HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TRANSPORT

FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

CHAPTER 4
INTRODUCTION TO PROGRAMMING
AND PYTHON
 CONTENTS

1. Programs and Programming

2. Programming Language

3. Introduction to Python

4. Guideline for Installing and Using

Anaconda on Windows

Introduction to CSE 2
 1. Programs and Programming
• This course is about programming and computational thinking, not
about learning a programming language
• Once you learnt programming in one language, it is relatively easy to
learn another language, such as C++, Java,…
• What is programming?
• Programming is writing computer code to create a program, to solve
a problem.
• Programming is the translation of algorithm into a program to tell a
computer exactly what to do and how to do.
• Why learn programming?
• Programming gives you the ability to digitize your ideas.
• It is the important skill for your job

Introduction to CSE 3
 What is a program?
• A program is a sequence of instructions that performs a specific
task when executed by a computer.
• A program implements an algorithm.
• Program created by a programmer using a programming language.

Design Phase Implementation Phase

Introduction to CSE 4
 What is a program?

• A few basic instructions in the program:

• input: Get data from the keyboard, a file, the network, or some
other device.
• output: Display data on the screen, save it in a file, send it over the
network, etc.
• math: Perform basic mathematical operations.
• conditional execution: Check for certain conditions and run the
appropriate code.
• repetition: Perform some action repeatedly.

Introduction to CSE 5
 What is debugging?

• A bug is a mistake in a program.

• Bug may cause a program crash or give incorrect information.
• Debugging means to find the mistake and to fix it.
• Kinds of errors:
• Syntax error: Python cannot understand your program, and refuses
to execute it.
• Runtime error: When executing your program (at runtime), your
program suddenly terminates with an error message.
• Semantic error: Your program runs without error messages, but
does not do what it is supposed to do.

Introduction to CSE 6
 2. Programming Language
• An language used to create
programs.
• Have a set of keywords, syntax,
rules for instructing a computer to
perform specific tasks.
• The most popular languages are:
Python, Java, Javascript, C/C++,…
• Levels of Language
• Depending on how close they are to
the language the computer itself
uses (0s and 1s = low) or to the
language people use.

Introduction to CSE 7
Generation of programming languages

Intelligent
Languages
Non-procedural 5GL
Procedural Languages
Languages 4GL
Assembly 3GL
Language
2GL
Machine
Language
1GL

Introduction to CSE 8
 Levels: Overview

• Machine specific Machine Language (1GL)

• Fast execution
Low
• Difficult programming and Assembly Language (2GL)
Level
debugging
• Long code
• Human language like Procedural Languages (3GL)
• Slower execution Non-Procedural Languages (4GL)
High
• Easier programming and
Level Intelligent Languages (5GL)
debugging
• Shorter code

Introduction to CSE 9
 1GL: Machine Language
• The only language that the computer directly understands.
• Represents data and program instructions as 1s and Os-binary digits.
• Each type of computer has its own machine language.
→A computer could not understand programs written in another machine
language.
• Advantages:
• The code can run very fast and efficiently, since it is directly executed
by the CPU
• Disadvantages:
• Difficult to read, write, and edit if errors occur.
• Hardware-dependent programming language
• Not portable.

Introduction to CSE 10
 1GL: Machine Language

• Example: Machine Language To Add Two Numbers

Location Instruction Code Instruction Code Instruction Comments

Hex Binary Hex
100 0010 0001 0000 0100 2104 LDA 104 Load first operand
into AC
101 0001 0001 0000 0101 1105 ADD 105 Add second
operand to AC
102 0011 0001 0000 0110 3106 STA 106 Store sum in
location 106
103 0111 0000 0000 0001 7001 HLT Halt computer
104 0000 0000 0101 0011 0053 operand 83 decimal
105 1111 1111 1111 1110 FFFE operand -2 decimal
106 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 operand Store sum here

Introduction to CSE 11
 2GL: Assembly Language
• Is a symbolic language that use symbols to represent machine-
language instructions.
• An assembly language statement consists of a label, an operation
code, and one or more operands.
• Closely connected to machine language and the internal architecture
of the computer system.
• A source program written in assembly language need a translator
often known as the assembler to convert them into machine
language.

Introduction to CSE 12
 2GL: Assembly Language
• Example: Assembly Language program to add two numbers.

ORG 100 /Origin of program is location 100

LDA A /Load operand from location A
ADD B /Add operation form location B
STA C /Store sum in location C
HLT /Halt computer
A, DEC 83 /Decimal operand
B, DEC –2 /Decimal operand
C, DEC 0 /Sum stored in location C
END

• Advantages:
• Efficient in terms of execution time and main memory usage
• Disadvantages:
• Machine-dependent → less portable

Introduction to CSE 13
 3GL: Procedural Languages
• The program statements are not closely related to the internal
characteristics of the computer and is referred to high-level
languages.
• Resembles natural/human languages.
• A translator is needed to translate the instructions
written in high level language into machine language.
• Interpreter
• Compiler

Introduction to CSE 14
 3GL: Procedural Languages
• Some procedural languages: Pascal, C/C++, C#, Java, Cobol,…
• Advantages:
• Portable
• Easy to read, write, debug → the programmer has more time to
think about overall program logic.
• Disadvantages:
• Require translator → slow execution.
• Example: C program to add two numbers

int a, b, c;
a = 83;
b = -2;
c = a + b;

Introduction to CSE 15
 4GL: Non-procedural Languages
• Very High-Level Languages
• Programmers define only what they want the computer to do,
without supplying all the details of how it has to be done.
• The code is written in English-like sentences.
• Example of a 4GL is the query language that allows a user to
request information from a database.
• Advantages:
• Code is easier to maintain
• Enhances the productivity of the programmers as they have to type
fewer lines of code to get something done.
• A minimum of training by both programmers and non-programmers
• Disadvantages:
• Do not make efficient use of machine’s resources.

Introduction to CSE 16
 4GL: Non-procedural Languages
• Examples of Non-Procedural Languages:
• SQL, QBE, Intellect,…

Introduction to CSE 17
 5GL: Non-procedural Languages
• 5GLs are centered on solving problems using constraints given to
the program, rather than using an algorithm written by a
programmer.
• They are widely used in artificial intelligence research.
• Knowledge-based languages.
• Examples of a 5GL: Prolog, OPS5, and Mercury.
• Resembles to the "natural“ language.

Introduction to CSE 18
 Choosing a Language

• The decision on which language to use is dependent:

• Work environment
• Suitability for the task
• Speed of development or speed of execution
• Expertise of the programmer
• …

Introduction to CSE 19
 3. Introduction to Python

• Python is a programming language that is easy to learn and very

powerful.
• It is free and well documented.
• Runs everywhere.
• A clean syntax.
→ Used in many universities for introductory courses.
• Well supported by tools.
• Main language used for web programming at Google.
• Widely used in scientific computation, for instance at NASA, by
mathematicians and physicists.
• Large portions of games (such as Civilization IV) are written in
Python.

Introduction to CSE 20
 The History of Python
History Python was created by Guido van Rossum in the
of Netherlands in 1990
Python
Simple, concise, and intuitive syntax and extensive library

A general-purpose programming language

Python code is translated and executed by an interpreter

An object-oriented programming (OOP) language

One of the largest and best-organized open source projects

going.
Two versions of Python are : Python 2 and Python 3

Introduction to CSE 21
 Environments

• Install Anaconda Environment: allows

• Terminal running Python Interactively (Anaconda Prompt)
• Running Scripts (Spyder IDE)
• Jupyter Notebook
• Anaconda
• A package of goodies
• Widely used for data analysis.
• Many useful Python libraries preinstalled
• Versions for major Operating Systems (OS)

Introduction to CSE 22
 Q&A

Introduction to CSE 23