T-Th 9:05
or
T-Th 11:15
in Olin 155

CS 1110: Introduction to Computing Using Python

Spring 2014

Lab Materials

Labs are held every week, during section. Times, places, and lab instructors are listed on the Times & Places page.

You will not be graded on your performance during lab, though you are expected to do them. Up to two labs may be missed; any more unexcused absences and we reserve the right to reduce your course grade (e.g. B goes to B-).

Lab descriptions and files are listed in the table below.

Lab Topic References Code
Lab 1 Evaluating Expressions
The purpose of this lab is two-fold: (a) to get you started with Python immediately; (b) to give you hands-on experience with expressions, the topic of the first lecture.
 
Lab 2 Functions, Strings, and Modules
The purpose of this lab is to get you comfortable with using Python functions and modules. Python has a lot of built-in modules, which collectively are called the Python library. You'll also practice more with string processing.
Reference for dealing with the command line  
Lab 3 Objects, Functions, and Testing
We practice testing functions, some related to objects.
  transcript.py
testtranscript.py
cornelltest.py
Lab 4 No lab - Feb break
 
 
Lab 5 Lists; Conditionals: Cards and Poker Hands
We practice with lists and conditionals by considering lists of Card objects, enabling us to draw poker hands.
List operations cardstuff.py
cardstufftest.py
Lab 6 An anagram solver: lists, for-loops, map, command-line arguments, accessing files
We write a program that accomplishes a pretty non-trivial task: finding anagrams. The program makes use of an insight about representing strings, storing strings and their “letter-sorted” in lists for easy access.
Sections 10.3, 10.7 unscramble.py
unscrambletest.py
scowl_utf-8.txt
small_dict.txt
Lab 7 Office hours/work on lab 6
No new lab exercise; on Tuesday you can come to work on lab 6 or ask questions of the staff during your prelim preparation, or not come at all. Don't come on Wednesday; no one wil be there.
   
Lab 8 Recursion Exercises
This lab gives you practice writing recursive functions. All of the functions in this lab are either be recursive functions on sequences, or recursive functions on integer.
Sections 5.8 - 5.10 lab08.py
test_lab08.py
Lab 9 Classes: Blackjack
You'll practice writing a class definition, in the context of a program that allows you to play blackjack. The module skeleton also contains a while-loop, which you may wish to gaze upon now and which we'll learn about later.
Chapters 15-17.6 blackjack.py
card.py
test_blackjack.py
Lab 10 Loop Exercises
Practice with loop assertions (preconditions, postconditions, and invariants) and while-loops.
Worked exercises on loop invariants lab10.py
card2.py
lab10test.py
Lab 11 Sequence Algorithms
This lab gives you practice developing loops from invariants, material that will be important for Prelim 2. It also contains an optional exercise about a sorting algorithm, which you may want to delay until later, when your studying for the final exam.
Worked exercises on loop invariants  
Lab 12 Office hours Tuesday/nobody there Wed
The Tuesday labs will be office hours for last-minute Prelim 2 questions; the Wednesday labs are canceled completely (no staff will be there).
   
Lab 13 Subclasses
This lab gives you some practice with writing a subclass and using exceptions to your advantage.
Chapter 17; Chapter 18 (especially 18.7); 14.5 card.py
extendedcard.py
Lab 14 Optional office hours
On Tuesday and Wednesday you can come work on Breakout or ask questions to prepare for the final, or not come at all.
   

Course Material Authors: D. Gries, L. Lee, S. Marschner, & W. White (over the years)