Book Image

Applied Computational Thinking with Python

By : Sofía De Jesús, Dayrene Martinez
Book Image

Applied Computational Thinking with Python

By: Sofía De Jesús, Dayrene Martinez

Overview of this book

Computational thinking helps you to develop logical processing and algorithmic thinking while solving real-world problems across a wide range of domains. It's an essential skill that you should possess to keep ahead of the curve in this modern era of information technology. Developers can apply their knowledge of computational thinking to solve problems in multiple areas, including economics, mathematics, and artificial intelligence. This book begins by helping you get to grips with decomposition, pattern recognition, pattern generalization and abstraction, and algorithm design, along with teaching you how to apply these elements practically while designing solutions for challenging problems. You’ll then learn about various techniques involved in problem analysis, logical reasoning, algorithm design, clusters and classification, data analysis, and modeling, and understand how computational thinking elements can be used together with these aspects to design solutions. Toward the end, you will discover how to identify pitfalls in the solution design process and how to choose the right functionalities to create the best possible algorithmic solutions. By the end of this algorithm book, you will have gained the confidence to successfully apply computational thinking techniques to software development.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
1
Section 1: Introduction to Computational Thinking
9
Section 2:Applying Python and Computational Thinking
14
Section 3:Data Processing, Analysis, and Applications Using Computational Thinking and Python
20
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Using variables and functions

In Python, we use variables to store a value. We can then use the value to perform operations, evaluate expressions, or use them in functions. Functions give sets of instructions for the algorithm to follow when they are called in an algorithm. Many functions include variables within them. So, let's first look at how we define and use variables, then take a look at Python functions.

Variables in Python

Python does not have a command for declaring variables. We can create variables by naming them and setting them equal to whatever value we'd like. Let's take a look at an algorithm that contains multiple variables:

ch8_variables.py

name = 'Marcus'
b = 10
country_1 = 'Greece'
print(name)
print(b)
print(country_1)

As you can see, we can use a letter, a longer name, and even include underscores in naming our variables. We cannot, however, start a variable name with a number. When we run this program, we get...