Overview
During college, I had taken a few Python courses in my own time but never fully explored the capabilities of the software. With the insurgence of machine learning across the industry, I wanted to further my Python development so I could lend my expertise during this technological shift.
First and foremost, I needed a deep understanding of Python's fundamentals. To accomplish this, I read through Python introductory material, watched youtube lectures, and joined FreeCodeCamp's series of Python Certification Courses.
The first certification course, Scientific Computing with Python, covers python essentials: lists, conditionals, loops, dictionaries, functions, classes, and more. Additionally it covers REGEX, networked programs, web services, object orientated programming (OOP), relational databases, and data visualization.
To get certification for this course, I needed to complete 5 projects that utilized the skills I learned. My projects were as follows:
Projects
Arithmetic Formatter
Created a function that recieves a list of strings that are arithmetic problems (Ex: arithmetic_arranger(["32 + 698", "3801 - 2", "45 + 43", "123 + 49"])) and returns
the problem(s) arranged vertically and side-by-side. If the second argument is set to True, the answers will be displayed.
Topics: functions, for-loops, if-else conditionals, Output Formatting, Exception Handles
Time Calculator
Created a function that takes a start time in the 12-hour clock format, a duration time, and optional starting day of the week and returns the final adjusted time.
If the result runs is in the next day(s) the function will return the amount of days later.
(Ex:
add_time("11:43 PM", "24:20", "tueSday")
# Returns: 12:03 AM, Thursday (2 days later)
)
Topics: functions, while-loops, for-loops, dictionaries, if-else conditionals, Output Formatting
Budget App
Created a class that can instantiate objects based on different budget categories (i.e. food, clothing, entertainment) and allow for the use of the following methods: deposit, withdraw, get balance, transfer, and check funds. Additionally, created a function that takes a list of categories and returns a bar chart showing the percent spent per category.
Topics: OOP, functions, for-loops, dictionaries, if-else conditionals, Boolean Expressions, Exception Handles, Output Formatting
Polygon Area Calculator
Used object oriented programming to create a Rectangle and Square class. The Square class is a subclass of Rectangle.
Topics: OOP, subclasses, functions, while-loops, for-loops, if-else conditionals
Probability Calculator
Created a class called Hat that can take an assortment of different styled balls. Then created a function that determines the probability of drawing certain balls from a random draw of n balls.
Topics: OOP, functions, deepcopy/copy, random, for-loops, dictionaries, if-else conditionals
Certification
