Overview
Welcome to Intro to Python!
Python is one of the most popular general-purpose programming languages around. It is used in a huge range of applications, from building systems incorporating cutting-edge machine learning, such as in self-driving cars, to building web applications with hundreds of millions of users, as seen in Instagram.
As researchers, we use Python for all manner of tasks, from data analysis, to automation, to prototyping software, to creating engaging visuals for websites and publications. Like you, we started our journey into Python learning the basics, building a strong foundation for achieving these more complex tasks. This introductory course will teach you these basics, and get you up to speed on your own programming journeys.
Course objectives
This course will enable you to:
- Understand and declare the basic data types in Python
- Understand the basic principles of control flow and for loops
- Describe what a function is and define one that takes user-specified parameters
- Perform simple data analysis/visualisation of a table of data
- Recognise concepts in other programming languages
…and hopefully, get you excited about programming!
Pre-requisite knowledge
No pre-requisite knowledge needed. However, course attendees will need to follow our setup guide to install Python and JupyterLab, which we will use for the course.
Workshop format
This a hybrid workshop run over 2 sessions.
Upcoming course dates
| Session name | Dates | Time | Venue | Sign up link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drop-in setup help | Friday 27th October 2023 | 10:00-11:30 | Online on Teams | Sent via email |
| Session 1 | Wednesday 1st November 2023 | 10:00-13:00 | Streatham: Old Library Training Room 4 | https://uniexeterrse.github.io/workshop-homepage/workshops.html |
| Session 2 | Wednesday 8th November 2023 | 10:00-13:00 | Streatham: Old Library Training Room 4 |
Set-up instructions for attendees
If you have registered for this course, you can find the instructions for setting up your computer here.
Start course
If you are unable to attend any of the dates above the notes for this course are available here and are freely available to work through in your own time. Please note that you will need to have completed the set up instructions above.
Follow up courses
On completion of these course you will be invited to join a network of other participants. This is a supportive forum for you to ask follow up question and receive tailed invites to follow on courses.
Feedback
Please remember to complete a feedback survey. Our workshops are under continual review and your experiences, suggestions and criticism are invaluable for shaping the direction of this initiative. This is especially important if you complete the materials in your own time as it enables us to measure impact. If you have ideas on other courses you would like to see then please contact Eilis Hannon, at: E.J.hannon@exeter.ac.uk.
Join us
If you are interested in becoming part of our community of workshop helpers, leaders and developers please contact Eilis Hannon, at: E.J.hannon@exeter.ac.uk.
Acknowledgements
This course was adapted from the Software Carpentries Programming with Python. It has been developed by the University of Exeter Research Software Engineering Group and a team of generous volunteers who are enthusiastic about sharing their skills with the wider research community.
Its provision is dependent on the time of these volunteers. If you have benefited in any way from this course and want to support its long term sustainability then please take the time to complete our feedback survey, recommend it to your colleagues, and enthuse about it to your senior leadership team!
This workshop is brought to you by:
- The University of Exeter Research Software Engineering Group
- The Institute of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
- The University of Exeter Researcher Development Programme
- The University of Exeter Doctoral College