Python Programmer Bootcamp

Curriculum

• Course Introduction Free

  2 Lessons 13 Min

  In this section, we look at what coding is and why it’s a useful skill to have. Coding is a superpower giving you the ability to complete tasks that would otherwise be impossible or very time-consuming. An understanding of how to code also helps your problem-solving skills. Coding is also a very sought after skill; one that is valued by employers. There are so many programming languages, we take a brief look at why that is and what the benefits are of choosing python.

  What does the course cover Free

  Why code? Why Python? Free
• Setting up the environment Free

  2 Lessons 10 Min

  Setting up Python can be one of the most challenging aspects of using it. There are so many different ways of installing it onto your computer and sometimes they can create conflicts that can be difficult to resolve. That’s why we’ve chosen to use Anaconda. It’s a simple installation, which we’ll walk through with you. You’ll have python up and running in a few minutes. Spyder is an IDE (integrated development environment) which is included with the Anaconda Python installation. IDEs are very useful when coding, as they put everything you need right at your fingertips. Here we show you the basics of Spyder.

  Installing Python Free

  Introducing Spyder Free
• Python basics + Hands-on Coding Free

  1 Lesson 11 Min

  It’s essential that you understand how the PRINT function works in Python. It’s what enables you to print output to the screen, it’s also useful when it comes to debugging - more on that later! Here you will receive a thorough grounding in how to use it.

  PRINT function Free
• Variables and strings - Exercises

  9 Lessons 24 Min

  Variables are the building blocks of all programming languages. This section introduces them, explains what they are and why they’re so important. We will show you how they are used in python.

  The solution Free

  Variables Free

  Strings

  Let's write a program

  Question 1

  Question 2

  Question 3

  Question 4

  Question 5
• Conditionals

  7 Lessons 44 Min

  If you want a computer to make decisions then you need to use conditionals. Conditionals enable computers to choose different outcomes based on the value of a variable. They are very powerful and key to being able to code in Python.

  Intro to conditionals

  Logical operators

  Not TRUE is FALSE

  IF statement

  More on strings

  More strings!

  Practice challenge
• For Loops

  8 Lessons 63 Min

  Computers are very good at doing repetitive tasks. The for loop is one way of controlling how this is done. It allows you to request the computer to repeat blocks of code. In this section, you will learn how to use the for loop and just how handy it can be. We then look at the other type of loop - the while loop. In this section, we also take a look at a python data type called a list. We explore how, why and when to use it.

  Intro to For loops

  A little more on variables

  Lists

  The power of lists and loops and working together

  Some list methods

  While loops

  Modulus

  Practical challenge
• Dictionaries

  8 Lessons 48 Min

  Another Python data type. It’s essential to understand what a dictionary is and how to use it. They are widely used in data applications. We explore their uses and some applications in this section. We also cover modules, which give python a whole new set of features. You will learn how to import and use modules and we will introduce you to the counters module: very powerful but often overlooked. You will be introduced to the tuple, another data type and we will cover the zip function too.

  Modules

  Dictionaries

  Zip function

  More string methods

  Tuples

  More than 1 dimension

  Import counters (Part I)

  Import counters (Part II)
• Files and Functions

  5 Lessons 32 Min

  Python can handle files. It can open files, read files, write to files and manipulate the content of files. In this section, we will introduce you to some of the more common file handling methods in python. We also take a closer look at functions. We also cover a very important topic in computer science: recursion.

  Files and functions

  Appending to a file

  More on functions

  Fibonacci in a function

  Recursion
• Classes

  8 Lessons 27 Min

  Classes and objects: what’s the difference and why does it matter? You will find out in this section. Everything in Python is an object, we will show you what this means and how it can help you to write better code. You will learn how to create your own objects, the difference between a method and a function and we will introduce the concept of inheritance.

  Objects

  Class

  __Init__

  Class variables

  Methods

  Inheritance

  Practical exercise 1

  Practical exercise 2
• General Tips

  1 Lesson 7 Min

  We have covered a lot of ground, in this section, we take a look at the bigger picture. You will receive general advice on how to become a better Python programmer.

  General tips
• Big O

  5 Lessons 16 Min

  How long will your algorithm take to run? How does it scale as the amount of data you process increases? These questions can be answered by considering Big O. We will explain what it is and how it is applied to algorithms in this section.

  _Big_O

  O(n)

  O(n^2)

  O(n!)

  Summary
• Advanced Python: Caesar two sum

  9 Lessons 38 Min

  In this section, we consider two well-known computer science problems and work through their solution with Python.

  Intro

  Caesar cipher

  Jupyter notebook intro

  Caesar cipher solution

  Two sum

  Two sum solution

  Card class

  Playing card class

  Playing card class solution
• Advanced Python: Matplotlib

  6 Lessons 30 Min

  Python is so versatile, there are very few things you can’t do with it. One of its many strengths is data visualization. Matplotlib is a well-known data visualization module in python. We introduce you to it in this section and work through some interesting examples.

  Matplotlib

  Random walk explanation

  Simulating a random walk

  Sierpinski triangle

  Creating the triangle in Matplotlib

  Python imaging library
• Advanced Python: Stacks

  9 Lessons 40 Min

  Data can be stored in various different ways, known as data structures. In this section, we will show you a very important data structure known as a stack. We explore what it is, how it’s used and how it can help us to solve problems, such as the famous computer science problem called ‘The Towers of Hanoi’.

  Intro to stacks

  Coding a stack in Python

  Practical challenge - stacks

  Hint on solving the challenge

  Solving the stacks challenge

  Towers of Hanoi

  Some hints

  Code for Tower of Hanoi

  Enumerate sets & none
• Search and sort

  4 Lessons 27 Min

  Two of the most important tasks for computers are searching and sorting. So much work has been done on how to optimize these tasks. In this section, we introduce you to the challenges they pose. We cover some famous searching and sorting algorithms.

  Intro to search and sort

  Linear search

  Binary search

  Insertion sort
• Advanced Python: Cards and Coins

  4 Lessons 14 Min

  In this section, we put our python skills to use to solve some problems. We will make a credit card number validator using Luhn’s algorithm and we will write some python code to solve a famous maths puzzle.

  Intro to cards and coins

  Luhn's algorithm

  Coins

  Coins - Python code
• Advanced Python: Debugging

  3 Lessons 20 Min

  When you write code, it will contain mistakes! It’s unavoidable. Debugging is the process of going through your code, finding the mistakes and correcting them. We will teach you that process in this section. You will also be introduced to python’s module for using regular expressions: Regex.

  Debugging

  Beyond the PRINT function

  Debugging in Spyder
• Advanced Python: Strings and Expressions

  4 Lessons 24 Min

  In this section we dig deeper into strings. It is not mandatory to go through them, but such advanced topics are always the most interesting. We explore how to format numbers in specific ways and get familiar with regular expressions.

  A little more on strings

  Regular expressions

  More regular expressions

  Type hints
• Capstone project - Computer Vision

  9 Lessons 29 Min

  Working through problems in Python could also be quite a challenging task. However, Python allows us to work on very complicated computational problems even with a limited programming knowledge. In this capstone project we simulate a real-world situation where we are asked to solve an extremely challenging problem, in order to build our research skills.

  Introduction to the project

  Coin photographs

  Introducing OpenCV

  Starting to work with Visual Studio

  Hough circle transform

  Get circle radii

  Get brightness values

  Performning coin classification

  Closing remarks
• Further Exercises

  1 Lesson 0 Min

  Here you will find some additional exercises that will help you reinforce what you have learned in the lessons. Hope you enjoy them!

  Further exrecises
• Installing Python and Using Virtual Environments on Windows and Unix

  12 Lessons 69 Min

  In this section, we will learn how to install Python using virtual environments. That will enable you to set different sorts of sandbox versions of Python on your machine to avoid potential conflicts between different Python versions.

  Introduction

  Downloading Python

  Setting up the virtual environment

  Sharing a project - requirements file

  Downloading and Installing Virtual Box & Setting up a Virtual Machine

  Installing Ubuntu on the Virtual Machine

  Setting up a virtual environment on Ubuntu

  Introduction to the command line

  Handling files on in the command line

  Copying, moving and deleting files on the command line

  Echo, environment variables and path

  Section summary
• PyCharm

  4 Lessons 29 Min

  This section introduces another highly functional IDE - PyCharm. Using PyCharm not only helps your Python programming, but familiarity with it is a common prerequisite for a career in data science.

  Introduction and installing PyCharm

  Setting up PyCharm

  Using PyCharm to write code

  PyCharm and Git
• Exception handling in Python

  6 Lessons 25 Min

  Exception handling is one of the Python features that allow you to anticipate errors in your code and deal with them in advance. Although learning how to handle exceptions may seem challenging at first, it will prove to be an indispensable tool in your Python programming arsenal.

  Exception handling - Introduction

  Setting the scene

  How Python handles errors

  The block stops running as soon as the exception is encountered

  When to use tryblock

  Exception handling - Conclusion
• Farewell

  1 Lesson 7 Min

  Some parting words of encouragement and a sincere thank you!

  Farewell