Course syllabus for Introduction to programming in python

Course syllabus adopted 2026-02-06 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameIntroduktion till programmering i python
  • CodeDAT457
  • Credits4.5 Credits
  • OwnerFRIST
  • Education cycleFirst-cycle
  • Main field of studyComputer Science and Engineering, Software Engineering
  • DepartmentCOMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
  • GradingUG - Pass, Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language

    English

  • Application code

    99123

  • Maximum participants

    400

  • Minimum participants

    50

  • Open for exchange students

    No

Credit distribution

Module
Sp1
Sp2
Sp3
Sp4
Summer
Not Sp
Examination dates
0125 Intermediate test 2.5 c
Grading: UG		 1 c1.5 c
0225 Laboratory 2 c
Grading: UG		 1 c1 c

In programmes

Examiner

Eligibility

General entry requirements for bachelor's level studies

Specific entry requirements

English 6 + Mathematics 3 A/B/C

Course specific prerequisites

Prerequisites corresponding to specific entry requirements.

Aim

Computer programming is a fundamental skill needed in both studies and professional life. This course gives the basic skills so that the students can both perform simple programming tasks that are typical in science and engineering as well as understand the fundamental principles of computers and programming.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

Knowledge and understanding:

  • Grasp the relation between source code, the interpreter, and the machine.

Competence and skill:

  • Structure small programs by the use of concepts such as iteration, functions, modules, classes, and methods.
  • Form readable, descriptive and well-documented program code.
  • Use programming for basic data analysis involving large textual or numeric files.
  • Express mathematical formulas as programming language expressions and algorithms.
  • Build interactive programs with text-based user interfaces.
  • Use programming tools such as text editor, command line interface, and IDE (integrated development environment).
  • Use standard libraries and follow best programming practices.

Judgement and approach:

  • Assess the difficulty and resources needed for typical programming tasks.

Content

The course is a first introduction to programming by using the general-purpose programming language Python. It gives a comprehensive knowledge of the language, enabling the student to write code for a wide variety of tasks and to read and reuse code written by other programmers.

  • Literals, types, variables, declarations, initialization, operators, expressions and statements, scope.
  • Control statements: if, while, for, break, continue, return.
  • Functions, parameters, arguments, method calls, local variables.
  • Simple data structures (list, dictionary, set, stack).
  • One- and two-dimensional lists.
  • Input and output.
  • Overview of file handling, generators.
  • Text handling, strings.

Organisation

The teaching consists of lectures, exercises, as well as supervision in connection to the exercises.

Literature

John Zelle. Python Programming: An Introduction to Computer Science, 4th ed. (Franklin, Beedle & Associates)

Examination including compulsory elements

A digital exam and compulsory programming assignments.

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers about disability study support.

Introduction to programming in python | Chalmers