A program
- What is a program?
- What is a language? The various paradigms.
- What is an algorithm? Pseudo-language.
- Compilers. Executables.
Exercise
Overview of different languages. Writing a first algorithm in pseudo-language.
Genesis of an initial program
- Writing a program: Syntax and instructions.
- Compiling and executing the program.
- What is a library? Its role, its usage.
Exercise
Writing, compiling, and executing a first Python program.
Programming rules
- Naming convention. Syntax convention.
- Using comments. Why add comments to your code?
- Improving program legibility: Indenting the code, breaking down the code, etc.
Variables.
- What is a variable?
- Primitive types: integers, character strings, real numbers, others.
- Declaring, defining, and initializing a variable. Constants.
- Entry, display, assignment, type conversion.
- Organizing your data into tables.
Hands-on work
Working with variables.
Operators and expressions
- Different operators (addition, equality, etc.).
- Combining operators.
- Boolean expressions.
Exercise
Handling operators and Boolean expressions.
Control structures
- Alternative selections (if, if-then-else, etc.).
- Instruction blocks (notion of Start... End).
- Iterative loops (while-repeat, repeat-until, for-from-to).
- Embedding instructions.
Exercise
Control structures
Procedures and functions.
- Definitions: Procedure, function. Benefits.
- Passing parameters.
- A function's return value. Calling functions.
Maintenance, debugging, and program testing
- How to read and interpret different error messages.
- Using a debugger: Executing a program step-by-step, stopping points, inspecting variables.
- Unit tests.
Hands-on work
Using a debugger to check how the programs are running.
