Week 3/ Control Structures

 For week 3 I spent time working on control structures including conditional statements and loops. Control structures are important because they allow you to tell what code needs to be put into place. There are two loops which are for loops and while loops. For loops are used by working through a sequence executing a block of code for each item in the sequence (Data Toolkit: Python+ Hands-On Math). While loops are used when a given condition remains true throughout the block of code. Conditional statements include if statements and if-else statements. If statements occur when only one condition is met, while if-else statements occur when one condition is met, and the other condition is not met. I spent time working on these control structures on google collab and while some of it was plug and chug, I realized that just having one wrong indentation can affect you.

The first exercise I completed was printing numbers 1-10 using a for loop. This exercise was pretty simple, but the next one was where I had my first bump. When I tried to create a while loop, I came across an error and my error was that my indentation was wrong. Indentation is key when using python. If it is not used correctly this is when you run into errors. After indenting for the while loop, my processing was correct, and the numbers were printed out. The next exercise was trying conditional statements. I successfully completed the first if statement and also tried it out using different numbers than the one that was given. I also completed an if-else statement and had no problems with indentation on this as well. The next exercise was setting up code to guess a word. This tripped me a little bit, but after pasting the code and fixing the indentations, I was able to set it up.

I learned quite a bit about control structures after going through the exercises in the book on google collab. The biggest thing I learned was how important indentation was and if you didn't have it correctly put in then you were going to have errors occur when put into place. Overall, I feel a little more comfortable with python and I am ready to see what else I am able to do complete and achieve with it.

 

Week 2/ Coding and Math Careers Audio

 For week 2 I listened to the audio piece given by Professor Kelsey. One of the first points Professor Kelsey makes is the impact AI has on different tech skills. New technology has become so prominent over the past couple of decades and AI is adding a whole new layer to it. While AI is replacing jobs, it is important that we know and understand how to use AI to benefit ourselves. Another point made in the audio is how AI is similar to calculators. Some people think that calculators defeat the purpose of math, but in reality, they help speed up the process of solving equations especially more complex ones. AI is similar to calculators because some people think it is defeating the purpose of learning, when in reality it is helping us solve much more complex problems that arise today. Another key point that was made is the fact that AI and chatbots aren't perfect, and it is important that we use AI in a way where we aren't hoping for the best, rather using it to correct ourselves.

Generative AI is already being used in many workplaces, so it is imperative that coming out of college we at least have some understanding of AI and the benefits it provides. The more knowledge we have on AI can only help us because it is becoming so widespread and used in many different places. Professor Kelsey also makes a really good point that the less you know about AI the less secure your job may be because it is so becoming so prominent in the workplace. If you actually know some of the ins and outs of AI, the better suited you are for your job because you can use it in ways that differ from others to help you. Having knowledge of AI and python is attractive to job recruiters since it is becoming more and more popular.

Rapid changes are happening with AI and the more we know about it the better suited we are for the effects it has on the job landscape and the world as well. I took Professor Kelsey's management class last year, and I saw some of these rapid changes that were taking place. I also learned that while AI is replacing some jobs, it is also creating many jobs. Having knowledge of python and AI can be so beneficial because it can help lead to different opportunities that are popping up with AI. The main takeaway from this audio in my opinion is that we need to use AI as a tool to benefit us and help achieve things that could not be achieved without it. AI is here to stay whether we like it or not, so we must use it in a way that can help us, rather than hurting us, so having knowledge about AI and python is so important.

Week 1/ Intro to Python

 Python is super popular in data science because it’s easy to use, simple to read, and can do a lot of different things. It’s more than just a coding language—it helps both beginners and experts work on big tasks like AI, machine learning, and analyzing large amounts of data. One big reason people love Python is because it comes with lots of helpful tools, like NumPy for math, pandas for organizing data, and scikit-learn for building smart programs. Plus, there’s a big community to help out, and the code looks clean and easy to understand. That’s why so many people start with Python when learning data science.

I personally had zero experience with python and the tools it offers before I joined this class. After reading chapter one, and trying one of the exercises on google collab, I realized it was much easier than I thought it would be using python coding. For the first exercise, I put print ("Hello World") into the code cell, and that was the first exercise I completed using Google Collab. Though, it was a simpler exercise for beginners, it helped my confidence but also made me realize that using Google Collab is similar to cooking. Just as you put whatever ingredients into the dish you are preparing, the same goes for python on Google Collab. What things you put into the system decides what is going to come out just like when you are preparing a dish. 

Overall, the first week taught me that coding, while complex, is easier when you understand and use the tools that are there for you.

# This prints a message

print("Hello, world!")

# Simple function

def greet(name):

    return f"Hello, {name}!"

print(greet("Aidan"))