Fundamentals of Computer and Programming in Python Notes
Subject Overview
This paper bridges computer fundamentals and programming — computer hardware, I/
Subject at a glance
4
Units
47
Topics
4
Credits
4
Infographics
Unit-wise Syllabus
4 units — open any unit for detailed topic-wise notes, diagrams and important exam questions
- Hardware and software concepts
- CPU/registers/system bus/memory unit/motherboard
- I/O devices
- primary/secondary/auxiliary memory and cache
- data representation (bit, byte, binary/decimal/hexadecimal/octal systems and conversions)
- machine/assembly/high-level languages
- operating system as user interface
- introduction to Bluetooth
- cloud computing
- big data
- data mining
- mobile computing and IoT
- Registers
Inside the CPU: fastest
- Cache
L1, L2, L3
- Main memory
RAM
- Secondary storage
SSD, HDD
- Auxiliary storage
Tape, cloud, optical
Study guide
This unit covers hardware and software concepts, the CPU, registers, buses, memory, I/O, data representation and number conversions, language levels, the OS as an interface and introductions to Bluetooth, cloud computing, big data, data mining, mobile computing and IoT. Connect each emerging technology with a real application.
- History
- features and applications of Python
- installation and environment setup
- keywords
- identifiers
- statements
- indentation
- variables
- data types and conversion
- I/O functions
- operators and expressions
- control structures (decision making, loops)
- native data types — numbers
- lists
- tuples
- sets
- dictionaries
- strings
list
Yes, ordered
[3, 1, 2]
tuple
No, ordered
(10, 20)
set
Yes, unique, unordered
{1, 2, 3}
dict
Yes, key-value
{"id": 7}
str
No, sequence of characters
"hello"
Study guide
You study Python's history, features and uses, installation, keywords, identifiers, indentation, variables, data types, conversion, input and output, operators, control structures and the native types: numbers, lists, tuples, sets, dictionaries and strings. Practise with small programs daily.
- Built-in and user-defined functions
- anonymous functions
- pass by value vs reference
- recursion
- scope and lifetime of variables
- module creation and importing
- standard modules and packages
- built-in and user-defined exceptions
- 1try
Code that might fail
- 2except
Handle a specific error
- 3else
Runs if no error occurred
- 4finally
Always runs: clean up
- 5raise
Throw your own exception
Study guide
You study built-in and user-defined functions, anonymous functions, pass by value versus reference, recursion, scope, modules and packages and exceptions. Use try-except in every file or input program.
- File operations (opening, modes, attributes, encoding, closing)
- read/write/tell/seek methods
- renaming and deleting files
- directories
- OOP concepts in Python — designing classes
- creating objects
- accessing and editing attributes
- built-in class attributes
- garbage collection
'r'
Read (default)
Reads from the start
'w'
Write
Overwrites it
'a'
Append
Adds to the end
'r+'
Read and write
Keeps contents
'b' suffix
Binary mode, e.g. 'rb'
Reads bytes
Study guide
You study file operations (modes, read, write, seek, rename, delete, directories) and object-oriented Python: classes, objects, attributes and garbage collection. Build a small class-based program such as a library or bank system.
Why Fundamentals of Computer and Programming in Python Matters
Python is the leading language for AI, data science and automation, so strong fundamentals from the first semester support every later subject and job application.
How to Prepare for Fundamentals of Computer and Programming in Python
- Code daily and keep your programs on GitHub.
- Learn data structures (lists, dictionaries, sets) thoroughly.
- Practise error handling and file operations.
Fundamentals of Computer and Programming in Python: Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Python taught first in M.Sc IT?
Python is easy to learn and is the main language of data science, AI and automation, making it an ideal base for the rest of the course.