Adrian Dane

Day 1: Getting Started and Your First Chat with Python

Objectives

• Install Python 3 and pick a place to write your code (a text editor). I personally use Notepad++ which is free.
• Run your very first script and use the interactive "REPL".
• Learn how to show messages, ask for input, and store information.

Every new journey has a first step. Today, we're setting up your coding environment. Think of it as preparing your workshop. First, head over to python.org and download the latest stable release for your system (Windows, macOS, or Linux). When you install it, especially on Windows, make sure to check the box that says "Add Python to PATH." This little step saves a lot of headaches later!

Once installed, open your terminal (or Command Prompt) and type python3 --version. If you see a version number, you're all set! Now, type python3 and hit Enter. You'll see a >>> prompt. This is the REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop), and it's your new best friend. It’s like a direct chat with Python. Try some maths like 2 + 2 or 5 * 10. The REPL is perfect for quick experiments without having to save a file.

While the REPL is great for testing, most of your work will live in scripts. Open any simple text editor (like VS Code, Sublime Text, or even Notepad) and create a file named hello.py. Inside, type this one line: print('Hello, world!'). Save it. Now, in your terminal, navigate to where you saved the file and run it with python3 hello.py. You just ran your first program! Let's make it interactive. Add these lines: name = input('What is your name? ') and then print('Hello, ' + name + '!'). You're now taking input and using a variable (name) to store it. This simple cycle—edit, run, repeat—is the core of all programming.

# hello_age.py
import datetime

name = input("What is your name? ")
age = int(input("How old are you? ")) # input() gives text, int() turns it into a number
current_year = datetime.date.today().year
year_turn_100 = current_year - age + 100
print(f"Hello, {name}! You will turn 100 years old in {year_turn_100}.")
          

Day 2: Talking to Python with Numbers and Words

Objectives

• Get to know Python's main data types: integers, floats, and strings.
• Perform calculations and manipulate text.
• Learn how to switch between different data types.

Python is pretty smart; it usually figures out what kind of data you're using without you having to tell it. Today, we'll focus on the two most common types: numbers and text. Python has two main types of numbers: integers (whole numbers like 10, -5, 0) and floats (numbers with a decimal point like 3.14 or -0.5). You can do all the usual maths with them: +, -, * (multiply), / (divide), and even ** for exponents (like 2 ** 3 is 8).

Text in Python is called a string, and you create one by putting quotes around it, like 'Hello' or "Python is fun!". Strings can't be changed in place (they're "immutable"), but you can create new ones from them. You can join them with + ('snow' + 'ball' becomes 'snowball') or repeat them with * ('ha' * 3 becomes 'hahaha'). Strings also have handy built-in tools called methods. For example, 'Hello'.lower() gives you 'hello', and ' some text '.strip() removes the extra spaces.

One of the most important skills is converting between types. The input() function always gives you a string, even if the user types a number. So, if you want to do maths with it, you need to convert it first using int() or float(). For example, age = int(input("Age? ")). To put a number into a sentence, you can convert it back to a string with str(), but it's much easier to use an f-string: f"You are {age} years old.". The f-string automatically handles the conversion for you!

# tip_calculator.py
bill_amount_str = input("What is the total bill? $")
tip_percentage_str = input("What percentage tip would you like to give? ")

# Convert strings to numbers (floats) to do math
bill_amount = float(bill_amount_str)
tip_percentage = float(tip_percentage_str)

tip_amount = bill_amount * (tip_percentage / 100)
total_bill = bill_amount + tip_amount

# Use an f-string with formatting to show two decimal places
print(f"Tip amount: ${tip_amount:.2f}")
print(f"Total bill: ${total_bill:.2f}")
          

Day 3: Making Decisions with "If This, Then That"

Objectives

• Understand the boolean type: `True` and `False`.
• Use operators to compare things (`==`, `>`, `<`).
• Control your program's flow with `if`, `elif`, and `else`.

A lot of programming is about making decisions. Should the player get a bonus? Is the user's password correct? To answer these questions, Python uses a special type called a boolean. It has only two possible values: True or False. You get a boolean whenever you compare things. For example, 5 > 3 is True, and 10 == 20 (notice the double equals == for comparison) is False.

We can also combine these questions using logical operators: and, or, and not. For example, to check if an age is suitable for a teen movie, you might write age >= 13 and age <= 18. This whole expression will only be True if both parts are true. Python is smart about this: if the first part of an and is false, it doesn't even bother checking the second part!

The real power comes when you use these booleans with an if statement. This lets your code take different paths based on a condition. The structure is simple: if a condition is true, do something. You can add an elif (short for "else if") to check another condition, and an else to catch everything that didn't match the previous conditions. Remember, the indentation (the spaces at the start of the line) is how Python knows which code belongs to which block. It's super important!

if condition:
    # This block runs if the condition is True
elif another_condition:
    # This runs if the first was False, but this one is True
else:
    # This runs if nothing above was True

# weather_checker.py
temp_celsius = float(input("Enter the temperature in Celsius: "))

if temp_celsius > 30:
    print("It's a hot day! Don't forget sunscreen. ☀️")
elif 15 <= temp_celsius <= 30:
    print("It's a lovely day. Perfect for a walk! 🌳")
else:
    print("It's cold, you might need a jacket. 🧥")
        

Day 4: Storing Things in Lists

Objectives

• Create and manage lists: adding, removing, and accessing items.
• Use loops to work with every item in a sequence.
• Understand tuples, the "unchangeable" cousins of lists.

So far, we've stored one piece of information in a variable at a time. But what if you have a collection of things, like a to-do list or a group of names? For that, we use a list. A list is an ordered, changeable collection of items, written inside square brackets []. For example: tasks = ["buy milk", "walk the dog", "learn Python"].

You can access any item by its position, or index, which starts at 0. So tasks[0] would give you "buy milk". Lists are flexible (or "mutable"). You can add items to the end with .append(), remove them with .remove(), or change an existing item like tasks[1] = "feed the cat". A for loop is the perfect way to go through each item in a list and do something with it: for task in tasks: print(task).

Sometimes you have a collection that you know should never change, like the coordinates of a point (x, y). For this, Python gives us tuples. They are just like lists, but you create them with parentheses () and—this is the key part—they are immutable (unchangeable). Once you create point = (10, 20), you can't change what's inside. This makes your code safer and signals to other programmers (or your future self!) that this data is meant to be constant.

# hobbies_list.py
hobbies = ["Reading", "Hiking", "Coding"]

print("My current hobbies are:")
for hobby in hobbies:
    print(f"- I enjoy {hobby}.")

# Let's add a new hobby
new_hobby = "Playing guitar"
hobbies.append(new_hobby)

print("\nI've picked up a new hobby! Now my list is:")
print(hobbies)
        

Day 5: Organising Information with Dictionaries & Sets

Objectives

• Use dictionaries to store connected data (key-value pairs).
• Understand sets for storing unique items and performing math-like operations.
• Learn how to loop through these more complex collections.

Lists are great for ordered items, but what if the data has a natural connection, like a word and its definition, or a person and their phone number? For this, we use a dictionary. A dictionary stores key-value pairs. You create them with curly braces {}. For example: contact = {"name": "Jane Doe", "phone": "555-1234"}. Here, "name" is a key, and "Jane Doe" is its value.

You look up values using their key, not an index: contact["phone"] would give you "555-1234". It's super fast! Adding or changing an item is easy: contact["email"] = "jane@example.com". Dictionaries are incredibly useful for organising any kind of structured information, from user profiles to game settings.

Finally, let's talk about sets. A set is also made with curly braces, but it's an unordered collection of unique items. If you add the same item twice, it only gets stored once. This makes sets perfect for two things: quickly removing duplicates from a list, and performing membership tests (checking if an item is in the set). You can also do cool things like find the items that two sets have in common (intersection) or the items that are in one set but not the other (difference).

# dict_set_examples.py
# Dictionary practice
user_profile = {
    "name": "Alex",
    "city": "Lisbon",
    "favourite_song": "Bohemian Rhapsody"
}

print(f"{user_profile['name']} from {user_profile['city']} loves listening to {user_profile['favourite_song']}.")

# Set practice
list1 = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5]
list2 = [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 4]

set1 = set(list1)
set2 = set(list2)

print("\nOriginal list 1:", list1)
print("Original list 2:", list2)
# The '&' operator finds the common items (intersection)
common_numbers = set1 & set2
print("Common numbers found in both lists:", common_numbers)