Course Introduction and Python Basics

EE1021 Programming for Engineers · Lecture 1 · Fall 2026–2027

Basri Erdogan

Lecture Goals

  1. Understand the course structure, grading, weekly flow, and practice expectations
  2. Know the tools used in EE1021: Python 3 and VS Code with the Python extension
  3. Explain how an algorithm becomes statements and expressions in a program
  4. Use first Python concepts: values, types, variables, expressions, and operators
  5. Work with strings, indexing, slicing, print(), and input()

Part 1: Course Setup

Instructors

Instructor

  • Basri ERDOGAN
  • Office: 2D-07
  • E-mail: b.erdogan@iku.edu.tr
  • Office hours: Monday 13:00–14:00 and Wednesday 11:00–12:00, or by e-mail appointment

Lab Assistant

  • Res. Asst. Ahmet Aytuğ AYRANCI
  • E-mail: ahmet.ayranci@iku.edu.tr
  • Available during and after the Thursday lab sessions
  • Lab sections and rules: Syllabus tool in CATS

Welcome to Computer Programming

We will learn to program in Python to solve real-world engineering problems. No prior experience is required, but steady practice matters.

1 Before class

Skim the slides and bring one question.

2 In the lab

Write, run, and explain your own code.

3 After class

Redo one example without looking at the solution.

4 When stuck

Ask early in class, lab, office hours, or by e-mail.

Course Sessions

Lecture — Wednesday 09:00–10:50, 4C-0406

  • New topic each week, with short predict-and-check exercises
  • Ask questions as we go; do not wait until the lab
  • Attendance is recorded with the PUMA QR code shown in class

Lab — Thursday, B2 Electrical Lab

  • Section 1 at 11:00–12:50, Section 2 at 13:00–14:50; you attend your own section
  • You practise Wednesday’s topic by writing and running code yourself
  • Five short lab quizzes on paper in weeks 3, 4, 5, 10 and 11 count 20% of the grade; no make-up for a missed quiz
  • You may miss at most two lab sessions in the term
  • No lab this week (17 September). First lab: Thursday 24 September.

Course Roadmap: Weeks 1–6

Weekly rhythm: the Wednesday lecture introduces the topic; the Thursday lab practises it. The first lab is in week 2.

01 Course and Python basics 16 Sep

Variables, numbers, strings, input and output. No lab this week.

02 Control flow 23 Sep

if / else, for and while. Lab 1: strings, if-else and loops

03 Functions and modules 30 Sep

Built-in functions, your own functions, scope. Lab 2 + Quiz 1

04 Data structures 7 Oct

Strings, tuples, lists, dictionaries and sets. Lab 3 + Quiz 2

05 Debugging, errors and exceptions 14 Oct

Reading error messages, try / except. Lab 4 + Quiz 3

06 Object-oriented programming I 21 Oct

Classes, objects and methods. Lab 5 and midterm practice; project topics announced

Course Roadmap: Weeks 7–12

Second half: object-oriented programming, then data, files and numerical computing, ending with the project presentations.

07 No class 28–29 Oct

Cumhuriyet Bayramı. Make-up days: 7–8 December (MATLAB basics)

08 Midterm exam 4 Nov

Written exam in the lecture hour, weeks 1–6. Lab: solutions and review

09 Object-oriented programming II 11 Nov

Inheritance and applications. Lab 6; project groups registered

10 Data and visualisation 18 Nov

NumPy arrays and matplotlib plots. Lab 7 + Quiz 4

11 File input/output and CSV 25 Nov

Reading and writing data files. Lab 8 + Quiz 5

12 Numerical computing and review 2 Dec

Lab: project presentations and submission. Final exam: 9–22 December

Grading

20% Lab quizzes

Five short written quizzes in the lab, weeks 3, 4, 5, 10 and 11; the average counts

25% Midterm

Written exam in week 8 (4 November): trace and explain code

35% Final

Written exam, 9–22 December, covering the whole course

20% Project

Group project (3 students): working program, short report and presentation in week 12

Practice homework is not graded. Missed lab quizzes have no make-up. Letter grades: relative evaluation in Orion; at least 20/100 in the final exam is required to pass. Attendance: at least 80%, and no more than two missed lab sessions.

Tools and Learning Resources

  • Python 3 runs your programs; it is installed on the lab PCs.
  • VS Code with the Python extension is the course editor. On the lab PCs use the desktop shortcut EE1021 Python.
  • At home: install Python 3 from python.org, then VS Code and its Python extension. If you already have Anaconda, it also works.
  • Course text: Guttag, Introduction to Computation and Programming Using Python, 2nd ed. (MIT Press) — free alternative: Think Python, 3rd edition
  • Language reference: The Python Tutorial

1 Install Python 3

python.org/downloads — tick “Add python.exe to PATH”

2 Install VS Code + Python extension

code.visualstudio.com, then the Python extension by Microsoft

3 Open a folder and run

Create hello.py, press the Run button, read the output in the terminal.

Your IDE Workspace

Course demonstrations and worksheets use VS Code: write code in the editor, press Run, read the output in the TERMINAL panel, and check the interpreter name in the Status Bar.

First Run: A Power Calculator

Type this program in VS Code, predict the output, and run it.

voltage = 12.0
current = 1.5
power = voltage * current

print("Power:", power, "W")

Do not worry about every term yet. The goal is to complete the full cycle: type → predict → run → inspect → explain.

Two Ways to Run Python

Interactive prompt — type in the VS Code terminal after python

>>> 2 + 3
5
>>> voltage = 12.0
>>> voltage * 1.5
18.0

The prompt answers every expression you type. Good for trying one line.

Script — save power.py, press Run

voltage = 12.0
power = voltage * 1.5
power            # shows nothing
print(power)     # shows 18.0

A script shows only what you print(). Good for programs you keep.

Slides marked with >>> are prompt examples; everything else is written as a script. Text after # is a comment: Python ignores it.

Part 2: Algorithms and Programs

What Does a Computer Do?

Fundamentally, a computer:

× Performs calculations

Billions of operations per second

▣ Remembers results

Values in memory while the program runs; files on disk afterwards

What kinds of calculations?

  • Built into the language
  • Defined by you as the programmer

We write recipes to make the computer perform tasks.

A Numerical Example

The square root of a number x is y such that y*y = x.

Recipe for approximating the square root of x = 16:

  1. Start with a guess, g.
  2. If abs(g*g - x) < 0.001, stop and use g as the approximation.
  3. Otherwise make a new guess by averaging g and x/g.
  4. Repeat with the new guess until close enough.

You will write this recipe as a while loop in week 2; today we only read it.

Guess g g × g x / g New guess (g + x/g) / 2
3 9 5.333 4.167
4.167 17.361 3.840 4.003
4.003 16.024 3.997 4.000

What Is a Recipe?

1 Sequence

Simple steps in a useful order

2 Flow of control

Rules for deciding when a step runs

3 Stopping condition

A clear condition for finishing

Sequence + flow of control + stopping condition = algorithm.

From Algorithm to Stored Program

Basic computer architecture: memory exchanges program and data with the control unit and arithmetic logic unit; input feeds the machine and the ALU produces output.

  • A stored-program computer keeps instructions and data in memory.
  • Instructions perform arithmetic, logic, tests, and data movement.
  • The interpreter executes Python statements and evaluates expressions.
  • Tests and loops change the flow of control.

Python Programs

  • A Python program contains statements and expressions. Statements act, expressions produce.
  • The interpreter executes statements such as assignment and print().
  • It evaluates expressions such as 2 + 3 to produce values. Test: if you can write x = in front of it, it is an expression.
  • Try single lines at the interactive prompt (>>>); save longer programs in a .py file and run the file.
  • Text after # is a comment for the reader; the interpreter skips it.

Values, Objects, Names, and Types

  • Every value in Python is an object with a type.
  • A type determines which operations are valid.
  • Common Lecture 1 examples:
    • Numbers and Boolean values: int, float, bool
    • Text sequences: str
  • A variable is a name bound to a value: a label attached to the value, not a box that holds it (see the binding diagram in two slides).
  • Lists and NumPy arrays come later in the course.

Expressions

  • Combine objects and operators to form expressions.
  • An expression has a value and a type.
  • Pattern for a simple binary expression:
<object> <operator> <object>

Binding Variables and Values

The equal sign assigns a value to a variable name.

pi = 3.14159
pi_approx = 22 / 7
  • The value is stored in computer memory.
  • An assignment binds a name to a value.
  • Retrieve the value by evaluating the name at the prompt, or by printing it in a script:
>>> pi
3.14159

Try it — predict before running: at the prompt, what does >>> pi_approx display? What does print(pi_approx) show in a script?

Check: both show approximately 3.142857; a bare pi_approx in a script shows nothing.
Watch for: = binds a value to a name; == compares two values.

Changing Bindings

pi = 3.14
radius = 2.2
area = pi * radius ** 2    # 15.1976
radius = 3.2
  • A new assignment re-binds the name; the old value 2.2 is no longer reachable through radius.

Try it — predict: after the last line, what is area?

Check: still 15.1976. area was computed once; it does not follow radius. Re-run the formula to update it.

pi→3.14
radius→3.2
area→15.1976

2.2 is no longer bound to a name; area keeps its earlier result.

Part 3: Values, Variables, and Operators

Arithmetic Operators on int and float

Expression Meaning
x + y addition
x - y subtraction
x * y multiplication
x / y division
x % y remainder, e.g. 5 % 2 -> 1
x ** y x to the power of y
x // y floor division, e.g. 5 // 2 -> 2

Try it — predict before running: at the prompt, >>> 17 // 5 and >>> 17 % 5.

Check: 3 and 2.
Watch for: / performs ordinary division and returns a float.

Valid Names, Useful Functions, and Precedence

Variable names

  • May contain letters, digits, and _
  • Cannot start with a digit
  • Cannot contain spaces or -
  • Are case-sensitive: speed and Speed differ
total_score   valid
3d_point      invalid: starts with a digit

Evaluation helpers

type(7 / 2)       # float
len("EE1021")     # 6
(4 + 2) * 3       # 18
4 + 2 * 3         # 10

Parentheses make the intended order explicit. Without parentheses, powers come before multiplication/division, which come before addition/subtraction.

Comparison and Logical Operators

Operator Meaning
x < y less than
x > y greater than
x <= y less than or equal
x >= y greater than or equal
x == y equal
x != y not equal

Every comparison produces a bool: True or False.

Try it — predict: 3 >= 3.0 and "5" == 5

Check: True and False — a string is never equal to a number.

For Lecture 1, assume x and y are Boolean values.

Operator Description
x and y True only if both are True.
x or y True if at least one is True.
not x Reverses True and False.

Assignment and Updating a Value

Operator Meaning Example
= assignment x = 5
+= add and assign x += 3 means x = x + 3
-= subtract and assign x -= 2 means x = x - 2
*= multiply and assign x *= 2 means x = x * 2 
samples = 8
samples += 2       # samples is now 10

The same update pattern also works with /=, //=, %=, and **=.

Operator Checkpoint

Compute and update

distance = 17
step = 5

full_steps = distance // step
remainder = distance % step
full_steps += 1

Before the update, full_steps is 3 and remainder is 2. After the update, full_steps is 4.

Combine conditions

has_power = True
is_connected = False

ready = has_power and is_connected
needs_help = not ready

ready is False; needs_help is True.

Part 4: Strings and Console I/O

Strings

  • Letters, special characters, spaces, and digits
  • Enclosed in double quotation marks or single quotes
  • Strings can be concatenated, repeated, and searched:
hi = "hello there"
name = "ana"

greet = hi + name
greeting = hi + " " + name
repeated = (name + " ") * 3
has_a = "a" in name

Try it — predict before running: print(greet) and print(has_a)

Check: hello thereana (no space is added for you) and True.

Strings: Indexing

Square brackets perform indexing into a string.

s = "abc"

Indexing starts at 0; the last element is at index -1.

Try it — predict before running: if s = "robot", what is s[-2]?

Check: "o".
Watch for: the first index is 0, not 1.

Expression Result
s[0] "a"
s[1] "b"
s[2] "c"
s[3] IndexError: string index out of range
s[-1] "c"
s[-2] "b"
s[-3] "a"

Strings: Slicing

Use [start:stop:step] to slice strings.

  • If you give two numbers, [start:stop], then step = 1 by default.
  • You can omit numbers and leave just colons.
s = "abcdefgh"

s[3:6]     # "def", same as s[3:6:1]
s[3:6:2]   # "df"
s[::]      # "abcdefgh", same as s[0:len(s):1]
s[::-1]    # "hgfedcba", same as s[-1:-(len(s)+1):-1]
s[4:1:-2]  # "ec"

Console Input and Output

Display a result with print()

voltage = 5
print("Voltage:", voltage, "V")

Convert numeric input before calculating:

num = int(input("Type a number... "))
print(5 * num)

Read text with input()

input() displays a prompt and waits for the user to press Enter.

text = input("Type anything... ")
print(5 * text)

input() always returns a string. Use int() or float() when you need a number.

Try it — predict before running: if the user types 7, what does print(5 * text) display?

Check: 77777.
Watch for: input() returns a string; use int() or float() when you need a number.

Five-Minute Exit Ticket

Answer without running Python first. Then check your answers in VS Code.

  1. What value and type does 7 // 2 produce? And 7 / 2?
  2. If unit = "volt", what do unit[-1], unit[1:3], and unit * 2 produce?
  3. After x = 5, x += 2, x *= 3, what is x? Which line would fail if x had been read with input() and not converted?

Check: 3 (int) and 3.5 (float); "t", "ol", "voltvolt"; 21 — x += 2 fails because input() returns a string.

Summary

  • An algorithm is a precise recipe with a sequence, flow of control, and stopping condition.
  • A Python program contains statements and expressions.
  • Variables bind names to values; every value has a type.
  • Expressions combine values and operators to produce new values.
  • Python uses operators for arithmetic, comparisons, logic, assignment, and membership.
  • Strings support indexing and slicing.
  • print() displays output; input() receives text from the user.