Lecture 1

[winterthunder]

All right! Computer science skillz, here we come!

If you haven't already, take a look over at this page and make sure you have the correct version of Python installed on your computer. Remember, if you install 3.0 the code you write in this course will not be compatible.

Lecture 1 video is here, and covers definitions and other introductory things. In an ideal world, I would have watched it already, but it's currently playing in another window while I multi-task, and I didn't want to wait any longer to put this post up. It seems basic thus far, but I shall edit this post if I come up with any questions. Also, feel free to comment with anything that doesn't make sense to you. We have over 25 people following along and we're all beginners, so we should be helping each other out. :)

Edit 1:

Ok, I've watched the lecture, and aside from not being able to see what he's typing on the computer screen, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm going to take some time over the next few days to dig into the readings and see if I can't get an idea of what was on the screen.

Comments

[smc1225]

I was able to complete problem set 0 but at first couldn't figure out how to get it to run. You actually need to open a new window to write your code and then run it. This is where I got stuck!

I went back to a previous post on lecture 1 and someone posted a link to a site for getting started with Python in IDLE. That helped a lot!

[winterthunder]

Oooh, that link does look helpful! I haven't started with the problem set yet. Tis on the to-do list for the next few days...

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[(Anonymous)]

The purchases I make are entirely based on these articels.

[dodificus]

You actually need to open a new window to write your code and then run it. This is where I got stuck!

Thank you *very* much for that, I'd hate to have gotten stumped right at the very beginning:)

[smc1225]

No problem. I actually got frustrated and gave up because I couldn't get it to run correctly. Then I gave it one more shot and found the link above or I probably wouldn't have continued.

[purpleyin]

Bit tardy to this. One thing I didn't get was "recall" exercise on the IDLE getting started...I just don't know what it means, not come across that in math terms.

[winterthunder]

Hey, I wanted to let you know I'm not ignoring you, but IDLE isn't jumping out of my notes and I'm not going to have time to go track it down for another couple of days. In the meantime, someone's posted a link a few comments up that might be helpful...

[smc1225]

This threw me off too. I thought it was a math term as well. But they were just giving a reminder for the quadratic equation to use to answer the problem.

Formula:
a*x^2 + b*x + c
x1 = ( - b + sqrt ( b*b - 4*a*c ) ) / ( 2*a)

Use this formula to solve the problem to find the positive root of the following equation:
34*x^2 + 68*x - 510

a=34
b=68
c=-510

solve for x
x1 = (-68 + sqrt (68*68 - 4*32*-510))/(2*32) (this will give you the value of x) which you put in place of x in the problem above.

I think I did this right - it's been a while.

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[(Anonymous)]

Furearlz? That's marvelously good to know.

[thene]

Not even remotely on topic, but I just realised your default icon is an image I had on my wall about 8-10 years ago. :)

I just got my internet connection back after a 3-week break - I'll try to catch up asap!

[winterthunder]

I've got it on my wall now, actually! I don't run into many other people who have seen it... :D

We're not too far in, so you should be able to catch up with a few hours of work. Welcome!

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[(Anonymous)]

This atrlice achieved exactly what I wanted it to achieve.