Week 0, Problem 1: Orientation Problem - Running Python
[30 points; individual]

Welcome!

By completing this first EECS 110 homework problem in orientation, we hope

to introduce you to three things:

1. Using the python computer language, which you'll use in EECS 110.

2. Using python's IDLE editor to write and save plain-text files (python programs).

3. Submitting files to Canvas.

If you have any account problems or other questions/concerns, please ask!

Opening up python/IDLE

1. These directions presume python is installed, which it should be on lab PCs. If you're on your own machine, visit one of these two links first in order to install Python:

for Windows PCs

for Macs
(Linux users probably already have python installed.)

2. On a PC, right-click on the link below and choose "Save Target As..." in order to download to the desktop the file named hw0pr1.txt from this link .

3. On a Mac computer, you can control-click to do download the file.

4. On your desktop, you should see the newly-downloaded file named hw0pr1.py. You may not see the .py extension, depending on the computer's settings.
5. Right-click that hw0pr1.py file and choose "Edit with IDLE" or "Open with IDLE." IDLE is the name of an editor and interactive "shell" -- basically an area for experimentation -- that comes with Python.
6. You should see an editing window with the contents of the hw0pr1.py file -- a python program. You might also see a "Python Shell" window. If you don't see the "Python Shell" window, you should get one by going to the editing window's "Run" menu and choosing "Python Shell."

Trying out python at the python shell

• The shell is an area for experimenting with the python language. The "prompt" is three greater-than signs >>>, which tells you that python is ready to go. You might try 6*7 as a first computation at the prompt. Caution: deep wisdom may result.
• Try computing a googol (ten to the hundredth power). The power operator in python is two asterisks **. So, you would type 10**100 at the prompt. Admittedly not too enlightening, but the L at the end of the result is python's indication that this is a Long number.

Running a program from a file

• Click on the editor window to return to the program in the hw0pr1.py file.
• You don't need to understand this code (not yet, at least). However, you might take a moment to see if you can guess the behavior of any of the pieces you see there...
• To run the program, hit the F5 key or choose "Run Module" from the "Run" menu.
• The shell window will automatically come up and start running the program. This program first asks you for your name, and the cursor will already be in the right spot to start typing. (The python shell is a bit picky about where the cursor is -- if you move it and start typing, odd things might happen...)
• Type in your name, hit Enter, and the program will finish running with a follow-up message.
• You can try again by repeating these steps and/or edit the program to change its behavior.
• To see how python handles errors, you might try removing one of the two equals signs in the if line, so that it reads if name = 'Ionut'. Then hit F5 to run -- it will tell you there is a "syntax error" and give you a chance to fix it.
• The second problem for this week's hw asks you to alter this program to play a (fairly lopsided) game of rock-paper-scissors. You can do that right away (during orientation) or you can come back to it later.
• For this problem, the final step is simply submitting the hw0pr1.py file. It's completely OK if you've changed it -- this is simply to ensure you can login into Canvas and submit your homework.

Next

hw0pr2

Homework 0