You nailed it! At a basic level, a computer program is a recipe of instructions that tells your computer what to do.
Question 2
What’s the syntax of a language?
Right on! In a human language, syntax is the rules for how a sentence is constructed, and in a programming language, syntax is the rules for how each instruction is written.
Question 3
What’s the difference between a program and a script?
You got it! The line between a program and a script is blurry; scripts usually have a shorter development cycle. This means that scripts are shorter, simpler, and can be written very quickly.
Excellent! Creating a report that presents stored data in specific ways is a tedious task that can be easily automated.
Nice work! A task like copying files to other computers is easily automated, and helps to reduce unnecessary manual work.
Interviewing a candidate for a job
Great job! Sending out periodic emails is a time-consuming task that can be easily automated, and you won't have to worry about forgetting to do it on a regular basis.
Investigating the root cause of a machine failing to boot
Not quite. The end result of a program function is described as the output.
Code
Hi Taylor
Hi Alex
Hi Pat
Hi Eli
Let's check whether you soaked all that in with a quick question! Select all options that explain why Python is relevant to today’s IT industry.
Woohoo! Python is a language that tries to mimic our natural language and so Python scripts are generally easy to write, understand and maintain.
You got it! Over the years, the Python community has developed a lot of additional tools that can be used by system administrators to get their job done.
Well done, you! Python is available on Windows, Linux, MacOS and even on mobile devices, making it a great tool for IT specialist looking to create scripts that can work across platforms.
There have been multiple major version releases over the years which incorporate significant changes to the language.
Below, you’ll find links to some of the most popular online interpreters and codepads. Give them a go to find your favorite.
Additional Python resources
While this course will give you information about how Python works and how to write scripts in Python, you’ll likely want to find out more about specific parts of the language. Here are some great ways to help you find additional info:
Read the official Python documentation.
Search for answers or ask a question on Stack Overflow.
Subscribe to the Python tutor mailing list, where you can ask questions and collaborate with other Python learners.
Subscribe to the Python-announce mailing list to read about the latest updates in the language.
Python history and current status
Python was released almost 30 years ago and has a rich history. You can read more about it on the History of Python Wikipedia page or in the section on the history of the software from the official Python documentation.
Python has recently been called the fastest growing programming language. If you're interested in why this is and how it’s measured, you can find out more in these articles:
The Incredible Growth of Python (Stack Overflow)
By the numbers: Python community trends in 2017/2018 (Opensource.com)
Developer Survey Results 2018 (Stack Overflow)