Scripting Exercise Repository

NOTE: THIS REPO HAS MOVED TO https://github.com/ucll-scripting/exercises!

About This Course

This course teaches you how to write small scripts that automate tasks. For this, we will rely on the Python programming language:

It is one of the most used programming languages (see Tiobe, StackOverflow, GitHub).
It is one of the most user-friendly languages out there.
A very large number of packages are available, which is essential for scripting.

The focus lies on getting things done. Your scripts have to produce correct results and it is your responsibility to check your work properly. The first series of exercises are accompanied by tests, but with the 'real deal' exercises, that won't be the case anymore. You will have to split up the task at hand in smaller pieces, implement helper functions, check them, etc.

We do not care how you solve the problem. You are free to use all of the functionality Python provides. It is not our goal to have you write complex algorithms. So, please do not write your own sum function, use the built-in one. You will see that Python has a lot of built-in functions for you to make use of. Therefore, it is very important that you develop the habit of skimming through the documentation and looking up information online.

Installation

Software

Install the following software:

Git
Python 3
- During the installation, don't forget to have Python added to environment variables (!)
- Also double check that pip is selected as optional feature as well
Visual Studio Code
- Windows users: during the installation, have it install the explorer context menu additions
- Install the VSCode Markdown Preview Mermaid extension.

Make sure to check your Python version as follows (this is especially important for Mac and Linux users). Open a terminal and input the following command. (Omit the $! It is conventional to prefix lines with commands you are expected to enter with $.)

$ python --version

This should respond with the installed Python version. You need at least 3.6. If it responds with some 2.x version, you're probably a Mac user. Try again with

$ python3 --version

If you get an error or the wrong version, inform a lecturer.

Course Related Material

Next, open a terminal in a directory where you wish to store your course-related files. Enter the commands below. If the pip command does not work, look online for 'how to install pip'.

Windows Users

$ pip install git+https://github.com/UCLeuvenLimburg/scripting.git

$ git clone https://github.com/UCLeuvenLimburg/scripting-exercises.git

Mac Users

$ pip3 install git+https://github.com/UCLeuvenLimburg/scripting.git

$ git clone https://github.com/UCLeuvenLimburg/scripting-exercises.git

Test the installation of the scripting package by executing the following command. It should show the output below (or something similar to it, as long as it's not an error message.)

$ scripting
usage: scripting [-h] {version,test} ...

positional arguments:
  {version,test}  sub-command help
    version       returns version
    test          runs tests in all subdirectories

optional arguments:
  -h, --help      show this help message and exit

Usage

Use Visual Studio Code to open the scripting-exercise folder. Under Windows, this can be done by right-clicking the folder and choose 'Open with Code'. This way, the side bar gives a nicely structured view of all the exercises.

Each exercise is stored in its own folder. This folder contains a number of files:

explanations.md: your starting point. It is strongly recommended you read through it, as it contains important information about the exercise.
student.py: write your solutions here.
tests.py: contains the tests. In some cases it might be useful to take a look at this.
solutions.py: contains the solution.

To check your solution:

$ scripting test

This will run all tests in the current directory and all subdirectories. Generally, you will want to perform this command inside an exercise's directory, but to run tests of many exercises at once, you can also execute it in one of the parent directories.

Remaining Up-To-Date

Both the scripting package and the exercises can be updated during the course. It is therefore strongly recommended to subscribe to updates.

Open both these pages:

Press the Watch dropdown button (upper right corner) and select 'Releases only'.

Whenever you are notified of a new release, you can retrieve it by entering the command below somewhere inside the repository:

$ git pull

Updating the `scripting` package

Enter the following command in a terminal (pip3 for Mac users):

$ pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/UCLeuvenLimburg/scripting.git

Updating the exercises

Open a terminal inside your local copy of the exercises (any subdirectory will do) and enter the following command:

$ git pull

Other Useful Shell Commands

Entering a subdirectory

$ cd subdirectory

Go up a directory

$ cd ..

View contents of current directory

$ ls

Open a file from the shell

$ code filename

Overview of some example libraries used in the more challenging exercises

After exercise sets 01, 02, 03 and 04, we provide you with a set of more challenging exercises. To give you an idea about some of the libraries used, here's an overview. The idea is that you chose yourself what interests and/or challenges you.

backup
  zipfile
  datetime
  argparse
  sys
  os

exam schedule
  sys
  csv
  argparse

ical
  datetime
  ics
  sys
  re

imdb
  pandas
  csv
  sys

scraping
  urllib
  re

shell tools
  sys
  re
  os
  argparse

toledo unpack
  zipfile
  sys
  re
  os