The practice of computing using Python

by Punch, William

Type Book

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Full title :The practice of computing using Python / William Punch.

Summary

A FIRST COURSE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE IS ABOUT A NEW WAY OF SOLVING PROBLEMS computationally. Our goal is that after the course, students when presented with a problem will think, "Hey, I can write a program to do that!" The teaching of problem solving is inexorably intertwined with the computer language used. Thus, the choice of language for this first course is very important. We have chosen Python as the introductory language for beginning programming students-majors and non-majors alike-based on our combined 55 years of experience teaching undergraduate introductory computer science at Michigan State University. Having taught the course in Pascal, C/C++, and now Python, we know that an introductory programming language should have two characteristics. First, it should be relatively simple to learn. Python's simplicity, powerful built-in data structures, and advanced control constructs allow students to focus more on problem solving and less on language issues. Second, it should be practical. Python supports learning not only fundamental programming issues such as typical programming constructs, a fundamental object-oriented approach, common data structures, and so on, but also more complex computing issues such as threads and regular expressions. Finally, Python is "industrial strength" forming the backbone of companies such as YouTube, DropBox, Industrial Light and Magic, and many others.