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Python Programming An Introduction to Computer
Science John M. Zelle Digital Instant Download
Author(s): John M. Zelle
ISBN(s): 9781887902991, 1887902996
Edition: Pap/Cdr
File Details: PDF, 1.20 MB
Year: 2003
Language: english
 Python Programming:
An Introduction to Computer Science

John M. Zelle, Ph.D.

Version 1.0rc2
Fall 2002
Copyright c 2002 by John M. Zelle

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior
written permission of the author.

This document was prepared with LATEX 2ε and reproduced by Wartburg College Printing Services.
Contents

1 Computers and Programs 1

1.1 The Universal Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Program Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 What is Computer Science? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 Hardware Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.5 Programming Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.6 The Magic of Python . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.7 Inside a Python Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.8 Chaos and Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.9 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2 Writing Simple Programs 13

2.1 The Software Development Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2 Example Program: Temperature Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3 Elements of Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.3.1 Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.3.2 Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.4 Output Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.5 Assignment Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.5.1 Simple Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.5.2 Assigning Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.5.3 Simultaneous Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.6 Definite Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.7 Example Program: Future Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.8 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3 Computing with Numbers 25

3.1 Numeric Data Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.2 Using the Math Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.3 Accumulating Results: Factorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.4 The Limits of Int . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.5 Handling Large Numbers: Long Ints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.6 Type Conversions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.7 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

4 Computing with Strings 39

4.1 The String Data Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.2 Simple String Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.3 Strings and Secret Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.3.1 String Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.3.2 Programming an Encoder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.3.3 Programming a Decoder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.3.4 Other String Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

i
ii CONTENTS

4.3.5 From Encoding to Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

4.4 Output as String Manipulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.4.1 Converting Numbers to Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.4.2 String Formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.4.3 Better Change Counter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.5 File Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.5.1 Multi-Line Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.5.2 File Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.5.3 Example Program: Batch Usernames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.5.4 Coming Attraction: Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.6 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

5 Objects and Graphics 61

5.1 The Object of Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5.2 Graphics Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5.3 Using Graphical Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
5.4 Graphing Future Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
5.5 Choosing Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.6 Interactive Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5.6.1 Getting Mouse Clicks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5.6.2 Handling Textual Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.7 Graphics Module Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5.7.1 GraphWin Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5.7.2 Graphics Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5.7.3 Entry Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.7.4 Displaying Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.7.5 Generating Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.8 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

6 Defining Functions 85
6.1 The Function of Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
6.2 Functions, Informally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6.3 Future Value with a Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
6.4 Functions and Parameters: The Gory Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
6.5 Functions that Return Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
6.6 Functions and Program Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
6.7 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

7 Control Structures, Part 1 101

7.1 Simple Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
7.1.1 Example: Temperature Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
7.1.2 Forming Simple Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
7.1.3 Example: Conditional Program Execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
7.2 Two-Way Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.3 Multi-Way Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
7.4 Exception Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
7.5 Study in Design: Max of Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
7.5.1 Strategy 1: Compare Each to All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
7.5.2 Strategy 2: Decision Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
7.5.3 Strategy 3: Sequential Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
7.5.4 Strategy 4: Use Python . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
7.5.5 Some Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
7.6 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
CONTENTS iii

8 Control Structures, Part 2 119

8.1 For Loops: A Quick Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
8.2 Indefinite Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
8.3 Common Loop Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
8.3.1 Interactive Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
8.3.2 Sentinel Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
8.3.3 File Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
8.3.4 Nested Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
8.4 Computing with Booleans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
8.4.1 Boolean Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
8.4.2 Boolean Algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
8.5 Other Common Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
8.5.1 Post-Test Loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
8.5.2 Loop and a Half . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
8.5.3 Boolean Expressions as Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
8.6 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

9 Simulation and Design 137

9.1 Simulating Racquetball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
9.1.1 A Simulation Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
9.1.2 Program Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
9.2 Random Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
9.3 Top-Down Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
9.3.1 Top-Level Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
9.3.2 Separation of Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
9.3.3 Second-Level Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
9.3.4 Designing simNGames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
9.3.5 Third-Level Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
9.3.6 Finishing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
9.3.7 Summary of the Design Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
9.4 Bottom-Up Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
9.4.1 Unit Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
9.4.2 Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
9.5 Other Design Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
9.5.1 Prototyping and Spiral Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
9.5.2 The Art of Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
9.6 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

10 Defining Classes 155

10.1 Quick Review of Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
10.2 Example Program: Cannonball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
10.2.1 Program Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
10.2.2 Designing the Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
10.2.3 Modularizing the Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
10.3 Defining New Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
10.3.1 Example: Multi-Sided Dice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
10.3.2 Example: The Projectile Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
10.4 Objects and Encapsulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
10.4.1 Encapsulating Useful Abstractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
10.4.2 Putting Classes in Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
10.5 Widget Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
10.5.1 Example Program: Dice Roller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
10.5.2 Building Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
10.5.3 Building Dice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
iv CONTENTS

10.5.4 The Main Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

10.6 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

11 Data Collections 177

11.1 Example Problem: Simple Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
11.2 Applying Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
11.2.1 Lists are Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
11.2.2 Lists vs. Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
11.2.3 List Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
11.3 Statistics with Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
11.4 Combining Lists and Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
11.5 Case Study: Python Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
11.5.1 A Calculator as an Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
11.5.2 Constructing the Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
11.5.3 Processing Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
11.6 Non-Sequential Collections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
11.6.1 Dictionary Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
11.6.2 Dictionary Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
11.6.3 Example Program: Word Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
11.7 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

12 Object-Oriented Design 201

12.1 The Process of OOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
12.2 Case Study: Racquetball Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
12.2.1 Candidate Objects and Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
12.2.2 Implementing SimStats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
12.2.3 Implementing RBallGame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
12.2.4 Implementing Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
12.2.5 The Complete Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
12.3 Case Study: Dice Poker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
12.3.1 Program Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
12.3.2 Identifying Candidate Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
12.3.3 Implementing the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
12.3.4 A Text-Based UI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
12.3.5 Developing a GUI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
12.4 OO Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
12.4.1 Encapsulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
12.4.2 Polymorphism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
12.4.3 Inheritance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
12.5 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

13 Algorithm Analysis and Design 225

13.1 Searching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
13.1.1 A Simple Searching Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
13.1.2 Strategy 1: Linear Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
13.1.3 Strategy 2: Binary Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
13.1.4 Comparing Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
13.2 Recursive Problem-Solving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
13.2.1 Recursive Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
13.2.2 Recursive Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
13.2.3 Recursive Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
13.3 Sorting Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
13.3.1 Naive Sorting: Selection Sort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
13.3.2 Divide and Conquer: Merge Sort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
CONTENTS v

13.3.3 Comparing Sorts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

13.4 Hard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
13.4.1 Towers of Hanoi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
13.4.2 The Halting Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
13.4.3 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
vi CONTENTS
Chapter 1

Computers and Programs

Almost everyone has used a computer at one time or another. Perhaps you have played computer games or
used a computer to write a paper or balance your checkbook. Computers are used to predict the weather,
design airplanes, make movies, run businesses, perform financial transactions, and control factories.
Have you ever stopped to wonder what exactly a computer is? How can one device perform so many
different tasks? These basic questions are the starting point for learning about computers and computer
programming.

1.1 The Universal Machine

A modern computer might be defined as “a machine that stores and manipulates information under the con-
trol of a changeable program.” There are two key elements to this definition. The first is that computers
are devices for manipulating information. This means that we can put information into a computer, and it
can transform the information into new, useful forms, and then output or display the information for our
interpretation.
Computers are not the only machines that manipulate information. When you use a simple calculator to
add up a column of numbers, you are entering information (the numbers) and the calculator is processing the
information to compute a running sum which is then displayed. Another simple example is a gas pump. As
you fill your tank, the pump uses certain inputs: the current price of gas per gallon and signals from a sensor
that reads the rate of gas flowing into your car. The pump transforms this input into information about how
much gas you took and how much money you owe.
We would not consider either the calculator or the gas pump as full-fledged computers, although modern
versions of these devices may actually contain embedded computers. They are different from computers in
that they are built to perform a single, specific task. This is where the second part of our definition comes into
the picture: computers operate under the control of a changeable program. What exactly does this mean?
A computer program is a detailed, step-by-step set of instructions telling a computer exactly what to do.
If we change the program, then the computer performs a different sequence of actions, and hence, performs
a different task. It is this flexibility that allows your PC to be at one moment a word processor, at the next
moment a financial planner, and later on, an arcade game. The machine stays the same, but the program
controlling the machine changes.
Every computer is just a machine for executing (carrying out) programs. There are many different kinds
of computers. You might be familiar with Macintoshes and PCs, but there are literally thousands of other
kinds of computers both real and theoretical. One of the remarkable discoveries of computer science is
the realization that all of these different computers have the same power; with suitable programming, each
computer can basically do all the things that any other computer can do. In this sense, the PC that you might
have sitting on your desk is really a universal machine. It can do anything you want it to, provided you can
describe the task to be accomplished in sufficient detail. Now that’s a powerful machine!

1
2 CHAPTER 1. COMPUTERS AND PROGRAMS

1.2 Program Power

You have already learned an important lesson of computing: Software (programs) rules the hardware (the
physical machine). It is the software that determines what any computer can do. Without programs, comput-
ers would just be expensive paperweights. The process of creating software is called programming, and that
is the main focus of this book.
Computer programming is a challenging activity. Good programming requires an ability to see the big
picture while paying attention to minute detail. Not everyone has the talent to become a first-class program-
mer, just as not everyone has the skills to be a professional athlete. However, virtually anyone can learn how
to program computers. With some patience and effort on your part, this book will help you to become a
programmer.
There are lots of good reasons to learn programming. Programming is a fundamental part of computer
science and is, therefore, important to anyone interested in becoming a computer professional. But others can
also benefit from the experience. Computers have become a commonplace tool in our society. Understanding
the strengths and limitations of this tool requires an understanding of programming. Non-programmers often
feel they are slaves of their computers. Programmers, however, are truly the masters. If you want to become
a more intelligent user of computers, then this book is for you.
Programming can also be loads of fun. It is an intellectually engaging activity that allows people to
express themselves through useful and sometimes remarkably beautiful creations. Believe it or not, many
people actually write computer programs as a hobby. Programming also develops valuable problem-solving
skills, especially the ability to analyze complex systems by reducing them to interactions of understandable
subsystems.
As you probably know, programmers are in great demand. More than a few liberal arts majors have turned
a couple computer programming classes into a lucrative career option. Computers are so commonplace in the
business world today that the ability to understand and program computers might just give you the edge over
your competition, regardless of your occupation.

1.3 What is Computer Science?

You might be surprised to learn that computer science is not the study of computers. A famous computer
scientist named Edsgar Dijkstra once quipped that computers are to computer science what telescopes are to
astronomy. The computer is an important tool in computer science, but it is not itself the object of study.
Since a computer can carry out any process that we can describe, the real question is What processes can we
describe? Put another way, the fundamental question of computer science is simply What can be computed?
Computer scientists use numerous techniques of investigation to answer this question. The three main ones
are design, analysis, and experimentation.
One way to demonstrate that a particular problem can be solved is to actually design a solution. That is,
we develop a step-by-step process for achieving the desired result. Computer scientists call this an algorithm.
That’s a fancy word that basically means “recipe.” The design of algorithms is one of the most important
facets of computer science. In this book you will find techniques for designing and implementing algorithms.
One weakness of design is that it can only answer the question What is computable? in the positive. If I
can devise an algorithm, then the problem is solvable. However, failing to find an algorithm does not mean
that a problem is unsolvable. It may mean that I’m just not smart enough, or I haven’t hit upon the right idea
yet. This is where analysis comes in.
Analysis is the process of examining algorithms and problems mathematically. Computer scientists have
shown that some seemingly simple problems are not solvable by any algorithm. Other problems are in-
tractable. The algorithms that solve these problems take too long or require too much memory to be of
practical value. Analysis of algorithms is an important part of computer science; throughout this book we
will touch on some of the fundamental principles. Chapter 13 has examples of unsolvable and intractable
problems.
Some problems are too complex or ill-defined to lend themselves to analysis. In such cases, computer
scientists rely on experimentation; they actually implement systems and then study the resulting behavior.
Even when theoretical analysis is done, experimentation is often needed in order to verify and refine the
1.4. HARDWARE BASICS 3

Output Devices
CPU

Input Devices

Secondary
Main Memory
Memory

Figure 1.1: Functional View of a Computer.

analysis. For most problems, the bottom-line is whether a working, reliable system can be built. Often we
require empirical testing of the system to determine that this bottom-line has been met. As you begin writing
your own programs, you will get plenty of opportunities to observe your solutions in action.

1.4 Hardware Basics

You don’t have to know all the details of how a computer works to be a successful programmer, but under-
standing the underlying principles will help you master the steps we go through to put our programs into
action. It’s a bit like driving a car. Knowing a little about internal combustion engines helps to explain why
you have to do things like fill the gas tank, start the engine, step on the accelerator, etc. You could learn
to drive by just memorizing what to do, but a little more knowledge makes the whole process much more
understandable. Let’s take a moment to “look under the hood” of your computer.
Although different computers can vary significantly in specific details, at a higher level all modern digital
computers are remarkably similar. Figure 1.1 shows a functional view of a computer. The central processing
unit (CPU) is the “brain” of the machine. This is where all the basic operations of the computer are carried
out. The CPU can perform simple arithmetic operations like adding two numbers and can also do logical
operations like testing to see if two numbers are equal.
The memory stores programs and data. The CPU can only directly access information that is stored in
main memory (called RAM for Random Access Memory). Main memory is fast, but it is also volatile. That is,
when the power is turned off, the information in the memory is lost. Thus, there must also be some secondary
memory that provides more permanent storage. In a modern personal computer, this is usually some sort of
magnetic medium such as a hard disk (also called a hard drive) or floppy.
Humans interact with the computer through input and output devices. You are probably familiar with
common devices such as a keyboard, mouse, and monitor (video screen). Information from input devices is
processed by the CPU and may be shuffled off to the main or secondary memory. Similarly, when information
needs to be displayed, the CPU sends it to one or more output devices.
So what happens when you fire up your favorite game or word processing program? First, the instructions
that comprise the program are copied from the (more) permanent secondary memory into the main memory
of the computer. Once the instructions are loaded, the CPU starts executing the program.
Technically the CPU follows a process called the fetch execute cycle. The first instruction is retrieved
from memory, decoded to figure out what it represents, and the appropriate action carried out. Then the next
instruction is fetched, decoded and executed. The cycle continues, instruction after instruction. This is really
all the computer does from the time that you turn it on until you turn it off again: fetch, decode, execute. It
doesn’t seem very exciting, does it? But the computer can execute this stream of simple instructions with
blazing speed, zipping through millions of instructions each second. Put enough simple instructions together
in just the right way, and the computer does amazing things.
4 CHAPTER 1. COMPUTERS AND PROGRAMS

1.5 Programming Languages

Remember that a program is just a sequence of instructions telling a computer what to do. Obviously, we
need to provide those instructions in a language that a computer can understand. It would be nice if we could
just tell a computer what to do using our native language, like they do in science fiction movies. (“Computer,
how long will it take to reach planet Alphalpha at maximum warp?”) Unfortunately, despite the continuing
efforts of many top-flight computer scientists (including your author), designing a computer to understand
human language is still an unsolved problem.
Even if computers could understand us, human languages are not very well suited for describing complex
algorithms. Natural language is fraught with ambiguity and imprecision. For example, if I say: “I saw the
man in the park with the telescope,” did I have the telescope, or did the man? And who was in the park? We
understand each other most of the time only because all humans share a vast store of common knowledge and
experience. Even then, miscommunication is commonplace.
Computer scientists have gotten around this problem by designing notations for expressing computa-
tions in an exact, and unambiguous way. These special notations are called programming languages. Every
structure in a programming language has a precise form (its syntax) and a precise meaning (its semantics). A
programming language is something like a code for writing down the instructions that a computer will follow.
In fact, programmers often refer to their programs as computer code, and the process of writing an algorithm
in a programming language is called coding.
Python is one example of a programming language. It is the language that we will use throughout this
book. You may have heard of some other languages, such as C++, Java, Perl, Scheme, or BASIC. Although
these languages differ in many details, they all share the property of having well-defined, unambiguous syntax
and semantics.
All of the languages mentioned above are examples of high-level computer languages. Although they are
precise, they are designed to be used and understood by humans. Strictly speaking, computer hardware can
only understand very low-level language known as machine language.
Suppose we want the computer to add two numbers. The instructions that the CPU actually carries out
might be something like this.

load the number from memory location 2001 into the CPU
load the number from memory location 2002 into the CPU
Add the two numbers in the CPU
store the result into location 2003

This seems like a lot of work to add two numbers, doesn’t it? Actually, it’s even more complicated than this
because the instructions and numbers are represented in binary notation (as sequences of 0s and 1s).
In a high-level language like Python, the addition of two numbers can be expressed more naturally: c =
a + b. That’s a lot easier for us to understand, but we need some way to translate the high-level language
into the machine language that the computer can execute. There are two ways to do this: a high-level language
can either be compiled or interpreted.
A compiler is a complex computer program that takes another program written in a high-level language
and translates it into an equivalent program in the machine language of some computer. Figure 1.2 shows
a block diagram of the compiling process. The high-level program is called source code, and the resulting
machine code is a program that the computer can directly execute. The dashed line in the diagram represents
the execution of the machine code.
An interpreter is a program that simulates a computer that understands a high-level language. Rather than
translating the source program into a machine language equivalent, the interpreter analyzes and executes the
source code instruction by instruction as necessary. Figure 1.3 illustrates the process.
The difference between interpreting and compiling is that compiling is a one-shot translation; once a
program is compiled, it may be run over and over again without further need for the compiler or the source
code. In the interpreted case, the interpreter and the source are needed every time the program runs. Compiled
programs tend to be faster, since the translation is done once and for all, but interpreted languages lend
themselves to a more flexible programming environment as programs can be developed and run interactively.
The translation process highlights another advantage that high-level languages have over machine lan-
guage: portability. The machine language of a computer is created by the designers of the particular CPU.
1.6. THE MAGIC OF PYTHON 5

Source
Code Compiler Machine
(Program) Code

Running
Outputs
Inputs Program

Figure 1.2: Compiling a High-Level Language

Source
Code Computer
(Program)
Running an
Outputs
Interpreter
Inputs

Figure 1.3: Interpreting a High-Level Language.

Each kind of computer has its own machine language. A program for a Pentium CPU won’t run on a Mac-
intosh that sports a PowerPC. On the other hand, a program written in a high-level language can be run on
many different kinds of computers as long as there is a suitable compiler or interpreter (which is just another
program). For example, if I design a new computer, I can also program a Python interpreter for it, and then
any program written in Python can be run on my new computer, as is.

1.6 The Magic of Python

Now that you have all the technical details, it’s time to start having fun with Python. The ultimate goal is
to make the computer do our bidding. To this end, we will write programs that control the computational
processes inside the machine. You have already seen that there is no magic in this process, but in some ways
programming feels like magic.
The computational processes inside the computer are like magical spirits that we can harness for our
work. Unfortunately, those spirits only understand a very arcane language that we do not know. What we
need is a friendly Genie that can direct the spirits to fulfill our wishes. Our Genie is a Python interpreter. We
can give instructions to the Python interpreter, and it directs the underlying spirits to carry out our demands.
We communicate with the Genie through a special language of spells and incantations (i.e., Python). The
best way to start learning about Python is to let our Genie out of the bottle and try some spells.
You can start the Python interpreter in an interactive mode and type in some commands to see what
happens. When you first start the interpreter program, you may see something like the following:

Python 2.1 (#1, Jun 21 2001, 11:39:00)

[GCC pgcc-2.91.66 19990314 (egcs-1.1.2 release)] on linux2
Type "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>

The

is a Python prompt indicating that the Genie is waiting for us to give it a command. In programming
languages, a complete command is called a statement.
Here is a sample interaction with the Python interpreter.
6 CHAPTER 1. COMPUTERS AND PROGRAMS

>>> print "Hello, World"

Hello, World
>>> print 2 + 3
5
>>> print "2 + 3 =", 2 + 3
2 + 3 = 5

Here I have tried out three examples using the Python print statement. The first statement asks Python to
display the literal phrase Hello, World. Python responds on the next line by printing the phrase. The second
print statement asks Python to print the sum of 2 and 3. The third print combines these two ideas.
Python prints the part in quotes “2 + 3 =” followed by the result of adding 2 + 3, which is 5.
This kind of interaction is a great way to try out new things in Python. Snippets of interactive sessions
are sprinkled throughout this book. When you see the Python prompt

in an example, that should tip
you off that an interactive session is being illustrated. It’s a good idea to fire up Python and try the examples
for yourself.
Usually we want to move beyond snippets and execute an entire sequence of statements. Python lets us
put a sequence of statements together to create a brand-new command called a function. Here is an example
of creating a new function called hello.

>>> def hello():

print "Hello"
print "Computers are Fun"

>>>

The first line tells Python that we are defining a new function called hello. The following lines are indented
to show that they are part of the hello function. The blank line (obtained by hitting the <Enter> key
twice) lets Python know that the definition is finished, and the interpreter responds with another prompt.
Notice that the definition did not cause anything to happen. We have told Python what should happen when
the hello function is used as a command; we haven’t actually asked Python to perform it yet.
A function is invoked by typing its name. Here’s what happens when we use our hello command.

>>> hello()
Hello
Computers are Fun
>>>

Do you see what this does? The two print statements from the hello function are executed in sequence.
You may be wondering about the parentheses in the definition and use of hello. Commands can have
changeable parts called parameters that are placed within the parentheses. Let’s look at an example of a
customized greeting using a parameter. First the definition:

>>> def greet(person):

print "Hello", person
print "How are you?"

Now we can use our customized greeting.

>>> greet("John")
Hello John
How are you?
>>> greet("Emily")
Hello Emily
How are you?
>>>
1.6. THE MAGIC OF PYTHON 7

Can you see what is happening here? When we use greet we can send different names to customize the
result. We will discuss parameters in detail later on. For the time being, our functions will not use parameters,
so the parentheses will be empty, but you still need to include them when defining and using functions.
One problem with entering functions interactively at the Python prompt like this is that the definitions go
away when we quit Python. If we want to use them again the next time, we have to type them all over again.
Programs are usually created by typing definitions into a separate file called a module or script. This file is
saved on a disk so that it can be used over and over again.
A module file is just a text file, and you can create one using any program for editing text, like a notepad or
word processor program (provided you save your program as a “plain text” file). A special type of program
known as a programming environment simplifies the process. A programming environment is specifically
designed to help programmers write programs and includes features such as automatic indenting, color high-
lighting, and interactive development. The standard Python distribution includes a programming environment
called Idle that you may use for working on the programs in this book.
Let’s illustrate the use of a module file by writing and running a complete program. Our program will
illustrate a mathematical concept known as chaos. Here is the program as we would type it into Idle or some
other editor and save in a module file:
# File: chaos.py
# A simple program illustrating chaotic behavior.

def main():
print "This program illustrates a chaotic function"
x = input("Enter a number between 0 and 1: ")
for i in range(10):
x = 3.9 * x * (1 - x)
print x

main()
This file should be saved with with the name chaos.py. The .py extension indicates that this is a
Python module. You can see that this particular example contains lines to define a new function called main.
(Programs are often placed in a function called main.) The last line of the file is the command to invoke
this function. Don’t worry if you don’t understand what main actually does; we will discuss it in the next
section. The point here is that once we have a program in a module file, we can run it any time we want.
This program can be run in a number of different ways that depend on the actual operating system and
programming environment that you are using. If you are using a windowing system, you can run a Python
program by (double-)clicking on the module file’s icon. In a command-line situation, you might type a
command like python chaos.py. If you are using Idle (or another programming environment) you can
run a program by opening it in the editor and then selecting a command like import, run, or execute.
One method that should always work is to start the Python interpreter and then import the file. Here is
how that looks.
>>> import chaos
This program illustrates a chaotic function
Enter a number between 0 and 1: .25
0.73125
0.76644140625
0.698135010439
0.82189581879
0.570894019197
0.955398748364
0.166186721954
0.540417912062
0.9686289303
0.118509010176
>>>
8 CHAPTER 1. COMPUTERS AND PROGRAMS

Typing the first line import chaos tells the Python interpreter to load the chaos module from the file
chaos.py into main memory. Notice that I did not include the .py extension on the import line; Python
assumes the module will have a .py extension.
As Python imports the module file, each line executes. It’s just as if we had typed them one-by-one at the
interactive Python prompt. The def in the module causes Python to create the main function. When Python
encounters the last line of the module, the main function is invoked, thus running our program. The running
program asks the user to enter a number between 0 and 1 (in this case, I typed “.25”) and then prints out a
series of 10 numbers.
When you first import a module file in this way, Python creates a companion file with a .pyc extension.
In this example, Python creates another file on the disk called chaos.pyc. This is an intermediate file used
by the Python interpreter. Technically, Python uses a hybrid compiling/interpreting process. The Python
source in the module file is compiled into more primitive instructions called byte code. This byte code (the
.pyc) file is then interpreted. Having a .pyc file available makes importing a module faster the second time
around. However, you may delete the byte code files if you wish to save disk space; Python will automatically
re-create them as needed.
A module only needs to be imported into a session once. After the module has been loaded, we can run the
program again by asking Python to execute the main command. We do this by using a special dot notation.
Typing chaos.main() tells Python to invoke the main function in the chaos module. Continuing with
our example, here is how it looks when we rerun the program with 26 as the input.

>>> chaos.main()
Enter a number between 0 and 1: .26
0.75036
0.73054749456
0.767706625733
0.6954993339
0.825942040734
0.560670965721
0.960644232282
0.147446875935
0.490254549376
0.974629602149
>>>

1.7 Inside a Python Program

The output from the chaos program may not look very exciting, but it illustrates a very interesting phe-
nomenon known to physicists and mathematicians. Let’s take a look at this program line by line and see what
it does. Don’t worry about understanding every detail right away; we will be returning to all of these ideas in
the next chapter.
The first two lines of the program start with the # character:

# File: chaos.py
# A simple program illustrating chaotic behavior.

These lines are called comments. They are intended for human readers of the program and are ignored by
Python. The Python interpreter always skips any text from the pound sign (#) through the end of a line.
The next line of the program begins the definition of a function called main.

def main():

Strictly speaking, it would not be necessary to create a main function. Since the lines of a module are
executed as they are loaded, we could have written our program without this definition. That is, the module
could have looked like this:
1.7. INSIDE A PYTHON PROGRAM 9

# File: chaos.py
# A simple program illustrating chaotic behavior.

print "This program illustrates a chaotic function"

x = input("Enter a number between 0 and 1: ")
for i in range(10):
x = 3.9 * x * (1 - x)
print x
This version is a bit shorter, but it is customary to place the instructions that comprise a program inside of a
function called main. One immediate benefit of this approach was illustrated above; it allows us to (re)run
the program by simply invoking chaos.main(). We don’t have to reload the module from the file in order
to run it again, which would be necessary in the main-less case.
The first line inside of main is really the beginning of our program.
print "This program illustrates a chaotic function"
This line causes Python to print a message introducing the program when it runs.
Take a look at the next line of the program.
x = input("Enter a number between 0 and 1: ")
Here x is an example of a variable. A variable is used to give a name to a value so that we can refer to it at
other points in the program. The entire line is an input statement. When Python gets to this statement, it
displays the quoted message Enter a number between 0 and 1: and then pauses, waiting for the
user to type something on the keyboard and press the <Enter> key. The value that the user types is then
stored as the variable x. In the first example shown above, the user entered .25, which becomes the value of
x.
The next statement is an example of a loop.
for i in range(10):
A loop is a device that tells Python to do the same thing over and over again. This particular loop says to
do something 10 times. The lines indented underneath the loop heading are the statements that are done 10
times. These form the body of the loop.
x = 3.9 * x * (1 - x)
print x
The effect of the loop is exactly the same as if we had written the body of the loop 10 times:
x = 3.9 * x * (1 - x)
print x
x = 3.9 * x * (1 - x)
print x
x = 3.9 * x * (1 - x)
print x
x = 3.9 * x * (1 - x)
print x
x = 3.9 * x * (1 - x)
print x
x = 3.9 * x * (1 - x)
print x
x = 3.9 * x * (1 - x)
print x
x = 3.9 * x * (1 - x)
print x
x = 3.9 * x * (1 - x)
10 CHAPTER 1. COMPUTERS AND PROGRAMS

print x
x = 3.9 * x * (1 - x)
print x

Obviously using the loop instead saves the programmer a lot of trouble.
But what exactly do these statements do? The first one performs a calculation.

x = 3.9 * x * (1 - x)

This is called an assignment statement. The part on the right side of the = is a mathematical expression.
Python uses the * character to indicate multiplication. Recall that the value of x is 0 25 (from the input
statement). The computed value is 3 9 0 25 1 0 25 or 0 73125. Once the value on the righthand side is



computed, it is stored back (or assigned) into the variable that appears on the lefthand side of the =, in this
case x. The new value of x (0 73125) replaces the old value (0 25).
The second line in the loop body is a type of statement we have encountered before, a print statement.

print x

When Python executes this statement the current value of x is displayed on the screen. So, the first number
of output is 0.73125.
Remember the loop executes 10 times. After printing the value of x, the two statements of the loop are
executed again.

x = 3.9 * x * (1 - x)
print x

Of course, now x has the value 0 73125, so the formula computes a new value of x as 3 9 0 73125 1


0 73125 , which is 0 76644140625.

Can you see how the current value of x is used to compute a new value each time around the loop? That’s
where the numbers in the example run came from. You might try working through the steps of the program
yourself for a different input value (say 0 5). Then run the program using Python and see how well you did
impersonating a computer.

1.8 Chaos and Computers

I said above that the chaos program illustrates an interesting phenomenon. What could be interesting about
a screen full of numbers? If you try out the program for yourself, you’ll find that, no matter what number
you start with, the results are always similar: the program spits back 10 seemingly random numbers between
0 and 1. As the program runs, the value of x seems to jump around, well, chaotically.
The function computed by this program has the general form: k x 1 x , where k in this case is 3.9.



This is called a logistic function. It models certain kinds of unstable electronic circuits and is also sometimes
used to predict population under limiting conditions. Repeated application of the logistic function can pro-
duce chaos. Although our program has a well defined underlying behavior, the output seems unpredictable.
An interesting property of chaotic functions is that very small differences in the initial value can lead to
large differences in the result as the formula is repeatedly applied. You can see this in the chaos program by
entering numbers that differ by only a small amount. Here is the output from a modified program that shows
the results for initial values of 0 25 and 0 26 side by side.

input 0.25 0.26

---------------------------
0.731250 0.750360
0.766441 0.730547
0.698135 0.767707
0.821896 0.695499
0.570894 0.825942
0.955399 0.560671
1.9. EXERCISES 11

0.166187 0.960644
0.540418 0.147447
0.968629 0.490255
0.118509 0.974630

With very similar starting values, the outputs stay similar for a few iterations, but then differ markedly. By
about the fifth iteration, there no longer seems to be any relationship between the two models.
These two features of our chaos program, apparent unpredictability and extreme sensitivity to initial
values, are the hallmarks of chaotic behavior. Chaos has important implications for computer science. It
turns out that many phenomena in the real world that we might like to model and predict with our computers
exhibit just this kind of chaotic behavior. You may have heard of the so-called butterfly effect. Computer
models that are used to simulate and predict weather patterns are so sensitive that the effect of a single
butterfly flapping its wings in New Jersey might make the difference of whether or not rain is predicted in
Peoria.
It’s very possible that even with perfect computer modeling, we might never be able to measure existing
weather conditions accurately enough to predict weather more than a few days in advance. The measurements
simply can’t be precise enough to make the predictions accurate over a longer time frame.
As you can see, this small program has a valuable lesson to teach users of computers. As amazing as
computers are, the results that they give us are only as useful as the mathematical models on which the
programs are based. Computers can give incorrect results because of errors in programs, but even correct
programs may produce erroneous results if the models are wrong or the initial inputs are not accurate enough.

1.9 Exercises
1. Compare and contrast the following pairs of concepts from the chapter.

(a) Hardware vs. Software

(b) Algorithm vs. Program
(c) Programming Language vs. Natural Language
(d) High-Level Language vs. Machine Language
(e) Interpreter vs. Compiler
(f) Syntax vs. Semantics

2. List and explain in your own words the role of each of the five basic functional units of a computer
depicted in Figure 1.1.

3. Write a detailed algorithm for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (or some other simple every-
day activity).

4. As you will learn in a later chapter, many of the numbers stored in a computer are not exact values, but
rather close approximations. For example, the value 0.1, might be stored as 0.10000000000000000555.
Usually, such small differences are not a problem; however, given what you have learned about chaotic
behavior in Chapter 1, you should realize the need for caution in certain situations. Can you think of
examples where this might be a problem? Explain.

5. Trace through the Chaos program from Section 1.6 by hand using 0 15 as the input value. Show the
sequence of output that results.

6. Enter and run the Chaos program from Section 1.6 using whatever Python implementation you have
available. Try it out with various values of input to see that it functions as described in the chapter.

7. Modify the Chaos program from Section 1.6 using 2.0 in place of 3.9 as the multiplier in the logistic
function. Your modified line of code should look like this:
12 CHAPTER 1. COMPUTERS AND PROGRAMS

x = 2.0 * x * (1 - x)
Run the program for various input values and compare the results to those obtained from the original
program. Write a short paragraph describing any differences that you notice in the behavior of the two
versions.
8. Modify the Chaos program from Section 1.6 so that it prints out 20 values instead of 10.
9. (Advanced) Modify the Chaos program so that it accepts two inputs and then prints a table with two
columns similar to the one shown in Section 1.8. (Note: You will probably not be able to get the
columns to line up as nicely as those in the example. Chapter 4 discusses how to print numbers with a
fixed number of decimal places.)
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pleasant Evanston, and find the impression wrong. Those who lived
in Evanston were reasonable people. They waited and thought.
Being reasonable, they saved and planned. Being reasonable, they
resorted to gadgets or chemicals or continence.
“A woman of the period had some three hundred and ninety
opportunities to conceive a child. In the slums and the hills they took
advantage of as many of them as they might. But around the
universities, in the neighborhoods of the well-educated and the well-
to-do, what was the score?
“First, education, until the age of twenty. This left two hundred
and ninety-nine opportunities. Then, for perhaps five years, shared
work; the car, the mortgage, the furniture, that two salaries would
pay off earlier than one. Two hundred and thirty-four opportunities
were left. Some of them were seized: a spate of childbearing
perhaps would come next. But subtract a good ten years more at
the end of the cycle, for the years when a child would be simply too
late—too late for fashion, too late for companionship with the first-
born. We started with three hundred and ninety opportunities. We
have, perhaps, one hundred and forty-four left.
“Is that the roster complete? No. There is the battle of the budget:
No, not right now, not until the summer place is paid for. And more.
The visits from the mothers-in-law, the quarterly tax payments, the
country-club liaisons and the furtive knives behind the brownstone
fronts and what becomes of fertility—they have all been charted. But
these are superfluous. The ratio 390:144 points out the inevitable.
As three hundred and ninety outweighs one hundred and forty-four,
so the genes of the slovenly and heedless outweigh the thoughtful
and slow to act.
“We tampered with the inevitable.
“The planet teemed and burst. The starships went forth. The
strong, bright, quick ones went out in the ships. Two sorts were left:
The strong ones who were not bright, the bright ones who were not
strong.
“We are the prisoners of the planet. We cannot leave.
“The children—the witless ones outside—can leave. But who
would have them?”
 Ross peered into the shifting shadows. “But,” he said, “you are the
masters of the planet——”
“Masters? We are slaves! Fully alive only here where we are born
and die. Abstracted and as witless as they when we are among them
—well we might be. For each of us, square miles to stand guard
over. Our minds roving across the traps we dare not ignore, ready to
leap out and straighten these children’s toppling walls of blocks,
ready to warn the child that sharp things cut and hot things burn.
The blue lights—did you think they were machines?” They were us!
“You’re torturing yourselves!” Ross exploded. “Let them die.”
“Let—ten—billion—children—die? We are not such monsters.”
Ross was humbled before their tragedy. Diffidently he spoke of
Halsey’s Planet, Ragansworld, Azor, Jones. He warmed to the task
and was growing, he thought, eloquent when their smiles left him
standing ashamed.
“I don’t understand,” he said, almost weeping.
The voice corrected him: “You do. But you do not—yet—know that
you do. Consider the facts:
“Your planet. Sterile and slowly dying.
“The planets you have seen. One sterile because it is imprisoned
by ancients, one sterile under an in-driven matriarchal custom, one
sterile because all traces of divergence have been wiped out.
“Earth. Split into an incurable dichotomy—the sterility of brainless
health, the sterility of sick intellect.
“Humanity, then, imprisoned in a thousand sterile tubes, cut off
each from the other, dying. We feared war, and so we isolated the
members with a wall of time. We have found something worse to
fear. What if the walls are cracked?”
“Crack the walls? How? Is it too late?”
Somehow the image of Helena was before him.
“Is it too late?” they gently mocked. “Surely you know. How?
Perhaps you will ask her.”
The image of Helena was blushing.
Ross’s heart leaped. “As simple as that?”
“For you, yes. For others there will be lives spent over the lathes
and milling machines, eyes gone blind in calculating and refining
trajectories, daring ones lost screaming in the hearts of stars, or
gibbering with hunger and pain as the final madness closes down on
them, stranded between galaxies. There will be martyrs to undergo
the worst martyrdom of all—which is to say, they will never know of
it. They will be unhappy traders and stock-chasers, grinding their
lives to smooth dull blanks against the wearying routine so that the
daring ones may go forth to the stars. But for you—you have seen
the answer.
“Old blood runs thin. Thin blood runs cold. Cold blood dies. Let the
walls crack.”
There was a murmuring in the shadows that Ross could not hear.
Then the voice again, saying a sort of good-by.
“We have had a great deal of experience with children, so we
know that they must not be told too much. There is nothing more
you need be told. You will go back now——”
Ross dared interrupt. “But our ship—the others have taken it away
——”
Again the soundless laughter. “The ship has not been taken far.
Did you think we would leave you stranded here?”
Ross peered hard into the shadows. But only the shadows were
there, and then he and Jones were in the shadows no longer.
“Ross!” Helena was hysterical with joy. Even Bernie was
stammering and shaking his head incredulously. “Ross, dearest! We
thought—And the ship acted all funny, and then it landed here and
there just wasn’t anybody around, and I couldn’t make it go again
——”
“It will go now,” Ross promised. It did. They sealed ship; he took
the controls; and they hung in space, looking back on a blue-green
planet with a single moon.
There were questions; but Ross put an end to questions. He said,
“We’re going back to Halsey’s Planet. Haarland wanted an answer.
We’ve found it; we’ll bring it to him. The F-T-L families have kept
their secret too well. No wars between the planets—but stagnation
worse than wars. And Haarland’s answer is this: He will be the first
of the F-T-L traders. He’ll build F-T-L ships, and he’ll carelessly let
their secrets be stolen. We’ll bridge the galaxy with F-T-L transports;
and we’ll pack the ships with a galaxy of crews! New genes for old;
hybrid vigor for dreary decay!
“Do you see it?” His voice was ringing loud; Helena’s eyes on him
were adoring. “Mate Jones to Azor, Halsey’s Planet to Earth. Smash
the smooth, declining curve! Cross the strains, and then breed them
back. Let mankind become genetically wild again instead of rabbits
isolated in their sterile hutches!”
Exultantly he set up the combinations for Halsey’s Planet on the
Wesley board.
Helena was beside him, proud and close, as he threw in the drive.
 ABOUT THE AUTHORS

The Space Merchants was not only one of the best-reviewed science-
fiction novels in 1953, it was one of the most widely reviewed.
Favorable notices appeared in journals ranging from Printer’s Ink to
science-fiction magazines, from Tide magazine to the great national
dailies. That novel firmly established Messrs. Pohl and Kornbluth as a
team, although they had collaborated before under pen names and
had established reputations singly. Their new novel, Search the Sky,
has the same wit, the same passages of genuinely beautiful writing
and—what is most important and most characteristic—the same
underlying concern for human beings, whether they are on future
Madison Avenues or in the outer galaxies.
This is Mr. Kornbluth’s seventh published novel. Two were written
in collaboration with Judith Merril under the pen name “Cyril Judd”;
one was the notable Takeoff (Doubleday, 1952); one was not science
fiction; one was his last collaborative effort with Mr. Pohl; and his
most recent was The Syndic (Doubleday, 1953). Mr. Kornbluth, still
under thirty, now lives in an upstate New York farmhouse with his
wife and child where he devotes himself to writing.
This is Mr. Pohl’s sixth published book. Two of them were reprint
collections which he edited and two others were the now-celebrated
first and second volumes of Star Science Fiction Stories, collections of
new stories published by Ballantine Books. At 34, Mr. Pohl lives in a
large old house on the Jersey shore—“five rooms for me, four for my
wife and two apiece for the children.” He has three more books
forthcoming in 1953: two anthologies and his first solo novel.
 TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

Repeated instances of the title in the front of the book have been
reduced.
Punctuation has been normalized. Variations in hyphenation have
been retained as they were in the original publication. The following
assumed printer’s errors were corrected:
look at the stars and breath —> breathe {Page 24}
Halsey City to the ’port —> port {Page 29}
were ready to quit Oldhan —> Oldham {Page 31}
short of meccano-toy —> sort {Page 96}
O.8952, —> 0.8952, {Page 109}
Trouble is, he’s too Jonesfearing. —> Jones-fearing {Page 118}
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEARCH THE SKY
***

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