Python Programming for AI

From Problem to Algorithm

Inputs, precise steps and outputs, and what makes an algorithm complete and correct

Activity: write the steps to find the largest of three numbers

Pseudocode and Flowcharts

Writing one algorithm as structured plain language and as a flowchart, using sequence, decision and repetition

Interactive: turn a flowchart into pseudocode

Tracing an Algorithm by Hand

Dry-running the steps with a trace table to predict the result before any program runs

Activity: trace a loop that totals a list of marks

Introduction to Python

What Python is, why AI uses it, and how a program runs

Run a first program in the browser

Setting Up a Python Environment

Browser playground, Jupyter notebooks, VS Code and Google Colab

Lab: open and run a notebook

Output, Comments and Program Structure

print(), comments, statements and indentation

Code: print a formatted profile card

Reading Errors and Debugging

Syntax errors and exceptions, and reading a traceback

Code: fix three broken programs

Variables

Creating, naming and updating variables

Code: store and update a score

Data Types

Integers, floats, strings, booleans and None, and type()

Code: identify the type of each value

Input and Type Conversion

input(), int(), float() and str()

Code: an age calculator

Operators and Expressions

Arithmetic, assignment, comparison and logical operators, and their order

Code: a shopping bill calculator

Strings, Indexing and Slicing

Accessing characters and parts of text

Code: extract initials and reverse a word

String Methods and Formatting

upper, lower, strip, split, replace, join and f-strings

Code: clean and format user input

Conditional Statements

if, elif and else, with nested decisions

Code: a grade calculator

for Loops and range()

Repeating work for each item and for a count

Code: a multiplication table

while Loops, break and continue

Repeating until a condition changes

Code: a number-guessing game

Lists

Creating, indexing, changing, sorting and looping over lists

Code: a marks list with average and topper

Tuples and Sets

Fixed sequences and unique collections

Code: find unique words in a sentence

Dictionaries

Key-value pairs, lookups and nested dictionaries

Code: a word counter

List and Dictionary Comprehensions

Building collections in one clear line

Code: squares and filters

Defining Functions

Parameters, arguments, return values and default values

Code: a reusable temperature converter

Scope and Lambda Functions

Where variables live, and short anonymous functions

Code: sort records with a lambda

Modules and Libraries

import, the standard library, and installing packages with pip

Code: use math, random and datetime

Stacks and Queues

Last-in-first-out and first-in-first-out, with a list and collections.deque

Code: an undo button and a print queue

Linear and Binary Search

Checking items one by one, and halving a sorted list at every step

Code: find a name in a sorted list both ways

Sorting Algorithms

Selection, bubble and insertion sort written by hand, compared with sorted()

Code: sort scores by hand and check against sorted()

Recursion

A function that calls itself, the base case and the call stack

Code: factorial and a countdown

Algorithm Efficiency and Big-O Notation

Counting the steps an algorithm takes as the input grows

Code: count comparisons in linear and binary search

Linear search O(n), binary search O(log n), bubble sort O(n²)

Reading and Writing Files

Text files and CSV files

Code: save and load an attendance register

Handling Exceptions

try, except, else and finally

Code: a calculator that never crashes

Introduction to Classes and Objects

Bundling data and behaviour, __init__ and self

Code: a Student class

Project: A Rule-Based Chatbot

Keyword matching, responses and a conversation loop

Project: build a help-desk chatbot

Project: A Marks Analyser

Reading data, computing statistics and reporting results

Project: analyse a batch of marks from a CSV file

Module Review and Assessment

Coding exercises and a scored quiz

Graded coding exercises