📖 About this Domain
This domain covers the absolute fundamentals of computer programming and the Python language. It explains how computers execute code through processes like interpretation and compilation. You will be introduced to the basic syntax and environment of Python.
🎓 What You Will Learn
- You will learn the definitions of fundamental concepts like machine code, source code, interpreter, and compiler.
- You will understand the Python execution model and the key distinctions between Python 2 and Python 3.
- You will learn to use the built-in print() function, including its keyword arguments like end and sep for output formatting.
- You will identify and use different types of literals in Python, such as integers, floats, and strings.
🛠️ Skills You Will Build
- You will build the skill to differentiate between a high-level language and a low-level language.
- You will gain the ability to write and execute a basic Python script that produces console output.
- You will develop proficiency in controlling output formatting using the print() function's parameters.
- You will acquire the skill to correctly identify and use numeric (integer, float) and string literals in source code.
💡 Top Tips to Prepare
- Memorize the exact definitions of interpreter and compiler, as questions often test this distinction.
- Practice invoking the print() function with multiple arguments and the end and sep keyword arguments.
- Be able to recognize non-decimal number representations, such as octal (0o) and hexadecimal (0x) literals.
- Focus on the core differences between Python 2 and Python 3, especially the print statement versus the print() function.
📖 About this Domain
This domain covers the fundamentals of controlling a program's execution path. You will learn about conditional execution with if statements and iterative execution with while and for loops, which are essential for creating non-linear programs.
🎓 What You Will Learn
- Implement decision-making logic using if, if-else, and if-elif-else conditional blocks based on Boolean expressions.
- Utilize while and for loops to perform repetitive tasks and iterate over sequences.
- Control loop execution flow with the break and continue statements to alter the standard iteration cycle.
- Generate integer sequences for loop control using the built-in range() function.
🛠️ Skills You Will Build
- Constructing algorithms that involve conditional logic and decision-making branches.
- Implementing iterative processes to handle repetitive computations and sequence traversal.
- Managing program flow by correctly nesting conditional and loop constructs.
- Debugging logical errors related to infinite loops and incorrect conditional evaluations.
💡 Top Tips to Prepare
- Master Python's indentation syntax for if, for, and while blocks as it is a critical part of the language's structure.
- Trace the state of variables through each loop iteration, especially when break and continue are involved.
- Understand the distinct use cases for while loops versus for loops for condition-based or sequence-based iteration.
- Practice all variations of the range() function, including its start, stop, and step parameters.
📖 About this Domain
This domain focuses on Python's core data collections. It covers the fundamental concepts of sequences and mappings, specifically lists, tuples, strings, and dictionaries. You will learn their defining characteristics, such as mutability and immutability, and how to manipulate them.
🎓 What You Will Learn
- You will learn to perform indexing and slicing operations to access elements and subsequences within lists, tuples, and strings.
- You will learn the distinction between mutable data collections like lists and immutable ones like tuples and strings.
- You will learn to utilize built-in methods to modify lists, process strings, and manage dictionary content.
- You will learn how to iterate over data collections using loops to process their elements sequentially.
🛠️ Skills You Will Build
- You will build the skill to select the correct data structure—list, tuple, or dictionary—based on problem requirements.
- You will build proficiency in manipulating list elements by appending, inserting, and deleting items.
- You will build text processing skills by applying various string methods for formatting and data extraction.
- You will build the ability to manage key-value pairs in dictionaries, including retrieval and iteration over keys, values, and items.
💡 Top Tips to Prepare
- Practice list slicing extensively, including negative indices and the step parameter, as it is a frequently tested concept.
- Memorize the functional differences between list methods that modify in-place, like .sort(), and functions that return a new object, like sorted().
- Understand that strings are immutable; methods like .replace() or .upper() return a new string, they do not change the original.
- Focus on dictionary methods like .keys(), .values(), and .items() for effective iteration in for loops.
📖 About this Domain
This domain covers the fundamentals of defining and invoking Python functions using the def keyword. It introduces core concepts like name scope, argument passing, and basic exception handling with the try-except block.
🎓 What You Will Learn
- You will learn the syntax for function definition and the mechanics of function invocation.
- You will understand positional, keyword, and mixed argument passing to supply data to function parameters.
- You will grasp the concept of variable name scope and using the return statement to output a result.
- You will be introduced to basic exception handling using the try-except block to manage runtime errors.
🛠️ Skills You Will Build
- You will build the skill to decompose complex problems into smaller, reusable functions.
- You will develop the ability to write robust code by implementing basic try-except blocks.
- You will gain proficiency in using positional and keyword arguments to create flexible functions.
- You will learn to effectively use Python's built-in functions like len(), int(), and str().
💡 Top Tips to Prepare
- Focus on the syntax of defining functions with def and returning values using the return keyword.
- Understand the difference between local variables inside a function and global variables.
- Write code examples that mix positional and keyword arguments to solidify your understanding.
- Practice wrapping code that might cause a runtime error inside a try-except block.
