[SOLVED] CS flex python Excel Assignment 0: Getting Started with Python Introduction

Assignment 0: Getting Started with Python Introduction
In this course, you will continue to develop the programming skills you began building in ICS 31, with an ever-sharpening focus on solving larger, more complex problems at a level of quality that edges closer to work done by professionals. While the projects well work on this quarter might be simple for someone who has years of prior experience, we will nonetheless attack these problems with the same approach that a professional software engineer might. Well consider each problem in its full depth, think about how to work on it incrementally, spend some time testing our solution to ensure that it works correctly, and make sure that weve got the little details correct and not just the big ideas. Larger programs that solve real-world problems succeed or fail on being completely correct, and even a one-character mistake in input or output can sometimes make all the difference, so we need to get accustomed to that level of scrutiny, so that we can apply it when it is warranted.
Note
This rst assignment is adapted directly from the previous version of this course. Alex Thornton has done an excellent job of writing up the installation process and rst steps required to get started with python. So rather than reinvent the wheel, I will ask that you follow his instructions here.
This assignment will consist of two parts:
1. Set up your development environment, so you will be ready to work on your assignments this quarter.
2. Write a short program and submit it, to ensure that youre aware of the mechanisms of the course how to write short
Python programs, how to submit your work and so you can become acclimated to how automated testing will be used to grade at least some of your work this quarter.
Setting up your development environment
It is very common in real-world software development jobs to be given, at the outset of a new job, a list of tools that you will be required to use. Flexibility is great, and its nice to be able to choose ones own toolset, but, unfortunately, many software tools introduce constraints on how a program can be written, how its components can be arranged, what functions can be called, what documentation can be written and how, what additional software it can be combined with, how it can be built to be distributed to end users, and so on. So, like it or not, real-world software development usually requires at least some of the tools to be set in stone and used by all members of a team, even if not all members have the same preferences; this is simply a reality that software developers have to face.
Since we will be poking our heads into a fair number of darker real-world corners in this course, it becomes necessary for us to agree on the set of development tools that well use. Not only will it be important to agree on the right tools, but it will be important to agree to use the right versions of those tools, as each differs in not-insignicant ways. One goal of this assignment is to introduce you to those tools, provide instructions on how to install and congure them on your own machines, and get you ready to use them for your work this quarter.
Writing a short program
This assignment will also require you to write and submit a short program. Unlike most of our assignments, were less concerned about how you solve the problem than we normally will be. There are no points for what we call quality of solution, meaning that issues like style, organization of your program, and so on, are not relevant on this assignment. All that matters is that the program works, but that is a very precise requirement: The output of your program has to be correct to the character to receive full credit. Paying attention to the exact requirements, then, will be paramount.
The ICS 32 development environment
The development environment for this course may seem quite familiar if you took ICS 31 recently. As a standard, we will use the IDLE environment that is included with Python. However, we will be using a particular version of Python (3.9.1) and certain conguration that was less important previously will become more important to us this quarter. So rather than installing the tools yourself, Id like each of you to follow these instructions, even if you think there is a better way to do it; this way, everyone is on an equal footing, and later needs you may not be aware of if, for example, we start installing and using third-party libraries will be met.
Note that Python 3.9.1 was released in December 2020, and thats the version youll want to obtain for your use this quarter. Its ne, in principle, to use anything greater than 3.8.0 instead, if youve already got it installed I wouldnt expect there to be any differences that are all that meaningful to us, though it is possible that 3.9.1 will have xed a bug or two that affects us, so you
Contents
Introduction
Setting up your development environment Writing a short program
The ICS 32 development environment
What do I do to get things set up? The program
Naming and organizational requirements
Validity-checking your output How we will grade your submission
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might still consider upgrading. If you have a version older than 3.8.0, youll denitely need to upgrade, though, as there are some differences that will potentially affect your work this quarter.
What do I do to get things set up?
Assuming that you will be wanting to do at least some of your work on your own machine, how you prepare your environment depends on what operating system youre running on your machine.
Installing and Conguring the ICS 32 Development Environment on Windows
Installing and Conguring the ICS 32 Development Environment on macOS
Once youre done following the installation instructions for your chosen operating system, youre ready to proceed with your work in this course, beginning with this assignment.
The program
Your program is required to read a single line of input from the user (without printing any input prompt), which is expected to be a positive integer n (i.e., n will be neither zero nor negative). You can freely assume that your program will be given a positive integer, and its not important what you do in any other case; well only test your program with positive integer input. You can also freely assume that n will not be greater than 999.
After reading the input, your program will print a downward block diagonal of size n. The precise format of a downward block diagonal is best demonstrated with an example. If the input to the program was 4, the output would look like this:
A few additional requirements apply:
Though Ive indented the text above to set it apart from the rest of the project write-up, note that the left edge of the topmost block must begin in the leftmost column of the output (i.e., it should not be indented at all).
There must be no whitespace (e.g., spaces or tabs) at the end of each line of output.
There must be a newline on the end of each line, including the last one.
This is a complete specication of the structure of a downward block diagonal; the description is enough to solve the problem, so we will not be answering any additional questions about its structure. However, we are providing a tool that will give you a basic understanding of whether your program is reading the correct input and generating output in the correct format.
Naming and organizational requirements
How you organize your program is, for the most part, up to you, with a couple of requirements that youll need to follow.
Your program must be written entirely in a single Python module, in a le named a0.py. Note that capitalization and spacing are important here (i.e., no letters in the lename are capitalized and there are no spaces); theyre part of the requirement.
Executing your a0 module by, for example, pressing F5 or selecting Run Module from the Run menu in IDLE must cause your program to read its input and then print its output. It must not be necessary to call a function manually to make your program run.
Other than that, anything goes; you can organize your solution in any way youd like. Note that future assignments will take what we call quality of solution a lot more seriously, but the name of the game in this warm-up assignment is simply to submit a program that works.
Validity-checking your output
We are also providing a tool that you can use to sanity-check whether youve followed the basic requirements above. It will only give you a passing result in these circumstances:
Youve named your le a0.py. Executing that module is enough to execute your program. Your program reads its input and generates character-by-character correct input for one test scenario.
Note that additional test inputs will be used when we grade your assignment. The way to understand the sanity checkers output is to think of it this way: Just because the sanity checker says your program passes doesnt mean its perfect, but if you cannot get the sanity checker to report that your program passes, it surely will not pass all of our automated tests.
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Running the sanity checker is simple. First, download the Python module linked below:
a0_sanitycheck.py
Put that le into the same directory as your a0.py le. Running the a0_sanitycheck.py module for example, by loading it in IDLE and pressing F5 (or selecting Run Module from the Run menu) will run the sanity checker and report a result, which will be printed to the Python shell.
How we will grade your submission
Unlike other assignments, this assignment will be graded on a 2-point scale, with the 2 points being allocated completely to whether or not you submitted something that meets all of the above requirements. The following rubric will be used:
If all of our automated tests pass, you will receive 2 points.
If any of our automated tests pass (i.e., at least one of them passes, even if all the others fail), you will receive 1.5 points. If none of our automated tests pass, but you did submit a le named a0.py, you will receive 1 point.
If you did not submit a le named a0.py, but you did submit a Python module in a le whose name ends in .py, you will receive 0.5 points.
If you did not submit a Python module at all, you will receive 0 points.
By Mark S. Baldwin Copyright 2021.