Python for Software Design How to Think Like a Computer Scientist

A no-nonsense introduction to software design using the Python programming language. Written for people with no programming experience, this book starts with the most basic concepts and gradually adds new material. Some of the ideas students find most challenging, like recursion and object-oriented programming, are divided into a sequence of smaller steps and introduced over the course of several chapters. The focus is on the programming process, with special emphasis on debugging. The book includes a wide range of exercises, from short examples to substantial projects, so that students have ample opportunity to practise each new concept. Exercise solutions and code examples are available from thinkpython.com, along with Swampy, a suite of Python programs that is used in some of the exercises.

1. Preface; 2. The way of the program; 3. Variables, expressions and statements; 4. Functions; 5. Case study: interface design; 6. Conditionals and recursion; 7. Fruitful functions; 8. Iteration; 9. Strings; 10. Case study: word play; 11. Lists; 12. Dictionaries; 13. Tuples; 14. Case study: data structure selection; 15. Files; 16. Classes and objects; 17. Classes and functions; 18. Classes and methods; 19. Inheritance; 20. Case study: Tkinter; Appendix 1: debugging.

A no-nonsense introduction to software design using the Python programming language. The focus is on the programming process, with special emphasis on debugging. The book includes a wide range of exercises, from short examples to substantial projects, so that students have ample opportunity to practise each new concept.

Allen B. Downey, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts. He has taught at Wellesley College, Colby College, and UC Berkeley. He has a doctorate in computer science from UC Berkeley and a Master's degree from MIT. Dr Downey is the author of a previous version of this book, titled How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python, which he self-published in 2001.