CS50P - Introduction — Transcript

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1. 0:24Hello world. My name is David Malan and
2. 0:26this is CS50's introduction to
3. 0:28programming with Python. Whereas CS50
4. 0:30itself is an introduction to the
5. 0:32intellectual enterprises of computer
6. 0:34science and the arts of programming,
7. 0:35this course is specifically focused on
8. 0:37programming in Python itself. At the
9. 0:40beginning of the course, we'll be
10. 0:41focused on a topic in programming known
11. 0:43as functions and variables, mechanisms
12. 0:45via which you can write code that solves
13. 0:47smaller problems, but you can compose
14. 0:48those smaller solutions into solutions
15. 0:50to larger problems still. We'll then
16. 0:52transition to a look at conditionals, a
17. 0:55way in code of expressing yourself
18. 0:57logically to maybe do something if some
19. 1:00question has an answer of true or not do
20. 1:02something if the answer is false. We'll
21. 1:04transition thereafter to introducing you
22. 1:06to loops, the ability in code to do
23. 1:08something again and again and again some
24. 1:10number of times. We'll then transition
25. 1:12to something a little more technical
26. 1:14known as exceptions. Unfortunately, a
27. 1:15lot can go wrong when you're writing
28. 1:17code, some of it your fault, some of it
29. 1:19perhaps someone else's fault, but you
30. 1:20can write code defensively, so to speak,
31. 1:23and actually catch those kinds of
32. 1:24exceptions, those errors, and handle
33. 1:26them properly so that the users you're
34. 1:28writing code for don't actually see the
35. 1:30same. Thereafter, we'll take a look at
36. 1:32libraries, third-party code written by
37. 1:34other people often or perhaps yourself
38. 1:36in the past that you can use and reuse
39. 1:38in your own projects so as to avoid
40. 1:40reinventing the wheel again and again.
41. 1:42We'll look thereafter at something
42. 1:44called unit tests. It turns out you'll
43. 1:46actually write code to test your own
44. 1:48code, but you won't have to write tests
45. 1:50for your tests. Indeed, this is a best
46. 1:52practice in industry, writing tests for
47. 1:54your code so that one, you can be sure
48. 1:56that your code today is hopefully, if
49. 1:58your tests are correct, correct itself,
50. 2:00but moreover, if you or someone else
51. 2:02modifies your code tomorrow or down the
52. 2:04line, you can rerun those same tests to
53. 2:06ensure that those new changes have not
54. 2:08broken anything about your own code.
55. 2:11We'll then take a look at something
56. 2:12called file IO, IO for input and output,
57. 2:15the ability to not just store
58. 2:16information inside of a computer's
59. 2:18memory, but rather save it persistently
60. 2:20to disk, so to speak, to files and
61. 2:22folders. We'll then take a look at
62. 2:24another technique known as regular
63. 2:26expressions, whereby in Python you can
64. 2:28define patterns and you can validate
65. 2:30data to make sure the human typed
66. 2:32something in as you expect. You can use
67. 2:34regular expressions to extract data,
68. 2:35perhaps from some data set you're trying
69. 2:37to analyze. We'll then take a look
70. 2:39ultimately at object-oriented
71. 2:41programming, a paradigm, a way of
72. 2:43writing code whereby you can represent
73. 2:45in code real-world entities. And this is
74. 2:48in addition to other paradigms of
75. 2:49programming that we'll also explore
76. 2:51among them procedural programming, where
77. 2:53you write lots of those functions,
78. 2:54procedures really, top to bottom to
79. 2:56solve problems step by step, and even
80. 2:58something known as functional
81. 2:59programming as well. And then at the
82. 3:01very end of the course, we'll we equip
83. 3:03you with all the more tools for your
84. 3:05toolkit, an additional building blocks,
85. 3:07additional vocabulary via which, after
86. 3:10this same course, you can go off on your
87. 3:11own and either take other courses or
88. 3:13solve projects of your own using all of
89. 3:16these mechanisms. Now, this course
90. 3:18itself assumes no prior programming
91. 3:20background, so you don't have to have
92. 3:21written a single line of code in Python
93. 3:23or any language yet, but this is also a
94. 3:25course that you can take before, during,
95. 3:28or even after CS50 itself if you'd like
96. 3:30to get all the more versed with Python.
97. 3:33Each week, via the course's lectures,
98. 3:34we'll we introduce you to any number of
99. 3:36concepts that we'll then drill down more
100. 3:38deeply into in the form of problem sets
101. 3:40each week. That is, programming projects
102. 3:42that will enable you to apply some of
103. 3:44those lessons learned to problems of
104. 3:46your very own. And by the end of the
105. 3:48course, you'll solve to have solved so
106. 3:50many problems that ideally are
107. 3:52representative of problems you'll
108. 3:53eventually encounter in the real world,
109. 3:55whether you aspire to solve code in the
110. 3:57technical world or perhaps in the arts,
111. 3:59the humanities, the social sciences, the
112. 4:01natural sciences, or beyond, you'll have
113. 4:03ultimately the vocabulary and the
114. 4:05technical skills via which to approach
115. 4:07the same. This then is CS50 and this is
116. 4:11CS50's introduction to programming with
117. 4:13Python.