Operation Manual

Experiments in Python
72
Notes:
In the previous sections you have seen how to develop programs using
Scratch and Greenfoot. These are a great environments for learning
how to construct a program from component parts. They take data
from the program and the user, manipulate it and then change what
you see on screen by following the instructions in your program.
However, this style of programming has limitations when it comes to
constructing solutions to much larger and more complex problems.
To get the best performance from a computer and to get the most
flexibility, there are many other computer programming languages
and techniques. They number in the hundreds, and each has its own
place in solving computer-science problems. Your Raspberry Pi could
interpret pretty much all of these languages.
To help you move closer to the process by which many real-world
applications are developed, this chapter shows you how programs are
written in one particularly popular language, called Python. According
to Wikipedia, “Python was conceived in the late 1980s and its
implementation was started in December 1989 by Guido van Rossum
at CWI in the Netherlands.” Python is a language that is intended to be
fun to use. It is named after the British comedy television series Monty
Python’s Flying Circus. If you don’t find it fun, wait until you try some
other computer languages!
This chapter is not intended as a tutorial or reference guide to the Python
language – if you want these, then there are many fine resources on the
internet. However, hopefully, these listings will be a great starting point
for you to experiment yourself.
Experiments in Python
Chapter 3