COMP 150 – Intro.

to Programming

Faisal Naeem, PhD

University of the Fraser Valley
Computer Information Systems Department

http://www.ufv.ca/cis/

January 4, 2024
 About — Dr. Faisal Naeem

Experience:
• Senior Machine Learning Research
Engineer, ReMI ( 2022 - 2023)
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow, ReMI ( 2022 -
2023)
• PhD., NUCES-FAST (Sep. 2018 - Aug. 2021)

2 January 4, 2024 Winter, 2024

 Administrative Details

• Lectures – Blended: mix of in-person and online

• Lecture Notes (published on Blackboard Learn)
• Lecture Notes (published prior to classes).
• Office Hours – Email instructor for appointments (using Faisal.naeem@ufv.ca).
Please ensure your subject is of the form ’COMP 150 ON[x] - [INSERT YOUR SUBJECT]’; where
’x’ corresponds to your session index.
• Labs – These will hold (for each class) at the last 1.5 hours of the scheduled meeting times.
• Activity for the lab will be made available on the day of class, via the course page on blackboard.
• 100 points for completed labs during the lab time.
• partial points may be allotted according to the rules in the syllabus.
• Quizzes - (would be announced in advance – ONLINE).

3 September 15, 2020 Fall, 2020

 Instructor’s Expectations

Let us all:

• be professional, when asking questions in

class, email, interacting with one another;

• NOT participate or abet academic

misconduct;

• attend classes and labs – talk to class mates

when you are away and be attentive;

• (where possible), please turn off your mobile

phone;

• participate during – discussions, activities,

group project; and

• ask questions or clarifications as often as

needed.

4 September 15, 2020 Fall, 2020

 Definition of Programming language

• Definition: A programming language is a computer language that is used by programmers (developers) to

communicate with computers. It is a set of instructions written in any specific language ( C, C++, Java,
Python) to perform a specific task.

• Objective: Communicate the desired actions to the computer.

5 September 15, 2020 Fall, 2020

 Why Programming Matters for Students

•Unlocking Problem-Solving Skills

• Programming enhances critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.

•Preparing for Future Careers

• In-demand skill across various industries.
• Opens doors to exciting and well-paying opportunities.

•Real-World Example:

• Industry Demand: Companies in tech, automotive, healthcare, and more actively seek
programmers with expertise in areas like face recognition, autonomous driving, and artificial
intelligence.

6 September 15, 2020 Fall, 2020

 Course Objectives

After completing this course, you will be able to

write:

• cohesive computer programs;

• well-documented and effective program code; and
• program to solve a variety of problems, using various constructs supported by the taught
programming language (in our case - Python).

7 September 15, 2020 Fall, 2020

 Course Objectives

PROBLEM
SOLVING

PRACTICE
8 6.00
01
LEC
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KNOWLEDGE PROGRAMMING
OF CONCEPTS SKILL
 FAST PACED COURSE

 Position yourself to succeed!

 New to programming? PRACTICE. PRACTICE? PRACTICE!
9
◦ can’t passively absorb programming6.00 as a skill
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◦ download code before lecture and LEC
TUR
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follow along
◦ do practice exercises
◦ don’t be afraid to try out Python commands!
 Topics to be covered!

• Part 1: Elements of Programming • Part 4: Elementary Data Structures

• Variables, Assignment, Operations, • Using built-in data structures (e.g., lists,
built-in-types of data... strings, dictionaries, etc.) for storing and
• Part 2: Structured Programming manipulating data.
• Control flow structures (e.g., if-statements, • Part 5: Algorithms
for-loop, while-loop).
• More about algorithms: recursion, basic
• Part 3: Functions and Modules
sorting and searching algorithms.
• Modular programming - idea of breaking a
program into sub-programs that can be
independently debugged, maintained, and
re-used.

10 September 15, 2020 Fall, 2020

 Textbooks

• ”Python for Everybody: Exploring Data Using

Python 3” by C.R. Severance
• ”Think Python: How to think like a Computer
Scientist, 2nd Ed - Version 2.4.0” by A.B. Downey
et al.
• 2nd Edition - Version 2.4.0
• Learning with Python 3 (RLE)
• An interactive edition of the book. (very useful)

1 September 15, 2020 Fall, 2020

 Course info: Marking Scheme

12 September 15, 2020 Fall, 2020

 Grading Policy

13 September 15, 2020 Fall, 2020

 WHAT DOES A COMPUTER DO

 Fundamentally:
◦ performs calculations
a billion calculations per second!
1
4 ◦ remembers results 6.00
01
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100s of gigabytes of storage! E 1
 What kinds of calculations?
◦ built-in to the language
◦ ones that you define as the programmer
 computers only know what you tell them
 TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE

 declarative knowledge is statements of fact.

 Saying what you want

1 6.00
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 imperative knowledge is a recipe or
TUR “how-to achieve it”.
LEC
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 WHAT IS A RECIPE

1) sequence of simple steps

2) flow of control process that specifies when each step
is executed
3)16 a means of determining when to6.00
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stop
LEC
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1+2+3 = an algorithm!
 STORED PROGRAM COMPUTER

 sequence of instructions stored inside computer

◦ built from predefined set of primitive instructions
1) arithmetic and logic
1
7 2) simple tests 6.00
01
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3) moving data TUR
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 special program (interpreter) executes each

instruction in order
◦ use tests to change flow of control through
sequence
◦ stop when done
 CREATING RECIPES

 a programming language provides a set of primitive

operations
 expressions are complex but legal combinations of primitives in a
programming
1
language 6.00
8 01
LEC
 expressions and computations have values
TUR and meanings in a
E1
programming language
 Programming Basics

 code or source code: The sequence of instructions in a program.

 syntax: The set of legal structures and commands that can

be used in a particular programming language.

 output: The messages printed to the user by a program.

 console: The text box onto which output is printed.

 Some source code editors pop up the console as an external
window,
and others contain their own console window.

1
 Python High Level Programming Language

 Python is instead directly interpreted into machine

instructions.

interpret
source code byte code output
Hello.java Hello.class

source code output

Hello.py

2
 ASPECTS OF LANGUAGES

 primitive constructs
◦ English: words
◦ programming language: numbers, strings,
simple operators
2 6.00
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Word Cloud copyright Michael Twardos, All Right Reserved. This content is excluded from our Word Cloud copyright unknown, All Right Reserved.
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 ASPECTS OF LANGUAGES

 Syntax
◦ English: "cat dog boy"  not syntactically valid
"cat hugs boy"  syntactically valid
◦ programming language: "hi"5  not syntactically valid
3.2*5  syntactically valid
2 6.00
 Logic
2
errors 01
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 Runtime
print(1/0)
 WHERE THINGS GO WRONG

 syntactic errors
◦ common and easily caught
 static semantic errors
◦ some languages check for these before running program
◦23can cause unpredictable behavior 6.00
01
LEC
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 no semantic errors but different meaning than what
programmer intended
◦ program crashes, stops running
◦ program runs forever
◦ program gives an answer but different than expected
 Practice examples

2 6.00
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Class activity Quiz
 PYTHON INSTALLATION

https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/download/?section=windows
2 6.00
6 01
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 PYTHON FIRST PROGRAM

print("Hello, World!“)
Syntax Errors
Print["Hello, World!“]
Runtime
2
7 Errors 6.00
01
LEC
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Print (1/0)

Logic Errors
# Convert Fahrenheit to Celsius
print("Fahrenheit 35 is Celsius degree ")
print(5 / 9 * 35 - 32)
 PYTHON DATA TYPES

Integer
Float
2 6.00
String8 01
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Boolean
 PRACTICE EXERICE

2 6.00
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 Studying for this course!

Success tips:

• Make possible effort to attend classes and

laboratory sessions;

• Solve problems everywhere (including your

homes);

• Read lecture notes, books and solve

problems – in the exercises;

• Practice! Practice!! Practice!!! - no shortcut

to success;

• Learning to program is an incremental

process
– dont move to the next topic if you dont
understand the present topic.

30 September 15, 2020 Fall, 2020

 Questions?

31 September 15, 2020 Fall, 2020