Aug 21: Getting Started with Thonny

Learning Objectives

After today's class, you should be able to:

• Open, edit, save, and run a program in Thonny.
• Submit a homework exercise on Gradescope.
• Ask and answer questions (later) on Piazza.

Lesson Outline

Welcome! [10 min]

• Name tents; get to know other students at your table
• About the course; introductions by professor and TA

Mini Lab [20 min]

• Demonstration of Thonny Python IDE (see code below)
• Walk-through of how to submit "Lab 0" on Gradescope

Getting Help [15 min]

• Click the Piazza link in Canvas and set up your account
• What questions do you have about the syllabus/course?

Wrap-Up [5 min]

• Explanation of "your to-do list" below (rest of the week)

Your To-Do List

By the end of today

• Pre-Survey: Please submit this "quiz" if you haven't already!

By the end of Thursday

• Install Thonny on your laptop so you can work from home

By the end of Friday

• 1Pic1Par: Introduce yourself to your section (see example)

Due Tuesday at 11pm

• Get the required textbook and read Chapter 1: Statements
• Submit HW 1 (5 exercises + attribution) on Gradescope

Example Code

Here is the solution for today's mini-lab. Notice how lines 1–6 are formatted. When you submit to Gradescope, always include (1) a short description, (2) your name, and (3) the date. These lines must be formatted exactly as shown.

"""Exercise 0.1 Hello World.

Author: Chris Mayfield
Version: 08/21/2024
"""

print("Hello, World!")

Here is a more interesting example that uses turtle graphics. If you have time during/after class, try extending the following code to draw a picture. Check out Trinket's Visual Introduction to Python for ideas.

import turtle
import time

turtle.shape("turtle")
turtle.speed(1)
time.sleep(0.5)

turtle.penup()
turtle.forward(25)
turtle.write("Hello there!")
turtle.backward(25)