Lesson 2
The Basic Elements
Chapter 1: Introduction
Getting your hands dirty
In Lesson 1, I did most of the talking and let you passively absorb knowledge.
From this lesson onwards, we will start doing things differently. You will get your hands dirty, and start writing programs in Python.
You will be applying your knowledge continuously by actively doing things yourself. This is the best way to learn programming. No amount of lectures can replace you trying things out yourself. Be curious, and do not worry about making mistakes. You are very very unlikely to blow up your computer at this stage, no matter what you do. If you have any doubt about something, try it out yourself and observe/understand the output!
I have designed each lesson to be made up of chapters. Each chapter will typically be introducing a specific short topic, and you will immediately be applying and trying things out.
I may often present you with some practical quizzes. Please try these quizzes as I have included many ‘gotcha’ trick questions in the quiz that I will not be explicitly teaching you.