Introduction to Programming in Python
Full course description
The work of many high-skilled jobs now requires more advanced computer skills than ever before. Skilled professionals ought to be able to use programming to efficiently process and visualize data, without being limited by the tools conventional programs offer. This elective focuses on understanding and solving problems using programming.
You will learn how to think in terms of algorithms, moving from identifying a problem to creating a step-by-step solution (in the form of code). You will learn how to program in Python, a free, open-source, platform-independent, and continuously maintained programming language. Python is a powerful dynamic programming language that is used in a variety of applications and domains.
Once you know how to program in Python, it will be much easier for you to learn other – more specialised or more general-purpose – languages (such as Matlab, R, or C).
Course objectives
During the elective, students will develop a basic understanding of programming in general and the Python programming language specially.
After this course, students:
- Have a basic understanding of how to program and be able to think in terms of algorithms.
- Have a working knowledge of the Python programming language specifically (data types, variables, operators, control-flow, and loops).
- Are able to write well-commented Python scripts.
- Are able to write functions to automate particular tasks.
- Are able to debug (fix) Python code.
- Are able to understand basics of scientific computing (numpy & matplotlib).