WEBVTT

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DAVID MALAN: Hello, world.

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My name is David Malan, and
this is CS50's Introduction

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to Programming with Python.

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Whereas CS50 itself is an introduction
to the intellectual enterprises

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of computer science and
the art of programming,

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this course is specifically focused
on programming in Python itself.

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At the beginning of the
course, we'll be focused

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on a topic in programming known as
functions and variables, mechanisms

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via which you can write code
that solves smaller problems,

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but you can compose those
smaller solutions into solutions

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to larger problems still.

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We'll then transition to
a look at conditionals,

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a way in code of expressing yourself
logically, to maybe do something

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if some question has an
answer of true, or not

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do something if the answer is false.

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We'll transition thereafter
to introducing you

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to loops, the ability, in code,
to do something again, and again,

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and again some number of times.

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We'll then transition to
something a little more technical,

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known as exceptions.

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Unfortunately, a lot can go wrong
when you're writing code, some of it

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your fault, some of it
perhaps someone else's fault.

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But you can write code defensively,
so to speak, and actually

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catch those kinds of
exceptions, those errors,

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and handle them properly so that
the users you're writing code for

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don't actually see the same.

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Thereafter, we'll take a look
at libraries, third-party code,

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written by other people, often,
or perhaps yourself in the past,

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that you can use and
reuse in your own projects

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so as to avoid reinventing
the wheel again and again.

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We'll look thereafter at
something called unit tests.

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It turns out, you'll actually
write code to test your own code.

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But you won't have to
write tests for your tests.

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Indeed, this is a best practice in
industry, writing tests for your code

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so that one, you can be sure that
your code today is, hopefully,

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if your tests are
correct, correct itself.

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But moreover, if you or someone else
modifies your code tomorrow, or down

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the line, you can rerun
those same tests to ensure

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that those new changes have not
broken anything about your own code.

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We'll then take a look
at something called

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File I/O, I/O for input
and output, the ability

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to not just store information
inside of a computer's memory,

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but rather save it persistently to
disk, so to speak, to files and folders.

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We'll then take a look at
another technique, known

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as regular expressions, whereby,
in Python, you can define patterns

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and you can validate data to make sure
the human typed something in as you

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expect.

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You can use regular expressions
to extract data, perhaps

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from some data set
you're trying to analyze.

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We'll then take a look, ultimately,
at object-oriented programming,

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a paradigm, a way of writing code,
whereby you can represent, in code,

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real-world entities.

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And this is in addition to other
paradigms of programming that we'll

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also explore, among them
procedural programming,

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where you write lots of
those functions, procedures

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really, top to bottom, to
solve problems step by step,

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and even something known as
functional programming, as well.

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And then at the very end
of the course will we

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equip you with all the more
tools for your toolkit.

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and additional building
blocks, additional vocabulary

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via which, after this same
course, you can go off on your own

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and either take other courses
or solve projects of your own,

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using all of these mechanisms.

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Now this course itself assumes
no prior programming background.

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So you don't have to have written
a single line of code in Python,

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or any language, yet.

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But this is also a course that you can
take before, during, or even after CS50

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itself, if you'd like to get
all the more versed with Python.

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Each week, via the courses
lectures, will we introduce you

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to any number of
concepts that we'll then

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drill down more deeply into in the
form of problem sets each week.

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That is, programming
projects that will enable

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you to apply some of those lessons
learned to problems of your very own.

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And by the end of the
course, you'll have

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solved so many problems that,
ideally, are representative

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of problems you'll eventually
encounter in the real world,

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whether you aspire to solve
code in the technical world

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or perhaps in the arts, the
humanities, the social sciences,

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the natural sciences, or beyond.

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You'll have, ultimately, the
vocabulary and the technical skills

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via which to approach the same.

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This, then, is CS50.

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And this is CS50's Introduction
to Programming with Python.

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