This lesson is an introduction to programming in Python for people with little or no previous programming experience. This lesson references the Jupyter Notebook, but can be taught using a regular Python interpreter as well. Please note that this lesson uses Python 3 rather than Python 2.
Prerequisites
Learners need to understand what files and directories are, what a working directory is, and how to start a Python interpreter.
Learners must install Python before the class starts.
Learners must get the gapminder data before class starts: please download and unzip the file python-novice-gapminder-data.zip.
Please see the setup instructions for details.
| Setup | Download files required for the lesson | |
| 06:00 | 1. Running and Quitting | How can I run Python programs? |
| 06:10 | 2. Data Types and Type Conversion |
What kinds of data do programs store?
How can I convert one type to another? |
| 06:30 | 3. Built-in Functions and Help |
How can I use built-in functions?
How can I find out what they do? What kind of errors can occur in programs? |
| 06:50 | 4. Libraries |
How can I use software that other people have written?
How can I find out what that software does? |
| 07:10 | 5. Reading Tabular Data into DataFrames | How can I read tabular data? |
| 07:30 | 6. Pandas DataFrames | How can I do statistical analysis of tabular data? |
| 08:00 | 7. Plotting | How can I plot my data? |
| 08:30 | 8. Looping Over Data Sets | How can I process many data sets with a single command? |
| 08:45 | 9. Writing Functions | How can I create my own functions? |
| 09:10 | 10. Wrap-Up |
What have we learned?
What else is out there and where do I find it? |
| 09:20 | Finish |
The actual schedule may vary slightly depending on the topics and exercises chosen by the instructor.