Programming: It all adds up You will learn > how to use conditional (if) structuresin Python > how to make Python programs with loops > how to find and fix errorsin programs > how to make your programs user friendly and readable. In this unit you will make a program which adds up the number of birds visiting a bird feeder. This program will be useful ‘ for scientists and nature reporters. As you work through the lessons in this unit you will make the program. You will use programming structures such as loops and ‘if... else: You will learn to read error messages and to improve your program by removing errors. Work in a group of four. In this activity you will act out a computer program. (a \ other container. You can write any numbers you like. Make sure at least one of the numbers is 0 (zero). You also need a blank piece of paper and a pen. Write numbers on slips of paper and put them ina box or Team roles: Each person in the team will play the role of part of the program. There are four roles: > Program. > Total > Input > Logical test. The person whois the ‘Program’ reads out the instructions on the next page, one at atime. As ‘Program’ reads each instruction, they point to the person named, That person then carries out the instruction. If the person who is the ‘Logical test’ shouts “Stop!”, the program stops. PE Rance a a range of errors to improve a program ©Instructions: Stop! 1 Total: record the value 0. 2. Input: take a number from the box and read it out. 3. Logical test: shout “Stop!” ifyou hear the number zero. ‘ 4. Total: add the input number to ‘total’ 5 Program: go back to ine2 and continue from there. When the program stops, check the value of ‘total’ That is the final output, Logical test of the program. S ‘Ro % a Program, Pete Ra Carolee The software you make in this unit will count the number of bird visitors. But you might also want to know what types of birds the visitors are. You can download apps onto your phone that help you identify bird species. Some apps ask you a few questions about the bird (size, colour, etc.) You input the answers and the app outputs photos of possible bird species. Other apps, such as ChirpOMatic, accept sound input. You input a sound recording of birdsong and the app outputs the name of the species. Talk about... In this unit you will make a program to record the number of bird visitors to a bird feeder. Helping reroll tear Eire oL scientists to study nature is one way that f computers can help protect the environment. bs Overall, do you think computers have had a positive OCLC ao caced ornegative impact on nature? Think of as many ‘examples as you can on both sides of the debate. logicalerror user friendly indent for loop al lar co cL} @) Coe nae neLogical tests and choice In this lesson Youwilllea In previous books you made 2 programs using the ‘if... else” block in Scratch. Actions inside the ‘if... else’ block are controlled by a logical test. In this lesson you will make programs in Scratch and Python using the if... else’ structure. Look back at previous books to refresh your understanding of Scratch. > how to create an ‘if structure in Python and Scratch > how to make logical tests with relational operators. Conditional structure In Unit 3 you created a Scratch program that added two numbers together. The program always did the same thing. Now you will adapt the program so that itcan add or subtract. The user’s choice will change what it does. To vary what a program does, youuse a conditional structure. This type of structure is also called an ‘if? structure, The structure begins with the word ‘if’ and then has a logical test. The commands inside the if structure are only carried out ifthe test is True. Logical test The result of a logical test can be True or False. A logical test usually compares two values. It uses a relational operator to compare the two values. Relational operators In Scratch the relational operators are three green blocks. 668 The table shows the meaning of the three relational operatorsin Scratch. | __ Operator | What itmeans | 5 greater than < less than = equal toComparing values ‘To make a logical test you compare two values. The comparison can be either True or False. Here is an example: 4>8 ‘This means ‘4 is greater than 8: This comparison is FALSE, so the logical test has the value False. Here is another one. 34427 This means ‘3 plus 4 is equal to 7°. This comparison is TRUE so the logical test has the value True. @Lma Here are some examples of logical tests. One of the values is missing. Copy the logical tests into your book and fill n a missing value that makes each test True. a (7*e< © 400/50>C) e 1234=() b 2343-0] @_99.999<[] Make a Scratch program Here is an example of a Scratch program that includes a conditional structure. Dain The user has to choose whether to add two numbers. =e Ifthe user types ‘Y, the program will add the numbers. = This program includes the conditional ‘if’ block. ak Early eee This block starts with the logical test: ‘answer=Y" Ifthe user enters the letter‘, the test is True. The computer carties out the commands inside the ‘if’ block. Ifthe user does not enter the letter Y, the testis False. The computer does not catry out any commands. @Lxza Make the Scratch program shown in the image above. Run the program to see what happens when you enter Y’ and when you enter anything else. e dn sppe je 3] :6uruiwesBoidPe keke Make a Python program Now you will make the same program using Python. You can use ‘if... else” structures in Python programs. But Python does not use blocks. Instead you type the commandsas text, Set variables The Scratch program has three variables: ‘number! ‘number2’ and ‘answer. The values of ‘number!’ and ‘number2' are set in the program. The user inputs the value of ‘answer’ You already know how to do these commands in Python: number] = 70 number2 = 80 answer = input("do you want to add? (¥/N) ") Make the logical test Python has more relational operators than Scratch. Here equal to are the main relational operators that you might use. not equal to For this program you will use the ‘equal to’ operator. The greater than logical test compares the user answer to the text string Y. lessthan Ifthey match, the testis True. greater than or equal to if anewer == "y less than or equal to Inside the conditional structure Now you must put commands inside the conditional structure. The computer will carry out these commands if the test is True. 1 sine ae NY Puta colon (:) at the end of the logical test. All the commands that follow the colon will be indented, That means they will be set in from the left of the file window. if answer yn result = numberl + number? print (result) ‘The computer will only carry out the indented commands if the test is True. The picture on the right shows what the code lookslike —munsert = 70 in the Python window. The Python IDE uses a range of colours for different types of word and symbol. The word i£ is a Python key word. Key words are used to build program structures in Python. number? = 80 answer = input (* wa a ” result = nurberl + nunber? print (result) In the Python IDE, key words are displayed in gold (dark yellow) font. OI eo Make a Python program by putting together all the commands shown above.If and else in Scratch In Scratch, the ‘if... else’ block has two spaces init. > The commands in the top space are carried out ifthe testis True. > Thecommands inthelowerspace are carried outif [umes °°) the test is False. The picture on the right shows an example of a Scratch program that uses ‘if... else. arava) = QD ve Ifthe testis True, the two numbers are added together. If the test is False, ‘number2’is subtracted from ‘number?’ If and else in Python To do the same thing in Python you enter the word else followed bya colon. Sete ee Rom if answer result = numberl + number? else: result = numberl - number? print(result) Notice which commands are indented. These are the commands inside the conditional structure. @ESIID or Make the Scratch program that uses the 1 Here are some logical tests using Python ‘if,.. else’ block. relational operators. Which are True and which are False? 5-1 1 *5 Make the Python program thatuses if... else. : a b 55 € 22 1= 23-1 oO Extra challenge 2. Here is a Python program. program? When will you see this output? rs In the example in this lesson, the values of the in pee a pee ? variables ‘number1’ and ‘number?’ are set by a aca & the program. vi 3 print ("you can make another menu chose’ 3 > Make a version of the Scratch program where 3 i 3 the user inputs the values of the two numbers. a The user entered the letter “x? What is the = > Make a Python program that does the same output of the program? a thing. b What other output can there be from this & £ $Add up a total In this lesson You will lear: > how to increase the value of a variable In previous books you made programs Scratch that used loop. Actions inside a loop are repeated. In this, lesson you will discover how to use loop structure in Python programs. > how to use counter loops in Python and Scratch. Loops Most programming languages allow you to put program commands inside a loop. Commands inside a loop are carried out many times. In Scratch there isa ‘forever’ loop. Commands inside the ‘forever’ loop will repeat until the program stops. Most programming languages do not use ‘forever’ loops. In most programming languages, every loop has an exit condition. The exit condition is how you stop the loop. There are two types of loop. They have different exit conditions. > Acounter loop (or fixed loop) repeats a set number of times then stops. > Aconditional loop (or condition-controlled loop) is controlled by alogical test. In this lesson you will make a program with a counter loop. Scratch program with counter loop Scratch program 1s simple calculator. It asks the userto input two numbers. The program outputs the result of adding them together. Scratch program 2is the same program. But in this version, all the commands are inside a counter loop. The number at the top of the loop tells you how many times the commands will be repeated. When you run this program, the calculation will repeat 10 times. If you change the number, you change the number of repeats.Python program with counter loop In Python a counter loops called a for loop. To make a loop that repeats 10 times the command is: for i in range (10): To make a loop that repeats 20 times the command is: for i in range (20): The lower-case letter i is the counter. You don’t have to use the letter ‘i’ - you can use any name. But itis common for programmers to use the letter ‘i! The number in brackets sets the number of times the loop will repeat. Python program 1 adds two numbers together. 1 numberi = input ("enter a number ") 2 for 4 in range (10): nurberl = int (number1) punberl = input ("enter a punber1 = int (nunberl) nber *) number? = input ("enter a number ") number2 = int (nunber2) nunber2 = input ("enter a number *) number? = int (number?) result = numberl + number? result = number + number? print (result) print (result) Python program 2 is the same program with a counter loop. The commands inside the loop are indented. The indented commands will repeat. @LIa Make the Scratch program and the Python program shown above. In each program, use a counter loop to repeat the a commands. Increase the value of a variable Inthe programs you have just made, the user enters two, numbers with each repeat of the loop. Each time, the program outputs the result of adding those two numbers. But quite often in programming you will want to add to the previous total each time the commands repeat. To do this you B need to create a new variable called ‘total’ Scratch program A sets ‘total’ to 0. Then ‘total’ by 1. increases the value of ‘Scratch program B sets ‘total’ to 0. Then it increases the value of ‘total’ by adding a number that the user inputs, 8 dn sppe je 31 :6unmwesBoudero Plan to add up a total Youcan usethecommand total = total + number tomakea program that adds together 10 numbers. Here isa plan for that program: Set the total to 0 at the start of the program. Loop 10 times: Inputa value. ‘Add the input value to the total. ‘Output the total at the end of the program. Add up a total in Scratch Look at the program planin the table. For each line of the program you should know the matching Scratch command. Greene Erne Settotal to0 Loop 10 times Input a value ‘Add the input value to the total Output the total OI You can do either or both of these activities. 1 Copy and complete the table shown above. Note the Scratch block you would use to match each action. 2 Make a Scratch program to match the plan. Increase a variable in Python You have used the Scratch command to increase a variable. You can do the same thing in Python. This Python program sets total to. Then it increases the value of total by 1 total = 0 total = total +1 print (total) This Python program sets ‘total’ to 0. Then it increase the value of ‘total’ by adding a number that the user inputs. total = 0 number = input ("enter a number “) | number = int (number) total = total + number ° print (total)Remember in Python you need to convert user input toa number value before you doa calculation. That is the purpose of this command. number = int (number) Python program to add up a total In Seratch you put the adding commands inside a loop. You can use Python to make the same program that you made in Scratch. You already know the Python. commands that match each line of the plan. Ginekol Python command Settotal to0 total = 0 Loop 10 times for i in range (10 Input avalue number = input("enter a number ") number = int (number) ‘Add the input value to the total total Output the total print (total) total + number lfyou fit these commands together, you will make a working program. Remember that Python will indent the commands inside the loop. Om Make a Python program to match the plan shown above. The program will use a counter loop. It will add 10 numbers to make a total. Inthe last lesson you learned that i¢ is a Python key word. The colour of key words in Python programs is gold. What other key words have you used in this program? @O Brena This Scratch program sets the variable ‘total’ to 100. Then it uses a counter loop to subtract 10 values from ‘total’ Make a Python program that does the same thing. ors 1. What does ‘exit condition’ mean? 2. Whatare the two types of loop? Pe ye 3. Write the first line of a Python loop that repeats 100 times. ‘ 4 APython program includes a variable called po ints. Write the command to increase point s by 10. 8 dn sppe je 3] :6uruiwesBoidConditional loop In this lesson You will lear: > how to use a conditional loop in Scratch and Python. What is a conditional loop? Inthe last lesson you learned how to use a counter loop. Another name for a counter loop is a fixed loop, because the commands inside the fixed loop repeat a fixed number of times. You set the number of repeats at the top of the loop. conditional loop is different. itis controlled by a logical test. Every time the loop repeats, the computer tries the logical test again. The result of the logical test tells the computer whether to repeat the loop or stop. Conditional loop in Scratch This Scratch block makes a conditional loop. The loop starts with the words ‘repeat until! Then there is a diamond-shaped space. A logical test block will fit into this space. The logical test will control the loop. The loop will repeat until the test is True. Here is an example. Any commands that you insert inside the loop will repeat until the user enters ‘0’ Adding up with a conditional loop (On the right is the finished Scratch program. Itadds each new number that the user enters to the total. The loop will repeat until the user enters the value ‘0: The logical test in this program is: “answer = The computer will check the logical test every time the loop repeats. The loop will repeat until the condition is True: > Ifthe condition is FALSE, the loop will CONTINUE. > Ifthe condition is TRUE, the loop will STOP.When to use a conditional loop Use a loop when you want to repeat commands inside a program. > Ifyou know exactly how many times you want to repeat the commands, use a counter loop. > Ifyou don’t know exactly how many times you want to repeat the commands, use a conditional loop. em Make a Scratch program to add each number that the user inputs to the total. Use a conditional loop. You can choose your own logical test for the conditional loop. Save and run the program. Correct any errors. In Python a conditional loop is called a while loop. The first line of a while loop has these features: > the word while > allogical test > acolon. The computer will check the logical test every time the loop repeats. The loop will repeat while the condition is True: > Ifthe condition is TRUE, the loop will CONTINUE. > Ifthe condition is FALSE, the loop will STOP. Thisis the other way round from Scratch. What logical test? You have to choose the logical test carefully. In Scratch the loop stops when the test is True, The example program used this test: ‘answer= 0" In Python the loop stops when the test is False. You will use this test: =o means ‘does not equal’. > Ifthe answer does not equal 0, the test is True. The loop will continue. > Ifthe answer equals 0, the testis False. The loop will stop. The complete Python command to begin the conditional loop is: while answer I= 0: 8 dn sppe je 31 :6unmwesBoudCorner) Sully’s program goes wrong Sully made a Python program to add up a total. He used a conditional loop. Here is Sully’s program: total = 0 while number t= number = input ("enter a number ") number = int (number) total = total + number print (total) Sully’s program did not work properly. Sully saw this error message: File *C:\temp.py", Line 2 while number t= 0: NameError: name ‘nunber' ix not defined What has caused the problem? The error message told Sully the mistake isin line 2: while number I= 0: ‘The error message says: name ‘number! is not defined. ‘The computer does not know what number means. This variable has not been given a value yet. In Python, the computer cannot use a variable unless you have given it a value. That means the computer cannot do the logical test. Sully’s program is still not right! Sully decided to change the program. He found the command that assigns a value to the variable nunber and the command that makes the variable into an integer. number = input("enter a number ") number = int(number) He moved these commands to before the loop. Here is the new program: total = 0 number = input ("enter a number *) nunber = int (number) while number l= 0: total = total + number print (total) When Sully ran the program, it started and asked him to enter a number. He entered one value. But then the program stopped working, Nothing appeared on the screen. Eventually Sully tried to close the Python Shell. He saw the message shown on the right. The message says the program is still running! Sully clicked OK to {@ xi x ‘kill the program. (‘Kill’ means stop the program running.) But what went wrong? | In this program there is no input inside the loop. The user cannot enter a new number value. So there is no way to stop the loop. ® The loop continues forever (until Sully closes the program).Sully got it right Inthe end, Sully changed the program again. He put input commands before the loop and inside the loop. This time, the program worked as planned. Hereis Sully's new program: total = 0 number = input ("enter a number ") number = int (number) while munber = 0: total = total + nunber number = input ("enter a number ") number = int (number) print (totaly What Sully learned To make a Python program with a conditional loop you have to do three things: 1 Start the loop with a logical test. 2 Assign a starting value to the test variable before the loop begins. 3. Givethe user a chance to change the test variable inside the loop. Because Sully did all three things, his program worked fine. OL Make the Python program shown in this lesson, Save and run the program. Correct any errors. (>) Extra challenge > Make a Python program that adds each number that the user enters to the total until the user enters a value smaller than 0. > Make a Python program that sets the variable tot.a1 to 100 and subtracts numbers until the user enters a value greater than 99. om 1 Inyour own words, explain when to use a conditional loop in your program. 2 Here isa line from a Python program. What value of the variable username will cause the loop to stop? while username x" 3. Here isa Python program. It has an errorin it. Explain what the error is. print("Start program") while username x username = input("enter your name print("hello”, username) 4 Write the program without the error. e dn sppe je 31 :6unmwesBoudA class project In this lesson Youwill learn: > how to apply Python skills to solve a problem > how to spot syntax errors and fix them. Counting up Mr Shakir is a science teacher. His students are doing a biology project about bird populations. They have to count how many birds visit the school bird feeder. Mr Shakir has asked his students to write a Python program to count the number of bird visitors, Here is the program requirement: The user will input a every time they see. bird at the table. When the program is finished it will output the total number of birds that visited the table. ‘The program will be called Bird Counter. Class discussion The class discussed what they needed to include in the Bird Counter program. Here are some of the students’ ideas from their discussion: > “Weneed a variable to store the number of birds.” > “Yes, and that number must start at 0.” > “Wemust havea loop, of course.” > “The loop must be a conditional loop because we don’t know in advance how many birds we will see.” > “Ifitisa conditional loop, we have to think about the logical test. How do we stop the loop?” Mr Shakir agreed with the students’ ideas. He said, “Your ideas will help us make the program.” Om Before you read any more of this lesson, try to make the Bird Counter program. Use the clues in the class discussion and the commands you learned in Lessons 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 to help you make the program. Program problems Each student in Mr Shakir’s class tried to write the Bird Counter program. But the students made some errors.All programmers make errors when they write programs. A good programmer can recognise errors and fix them. Then their programs work the way they planned, The Python IDE has features to help you find and fix errors: > colour and layout when you write the program > error messages when you run the program. In this lesson you will learn to recognise and fix common program errors in Python, Syntax errors Every programming language has rules. The rules of a language are called syntax. Ifyou break the rules of a programming language, you make a syntax error. In Unit 3you learned what happens when you run a program: 1 Translating: The computer turns the commands into machine code. 2. Running: The computer executes the machine code commands. If there is a syntax error, the computer cannot understand the commands. It cannot translate them into machine code. The computer will stop. Itwill show you an error message. Fixing the problems Mr Shakir checked the programs is students made. He wrote this note for his students. It lists the most, common syntax errors that he found. Using the wrong word lot using indent Leaving out the : si Single = instead of double == Using the wrong word Abdel is one of Mr Shakir’ students. He mixed up Scratch and Python In Scratch a conditional loop begins ‘repeat until: In Python a conditional loop begins while. Abdel typed ‘repeat until’ in a Python program. Here is the error message he saw. ‘The message says there isa syntax error. It has highlighted the line where the erroris. This helped ‘Abdel to fix the problem. Python makes it easy to spot where the error is. it marks the error with a red bloc! visitor Winput (*rype ¥ it repeat GHEE visiror =": input ("type you see a bird *) total = total = 1 print (total) [demas enn oa e dn sppe jie 3] :SurmiuesBoigNot using indent In Python, commands inside a loop are indented. Python adds the indentation automatically. But Stefan made a mistake - he removed the indentation Here is the error message he saw: total = 0 The error message says ‘expected an indented visitor = input("type ¥ if you sed block. That helped Stefan to understand what was while visitor wrong with his program. input (" 1 total = total + 1 Leaving out the colon print (total) Lots of Python commands end with a colon (two dots). Here are some examples. if answer == 12: for i in range (15): while answer > 9: Ifyou leave out the colon the program will ial = .g0 wrong. Kamal made this mistake. Here is the error message that he saw. The red block shows where the errors. Kamal could see what was wrong and fix the problem. visitor = input ("type ¥ if you see ab while visitor == "Y" visitor = input ("typq See total = total + 1 print (total) Using a single equals sign The equals sign is used in Python for two different things: > To assign a value to a variable use a single equals sign =. > Tomakea logical test use a double equals sign ==. Milan decided to make a variable called visitor. The user of the program will type'Y’ every time they see a bird visitor to the bird feeder. ‘The next command includes a logical test. It tests whether the variable visitor holds the value 'Y’ while visitor == "y" Milan forgot to use the double equals sign in his logical test. This is the error message he saw. Milan wasn’t sure what had gone wrong, He total = 0 visitor = input("type Y¥ if while visitor "Y": you see a had used the equals signin other parts of the visitor = input ("t|?°™" “1 se program. Why was that equals sign wrong, but ~ tabal ~ fared 410 i ae all the others were correct? Mr Shakirreminded Print (total) Milan about how to use the equals sign in c= Python. Then Milan was able to fix the error.OI 1 Here isa plan for the completed Bird Counter program. Copy and complete the table. Fillin the correct Python code for every line of the plan, Watch out for syntax errors. on a Set the total to 0 Input the variable visitor Loop while visitor holds the value ‘Y” ‘Add one to the total Input the variable visitor again Print out the total 2 you have not done it already, make the Bird Counter program in Python. The program will count the number of bird visitors to a bird feeder. 3. Write a note to users of the Bird Counter program. You can use a word processor or write the note by hand. Your note must explain: a what the program does b what to type if you see a bird visitor to the bird feeder € what to type when you wantto stop recording bird visitors and see the result. (>) Extra challenge In Activity 3, you wrote a note to users of your program. Now change your program so it will display this information on the screen. Add print commands to do this. Why is showing this information within the program better than putting it in a separate note? n= Make a resource to teach students about syntax errors. You could createa poster, a presentation or even a video. orm 1 Syntax errors stop the computer from translating the program. What does ‘translating the program’ mean? 2. Name one place in a Python program where you mustinclude a colon. 3 Text colour can help you find errors in your Python programs. Give one example. 4 Inyour own words, explain the difference between a single equals sign and a double equals sign in Python, e dn sppe je 31 :6unmwesBoudExtend the project In this lesson You will lear: > how to spot logical errorsin a program > how to check that a program works as you intended. Logical errors In the last lesson you learned about syntax errors. Ifa program has syntax errors the computer cannot translate the program into machine code. The program will not run. The computer will show you an error message. Intthis lesson you wi logic of the program is wrong, The program works but it does the wrong thing. it does not meet the requirement. It can be hard to spot.a logical error because: > Youcan run the program. > The computer executes all the commands. > Youdon't see an error message. Anew purpose Inthe last lesson, some students made a Bird Counter program to count the number of birds visiting a bird feeder. The program works like this: > Ifa bird visits the bird feeder, type the letter " > The count goes up by one. Mr Shakir's students shared the Bird Counter program with ‘students in another school called North Mountain School. This schoolis in a colder country. In that country lots of birds visit the school bird feeder, especially during the winter. ‘The students at North Mountain School found it difficult to use the Bird Counter program made by Mr Shakir’s students. The Bird Counter program records bird visitors one ata time. But at North Mountain School the birds arrive at the feeder in groups. The students decided to make a new program, Discuss and plan The students discussed how they wanted the new program to work. They wrote the requirement for their program: The students decided to call their program the Bird Addition program, learn about logical errors. A logical error means that the Program requirement > Each student will watch the bird feeder for one minute. > They will count how many birds visit the feeder in one minute > They will enter that value as a number. > When all the students have entered a value, the program will output the total.OI Before you go any further, try to make the Bird Addition program to meet the program requirement. Input a number In the old Bird Counter program, the user enters the value the new Bird Addition program, the user enters a number. they see abird. In The students at North Mountain School made several changes to the program: > Instead of havinga variable called visitor, the variable is now called visits. The visits variable will store the number of visits to the bird feeder. > Theuser promptis different - it reminds the user to enter a number. > The input that the user enters must be changed to integer data type so it can be used in calculations. Here is the program with these changes made. total = 0 Visits = toput (renter the nukber iter) ‘The program dossnokwmorkyst visits = inttvisits) This program has several problems. Canyouseethe —.¥ieHS To me problems? If you are not sure, enter this code in a Visits = int(visite) Python file and run the program. Does the program an run? Does the program meet the requirement? Exit condition The program has a while loop. The logical testis: visits == "y" This does not work. In the new program, the variable visits stores a number not a letter so the logical test is never True. The commands inside the loop never happen. The students decided to change the exit condition. The loop will continue if the number of visits is anything but 0. Ifthe user enters the number 0 the loop will stop. The new testis: visits I= 0 The students ran the Bird Addition program. The total = 0 program started and the commands inside the loop oe oe " were repeated. But when the students used the ville visits I= 0: . program to record visits to their bird feeder, they icmia€, ai) founda problem. Sometimes no birds visited the bird total = total +1 feeder. The userhad to input the number 0. But when (E84) they entered 0 the program stopped. That is because when the value of visits is0 the testis False, so the loop stops. Inthe next activity you will ind out how to solve this problem. =) dn sppe je 3] :6urmiuesBoigBee husd aeGead Change the exit condition The students need to change the logical test: > The logical test has to be a number comparison. > The number has to be one that will never be a real number of birds. For example, the students could choose a negative number. Instead, they chose the number 99. If the user types 99° the loop will stop. The students know there will never be 99 birds at the feeder. But the Bird Addition program is sill not ready. Can you see why? Add up the visitors The program has to add up the total number of birds. At the moment the program adds just one to the total every time the user enters a number. ‘The students changed the Bird Addition program so that it adds the number of Visitors to the total. total = 0 visits = input ("enter the number of visits") visits = int (visits) while visits != 99: visits = input ("enter nunbe visits = int (visits) total = total +1 print (total) x of visits") total = 0 visits = input ("enter visits = int (visits) while visits != 99 visits = input ("ente visits = int (visits) total = total + visits print (total) he number of number of visit But this program is still wrong! Can you see why? If you are not sure, enter this, code in a Python file, then run the program, What goes wrong? Change the order of commands There are two problems: > The first input value is NOT added to the total (the one that is input before the loop starts). > The final input value IS added to the total (the value 99). ‘To avoid these problems the students reversed the order of commands inside the loop: First add the input number to the total. Then enter a new number. When the user enters the exit value (99), the program stops right away. Here is the program with that change made. This program works! The students have found and fixed all the logical errors. total = 0 visits = input ("enter the number visits = int(visits) while visits != 99: total = total + visits visite = input ("enter number of visits") visits = int (visits) print (total) of visitOI Ifyou have not done italready, make the Bird Addition program. It should add up the total number of birds that visita bird feeder. [) Extra challenge ‘Some students chose to make a different program, with a counter loop. There were 20 students in the class so they used a counter loop that counted up to 20. Write a Python program that does this. or 1. Whyisit harder for a programmer to spot a logical error than a syntax error? 2 Lookat the addition program you made. What would happenif the li ‘otal = 0 were included inside the loop? 3. Write a Python program that adds together five numbers input by the user. ORES Errors that stop programs working properly are called ‘bugs? Software companies test their programs for bugs before they offer them for sale. Ifa program is used for fun — for example, a game — a few bugs in the code don’t matter so much. But some software programs are very important - for example: software in a hospital that measures a patient’s heart rate; software in a factory that controls, a dangerous chemical reaction; software ina bank that looks after the customers’ money. These programs must not include any mistakes. One day you may be a programmer who writes important software. Or youmay work ina hospital, factory or bank and use important software. You will need to make sure that the software program has been thoroughly tested so that the software is reliable. e dn sppe je 31 :6unmwesBoud® Readable and user friendly In this lesson You will lear: > how to make your programs user friendly > how to make your programs readable. Make user-friendly programs Users like programs that are user friendly. That means the programs are easy to use. Some things that make a program easy to use are: > simple inputs with prompts > clear outputs ‘pe the numberof bra > other messages to explain the program. + ‘The program commands that handle inputs and outputs we SF are called th terface. The user enters inputs through the interface. The user sees the outputs displayed in the interface. When you program in Scratch itis it easy to make a user friendly interface. On the right is an example. The Scratch interface includes colourful backdrops and sprites. But Python only has plain text. The interface isnot so user friendly. In this lesson you will learn to make a Python program with a more user-friendly interface. The interface of your program You made a program to count visitors to a bird feeder. This iswhatthe enter number of visits? user sees when they use the program. enter number of visitsS enter nunber of visits? This program is not very user friendly. itis notclearwhat inputs are enter number of visits99 needed or what the output means. Now you will improvethe program. 16 Simple inputs and prompts You need to make it easy for your user to enter the right inputs. Here are some tips: > Make the input short and simple to enter. For example, ask the user to input °Y’ instead of ‘Yes’. This is less work for the user. There is less chance of an error. > Add a prompt. The prompt is the text inside the brackets. It tells the user exactly what they should enter. This means the user feels less. stressed. It will help the user to avoid making an error. > Ifyou include a space at the end of the prompt, the interface looks better. There isa space between the prompt and what the user enters.Here isa bad input command: continue = input("continue?") Here isa better version: continue = input("do you want to continue? (Y/N) ") Which makes itclearer what you have to do? Clear outputs Most programs end with an output. It might be a number, such as the total number of birds seen. To make your programs user friendly, add some text to the print command. That helps the user to know what the output is. Here is a bad output command: print(total) Here isa better version: print("we saw this many birds", total) ‘The explanation and the variable are separated by commas. Other on-screen messages Use the print command to add messages Count tho nunbor of visits to the feoder, Time yo toyour program.Forexample,youcanadda | {0"you"eype 135" the prooram wil stop. title and explain what the program does. The students changed their program to make Gat ae eee 2 Visits in one mimte: 3 the interface more user friendly. Visits dn one ainute: Vieits in one mimite: 99 Other useful print commands The total number of visits was: 16 Here are some other print commands that are useful for this activity. Include "\n" in a print command to make a new line: print("\n") Use the multiplication’ operator to repeat a symbol. This command will print ten dashes: print("-"* 10) OI CEI Open the Bird Addition program. Add extra Talk to family and friends about what apps and features to make it more user friendly. programs they find easiest to use. What makes a program ‘user friendly’? You might find that different people want different types of software. f you have time, write a report on what you have found. 8 dn sppe je 31 :6unmwesBoudCee iC ear Make readable programs Programmers like programs that are readable, That means the program itselfis easy to read and understand. Often, more than one programmer works on the same program. Making readable programs is good for teamwork. Making your programs readable will help you to be a better programmer. When you come back to your work, you will find iteasy to remember what you did. You wil find iteasy to improve and change your program. Creating readable programs helps everyone. Two things that make a program easy to read are: > well-chosen variable names > comments. Variable names You have learned how to make good variable names. The name of a variable should tell you what value the variable stores. When other programmers look at your program they will understand your work. This code is not readable because we don’t know what the variable x stores: input ("value") This code is much more readable because itis clear what the variable cost stores: cost = input("enter the item cost ") Comments Comments are messages you add toyour this program xecords totel visits to « bird feeder program. In Python you mark a comment fora with the hash symbol #. 4 auenay she vor Antertace, ‘Any text that you enterafter the # symbol is not part of the program. The computer will see the # symbol in your code. It will ignore _ = the rest of the line. But other programmers will be able to read the comment. You can =a use comments to add explanations and Se other messages about your program. That sn. vette to gor will make the program more readable. wise et Vt = cimter *) Some students decided to make the Bird Addition program more readable. This is oe ee cass peony what the program looked like. OI ‘Add features to improve the readability of your program.Take the program to a new level Mrs LI is a new biology teacher at North Mountain ‘School. Sheis very keen on studying birds. She wants to use the program the students had made. But she asks for an extra feature: > “Can the program tell me the average number of birds that arrive in one minute?” The students adapt their program to meet Mrs Li's requirement. Calculate an average The program has to calculate the average of a series of numbers. To calculate an average you need to know two things: > the total of all the numbers added together > the count of how many numbers there were in the series. The averageis the total divided by the count. Discuss and plan ‘The students were confident they could do this task. They hada discussion to plan the program. Here are some things they sai > “Weneed a new variable called count or counter that starts at 0.” > “This variable will go up by one every time the user enters a number.” > “Atthe end, we can use this variable to calculate the average.” oO Extra challenge 1 Adapt the program to calculate the average number of bird visitors. Use the students’ comments to help you make these changes. 2. Make sure the program is readable and usable. or 1. Say one way that Scratch is more user friendly than Python. 2. Hayley wrote a command to print a variable. How can she change the print command to make it more user friendly? 3. Why do well-chosen variable names make your programs more readable? 4. Explain how adding comments to a program might help you next time you work on the program. 8 dn sppe je 3] :6urmiuesBoig