p. 134
Recursive Functions	p. 134
The Main Function	p. 136
Keyword Arguments	p. 139
Default Values	p. 140
Functions with Variable Number of Parameters	p. 140
Dictionary Parameter Passing	p. 141
Review Questions	p. 142
Exercises	p. 142
Solutions to Practice Problems	p. 145
Event-Driven Programming	p. 149
The Root Window	p. 150
Menus	p. 151
Frames	p. 152
The Text Widget	p. 152
The Button Widget	p. 153
Creating a Reminder!	p. 154
Finishing up the Reminder! Application	p. 156
Label and Entry Widgets	p. 157
Layout Management	p. 158
Message Boxes	p. 159
Review Questions	p. 160
Exercises	p. 161
Solutions to Practice Problems	p. 164
Defining Classes	p. 167
Creating an Object	p. 168
Inheritance	p. 172
A Bouncing Ball Example	p. 178
Polymorphism	p. 180
Getting Hooked on Python	p. 181
Review Questions	p. 184
Exercises	p. 184
Solutions to Practice Problems	p. 190
Integer Operators	p. 193
Float Operators	p. 195
String Operators and Methods	p. 197
List Operators and Methods	p. 201
Dictionary Operators and Methods	p. 203
Turtle Methods	p. 205
TurtleScreen Methods	p. 217
The Reminder! Program	p. 225
The Bouncing Ball Program	p. 227
Glossary	p. 231
References	p. 237
Index	p. 239
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