Introduction to Python

This module introduces the Python vocabulary students need before writing games and robot-control code.

Learning Goals

• Use variables to store values.
• Distinguish common data types such as integers, floats, booleans, strings, lists, tuples, and dictionaries.
• Run expressions in the Python interpreter.
• Understand that variables reference values in memory.
• Read simple if, while, and for structures.

Suggested Flow

1. Open a terminal and run the Python interpreter with python3.
2. Try arithmetic and string expressions.
3. Assign values to variables and inspect them.
4. Use type(...) to compare values.
5. Move from the interpreter into a .py file in VS Code.

Student Checks

Ask students to predict each result before running it:

x = 10
y = 10.0
name = "robot"
ready = True

print(type(x))
print(type(y))
print(name + " arm")
print(not ready)

Materials

• Introduction to Python slides
• Introduction to lab and course slides

Connection to Robotics

Robot programs use the same small building blocks as beginner games: values, choices, repetition, and named helper functions. The difference is that the output eventually becomes physical motion instead of text on the screen.