Below are a couple of tutorials that you can follow to learn Python.
- One of
the best, free Python tutorials I have found is the Code Academy: Learn Python 2 tutorial. Sign
up using your school gmail account if you want. You can follow this tutorial
for a series of projects for this class. Below is a breakdown of projects and a progression that you can follow. I know it uses an older version of Python (3 being the newest), but this one is free. The Python 3 course costs money. Also, for learning the basics of Python, Python 2 is just fine. The basics haven’t really changed from v2 to v3. - Another good free Python tutorial is the Carnegie Melon University Computer Science Academy’s CS1 course. You can join using Mr. Didier’s course code: QG50-BG17.
- Learn Python – Full Course for Beginners is a YouTube video series that teaches Python.
- If you prefer to learn from a physical book, Mr. Didier has some “Learn Python” books that you can borrow as well.
I generally recommend that you follow a tutorial for a while and then break off and write your own code. Tutorials normally tell you everything you need to do, so you don’t get any practice writing your own code. You learn better by writing your own code every now and then. Below is a list of possible projects that you can follow if you are doing the Codecademy tutorial.
Codecademy Project 1
Do Lessons 1 through 3 in the tutorial.
- Python Syntax
- Strings and Console Output
- Conditionals and Control Flow. (PygLatin)
You can show Mr. Didier the code or upload screenshots of your code to Google Classroom to demonstrate that you have done the code.
Project 2
Write your own code. Create a Rock, Paper, Scissors game. Ask the user to input either Rock, Paper, or Scissors. Have the computer randomly choose a number 0-2 (or 1-3), 0 = Rock, 1 = Paper, 2 = Scissors. Determine who wins. Output both human and computer choices as well as who won. You can write your own code in Codecademy or in another online IDEs for various languages.
Codecademy Project 3
Do Lessons 4 through 6 in the tutorial.
- 4. Functions (Taking a vacation: trip cost calculation)
- 5. Lists and Dictionaries (A day at the Supermarket)
- 6, Student Becomes the Teacher (Grade calculator)
You can show Mr. Didier the code or upload screenshots of your code to Google Classroom to demonstrate that you have done the code.
Project 4
Write your own code. Create an Area Calculator
- Ask the user to enter a shape.
- Calculate the area and circumference of the shape.
- Use functions to calculate the information for each shape.
- To make it harder, make the shapes 3D and calculate the volume.
Codecademy Project 5
Do Lessons 7 through 9 in the tutorial.
- 7. Lists and Functions (Battleship)
- 8 Loops (Practice Makes Perfect, prime, factorials, etc.)
- 9 Exam Statistics (Computing grades, averages, sums, etc.)
You can show Mr. Didier the code or upload screenshots of your code to Google Classroom to demonstrate that you have done the code.
Project 6
Write your own code. Make the Battleship game you wrote in Lesson 7 a little more difficult. Instead of having a ship of size one, make it a ship of size two or three. Make sure you have to hit all the parts to win. Placing the ship inbounds will be the tricky part.
Project 7
Finish the tutorial. Do Lessons 10 through 12 in the tutorial.
- 10 Advanced Topics in Python (Bitwise Operators) – This chapter can be skipped if you want.
- 11 Introduction to Classes
- 12 File Input and Output
You can show Mr. Didier the code or upload screenshots of your code to Google Classroom to demonstrate that you have done the code.
Other Code Projects
When you get tired of following programming tutorials, break away from them to try some of these other code projects.