Lesson 2. The first checkable program step

Why this matters

A person can read a timetable. A program needs an exact instruction. First, we will display one approved record and distinguish source code from its output.

Python is the programming language for our learning model. Code is the text of instructions. A terminal is a window for computer commands. The command python3 starts an installed Python; the name after it identifies the code file.

Prepare a place for your file

Install Python from its official downloads page if needed. On Windows, open PowerShell from Start and run py --version; it should show a version number. If py is missing, close and reopen PowerShell after installation. On macOS or Linux, open Terminal and run python3 --version; if it is missing, follow the official platform guide. Use Python 3.10 or newer.

Create a folder named ai-course on your desktop, then open it in the file manager. On Windows, type powershell into the folder’s address bar and press Enter; PowerShell opens in that folder. On macOS or Linux, use the file manager’s “Open in Terminal” action if available. Otherwise type cd (including the space) in Terminal, drag the folder icon into the window, and press Enter. The current folder is where the command will look for club.py. Save the file there as UTF-8 plain text. In Windows Notepad, choose “All files” so its name does not become club.py.txt.

See the whole process

Create a file named club.py:

class_name = "Робот құрастыру"
time = "сейсенбі, 16:00"
print(class_name, time)

Run python3 club.py on macOS/Linux, or py club.py on Windows. Expected output: Робот құрастыру сейсенбі, 16:00. If the computer says it cannot find the file, check its name and the current folder.

Every part explained

class_name and time are variable names: labels for stored values. Here = means “store the value on the right under the name on the left”; it is not an equation. Text between double quotation marks is a string, a sequence of characters. Parentheses in print(...) enclose what to display. The comma passes two values to print; a space appears between them in the output. The program does not yet analyze questions or verify sources. It only prints what we entered.

Recall map

Code file → run command → Python executes lines from top to bottom → output. name = value stores; print(...) displays.

Task and check

Without looking at the example, create a chess record for Thursday at 15:00. Predict the output before running it. Explain why this program cannot answer a question about art class.

Hint: change the values to the right of =. Check: class_name = "Шахмат", time = "бейсенбі, 15:00"; output Шахмат бейсенбі, 15:00. No art class data was entered.