Practice of Computing Using Python, The, Global Edition (3^rd Ed.)

For courses in Python Programming

Now in its 3rd Edition, Practice of Computing Using Python continues to introduce both majors and non-majors taking CS1 courses to computational thinking using Python, with a strong emphasis on problem solving through computer science. The authors have chosen Python for its simplicity, powerful built-in data structures, advanced control constructs, and practicality. The text is built from the ground up for Python programming, rather than having been translated from Java or C++.

Focusing on data manipulation and analysis as a theme, the text allows students to work on real problems using Internet-sourced or self-generated data sets that represent their own work and interests. The authors also emphasise program development and provide both majors and non-majors with a practical foundation in programming that will be useful in their respective fields. Among other changes, the 3rd Edition incorporates a switch to the Anaconda distribution, the SPYDER IDE, and a focus on debugging and GUIs.

• I. Thinking About Computing
• 0. The Study of Computer Science
• II. Starting to Program
• 1. Beginnings
• 2. Control
• 3. Algorithms and Program Development
• III. Data Structures and Functions
• 4. Working with Strings
• 5. Functions-QuickStart
• 6. Files and Exceptions I
• 7. Lists and Tuples
• 8. More on Functions
• 9. Dictionaries and Sets
• 10. More Program Development
• IV. Classes, making your own Data Structure and Algorithms
• 12. More on Classes
• 13. Program Development with Classes
• V. Being a better programmer
• 14. Files and Exceptions II
• 15. Recursion: Another Control Mechanism
• 16. Other Fun Stuff with Python
• 17. The End, or Perhaps the Beginning

• A switch to Anaconda distribution, made freely available from Continuum Analytics, includes more than 100 pre-installed modules, removing the need for package installation.
• Fully adopted SPYDER Integrated Development Environment as a default method for editing and debugging code in the text. A truly modern IDE, Spyder has the advantages of including an integrated editor, associated interactive console, integrated debugging, integrated variable explorer, and integrated documentation viewer. Chapter 1 has been rewritten to incorporate the SPYDER IDE.
• Anaconda also includes the iPython console, a more capable console, with features including:
  • An interactive history list
  • Help on functions and variables using the “?” syntax
  • Command line completion
• iPython console incorporated in every session with its features sprinkled throughout the text.
• 'What’s wrong with my code” element has been added to several chapters to address the challenge of debugging.
• “Visual Vignettes” have been updated and simplified.
• Simple GUI development is included in several chapters, as well as a new appendix on web-based GUIs in response to student interest.
• 80 new end-of-chapter exercises are included.
• Chapter 16 provides discussion about Python Numbers and the various representations that are available.
• Chapter 5 has been rewritten to not depend on Chapter 4, allowing instructors to choose the order in which they introduce concepts of strings and functions.
• Problem solving and case studies are emphasised throughout the text, including in 3 optional chapters (3, 10, and 13) that use examples to show mistakes and how to recover from them.
• Real-world, gender-neutral examples and exercises encourage students to use Python to sort, apply, graph, and convert data. Examples include poker hands, the Gettysburg Address, EPA mileage data, breast cancer classifier, speech analys