Python Programming I

A first course in programming with Python: values, variables, decisions, loops, functions, lists, dictionaries and files.

PYTH-101 Year 1 3 credits 12 lessons · 5 h 7 min ▶ Video lessons coming soon

Offered by HSM University · IT Foundations

This is the American version of this course. See the Canadian version.

What you'll learn

Explain what a program is, how the Python interpreter runs code, and how to write, save and run a script.
Use Python values of the basic types, store them in well-named variables and convert between types.
Write arithmetic, comparison and logical expressions, applying operator precedence correctly.
Clean, slice, search and format text with string methods and f-strings.
Make decisions with if, elif, else and match, and choose test values that cover every branch and boundary.
Repeat work with while and for loops, using counters, running totals, sentinels, break and continue.
Define and call functions with parameters, default values and return values, and test them with assert.
Store and process ordered data with lists and tuples, including sorting, comprehensions and safe copying.
Look up, count and group data with dictionaries, and compare groups with sets.
Read and write text, CSV and JSON files safely with the with statement.
Handle and raise exceptions so that programs respond sensibly to bad input and missing files, and debug logic errors.
Design, build, test and review a small menu-driven command-line application that saves its data.

12 lessons · 5 h 7 min total · final exam

A first course in programming with Python: values, variables, decisions, loops, functions, lists, dictionaries and files.

Part of the Information Technology stream, typically taken in year 1.