Chapter 1

Introduction to Computers,
Programs, and Python

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1
 Objectives
To understand computer basics, programs, and operating
systems (§§1.2-1.4).
To write and run a simple Python program (§1.5).
To explain the basic syntax of a Python program (§1.5).
To describe the history of Python (§1.6).
To explain the importance of, and provide examples of,
proper programming style and documentation (§1.7).
To explain the differences between syntax errors,
runtime errors, and logic errors (§1.8).
To create a basic graphics program using Turtle (§1.9).
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2
 What is a Computer?
A computer consists of a CPU, memory, hard disk, floppy disk,
monitor, printer, and communication devices.

Bus

Storage Communication Input Output

Devices Memory CPU Devices Devices Devices

e.g., Disk, CD, e.g., Modem, e.g., Keyboard, e.g., Monitor,

and Tape and NIC Mouse Printer

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 CPU
The central processing unit (CPU) is the brain of a computer. It
retrieves instructions from memory and executes them. The CPU
speed is measured in megahertz (MHz), with 1 megahertz equaling 1
million pulses per second. The speed of the CPU has been improved
continuously. If you buy a PC now, you can get an Intel Pentium 4
Processor at 3 gigahertz (1 gigahertz is 1000 megahertz).

Bus

Storage Communication Input Output

Memory CPU Devices Devices Devices
Devices
e.g., Disk, CD, e.g., Modem, e.g., Keyboard, e.g., Monitor,
and Tape and NIC Mouse Printer

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 Memory
Memory is to store data and program instructions for CPU to
execute. A memory unit is an ordered sequence of bytes, each holds
eight bits. A program and its data must be brought to memory before
they can be executed. A memory byte is never empty, but its initial
content may be meaningless to your program. The current content of
a memory byte is lost whenever new information is placed in it.

Bus

Storage Communication Input Output

Memory CPU Devices Devices Devices
Devices
e.g., Disk, CD, e.g., Modem, e.g., Keyboard, e.g., Monitor,
and Tape and NIC Mouse Printer

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 How Data is Stored?
Data of various kinds, such as numbers,
characters, and strings, are encoded as a
series of bits (zeros and ones). Computers
use zeros and ones because digital devices Memory address Memory content
have two stable states, which are referred to
as zero and one by convention. The . .
programmers need not to be concerned about . .
. .
the encoding and decoding of data, which is
2000 01001010 Encoding for character ‘J’
performed automatically by the system based
2001 01100001 Encoding for character ‘a’
on the encoding scheme. The encoding 2002 01110110 Encoding for character ‘v’
scheme varies. For example, character ‘J’ is 2003 01100001 Encoding for character ‘a’
represented by 01001010 in one byte. A 2004 00000011 Encoding for number 3
small number such as three can be stored in a
single byte. If computer needs to store a
large number that cannot fit into a single
byte, it uses a number of adjacent bytes. No
two data can share or split a same byte. A
byte is the minimum storage unit.

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 Storage Devices
Memory is volatile, because information is lost when the power is
off. Programs and data are permanently stored on storage devices
and are moved to memory when the computer actually uses them.
There are three main types of storage devices:Disk drives (hard disks
and floppy disks), CD drives (CD-R and CD-RW), and Tape drives.

Bus

Storage Communication Input Output

Memory CPU Devices Devices Devices
Devices
e.g., Disk, CD, e.g., Modem, e.g., Keyboard, e.g., Monitor,
and Tape and NIC Mouse Printer

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 Output Devices: Monitor
The monitor displays information (text and graphics). The resolution
and dot pitch determine the quality of the display.

Bus

Storage Communication Input Output

Memory CPU Devices Devices Devices
Devices
e.g., Disk, CD, e.g., Modem, e.g., Keyboard, e.g., Monitor,
and Tape and NIC Mouse Printer

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 Monitor Resolution and Dot Pitch
resolution The resolution specifies the number of pixels per square
inch. Pixels (short for “picture elements”) are tiny dots that
form an image on the screen. The resolution can be set
manually. The higher the resolution, the sharper and clearer
the image is. However, the image may be very small if you
set high resolution on a small screen monitor. PC monitors
are usually 15-inch, 17-inch, 19-inch, or 21-inch. For a 15-
inch monitor, a comfortable resolution setting would be
640480 (307,200 pixels).

dot pitch The dot pitch is the amount of space between pixels. The
smaller the dot pitch, the better the display.

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 Communication Devices
A regular modem uses a phone line and can transfer data in a speed up to
56,000 bps (bits per second). A DSL (digital subscriber line) also uses a
phone line and can transfer data in a speed 20 times faster than a regular
modem. A cable modem uses the TV cable line maintained by the cable
company. A cable modem is as fast as a DSL. Network interface card
(NIC) is a device to connect a computer to a local area network (LAN).
The LAN is commonly used in business, universities, and government
organizations. A typical type of NIC, called 10BaseT, can transfer data at
10 mbps (million bits per second).
Bus

Storage Communication Input Output

Memory CPU Devices Devices Devices
Devices
e.g., Disk, CD, e.g., Modem, e.g., Keyboard, e.g., Monitor,
and Tape and NIC Mouse Printer

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 Programs
Computer programs, known as software, are instructions to
the computer.

You tell a computer what to do through programs. Without

programs, a computer is an empty machine. Computers do
not understand human languages, so you need to use
computer languages to communicate with them.

Programs are written using programming languages.

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 Programming Languages
Machine Language Assembly Language High-Level Language

Machine language is a set of primitive instructions

built into every computer. The instructions are in
the form of binary code, so you have to enter binary
codes for various instructions. Program with native
machine language is a tedious process. Moreover
the programs are highly difficult to read and
modify. For example, to add two numbers, you
might write an instruction in binary like this:

1101101010011010
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 Programming Languages
Machine Language Assembly Language High-Level Language

Assembly languages were developed to make programming

easy. Since the computer cannot understand assembly
language, however, a program called assembler is used to
convert assembly language programs into machine code.
For example, to add two numbers, you might write an
instruction in assembly code like this:
ADDF3 R1, R2, R3
Assembly Source File
Machine Code File

…
Assembler …
ADDF3 R1, R2, R3
1101101010011010
…
…

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 Programming Languages
Machine Language Assembly Language High-Level Language

The high-level languages are English-like and easy to learn

and program. For example, the following is a high-level
language statement that computes the area of a circle with
radius 5:
area = 5 * 5 * 3.1415;

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 Popular High-Level Languages
COBOL (COmmon Business Oriented Language)
FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslation)
BASIC (Beginner All-purpose Symbolic Instructional Code)
Pascal (named for Blaise Pascal)
Ada (named for Ada Lovelace)
C (whose developer designed B first)
Visual Basic (Basic-like visual language developed by Microsoft)
Delphi (Pascal-like visual language developed by Borland)
C++ (an object-oriented language, based on C)
C# (a Python-like language developed by Microsoft)
Python (We use it in the book)

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 Compiling Source Code
A program written in a high-level language is called a
source program. Since a computer cannot understand a
source program. Program called a compiler is used to
translate the source program into a machine language
program called an object program. The object program is
often then linked with other supporting library code before
the object can be executed on the machine.

Source File Compiler Machine-language

Linker Executable File
File

Library Code

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 Operating Systems
The operating system (OS) is
a program that manages and User
controls a computer’s
activities. You are probably Application Programs
using Windows 98, NT, 2000,
XP, or ME. Windows is
Operating System
currently the most popular PC
operating system. Application
Hardware
programs such as an Internet
browser and a word processor
cannot run without an
operating system.
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 What is Python?
General Purpose Interpreted Object-Oriented
Python is a general purpose programming language.
That means you can use Python to write code for
any programming tasks. Python are now used in
Google search engine, in mission critical projects in
NASA, in processing financial transactions at New
York Stock Exchange.

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 What is Python?
General Purpose Interpreted Object-Oriented
Python is interpreted, which means that python
code is translated and executed by an interpreter
one statement at a time. In a compiled language, the
entire source code is compiled and then executed
altogether.

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 What is Python?
General Purpose Interpreted Object-Oriented
Python is an object-oriented programming
language. Data in Python are objects created from
classes. A class is essentially a type that defines the
objects of the same kind with properties and
methods for manipulating objects. Object-oriented
programming is a powerful tool for developing
reusable software.

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 Python’s History
created by Guido van Rossum in Netherlands in
1990
Open source

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 Python 2 vs. Python 3
Python 3 is a newer version, but it is not
backward compatible with Python 2. That
means if you write a program using Python
2, it may not work on Python 3.

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 Launch Python

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Launch Python IDLE

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Run Python Script

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 A Simple Python Program
Listing 1.1
# Display two messages
print("Welcome to Python")
print("Python is fun")

IMPORTANT NOTE:
(1) To enable the buttons, you must download the entire slide
Welcome file slide.zip and unzip the files into a directory (e.g.,
c:\slide). (2) You must have installed Python and set python
bin directory in the environment path. (3) If you are using
Run Office 2010, check PowerPoint2010.doc located in the
same folder with this ppt file.

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Creating and Editing Using Notepad
To use Notepad, type
notepad Welcome.py
from the DOS prompt.

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animation

Trace a Program Execution

Execute a statement

# Display two messages

print("Welcome to Python")
print("Python is fun")

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animation

Trace a Program Execution

Execute a statement

# Display two messages

print("Welcome to Python")
print("Python is fun")

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 Two More Simple Examples

WelcomeWithThreeMessages Run

ComputeExpression Run

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Companion
Website Supplements on the
Companion Website
See Supplement I.B for installing and
configuring Python
See Supplement I.C for developing Python
programs from Eclipse

www.cs.armstrong.edu/liang/py

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 Anatomy of a Python Program
Statements
Comments
Indentation

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 Statement
A statement represents an action or a sequence of actions.
The statement print("Welcome to Python") in the
program in Listing 1.1 is a statement to display the
greeting "Welcome to Python“.

# Display two messages

print("Welcome to Python")
print("Python is fun")

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 Indentation
The indentation matters in Python. Note that the
statements are entered from the first column in the
new line. It would cause an error if the program is
typed as follows:

# Display two messages

print("Welcome to Python")
print("Python is fun")

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 Special Symbols
Character Name Description

() Opening and closing Used with functions.

parentheses
# Pound sign Precedes a comment line.

" " Opening and closing Enclosing a string (i.e., sequence of characters).
quotation marks
''' ''' Opening and closing Enclosing a paragraph comment.
quotation marks

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 Programming Style and
Documentation
Appropriate Comments
Proper Indentation and Spacing
Lines

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 Appropriate Comments
Include a summary at the beginning of the
program to explain what the program does, its key
features, its supporting data structures, and any
unique techniques it uses.

Include your name, class section, instructor, date,

and a brief description at the beginning of the
program.

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 Proper Indentation and Spacing
Indentation
– Indent four spaces.
– A consistent spacing style makes programs clear
and easy to read, debug, and maintain.

Spacing
– Use blank line to separate segments of the code.

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 Programming Errors
Syntax Errors
– Error in code construction
Runtime Errors
– Causes the program to abort
Logic Errors
– Produces incorrect result

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39
 Getting Started with GUI Programming
Why GUI? Turtle Tkniter

GUI is a great pedagogical tool to motivate studetns

and stimulate student interests in programming.

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 Getting Started with GUI Programming
Why GUI? Turtle Tkniter

A simple way to start graphics programming is to

use Python built-in Turtle package.

A Turtule Example

Run

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 Getting Started with GUI Programming
Why GUI? Turtle Tkniter

Later in the book, we will also introduce Tkinter for

developing comprehensive GUI applications.

A Tkinter Example

Run

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