Copyright © 2020 by William Lau

Some Rights Reserved. "The Little Book of Algorithms 2.0" is licensed under a Creative
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ISBN: 978-1-9161163-4-4

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I dedicate this book to my colleagues and students at Central Foundation Boys’
School. You have to be brave to choose (to teach or learn) computer science; it
is not easy and it is not for the faint- hearted!

To Lloyd, Leila, Jaime, Gavin and the brave computer science students at CFBS -
this is for you
 Preface…………………………………………………………… 3
1. If Statements: Lowest number…………………...……. 7
2. String slicing and concatenation……………………… 17
3. Area of a circle………………………………….……………. 21
4. Modulo: Odd or even………………………………….…... 25
5. For Loops………………………………………………….……. 29
6. While Loops……………………………………………………. 30
7. Unlimited pin attempts…………………………………... 31
8. Basic login system………………………………………..... 32
9. Lowest number in a list…………………………...……... 37
10. Linear search…………………………………………………. 38
11. Total of a list..….….………………………………………….. 49
12. Linear search in a 2D list…………………………….….. 53
13. Total of a 2D list…..…………………………………………. 57
14. Login system by reading a file…………………………. 65
15. Writing a list to a file……………………………………….. 69
16. Adding to a list in a file……………………………………. 70
17. Converting binary to denary…….………………………. 75
18. Converting denary to binary…….………………………. 76
19. Solutions………………………………………………………… 89
20. Further reading………………………………………………. 116
21. Acknowledgements…………………………………………. 118
22. Space for further practise and notes….……………. 119
This book is designed to help teachers and students build fluency in their
Python programming. It is aimed at students who have already been
introduced to the three basic programming constructs of structured
programming, namely sequence, selection and iteration. The original aim
was to help my Year 11 students with their GCSE Computer Science
programming exam. However I hope many students and teachers will find
this book useful. The algorithms are represented using Python as this is a
popular language with a low threshold for learning.
I was inspired to write this book after reading articles by Scott Portnoff,
Sue Sentance and Richard Pawson; three luminaries in the world of
computer science education. All three have made me ask the question,
"Why is learning programming so difficult?"
Like many readers, I too found programming challenging and I am still
learning! After teaching programming for the past seven years, I noticed
that only a minority of my students felt confident enough to program
independently after two years of instruction. Upon realising this, I knew I
had to change my pedagogy.
I believe Scott Portnoff is correct; students do need to memorise some
key programming constructs e.g. if statements, while loops and for loops.
This will decrease cognitive load and enable students to practise more
fluently. Portnoff’s work was my starting point for this book. As a student
of b-boy and hip-hop culture, I came across Joseph Schloss’s book
Foundation where he writes about a musical canon that exists for b-boys.
To add to this theory, Jonathan Sacks argues that a literary canon is
essential to a culture. In linking these three ideas together, I thought
about creating a canon for programmers. Perhaps there is a set of
programs which represent algorithms that every computer science
student should familiarise themselves with?
I started to compile a list of programs based on my experience as a
teacher and examiner. Many of the shorter programs are worth repeating
until they are committed to memory and I admit that learning some of the
longer programs by heart is both challenging and futile. Therefore, to
help you develop fluency, I have also written some challenges based on
3
this canon. These challenges should help you understand these
programs by applying them.
Sue Sentance suggested in her introduction to programming courses,
that we should introduce students to subroutines in their very first
program. Richard Pawson goes one step further in edition 07 of the Hello
World magazine; here Pawson puts forward a case for teaching using the
functional programming (FP) paradigm from the outset. He makes a
strong case for using functions which return values rather than
containing inputs and outputs. This seems counterintuitive due to the
perceived complexity of FP syntax, however there are three key
arguments for using functions- unit testing of individual functions, code
reusability, and a separation of concerns. I would therefore encourage
readers to write with functions from the very beginning. This seems
daunting at first, however repetition will lead to fluency.
Despite the irrefutable advantages of FP, I have to be pragmatic and will
include procedures (subroutines which do not return values) and also
programs which do not use subroutines at all. Whilst, I recognise this
might be a step away from the FP paradigm; students are likely to
encounter simple imperative programming questions up to at least GCSE
level. Not including examples of both imperative programming and FP
paradigms would be doing our students a disservice. For some
algorithms, the exclusion of functions also reduces complexity and
cognitive load therefore providing a shallower learning curve.
In order to keep programs as short as possible and to improve
readability, comments are not generally provided in the programs.
Instead, a more detailed explanation is explained below each program. In
lessons, I have found it useful to go through one or two algorithms at the
front of the book with my students and then go on to apply this to the
associated challenges. Alternatively, students may choose to work
through the book independently in class or at home.
This book will hopefully help you to practise and develop fluency in your
programming. Learning programming is similar to learning a musical
instrument. Both involve practise and making lots of mistakes. Both
also require perseverance to develop fluency. Keep going!

4
5
Teaching, like software development and learning is about refinement. In
this new version there are two key changes.
Firstly, challenges now directly follow each relevant skill. This reflects the
structure of most mathematics textbooks and workbooks. It means
there’s less time and effort spent flicking backwards and forwards.
Secondly, there are a greater number and range of challenges because
you will become a better programmer and computer scientist by solving a
greater number and range of problems.
While answers remain in the back of the book, I have also started
creating walkthrough video solutions to some of the more complex
challenges. These are available on Youtube at: https://bit.do/LBOAVids

I wish you the very best on your learning journey.

6
A program which takes two numbers as inputs and outputs the
smallest number.

When you first started programming, you may have produced a

program to ouput a lower number without using subroutines.

1 num1 = int(input("Enter the first number: "))

2 num2 = int(input("Enter the second number: "))
3
4 if num1 <= num2:
5 lowest = num1
6 else:
7 lowest = num2
8
9 print("The lowest number is " + str(lowest))

You may even be asked to write simple programs like this in your
exams. However, good programmers write code which can be
reused and tested in isolation (known as unit testing). Therefore,
using a subroutine (also known as a subprogram) to create a
procedure would produce a "better" program that is modular:

1 def lower_num(num1,num2):
2 if num1 <= num2:
3 lowest = num1
4 else:
5 lowest = num2
6
7 print("The lowest number is " + str(lowest))
8
9
10 first_num = int(input("Enter the first number: "))
11 second_num = int(input("Enter the second number: "))
12
13 lower_num(first_num,second_num)

Whilst the use of a procedure in the second program allows you to

call the subprogram multiple times in the main program, it does not
allow for full code re-use...
7
...What happens if you wanted to use this lowest number later in
the program? In this case, it makes sense to use a function. The
key difference is that functions return values whereas procedures
do not.
1 def lower_num(num1,num2):
2 if num1 <= num2:
3 return num1
4 else:
5 return num2
6
7
8 first_num = int(input("Enter the first number: "))
9 second_num = int(input("Enter the second number: "))
10
11 lowest = lower_num(first_num,second_num)
12
13 print("The lowest number is " + str(lowest))

 The function lower_num is defined on lines 1-5. We have to

define functions before we can call (use) them.
 Usage of the function is demonstrated on lines 8-13. We still
take two numbers as integer inputs on Lines 8-9.
 Line 11 calls the function lower_num with two arguments: the
contents of first_num and second_num variables.
These arguments are passed into the parameters num1 and
num2 respectively¹. The result is stored in the variable lowest.
 As the returned value is an integer, it is cast to a string on line
13 using str(lowest) so that it can be concatenated (the
technical name for joining text) with the meaningful output
message.

¹ Arguments and parameters should have different names even if they seem to serve the
same purpose. In this case both num1 and first_num store the first number. However, the
argument stored in the variable first_num has global scope, it can be accessed and
changed anywhere in the program. The parameter num1 has local scope, it is a local
variable which can only be accessed in the subroutine.
8
Write a subprogram that has three parameters, num1, num2 and
num3. The program should take three numbers as arguments and
return the highest number.
def highest_number(num1, num2, num3):

if num1 >= num2 and num1 >= num3:

9
Complete the program below which asks the user to enter three
integers and then calls the highest_number subprogram from
the previous page. The returned value is stored in a variable called
highest and then output as a meaningful message

num1_in = int(input("Enter the first number"))

num2_in = int(input("Enter the second number"))

highest = highest_number( )

print("The highest number was )

10
Complete the subprogram below. The subprogram has a parameter
called num which takes a number as an argument and returns a
subject. These numbers correspond to the following subjects:

1 Computer Science
2 Music
3 Dance
4 PE

If the student passes any other value into num, it should return
"Error"
def options( ):
if num == 1:
return "Computer Science"
elif num == 2:
return "Music"

11
Write a program which calls the subprogram options from
Challenge 2. A user should be prompted to enter a number to
choose a GCSE option. The program should then output a
meaningful confirmation message based on the user’s input.

12
Q1) State the output for the following program when the program is
run four times with four different inputs:

num_in Ouput
8 8
3
12
5

1 def mystery_number(num):
2 if num < 5:
3 print(8)
4 elif num < 3:
5 print(8)
6 elif num == 3:
7 print(3)
8 else:
9 print(num)
10
11 num_in = int(input("Enter a number: "))
12 mystery_number(num_in)

Q2) In the program above, four lines of code are redundant i.e. they
can be removed without affecting the program's output, which four
lines can be removed:

Q3) Lines 6 and 7 state that when the number 3 is passed in, the
output should be 3. However, this does not work, explain why:

13
Re-write the program from the previous page so that the program
outputs 1 if the value of num is 3. It should output 8 if the number
is less than 5 (but not 3). It should output the number entered for
all other cases.

Hint: You will need to re-order the if statement.

14
Parson’s puzzles are named after Dale Parsons1. To solve the
puzzle, re-arrange the code blocks into the correct order. The
subprogram should take two numbers as arguments and subtract
the smallest number from the largest. The result is returned.
num1_in = int(input("Enter a number"))
A num2_in = int(input("Enter a number"))

difference = subtract(num1_in, num2_in)

print("The difference is", difference)

B def subtract(num1, num2):

C return out

D else:
out = num2 - num1

E if num1 > num2:

out = num1 - num2

Correct order:

¹Keen students may think that there is a misplaced apostrophe here. However, in
Parsons’ original paper co-authored with Patricia Haden in 2006, they are referred to as
"Parson’s puzzles". Some refer to them as "Parsons problems" or simply "Parsons".

15
Circle the correct answer to the questions below.

1) What is the difference between a function and a procedure:

A. A function has parameters, a procedure does not
B. A function returns a value, a procedure does not
C. A procedure returns a value, a function does not
D. A procedure has parameters, a function does not

2) The program below can be translated as:

if num1 > 9:
A. If num1 is greater than or equal to 9
B. If 9 is greater than num1
C. If num1 is greater than 9
D. If num1 is less than 9

3) Values passed into parameters are known as:

A. Variables
B. Functions
C. Arguments
D. Integers or Strings

4) What is the keyword used to define a function in Python:

A. function
B. define
C. sub
D. def

16
A subprogram which outputs a username based on a student’s
first name, surname and year of enrolment.
E.g. Connor Pearce 2019 should return 19CPearce.

1 def user_name(forename, last_name, year):

2 username_out = year[2:4] + forename[0] + last_name
3
4 print("Your user name is " + username_out)
5
6
7 first_name = input("Enter your first name: ")
8 surname = input("Enter your surname: ")
9 joined = input("Enter the year you joined the school: ")
10
11 user_name(first_name,surname,joined)

 The procedure user_name is defined on lines 1-4.

 Line 2: Strings can be sliced, with the first index being 0. In this
case for the year, we start at 2 and stop at 4 (exclusive). This
means we would slice year[2] and year[3] i.e. the last two digits
of the year. These are concatenated with the first letter from
the forename and the entire last_name.
 Lines 7-9: This shows how the procedure might be used. First
the user’s details are taken as string inputs .
 Then the procedure is called on line 11 with the user’s details
as arguments.
 The output is shown below:

Enter your first name: Connor

Enter your surname: Pearce
Enter the year you joined the school: 2019
Your username is 19CPearce

17
If you wanted to use this user_name procedure later to generate
an email address, this would not be possible without duplication of
code, it is therefore wise to rewrite this subprogram as a function.
This is shown below:
1 def user_name(forename, last_name, year):
2 username_out = year[2:4] + forename[0] + last_name
3
4 return username_out
5
6
7 def main():
8 first_name = input("Enter your first name: ")
9 surname = input("Enter your surname: ")
10 year = input("Enter the year you joined the school: ")
11
12 gen_user_name = user_name(first_name, surname, year)
13 print("Your user name is " + gen_user_name)
14
15
16 if __name__ == '__main__':
17 main()

Here we introduce a programming convention of placing your main

program in a main function. The main function should be the only
function which contains inputs and ouputs in the entire program.
From this main function you should call other functions, passing
arguments into parameters. This process is known as parameter
passing.

The main function above spans lines 7-13. Lines 16-17 ensure that
your main function will be the first function to be run when the
program is executed. __name__ == '__main__' by default.
However, if the program is imported, the __name__ value
becomes the module name, so you can selectively run or test
functions. This is yet another advantage of using the functional
programming paradigm.
18
Write a subprogram that takes three strings as arguments: a first
name, a middle name and a last name. The program should take
these three arguments and return only the first letter of each string
thereby generating initials.

def initials_only(first, middle, last):

initials =

return

19
On school timetables, subjects are often shortened to their first 3
characters e.g. Maths becomes Mat, French becomes Fre and
Music becomes Mus.

Write a subprogram that has a parameter called subject, this takes

the subject as an argument and the program will return the
shortened subject name.

20
A subprogram which calculates the area of a circle.

The example below is a function as it returns a value.

1 CONSTANT_PI=3.14159
2
3 def circle_area(radius_in):
4 area_out = CONSTANT_PI * radius_in**2
5 return area_out
6
7
8 radius = int(input("Enter the radius of the circle: "))
9 area = circle_area(radius)
10 print("The area of the circle is", area)

 Line 1: As the value of Pi will not change whilst the program is

running, this is a constant. Programmers sometimes write
constants in capitals and may give them meaningful names as
shown.
 Line 3: The function circle_area is defined and has one
parameter (a placeholder/variable) called radius_in.
 The area_out is calculated radius**2 may also be written as
radius ^2 in other languages and psuedocode.
 Lines 8-10: This shows how the function may be used.
 Line 9: The circle_area is called and the radius is passed
as an argument. The result is stored in the variable area.
 Line 10: In Python, we can also use a comma to concatenate the
area to the output message. The advantage of using a comma to
concatenate is that casting is done implicitly. This means the str
() function is not necessary. It is worth noting that concatenating
with a comma will automatically add a space between
concatenated strings.

21
Write a subprogram that takes the length, width and height as
arguments and return the volume of the cuboid.

After writing the function, show how you might call the function to
output an answer with a meaningful message.

22
Write a subprogram called add which has two parameters, num1
and num2. The two numbers that are passed in should be added to
each other and returned to the user.

def add (num1,num2):

sum = num1 + num2
return sum

num1_in = int(input("Enter a number"))

num2_in = int(input("Enter another \
number"))

total = add(num1_in,num2_in)

print("The sum of the two numbers is \

" + str(total))

23
Circle the correct answer to the questions below.

1) What is the output of the following:

name = "Shenaz"
print(name[3:5])
A. 345
B. en
C. na
D. naz

2) What is the output of the following:

subject = "Computer Science"
print(subject[1])
A. C
B. o
C. 1
D. Co

3) What is the result of 2**3 ?:

A. 6
B. 23
C. 2**3
D. 8

4) What is a constant ?:
A. A variable which stays the same whilst the program is running
B. A value which can not change whilst the program is running
C. A numerical value
D. Part of a formula which is defined

24
A subprogram which checks if a number is odd or even. It will print
a meaningful message accordingly. The program should loop until
the user enters the sentinel value "STOP"

This is a procedure as no value is returned.

1 def is_odd(number_in):
2 if int(number_in) %2 == 0:
3 print("The number is even")
4 else:
5 print("The number is odd")
6
7
8 again = True
9 while again:
10 number = input("Enter a number")
11
12 if number != "STOP" :
13 odd = is_odd(number)
14 else:
15 again = False

 Line 2: The % symbol in Python means MODULO. So when we

MOD2, we are checking for the remainder when dividing by 2
 Line 8: Sets a Boolean flag called again to True.
 Line 9: This is a Pythonic way of writing while again ==
True:
 Lines 11-12: Provided the user does not enter the sentinel value
(also known as a rogue or trip value) of "STOP", the while loop
will continue to call is_odd with each new number inputted to
check if it is odd or even.

25
The Odd or Even program could be improved by using a function
instead of a procedure. Re-write the program so that all inputs and
outputs take place outside of the is_odd function. You could also
use a main function as shown previously on page 23.

26
Given that we can use MODULO to see if there is a remainder, we
can write a subprogram which tells us if a given number x is a
multiple of y.

E.g. if x is 18 and y is 9, the subprogram should output a

meaningful message to tell us that 18 is a multiple of 9. If x is 20
and y is 7, the subprogram should output a meaningful message to
tell us 20 is not a multiple of 7.

is_multiple (x_in, ):

if == 0:

print( )

else:

print(x_in, "is not a multiple of", y_in)

print("A program to check if x is a multiple of

y")
x = int(input("Enter a number to check if it is
a multiple"))
y = int(input("Enter a number to divide by"))

#Call the procedure, passing in x and y

27
While % (MODULO) returns the remainder from a division. We can
also do Integer division, also known as floor division or DIV by
using // . Using // ignores any remainder and always rounds down.

e.g. 10 DIV 5 = 2 (10 goes in 5 two times)

10 DIV 3 = 3 (10 goes into 3 three times, we ignore the 1 remainder)
4 DIV 3 = 0 (4 does not go into 3, we ignore the 4 remainder)
3 DIV 4 = 1 (3 goes into 4 once, we ignore the 1 remainder)

1) State the output for the following program when the program is
run four times with four different inputs:

num1 num2 Output

1 8
3 9
14 10
21 4

1 def div(num1_in, num2_in):

2 out = (num1+num2) // 10
3 return out
4
5 num1 = int(input("Enter your first number"))
6 num2 = int(input("Enter your second number"))
7
8 floor = div(num1,num2)
9 print(floor)
10

2) Calculate the following:

a) 21 DIV 7 = __________
b) 9 DIV 4 = _________
c) 8 DIV 3 = _________
28
A subprogram which outputs all the numbers between a certain
start and stop value (inclusive).

Here we will use a for loop (also known as a count-controlled loop)

as we know exactly how many times we want to loop based on the
start and stop values. It is a definite loop.

This is a procedure as it does not return a value.

1 def number_generator(start, stop):

2 for count in range(start,stop+1):
3 print(count)
4
5
6 start_num = int(input("Enter a start value"))
7 stop_num = int(input("Enter a stop value"))
8
9 number_generator(start_num, stop_num)

 The procedure number_generator is defined on lines 1-3.

 Line 2: uses a for loop to iterate from the start value to the stop
value. In Python, the stop value is exclusive, so
number_generator(1,10) would only print numbers 1 to 9, this is
why we use stop+1.
 Lines 6-9 show how we would use the procedure.
 Lines 6-7: The user’s details are taken as inputs .
 Then the procedure is called on line 9.

29
A program which generates a random number then asks the user
to guess the random number. The program repeats until the
correct number is guessed.

As we do not know how many guesses the user will need to guess
the number correctly, we use a while loop (also known as a
condition-controlled loop). It is an indefinite loop.

This is a function as the smallest number is returned.

1 import random
2 randomNumber = random.randint(1,10)
3 guess = 99
4 while guess != randomNumber:
5 guess = int(input("Guess the number between 1 and \
10: "))
6 if guess == randomNumber:
7 print("Correct")
8 else:
9 print("Try again")

 Line 1: Imports the random module so that we can use the

randint function to generate a random integer between 1
and 10 (inclusive).
 Unlike the previous program, we do not know how many times
we need to repeat; the user could get the answer wrong 8 times
or they could guess it first time. In these situations we use a
conditional loop i.e. a while loop.
 Line 3: Sets an initial value that will never match the random
number. This ensures the while loop runs at least once.
 Lines 8-9: If the user guess is incorrect, we return to the top of
the loop i.e. line 5.

30
A program which allows the user to enter a pin number. If the user
gets the pin number wrong, the program keeps asking them to
enter a correct pin.

N.B. An unlimited number of attempts is a bad idea as it allows for

brute force hacking. However, this is a common algorithm that is
used in guessing games e.g. guess the number.
1 pin = ""
2 while pin != "1984":
3 pin = input("Please enter the pin")
4
5 if pin == "1984":
6 print("Logged in")
7 else:
8 print("Incorrect pin")

 The program keeps looping while the pin is not equal to 1984. It
is very similar to the program on page 11.
 Line 1: Sets an initial value that is not equal to the pin. This
ensures the while loop runs at least once.
 Line 3 asks the user to enter their pin.
 Lines 5-8 check to see if the pin matches, a meaningful
message is produced depending on the outcome.

31
A program which checks to see if the username and password
matches the one in our program. The user gets three attempts.
1 username = "James"
2 password = "myPasswordIsDog!"
3 pass_in = ""
4 tries = 0
5
6 while tries < 3 and pass_in != password:
7 user_in = input("Enter the username: ")
8 pass_in = input("Enter the password: ")
9
10 if user_in == username:
11 if pass_in == password:
12 print("Logged in")
13 else:
14 print("Incorrect password")
15 else:
16 print("Incorrect username")
17
18 tries = tries+1

 Line 3: Initialises the pass_in variable with an empty string so

that the while loop on Line 6 runs at least once
 Line 4: Initialises a while loop counter called tries to 0.
 Line 5: The while loop provides a maximum of 3 password
attempts. We use a while loop because we do not know how
many attempts the user will need to get the answer correct.
 Lines 10-12: If the correct username and password is
supplied, we output a "logged in" message. Otherwise, a
meaningful error message is shown and the tries variable is
incremented (Line 18).
 Line 18: This is also a common way to increase a score or
counter.
 N.B. Storing the password as plaintext in the program that you
are using is a really bad idea! Curious readers should visit:
http://bit.do/hashing-python-passwords for more info.
32
Recall challenge 9 on page 24. The program works well for people
with a first name, middle name and last name. However, some
people do not have middle names and some people have more
than one. In other scenarios, you may wish to simply generate
some acronyms to shorten several words e.g.
Graphic Interchange Format can be shortened to GIF and British
Broadcasting Corporation can be shortened to BBC.

The program below should ask the user for a word and keep asking
for words until the characters "XXX" are entered. "XXX" acts as a
sentinel value or rogue value which stops a loop from running.
When the sentinel value is entered, the program should stop asking
for words and an acronym should be generated and output

sentinel = "XXX" #The sentinel value

word = ""
acronym = ""
while word != :
word = input("Enter a word or "XXX" to
finish")
if word != sentinel:
acronym = acronym + word[ ]

print( )

33
The previous acronym generator program is inefficient as the user
has to enter each word separately and has to enter a sentinel
value.

Fill in the gaps in the program below to make a more efficient

program which takes several words and generates an acronym
based on the first character of each word.

N.B. in the program below we can iterate through each word in the
words string by using the line for word in words:
This means the same as
for count in range (len(words)):

acronym = ""
words = input("Enter words to be turned
into an acronym")
#Convert words into a list of indivudal words

words_list = words.split()
#For each word in the words_list

for word in words_list:

acronym = + words_list[ ]

print

34
Write a program which simulates two dice being rolled. Output the
values of both dice. Keep prompting the user to roll the dice until
the two dice match e.g. Double 6. When the user roles a double,
output the message "Game loading". For all other combinations,
ask the user to press Enter to roll again.

Remember, when we do not know how many times we need to run

the loop, this is a conditional loop i.e. a while loop.

35
Write a program which simulates two dice being rolled three times.
Output the total value of both dice for each roll. Keep track of the
score over 3 rounds and output the total at the end

Hint: As we know that the pair of dice are rolled three times, this
repetition is fixed. We therefore need to use a count-controlled loop i.e. a
for loop.

36
A program which iterates through a list of numbers and outputs the
lowest number
1 numbers_list = [9,8,7,5,6,2,1,12,14,0,13]
2
3 lowest = numbers_list[0]
4
5 for count in range(len(numbers_list)):
6 if numbers_list[count] < lowest:
7 lowest = numbers_list[count]
8
9 print("The lowest number in the list is ", lowest)

 Line 3: We start with the hypothesis that the item at position 0

of numbers_list is the lowest.
 Line 5: We then iterate through the full length of the list,
comparing each position with the initial value stored in lowest.
 Lines 6-7 If the current value is smaller than lowest, this
number replaces the item in lowest.
 Line 9: When the for loop has finished and we have therefore
reached the end of the list, we output the value of lowest.
 This can also be written as a function which takes a list as an
argument.
1 def find_lowest(numbers_list_in):
2 lowest = numbers_list_in[0]
3
4 for count in range(len(numbers_list_in)):
5 if numbers_list_in[count] < lowest:
6 lowest = numbers_list_in[count]
7
8 return lowest
9
10 numbers_list = [9,8,7,5,6,2,1,12,14,0,13]
11 lowest_num = find_lowest(numbers_list)
12 print("The lowest number in the list is ", lowest_num)

37
Iterating through a list from start to finish as seen in the previous
algorithm is effectively a linear search. We start at position 0 and
continue checking each position from left to right until we reach the
end. A meaningful message informs the user whether the item was
found.

1 def linear_search(target):
2 names = ["Elizabeth", "Samuel", "Jawwad",
3 "Yacoub", "Cara", "Jess",
4 "Benji", "Thamber", "Suki", "Zi", "Q"]
5
6 found = False
7
8 for count in range(len(names)):
9 if target == (names[count]):
10 print(target, "found at position", count)
11 found = True
12
13 if found == False:
14 print(target, "was not found")
15
16
17 name = input("Who are you looking for? ")
18 linear_search(name)

 For all searching algorithms, you should start by setting a

Boolean flag to False. We do this on line 6.
 Lines 9-11: If the target matches the item in the array, the name
is outputted and the Boolean flag is set to True.
 Lines 13-14: When we’ve iterated through the entire list, check
to see if found is still False. If so, the item was not in the list.
 Line 18: Notice how we pass the argument stored in the variable
called name into the parameter called target. The argument
and parameter name are different so that we understand that
their scope is different. The footnote on page 5 explains this in
more detail.
38
Write a program which iterates through a list of numbers and
outputs the highest number

numbers = [9, 8, 72, 22, 21, 81, 2, 1,]

39
Re-write the program from the previous page as a subprogram. The
list of numbers should be passed in as an argument. The
subprogram should then iterate through a list of numbers and
return the highest number

numbers = [9, 8, 72, 22, 21, 81, 2, 1]

40
Write a program which asks the user to enter a desired password.
Perform a linear search through a list of obvious weak passwords.
If the user’s password is found in the obvious passwords list,
output a message to tell them it is weak and would be easily
hacked using a brute force attack.

obvious = ["password", "qwerty",

"hello123", "letmein", "123456"]

41
Add in various validation checks to the program on the previous
page. One example might be a length check, so if the password
does not meet a particular length it is also declared weak. Other
checks could be a presence check and format check. The format
check could check to see if the user entered any numbers, symbols
and a mixture of upper and lower case letters. Meaningful
messages are necessary for each different validation check.

42
Write a program which simulates a penalty shootout. The computer
is the goalkeeper and dives a random direction or stays in the
centre each turn. The keeper’s move is generated but not
outputted at first. The user takes a penalty by typing in "left", "right"
or "centre". The keeper’s move is then outputted. If the player
typed left and the keeper dives left, the penalty is saved etc. The
program repeats 5 times. After 5 penalties, the winner is
announced with a meaningful message.

Hint: Pages 29 and 30. I strongly advise using a pencil for this one!
import random

keeper = ["left", "centre", "right"]

# More space on next page...

43
# More space on next page...
44
45
46
1) Write the values of x and y for the program below:

x y
0
1

1 y = 0
2
3 for x in range(0,4):
4 if x % 2 == 0:
5 y = x + 2
6 print(y)

2) Re-write the for loop (line 3) below if we wanted the x value to

loop from 1 to 10:

3) What is the purpose of line 1 of the program above?

47
Circle the correct answer based on the following code:

import random
for count in range(0,5):
num1=random.randint(1,10)

1) What are the highest and lowest possible values of num1?

A. 10 and 1
B. 10 and 0
C. 9 and 1
D. 9 and 0

2) What are the first and last values of count if they were
outputted?
A. 0 and 5
B. 0 and 4
C. 1 and 5
D. 1 and 4

3) How many times does the for loop repeat?

A. 5 times
B. 0 times
C. 4 times
D. 6 times

4) Given a list called sentence which consists of 5 words, other

than for count in range(5), how else can you iterate
through each word in the sentence?

48
A program which adds up numbers in a list
1 number_list = [9, 8, 3, 5, 4, 1, 8, 4, 1]
2
3 total = 0
4
5 for count in range(len(number_list)):
6 total = total + number_list[count]
7
8 print("The total sum of the list is ", total)

 Line 3: Defines the variable total and initialises it to 0.

 Line 5: Iterates through the length of the list, 0 to 9 (exclusive).
 Line 6: Takes the current value of total and adds the current
value in the list to the total. This cumulative total is commonly
used for scores and timers in programs.
 A functional programming approach is also shown below:

1 def total_list (number_list_in):

2 total = 0
3
4 for count in range(len(number_list)):
5 total = total + number_list[count]
6
7 return total #the total is returned
8
9
10 def main():
11 # The main function contains all inputs and outputs
12 number_list = [9, 8, 3, 5, 4, 1, 8, 4, 1]
13
14 op = input("Do you wish to find the mean, lowest \
value, highest value or the total of the list?")
15
16 # Call the relevant function based on the user input
17 if op == "total":
18 total_out = total_list(number_list)
19 print("The total sum of the list is ", total_out)
20 # Elifs would go here
21
22 # Call the main function
23 main()
49
Write a subprogram called mean_of_list that takes a list of
numbers as an argument and returns the mean average.

Write the main function which contains your list and which calls the
subprogram (function)

50
Iterate through the sentence below and count how many times
each vowel occurs. At the end of the program, ouput the number of
As, Es, Is, Os and Us with a meaningful message.

sentence = "Learning programming is similar to learning a musical

instrument. Both involve practise and making lots of mistakes.
Both also require perseverance to develop fluency. Keep going!"

def vowel_counter(sentence):
A = 0
E = 0
I = 0

for
if sentence[ ].upper() == "A":

# More space on next page...

51
52
A program which searches for a student’s results within a 2D list of
exam scores.¹
1 cs_scores=[["Jo","45","60","72"],["Zi","55","65","70"],
2 ["Ellie","71","78","78"],["Jessica","68","79","80"],
3 ["Taseen","65","70","71"]]
4
5 print("We will try to find the result for a given \
student's exam")
6
7 name = input("Enter a student name: ")
8 exam_number = int(input("Enter the exam number: "))
9
10 found = False
11
12 for count in range(len(cs_scores)):
13 if name == cs_scores[count][0]:
14 found = True
15 result = cs_scores[count][exam_number]
16 print(name+ "'s result for exam", exam_number,\
"was", result )
17
18 if found == False:
19 print(name, "cannot be found")

 Line 10: Use a variable to set a Boolean flag to False.

 Lines 12-14: if the name is located, the found flag is set to
True and the result can be found by indexing the 2D list using
the current count and the exam_number.
 Line 18: if we reach the end of the list and found is still False,
then the number was not in the list.
 Lines 16 and 19: Output a meaningful message.

¹Python does not have an array data structure. Instead it uses a list. The main differences
between a list and an array is that lists allow the storage of mixed data types and they are
dynamic (allow appending). I’ve tried to use single data types with the lists in this book so
they appear more like arrays. I have also avoided the use of in-built list functions. This
may seem strange and inefficient in places but it has been done as the GCSE exam will
only feature arrays.

53
An A-Level student wants to find out how many marks are required
to receive a certain grade. Write a subprogram that takes a user’s
desired grade as an argument and then iterates through the 2D list
to return the number of marks they need for that grade.

def ( ):
grades = [ ["A*", "90"], ["A", "83",],
["B", "72"], ["C", "60"], ["D", "49"],
["E", "30"] ]

54
Use a 2D List to improve challenge 29; keeping track of how many
times each vowel occurs in the sentence below. At the end of the
program, ouput the number of As, Es, Is, Os and Us with a
meaningful message.

sentence = "Learning programming is similar to learning a musical

instrument. Both involve practise and making lots of mistakes.
Both also require perseverance to develop fluency. Keep going!"

55
56
A program which adds up each student’s scores in a 2D list i.e. a
row or sub list
1 cs_scores = [["Karman","45","60","72"],
2 ["Daniel","55","65","70"],
3 ["Parker","71","78","78"],
4 ["Jessica","68","79","80"],
5 ["Edie","98","85","91"]]
6
7 total = 0
8 for student in range(len(cs_scores)):
9 for exam in range(1,4):
10 total = total + int(cs_scores[student][exam])
11 print("Total for",cs_scores[student][0],"=",total)
12 total = 0

 In the program above we are trying to calculate each student’s

total, so the student is in the first loop. This is also known as the
outer loop.
 Line 8: Iterate through 0 to 5 (exclusive) i.e. each student .
 Line 9: Now starting with student 0 i.e. Karman, enter the nested
inner loop through exams 1 to 4 (exclusive) i.e. exams 1-3.
 Line 10: Add the score to the running total.
 Line 11: Output the student’s total.
 Line 12: Reset the total variable to 0 so that we can now
start the second iteration of the student loop and calculate the
total of Daniel’s exams.

57
Write a program which will output the total for each exam with a
meaningful message.

Hint: As the focus is on each exam rather than each student, the
outer for loop will be for each exam. Remember to reset the total
after each iteration of the inner loop.

cs_scores = [["Karman","45","60","72"],
["Daniel","55","65","70"],
["Parker","71","78","78"],
["Jessica","68","79","80"],
["Edie","98","85","91"]]

total = 0

for exam in range( ):

58
Write a program that outputs the mean average for each student.

Hint: Remember to reset the total to 0 after outputting the average

for each student

cs_scores = [["Theo","45","60","72"],
["Angharad","55","65","70"],
["Sameer","71","78","78"],
["Adrian","68","79","80"],
["Ayana","98","85","91"]]

59
60
Re-write challenge 33 so that it is a subprogram. The subprogram
should take the 2D list of exam results as an argument and output
the mean average for each student.

cs_scores = [["Theo","45","60","72"],
["Angharad","55","65","70"],
["Sameer","71","78","78"],
["Adrian","68","79","80"],
["Ayana","98","85","91"]]

61
62
1) Write the values of x and y for the first 5 iterations of the
program below:

x y output
0

1 animals = [["Charlie", "Dog", 8],

2 ["Dolly", "Sheep", 3],
3 ["Wanda", "Goldfish", 4]]
4
5 for x in range(len(animals)):
6 for y in range(0,3):
7 print(animals[x][y])

2) What is the name of the data structure on lines 1-3?

3) The Nested for loop on line 5-7 is an example of which

programming construct?
A. Sequence
B. Selection
C. Iteration

63
Circle the correct answer based on the following code:

for x in range(0,3):
for y in range(2,5):
z = x + y
print(z)

1) What is output when the program above is run?

A. 0,1,2,2,3,4
B. 2,3,4,5,3,4,5,6,3,4,5,6
C. 0,1,2,3,2,3,4,5
D. 2,3,4,5,6,3,4,5,6,7,4,5,6,7,8,5,6,7,8,

2) Given the code in Challenge 35 and given that

print(animals[1][2]) gives the output of 3. What does
print(animals[2][0]) output?
A. 3, 0
B. 4
C. Wanda
D. Dolly

3) Referring again to challenge 35, what would be output if the

following code was run print(animals[3][3])
A. 3, 3
B. Logic error
C. Syntax error
D. Index error: list index out of range

64
A procedure which performs a linear search on a 2D list that is
stored in a file.
users.txt
[['lauw', 'insecurePwd'], ['vegaj', 'iLoveWebDesign'],
['lassamil', 'zeroDawn']]

1 def login():
2 username = input("What is your username")
3 password = input("What is your password")
4
5 newfile = open("users.txt","r")
6 users_2D = eval(newfile.read())
7 newfile.close()
8
9 found = False
10 for count in range(len(users_2D)):
11 if username == users_2D[count][0]:
12 found = True
13 if password == users_2D[count][1]:
14 print("logged in")
15 else:
16 print("incorrect password")
17 login()
18
19 if found==False:
20 print("Invalid username")
21 login()
22
23 login()

 Line 5: Opens the file users.txt in read mode.

 Line 6: Reads the file. We have used the eval function which
means that the translator will treat the text file’s contents as a
Python expression if the format is valid. In this case, it converts
the contents of the text file into a 2D list and stores this under
the identifier users_2D.
 Lines 17 and 21: calls the login procedure if the login fails
i.e. it restarts the procedure.
65
Write a subprogram which generates a username for a teacher
based on their first name and surname. The format should be their
surname, followed by the first letter of their first name. The
program should check to see if the username already exists in
users.txt and if so, a unique username should be generated by
appending a "#" symbol. E.g. if a teacher joins the school called
Winnie Lau, their username would be LauW# . The username
should then be returned.

users.txt
[['LauW', 'insecurePwd'], ['VegaJ', 'iLoveWebDesign'],
['LassamiL', 'zeroDawn']]
def generate_username(firstname, lastname):

username =

#check to see if the username already exists

users_file = open( , )

usernames = eval( )

users_file.close()

for count in range(len( )):

if == username:

username =
return

66
Write a program which asks for a teacher’s first name and
surname. Then demonstrate how you would call the function on the
previous page to generate a username and output this in a
meaningful message.

The next pages is provided so that you can practise Challenge 37 again
without the writing frame. It’s important that you keep challenging
yourself and eventually you should be able to write these programs
independently.

67
Write a subprogram which generates a username for a teacher
based on their first name and surname. The format should be their
surname, followed by the first letter of their first name. The
program should check to see if the username already exists in
users.txt and if so, a unique username should be generated by
appending a "#" symbol. E.g. if a teacher joins the school called
Winnie Lau, their username would be LauW# . The username
should then be returned.

users.txt
[['LauW', 'insecurePwd'], ['VegaJ', 'iLoveWebDesign'],
['LassamiL', 'zeroDawn']]

68
File writing is essential if you want to save data permanently to
your programs. This allows you to open a program and read in
data. Examples of data might be a shopping list, usernames and
passwords, player names and scores. The program below asks a
user for shopping list items to be written to a file.

Type this out to check if a shopping_list.txt file is created next to

your Python file and to check if your shopping list is written there.
1 def shopping():
2 item = ' '
3 items = []
4 while item != 'End':
5 item = input('Enter a shopping list item or \
6 enter "End" to finish your list.').title()
7
8 if item != 'End':
9 items.append(item)
10
11 newfile = open("shopping_list.txt","w")
12 newfile.write(str(items))
13 newfile.close()
14
15 shopping()

 Line 2: Sets a default or initial value for item. This allows the
while loop on line 4 to run at least once
 Line 3: Creates an empty list which will append to on line 8
 Lines 5-6: Allows the user to keep entering items and casts their
item to title case i.e. capital letter on the first character.
 Lines 7-8: Checks if the item is "End" and if not, it appends the
item to the items list.
 Line 9: Opens a file in write mode. If one does not exist, it will
create a new file. If it already exists, it will overwrite the content.
 Line 10: Writes the list as a string into newfile.
N.B. You can only write strings to files, so lists have to be cast.

69
On the previous page, we learnt that opening a file in write mode
will erase the previous data if the file already exists. There are two
ways of adding to an existing file. However, when we are dealing
with lists in Python, the best approach is to read in a list from the
file, append to the list and then overwrite the file with this updated
list. This is shown below.
Shopping_list.txt
[‘Rice’, ’Ackee’, ’Peppers’, ’Tomatoes’]

1 def add_shopping():
2 item = ' '
3 file = open("shopping_list.txt","r")
4 items = eval(file.read())
5 file.close()
6
7 while item != 'End':
8 item = input('Enter a shopping list item or \
9 enter "End" to finish your list.').title()
10
11 if item != 'End':
12 items.append(item)
13
14 newfile = open("shopping_list.txt","w")
15 newfile.write(str(items))
16 newfile.close()
17
18 add_shopping()

We have only changed lines 3-5, these open the file in read mode
and evaluates the contents into a list called items.

If you have paired sets of data e.g. player names and scores or
usernames and passwords, you may want to use a 2D list in a file. The
rest of the code stays the same. However, it’s worth noting that storing
the password as plaintext may be fine for GCSE Computer Science, but in
real applications, it is a really bad idea! Curious readers should visit:
http://bit.do/hashing-python-passwords for more info.
70
Write a subprogram to allow a teacher to register a new account.
The subprogram should take the username and password as
arguments and write these details to the existing users.txt file
shown opposite.

Hint: Use the comments on the opposite page as skeleton code to

structure your subprogram

def new_user(username_in, password_in):

users =

new_user = []

new_user.append(username_in)

users.append(new_user)
users_file = open( , "w")

.write(str( )

71
 users.txt
[['lauw', 'insecurePwd'], ['vegaj', 'iLoveWebDesign'],
['lassamil', 'zeroDawn']]

# define a function new_user with two parameters:

# username and password

# open the file in read mode

# use eval to read in the 2D list

# close the file

# make a new list for the new user

# append the username to the new user list

# append the password to the same list

# append this new user list to the existing 2D list that

# we read in
# open the file in write mode

# cast the updated 2D list as a string and write this

string to the file
# close the file

72
1) To append to the end of a file we should use?
A. file.append("some text")

B. file = open("txtfile.txt", "a")

file.write("some text")

C. file = open("txtfile.txt", "append")

file.append("some text")

D. file = "some text".append()

2) Opening a file in "w" mode will usually…:

A. Allow you to write to a file, wiping the original data
B. Allow you to write to the end of a file
C. Allow you to write to the beginning of a file, keeping what is
there
D. Allow you to read or write from the file

3) After file operations, we should always

A. Close the file
B. Save the file with a new file name
C. Loop back to the beginning of the file
D. Open the file

73
Solve the puzzle by re-arranging the code blocks into the correct
order. The program should ask for a user’s e-mail address and if it
is in the 2D list stored in the file, it returns True otherwise it returns
False.

file = open ("users.txt","r")

A
users = eval(file.read())

B email = input("Enter a username")

C file.close()

D for count in range(len(users)):

E return Found

if email == users[count][0]:
F found = True
return Found

G found = False

Correct order:

74
A subprogram which takes a 4-bit binary string as an argument and
returns the denary equivalent

1 def binary_to_denary(binary):
2 bit1 = int(binary[3])*1
3 bit2 = int(binary[2])*2
4 bit3 = int(binary[1])*4
5 bit4 = int(binary[0])*8
6
7 denary_out = bit1 + bit2 + bit3 + bit4
8 return denary_out
9
10
11 def main():
12 binary_in = input("Enter the binary string")
13 denary = binary_to_denary(binary_in)
14 print("The binary value", binary_in, "in denary \
is", denary)
15
16
17 if __name__ == '__main__':
18 main()

 Lines 17-18: The default value for __name__ in every Python

program is '__main__' and so the main function is called.
 Line 12: Asks the user for a binary string.
 Line 13: Calls the binary_to_denary function, passing the
binary string as an argument. The returned value will be stored
in the denary variable and output on Line 14.
 Line 1: Defines a function called binary_to_denary and
takes the binary_in string as an argument.
 Lines 2-5: Slices each individual digit and multiplies it by its
relevant place value.
 Lines 7-8: The total is calculated and returned.
 Line 14: The denary equivalent is outputted with a meaningful
message.

75
A program which converts a denary value between 0-15 to a 4-bit
binary value
1 denary = int(input("Enter the denary number between \
0 and 15"))
2
3 binary = ["0","0","0","0"]
4
5 if denary > 15:
6 print("error")
7 if denary >=8 and denary <=15:
8 binary[0] = "1"
9 denary = denary - 8
10 if denary >=4:
11 binary[1] = "1"
12 denary = denary - 4
13 if denary >=2:
14 binary[2] = "1"
15 denary = denary - 2
16 if denary >=1:
17 binary[3] = "1"
18
19 for count in range(len(binary)):
20 print(binary[count],end="")

 Line 3: With binary numbers, we cannot use the integer data

type. A default string of "0000" also cannot be used as strings in
Python are not mutable. Having four bits like the previous
program could work, but I would have to define and initialise
each bit. This could create up to four lines of extra code. I
therefore decided to use a list as lists are mutable.
 Lines 7-17: This models the "left-to-right" process of checking
how many 8s, 4s, 2s and 1s go into a number between 0-15.
 Lines 19-20: This is a way to iterate through the list and print
each element without commas, brackets and new lines. The
end="" means at the end of each print, do not add anything, as a
default end="\n" i.e. a new line at the end of every print.

76
Write a function which takes in 1 hexadecimal digit as an argument
and returns the denary equivalent.

Write a main function which asks the user to input a hexadecimal

value and then passes this value to the function you have written.

77
Q1) What is the correct answer in Q1 below? Fill in the gap on the
if statement on line 24
1 def correct(score_in):
2 print("Well Done, this is the correct answer")
3 score_in = score_in + 1
4 return score_in
5
6 def quiz():
7 score = 0
8
9 print("""
10 Why do computers need primary storage?
11
12 A) To provide fast access memory to the CPU in the \
13 form of RAM and ROM
14 B) To provide long term storage of files on a hard \
15 disk drive
16 C) To act as RAM and allow programs to keep running \
17 when RAM is full
18 D) To provide storage in case secondary storage runs\
19 out
20 """)
21
22 Q1 = input("Choose a letter").upper()
23
24 if Q1 == "______":
25 score = correct(score)
26 print(score)
27

Q2) When the program is run, nothing happens. Explain why?

Q3) What is the purpose of line 7?

78
Examine the binary search program below.

N.B. Line 33 contains an integer placeholder %d, it is replaced with

the contents of the result variable using % as a placeholder

1 # Binary search returns location of target in given

2 # list if present, else returns -1
3 def binarySearch(nums, target):
4 left = 0
5 right = len(nums)-1
6 while left <= right:
7
8 mid = left + (right - left) // 2
9
10 # Check if target is present at mid
11 if nums[mid] == target:
12 return mid
13
14 # If x is greater, ignore left half
15 elif nums[mid] < target:
16 left = mid + 1
17
18 # If x is smaller, ignore right half
19 else:
20 right = mid - 1
21
22 # If we reach here, then the element was
23 # not present
24 return -1
25
26 nums_in = [ 2, 3, 4, 10, 40 ]
27 target_in = int(input("Enter a number to see if it \
28 is in the list"))
29
30 result = binarySearch(nums_in, target_in)
31
32 if result != -1:
33 print ("Element is present at index %d" %result)
34 else:
35 print ("Element is not present in array")
36

79
Q1) What line is the function called on?

Q2) What is the name of the data structure on line 26?

Q3) How many parameters does the binarySearch function have?

Q4) When the program is run and the target_in is 10, what is the
output?

Q5) When the program is run and the target_in is 20, what are the
mid values that are examined?

Q6) The // on line 8 is a DIV operator. Explain what is meant by DIV

Q7) What is the data type of target_in on line 27?

80
Examine the program below which is used to issue store discount

N.B. Line 24 contains a float placeholder %.2f, it is replaced with

the contents of the total variable formatted to 2 decimal places
using % as a placeholder

1 discounts = [["summer10",0.1],
2 ["welcome",0.15],
3 ["refer20",0.2]]
4
5 discount = 0
6
7 total = float(input("What is the order total: £"))
8 discount_in = input("Do you have a discount \
9 code?").lower()
10
11 if discount_in == "yes":
12 discountcode = input("Enter a discount code").lower()
13
14 valid = False
15
16
17
18
19
20 for count in range(len(discounts)):
21 if discountcode == discounts[count][0]:
22 discount = discounts[count][1]
23 valid = True
24
25 if valid == False:
26 print("Invalid discount code")
27
28 total = total - (total*discount)
29 print("Your total is £%.2f" %total)
30

81
Q1) Re-write the 2D list to include another discount code called
"loyalty25" worth 25% off.

Q2) What is the data type of the variable valid?

Q3) Assume your 2D list in Q1 is now stored in a text file called

"codes.txt". What would you need to write between lines 15-19
so that the discount codes are read from the text file?

Q4) The program could be re-written using subprograms. Explain

the advantages of using subprograms i.e. procedures or functions.

82
A bubble sort iterates through an array (or list) of numbers from left
to right. If the number being checked is greater than the next item
in the array, the numbers are swapped. One way of achieving this is
by storing the first number in a temporary vaiable.

Part of the bubble sort is shown below. j is a variable in a nested for

loop which allows the algorithm to iterate over the length of the
nums list.
1 nums = [9,1,12,3,4,8]
...
15 if nums[j] > nums[j+1] :
16 temp = nums[j]
17 nums[j] = nums[j+1]
18 nums[j+1] = nums[j]
19 swapped = True

The nums list can be visualised below:

nums[j] nums[j+1]

9 1 12 3 4 8
Q1) After the program runs, what is the value of temp?

Q2) In the above scenario, what are the final values of nums[j] and
nums[j+1]? Explain whether the bubble sort has worked for the first
two items?

83
Q3) What is the name of the programming construct shown in the
program:
A. Sequence
B. Selection
C. Iteration

Q4) Give the name of two variables in the bubble sort snippet:

Q5) Name another sorting algorithm which might be more effective

on a larger data set:

Q6) Explain why you might use a bubble sort instead of a different
sorting algorithm:

84
The size of a text file can be calculated by using the following
formula:

File size = bits per character * number of characters

Q1) Write a subprogram which takes the bits per character and
number of characters as parameters and returns the file size in

Q2) ASCII is a character set which always uses 8 bits per character

If a text file encoded using ASCII has 1000 characters. How many
bits will the file size be?

Q3) Text is always stored as binary. ASCII has 8 bits and therefore
can represent 2^8 characters. Some formats of Unicode use 32
bits per character. This would create larger file sizes. Explain why
you might want to use Unicode instead of ASCII?

85
Q4) The file size returned will be given in bits, therefore we can
convert this to Kilobytes by dividing the answer by (8 * 1000.)

Use the space below to show how the function may be called. The
answer should be outputted in KB.

Q5) Give your answer to Q2 from the previous page in Kilobytes:

86
The size of a sound file can be calculated by using the following
formula:

File size = sample rate * bit depth * duration

Write a subprogram which takes the sample rate (a frequency

measured in Hz), bit depth and duration (measured in seconds) of
a sound file and returns the file size.

87
The file size returned will be given in bits.

Use the space below to show how the function may be called. The
answer should be outputted twice, once in KB and again in MB.

88
Eirini Kolaiti came up with the great idea of putting example solutions to
the challenges at the back of the book. I will also post these solutions
online at: http://bit.do/LBOA2
There is always more than one way to solve a problem. Even if the
algorithm is well-defined, there may be alternative programming
approaches. The following pages present examples which you can
compare to your own answers. Comments have been provided to aid your
understanding, you should develop the habit of commenting all your
programs.
Do not worry if you have written an alternative solution. Also be aware
that these solutions were not produced by typing the whole program out
and running them with no syntax and logic errors on the first time! There
was a debugging process as I wrote each line or block of code.
Encountering errors whilst iteratively testing is the "normal" way to
develop programs.

#define a function called highest_num with three parameters

def highest_number (num1, num2, num3):
# return the highest number
if num1 >= num2 and num1 >= num3:
return num1
elif num2 >= num1 and num2 >= num3:
return num2
else:
return num3

first = int(input("Enter the first number: "))

second = int(input("Enter the second number: "))
third = int(input("Enter the third number: "))

# call the highest_number function and pass the contents of

# first, second and third variables as arguments into the
# parameters num1, num2, num3
highest = highest_number(first,second,third)

#output the highest number with a meaningful message

print("The highest number is " + str(highest))
89
def options(num):
if num == 1:
return "Computer Science"
elif num == 2:
return "Music"
elif num == 3:
return "Dance"
elif num == 4:
return "PE"
else:
return "Error"

def main():
print("""
1 Computer Science
2 Music
3 Dance
4 PE
""")
opt_num = int(input("Enter a number to choose an
option"))
subject = options(opt_num)
if subject == "Error":
print("You entered an invalid number")
print("Please enter a number between 1 and 4")
return main()
else:
print("You chose", subject)
main()

Q1) num_in Ouput

8 8
3 8
12 12
5 5

Q2) Lines 4-7

Q3) 3 is less than 5 so the first branch of the if statement is
executed and the output is 8. The latter elif num == 3 branch is
never reached.

90
def mystery_number(num):
if num == 3:
print(1)
elif num < 5:
print(8)
else:
print(num)

num_in = int(input("Enter a number: "))

mystery_number(num_in)

# B, E, D, C, A

def subtract(num1, num2):

if num1 > num 2:
out = num1 - num2
else:
out = num2 - num1
return out

num1_in = int(input("Enter a number"))

num2_in = int(input("Enter a number"))

difference = subtract(num1_in, num2_in)

print("The difference is", difference)

1) A. A function has parameters, a procedure does not

2) C. if num1 is greater than 9
3) C. Arguments
4) D. Def

91
def initials_only(first, middle, last):
#slice only the first character from each string
initials = first[0]+middle[0]+last[0]

return initials

firstname = input("What is your first name")

midname = input("What is your middle name")
lastname = input("What is your last name")

#call initials_only, passing the 3 names in as arguements

initials=initials_only(firstname,midname,lastname)

print("Your initials are:",initials)

def subject_shortener(subject):
shortened = subject[0:3]

return shortened

subj = input("Enter the subject name")

subj_out=subject_shortener(subj)

print(subj,"has been shortened to",subj_out)

def cuboid_volume (length, width, height):

volume = length * width * height

return volume

length_in = int(input("Enter the length of the cuboid: "))

width_in = int(input("Enter the width of the cuboid: "))
height_in = int(input("Enter the height of the cuboid: "))

volume_out = cuboid_volume(length_in, width_in, height_in)

print("The volume of the cuboid is " + str(volume_out))

92
def add(num1, num2):
out = num1 + num2
return out

num1_in = int(input("Enter a number"))

num2_in = int(input("Enter a number"))

total = add(num1_in, num2_in)

print("The sum is", total)

1) C. na
2) B. o
3) D. 8
4) B. A value which can not change whilst the program is running

93
def is_odd(number_in):
if int(number_in) %2 == 0:
return("The number is even")
else:
return("The number is odd")

def main():
number = input("Enter a number")

if number != "STOP" :
odd = is_odd(number)
print(odd)
# call the main function again i.e. loop back to the
top
# and ask for another number
return main()
else:
exit()

#Always run main() first unless the program is imported

if __name__ == '__main__':
main()

def is_multiple(x_in, y_in):

if x_in % y_in == 0:
print(x_in, "is a multiple of", y_in)
else:
print(x_in, "is not a multiple of", y_in)

print("A program to check if x is a multiple of y")

x = int(input("Enter a number to check if it is a multiple"))
y = int(input("Enter a number to divide by"))

#Call the procedure, passing in x and y

is_multiple(x,y)

94
Q1)
num1 num2 Output
1 8 0
3 9 1
14 10 2
21 19-28 4

Q2)
a) 21 DIV 7 = 3
b) 9 DIV 4 = 2
c) 8 DIV 3 = 2

sentinel = "XXX" #The sentinel value

word = ""
acronym = ""
while word != sentinel: #could also replace sentinel with
"XXX"
word = input("Enter a word or \"XXX\" to finish")
if word != sentinel:
acronym = acronym + word[0]

print(acronym)

95
acronym = ""
words = input("Enter words to be turned into an
acronym")

#Convert the words sentence into a list words, separated

by commas
words_list = words.split()

#For each word in the words string

#Same as for count in range(len(words)):
for word in words_list:
acronym = acronym + word[0]
print(acronym)

import random

# initialise the dice with two different values so the

# program runs at least once
dice1 = 1
dice2 = 2

while dice1 != dice2:

dice1 = random.randint(1,6)
dice2 = random.randint(1,6)

print("Dice 1 rolled:" + str(dice1))

print("Dice 2 rolled:" + str(dice2))

if dice1 == dice2:
print("Game loading")
else:
# Use input to enable the user to press enter to continue
# looping
again = input("Press enter to roll again")

96
import random

# initialise the score with a value of 0

score = 0

for count in range(3):

dice1 = random.randint(1,6)
dice2 = random.randint(1,6)

print("Dice 1 rolled:" + str(dice1))

print("Dice 2 rolled:" + str(dice2))

total = dice1 + dice2

print("Your total for this round is:",total)

score = score + total

print("Your running score is now:", score)

print("Your final score after 3 rounds is:", score)

numbers = [9, 8, 72, 22, 21, 81, 2, 1, 11, 76, 32, 54]

highest = numbers[0]

for count in range(len(numbers)):

if highest < numbers[count]:
highest = numbers[count]

print("The highest number is", highest)

numbers = [9, 8, 72, 22, 21, 81, 2, 1, 11, 76, 32, 54]

def highest_num(numbers_in):
highest = numbers[0]

for count in range(len(numbers)):

if highest < numbers[count]:
highest = numbers[count]

return highest

highest_out = highest_num(numbers)
print("The highest number is", highest_out)

97
obvious = ["password", "qwerty", "hello123", "letmein", "123456"]

password = input("Please enter a password: ")

# A basic linear search which iterates through the obvious

# list to check for matches against the password
for count in range(len(obvious)):
if password == obvious[count]:
print("This password is weak. It uses a common word or \
phrase making it susceptible to a brute force attack")

# Length check
if len(password) < 8:
print("Your password is too short. Please use at least \
8 characters")

# initialise some counter variables for different types of

# characters
char = 0
num = 0
upper = 0
lower = 0

for count in range(len(password)):

# A linear search to check if the character is a digit
if password[count].isdigit():
num = num+1
# A check to see if the character is an upper or lower char
elif password[count].isalpha():
char = char+1
if password[count].isupper():
upper = upper+1
elif password[count].islower():
lower = lower+1

if num == 0:
print("To make your password more secure, you could include \
numbers")
if upper == 0 or lower ==0:
print("To make your password more secure, you could include \
upper and lower case letters")
if char == 0:
print("To make your password more secure, you could include \
letters")
if num > 0 and char > 0 and upper > 0 and lower > 0:
print("Your password meets the minimum length requirements \
and contains a mixture of numbers, characters, upper and lower
case letters.")

98
import random

keeper = ["left", "centre", "right"]

keeper_score = 0
player_score = 0
for count in range(5):
dive = random.choice(keeper)

player = input("Do you wish to shoot to the left, centre or

right: ")

print("Keeper went to the", dive)

if keeper == player:
print("Penalty saved")
keeper_score = keeper_score+1
else:
print("GOAAAAAAL!")
player_score = player_score+1

if keeper_score > player_score:

print("Keeper wins", keeper_score, "-", player_score)
else:
print("You win!", player_score, "-", keeper_score)

1) x y
0 2
1 2
2 4
3 4

2) for x in range (1,11)

3) It initialises the variable y to a value of 0 so that it can be used later
in the for loop.

99
Circle the correct answer based on the following code:

import random
for count in range(0,5):
num1=random.randint(1,10)

1) A. 10 and 1
2) B. 0 and 4
3) A. 5 times

4) for words in sentence

or for count in range(0,5)
or for count in range(len(sentence))

def mean_of_list(numbers_list_in):
total = 0
for count in range(len(numbers_list_in)):
total = total + numbers_list_in[count]

# divide by the length of the list to find the mean

average = total / len(numbers_list_in)
return average

def main():
numbers_list = [0,7,5,3,22,23,11,34,51,32,5,3,1]

mean = mean_of_list(numbers_list)
print("The mean average of", numbers_list, "=", mean)

main()

# A better way to call main in case the file is imported:

# if __name__ == '__main__':
# main()

100
def vowel_counter(sentence):
A = 0
E = 0
I = 0
O = 0
U = 0

for count in range(len(sentence)):

# The .upper() casts the current letter to an upper
case
# Without .uppper(), we would write
# if sentence[count] == "A" or sentence[count] ==
"a":
if sentence[count].upper() == "A":
A = A+1
elif sentence[count].upper() == "E":
E = E+1
elif sentence[count].upper() == "I":
I = I+1
elif sentence[count].upper() == "O":
O =O+1
elif sentence [count].upper() == "U":
U = U+1

# using comma to concatenate in Python means we can cast

# the integer values implicitly without using str()
print("The number of A's:", A)
print("The number of E's:", E)
print("The number of I's:", I)
print("The number of O's:", O)
print("The number of U's:", U)

sentence = "Learning programming is similar to learning a

musical instrument. Both involve practise and making lots of
mistakes. Both also require perseverence to develop fluency.
Keep going!"

vowel_counter(sentence)

101
def marks(grade_in):
grades = [["A*","90"],["A","83"],["B","72"],
["C","60"],["D","49"],["E","30"]]

for count in range(len(grades)):

if grades[count][0] == grade_in:
return grades[count][1]

grade = input("What grade do you wish to achieve: ")

mark_req = marks(grade)
print("For grade", grade, "you need to gain", mark_req)

102
def vowel_counter(sentence):
vowel_list=[ ["A",0],
["E",0],
["I",0],
["O",0],
["U",0]]

for count in range(len(sentence)):

# The .upper() casts the current letter to an upper
case
# Without .uppper(), we would write
# if sentence[count] == "A" or sentence[count] == "a":
if sentence[count].upper() == "A":
vowel_list[0][1] = (vowel_list[0][1])+1
elif sentence[count].upper() == "E":
vowel_list[1][1] = (vowel_list[1][1])+1
elif sentence[count].upper() == "I":
vowel_list[2][1] = (vowel_list[2][1])+1
elif sentence[count].upper() == "O":
vowel_list[3][1] = (vowel_list[3][1])+1
elif sentence [count].upper() == "U":
vowel_list[4][1] = (vowel_list[4][1])+1

# using comma to concatenate in Python means we can cast

# the integer values implicitly without using str()
print("The number of A's:", vowel_list[0][1])
print("The number of E's:", vowel_list[1][1])
print("The number of I's:", vowel_list[2][1])
print("The number of O's:", vowel_list[3][1])
print("The number of U's:", vowel_list[4][1])

sentence = "Learning programming is similar to learning a

musical instrument. Both involve practice and making lots of
mistakes. Both also require perseverence to develop fluency.
Keep going!"

vowel_counter(sentence)

103
def vowel_counter(sentence):
vowel_list=[ ["A",0],
["E",0],
["I",0],
["O",0],
["U",0]]

#for each character

for count in range(len(sentence)):
#for each vowel in the vowel_list
for letter in range(len(vowel_list)):
#if the character == vowel
if sentence[count].upper() == vowel_list[letter][0]:
#increment that vowel's counter
vowel_list[letter][1] = (vowel_list[letter][1])+1

#loop through each vowel in vowel_list and output their totals

for vowels in range(len(vowel_list)):
print("The number of",vowel_list[vowels][0],\
"is",vowel_list[vowels][1])

sentence = "Learning programming is similar to learning a

musical instrument. Both involve practice and making lots of
mistakes. Both also require perseverence to develop fluency.
Keep going!"

vowel_counter(sentence)

104
cs_scores = [["Karman","45","60","72"],
["Daniel","55","65","70"],
["Parker","71","78","78"],
["Jessica","68","79","80"],
["Edie","98","85","91"]]

total = 0

for exam in range(1,4):

# iterate through each exam
for student in range(len(cs_scores)):
# update the total by iterating through each student
total = total + int(cs_scores[student][exam])

# calculate the total

print("Total for exam num", exam, "=", total)
# reset the total before starting on the next exam
total = 0

cs_scores=[["Theo","45","60","72"],["Angharad","55","65","70"],
["Sameer","71","78","78"],"Adrian","68","79","80"],
["Ayana","98","85","91"]]

total = 0

for exam in range(1,4):

# iterate through each exam
for student in range(len(cs_scores)):
# update the total by iterating through each student
total = total + int(cs_scores[student][exam])

# calculate and output the mean

mean = total / len(cs_scores)
print("Mean average for exam num", exam, "=", mean)

# reset the total before starting on the next exam

total = 0

105
cs_scores=[["Theo","45","60","72"],["Angharad","55","65","70"],
["Sameer","71","78","78"],"Adrian","68","79","80"],
["Ayana","98","85","91"]]

def mean_student(scores_in):
total = 0

for exam in range(1,4):

# iterate through each exam
for student in range(len(cs_scores)):
# update the total by iterating through each student
total = total + int(cs_scores[student][exam])

# calculate and output the mean

mean = total / len(cs_scores)
print("Mean average for exam num", exam, "=", mean)

# reset the total before starting on the next exam

total = 0

mean_student(cs_scores)

1)
x y output
0 0 Charlie
0 1 Dog
0 2 8
1 0 Dolly
1 1 Sheep

2) 2D-List
3) C. Iteration

106
1) B 2,3,4,5,3,4,5,6,3,4,5,6
2) C Wanda
3) D Index error: list index out of range

def generate_username (firstname, lastname):

# create username based on the lastname and first intiial
username = lastname + firstname[0]

# open the file in read mode and evaluate its contents

users_file = open("users.txt","r")
usernames = eval(users_file.read())
users_file.close()

# check the entire 2D array to see if the username exists

for count in range(len(usernames)):
# if the username exists, add a # symbol
if usernames[count][0] == username:
username = username + "#"

# return the final username

return username

forename = input("Enter your first name: ")

surname = input("Enter your surname: ")

username_out = generate_username(forename, surname)

1101110
107
def new_user(username_in, password_in):
# define a function called new_user with two parameters:
# username and password

users_file = open("users.txt", "r") # open file in read mode

users = eval(users_file.read()) # use eval to read in the

# 2D list

users_file.close() # close the file

new_user = [] # make a new list for the

# new user
new_user.append(username_in) # append the username to
# the new user list

new_user.append(password_in) # append the password to

# the same list

# ppend new user list to existing 2D list that we read in

users.append(new_user)

users_file = open("users.txt", "w") # open file in write mode

# cast updated 2D list as a string and write string to the file

users_file.write(str(users))

users_file.close() # close the file

print("Your username is " + str(username_out))

108
1) B
file = open("txtfile.txt", "a")
file.write("some text")

2) A Allow you to write to a file, wiping the original data

3) A Close the file

B email = input("Enter a username")

file = open ("users.txt","r")

A
users = eval(file.read())

C file.close()
G found = False

D for count in range(len(users)):

if email == users[count][0]:
F found = True
return Found

E return Found

Correct order:

B A C G D F E

109
def hex_to_denary(hex_in):
# only convert values A to F
hex_A_to_F = [["A","10"],["B","11"],["C","12"],["D","13"],
["E","14"],["F","15"]]

convert = False
for count in range(len(hex_A_to_F)):
if hex_in == hex_A_to_F[count][0]:
convert = True
return int(hex_A_to_F[count][1])

# if values are not A-F i.e. 1-9, return these as integers

if convert == False:
return int(hex_in)

def main():

hexi = input("Enter a hex digit to convert: ")

hex_out = hex_to_denary(hexi)
print("The denary equivalent is", hex_out)

main()

# A better way to call main in case the file is imported:

# if __name__ == '__main__':
# main()

1) A

2) quiz() procedure has not been called

3) Declare a variable called score and initialise it to 0 so that we

can keep track of the score by passing it into the correct procedure
on line 25

110
1) 30
2) List or Array
3) 2
4) Element is present at index 3
5) Element is not present in array
6) Integer division or floor division. A division where you ignore the
remainder and round down.
7) integer

1)
discounts = [["summer10",0.1],
["welcome",0.15],
["refer20",0.2],
["loyalty25",0.25]]

2) Boolean

3)
file = open("codes.txt","r")
discounts = eval(file.read())
file.close()

4)
 Subprograms such as procedures and functions can be called
anywhere in the program.
 Subprograms reduce the number of lines of code i.e. creates
shorter programs.
 The programs are also more manageable as errors or
changes to one subprogram means you only make the
change or the correction in one place, not several places
throughout the program.
111
4 continued)
 Multiple people can work on the program, each working ona
different subprogram.
 The subprograms can be tested in isolation.
 Subprograms can be re-used in other programs and also
imported .

112
1) Based on the snippet shown, nums[j] is 9 and this is stored in
temp

2) nums[j] and nums[j+1] both equal 1. The bubble sort has not
worked. Line 18 should be nums[j+1] = temp. This ensures the
original value of nums[j] i.e. 9 is stored in temp and then copied to
nums[j]. The code as it stands first replaces nums[j] with 1 then
replaces the value of nums[j+1] with the updated value of nums[j].

3) Selection

4) Any two from: temp, j and swapped

5) Insertion sort or merge sort

6) It uses little memory and is not processor intensive. If the array

to be sorted is short or mostly already sorted, a bubble sort will be
quicker to program and potentially quicker to run than an insertion
sort or merge sort. These other sorting algorithms scal better i.e.
they are suited for larger data sets,

113
1)
def text_size(bits_char, num_char):
size = bits_char * num_char
return size

2) 8 * 1000 = 8000 bits

3) More characters can be represented (2^32) in Unicode. Unicode

includes emojis and non-English characters such as Japanese and
Chinese.

4)
def main():

bits = int(input("Enter the number of bits per character: "))

charact = int(input("Enter the number of characters: "))

size_out = file_size(bits, charact)

size_kb = size_out / (8 * 1000)

print("The file size is", size_kb, "KB")

#A better way to call main in case the file is imported:

if __name__ == '__main__':
main()

5) 1KB

114
def file_size(frequency, bits, duration):
size = frequency * bits * duration
return size

def main():

freq = int(input("Enter the frequency in Hz: "))

bit_depth = int(input("Enter the bit depth: "))
length = int(input("Enter the duration of the sound file in \
seconds: "))

size_out = file_size(freq, bit_depth, length)

size_kb = size_out / (8 * 1000)
size_mb = size_kb / 1000
print("The file size is", size_kb, "KB")
print("The file size is", size_mb, "MB")

#A better way to call main in case the file is imported:

if __name__ == '__main__':
main()

115
Coding Club Python Basics Level 1 (2012) ¹ Chris Roffey
Coding Club Next Steps Level 2 (2013)
Python by Example1 Nichola Lacey
Making Games with Python and Pygame (2012) Al Sweigart
Automate The Boring Stuff With Python (2015)
www.inventwithpython.com
www.pythonprogramming.net Sentdex
See also: Youtube channel- sentdex
www.kidscancode.org Chris and Priya
See also: Youtube channel- KidsCanCode Bradfield
Youtube channel– MrLauLearning William Lau
Youtube channel– Tech With Tim Tech With Tim
Youtube channel- Corey Schafer Corey Schafer
Youtube channel– Computerphile Computerphile
How We Learn (2014) Benedict Carey
Why We Sleep (2017) Matthew Walker

Teaching Computing in Secondary Schools William Lau

Computer Science Education Edited by Sue Sentance,
Erik Barendsen and
Carsten Schulte
Teach Like a Champion 2.0 Doug Lemov
Tools for Teaching Fred Jones

¹ Brilliant books for absolute beginners. These "how-to" guides take you step by step
through the basic programming structures required to access most of the material in this
book.

116
117
My knowledge and understanding of programming was initially developed
by attending courses run by Ilia Avroutine, Darren Travi, Graham
Bradshaw, David Batty and Sarah Shakibi. I have also benefitted greatly
from the mentoring of Merijn Broeren, Elizabeth Hidson and Andy Swann.
The generosity of those who produce resources to teach programming
such as Chris Roffey, Al Sweigart and Sentdex along with the wider CAS
and Facebook community is also a great source of inspiration. To all of
the aforementioned, I am indebted. You have given me the confidence to
keep developing my programming skills independently and to eventually
share these skills with you on CAS, Facebook, Youtube and in my books.
To further my understanding of programming, I have had the great
privilege of sharing thoughts with Peter Kemp, Alex Parry, Eirini Kolaiti,
Richard Pawson, Scott Portnoff, Sue Sentence, Meg Ray and Alan
Harrison. All of the brilliant teachers and programmers read drafts of this
book and their comments have improved the book significantly.
I hope that my compromise of including procedures as well as non-
modular programs is forgiven. I have to be realistic and acknowledge that
for all novices, writing programs without subroutines is a starting point
and an achievement in itself. There are many solutions to a given
algorithm and provided that the output is correct and the algorithm is
reasonably efficient, we should recognise these as correct (up to GCSE
level) even if subroutines are not used.
I thank my colleagues, particularly Lloyd Stevens, Leila Lassami, Jaime
Vega, Gavin Tong, Sahima Patel, John Seery, Agata Obirek and Jamie
Brownhill at Central Foundation Boys’ School (CFBS). They have
supported me with their time, patience and agreeable responses to my
(occasionally unreasonable) demands! I also thank the students at CFBS
whose hard work have provided me with further motivation to improve
my teaching . Our students always inspire us to be better .
To Suki, Zi and Q, this book would not be possible without you. Many
people ask me how I have time to write these books and my answer is, "I
have an understanding family!" Thank you for your continued support.
118
119
120
121
122
Have you ever wanted to become more fluent in Python programming?
Perhaps you find the prospect of file writing or using 2D data structures
daunting? If so, then this is the book for you!

The Little Book of Algorithms concisely presents 18 problems which

computer science students will commonly encounter. These problems are
solved efficiently using programs written using Python. However, reading
these programs is not enough, so this new version of the book now
comes with 48 challenges so that you can apply what you have learnt in
various ways:
 Writing your own programs
 Solving Parson’s puzzles
 Completing quizzes
 Tracing
 Gap fills

This range of exercises will help you to become more fluent in Python and
ensure that you are comfortable with any question format in a
programming exam.

After finishing this book, you should feel more familiar with:
 While loops and For loops
 Concatenating different data types
 Using procedures and functions
 Working with 1D and 2D lists and arrays
 File reading and writing

This book will show you how to write better Python programs and will
expose you to the key skills that are required to do well in any secondary
school programming assignment or exam.