First Technology Transfer

Standard and Advanced Technical Training, Consultancy and Mentoring

Getting to Grips with Python

Duration: 5 Days

Over the course of 5 days the essentials of programming with Python on Windows and Linux (RaspberryPi) will be explored and on the last day programming the BBC Microbit in Python will also be explored. Understanding of Python to the level covered in this course is essential for participating in the other workshops in the Python stream. The course aims to bring students up to a level comparable to that required when using Python as a programming language at A Level Computer Science.

As well as covering basic syntax and programming techniques, it introduces GUI, database and debugging modules.

  • Tkinter - a widely used framework for implementing graphical user interfaces
  • SQLite - a lightweight relational database that is widely used in embedded and mobile phone applications and which is a good introductory database for teaching SQL
  • pdb - Python’s debugging module.

The set book for this course, which will be provided for each student, in addition to course notes and code examples is Learning to Program in Python by P.M. Heathcote. Students are expected to bring their own laptops running a recent version of Windows with a recent version of Python 3 installed. [ Instructions for installing Python before coming on the course will be provided ] . Where students cannot provide their own laptops there will be a pool of classroom laptops available for use. RaspberryPi platforms and BBC Microbit boards will be provided for use during the course. The inclusion of micro python is important as this will provide an entry point to programming other embedded systems and IoT (Internet of Things) devices.