Version: August 2025
Important course information#
This course consists of 4 practicals. The theory and assignments of the first 3 practicals are covered in this manual in separate chapters. Below you can find a short description of their content.
First practical: How to use the main features of Python (manipulating arrays of data and using script files) and getting started with data analysis and visualisation.
Second practical: How to write more complex programs using tests and loops, as well as how to create your own functions and use these in a script to analyse data.
Third practical: Introduction to the modelling of physical processes. During this practical you will build a simple morphodynamic model.
Fourth practical: Creative assignment, where you will be answering your own research question using Python (see Brightspace for instructions).
Each practical will be graded on a scale of 1 to 10. Of the final grade, the first three practicals are worth 5% each and the creative exercise is worth 20%. So all practicals combined make up 35% of the final grade.
During the practicals, you will have to work individually.
The Python assignments should be handed in following the deadlines provided by the lecturers. All the files necessary for your code to run (Python scripts, data files), as well as answers to the questions, should be combined in a zip-file and sent to the lecturers of the course as instructed in class.
The answers to questions should be written as comments starting with
#in the script files or (if specified) in a separate Word document.Please note that the exercises you are required to hand in are all specified at the end of each chapter. Do not hand in other exercises in the manual.
The evaluation of the code you hand in will be based on three main criteria:
Does the program run?
Does the program do the right thing?
Can we read/understand the code easily? (i.e., is it commented properly?)
If you have issues with debugging, please first consult the debugging manual on Brightspace.
If you run into problems during coding or debugging, consider:
Have you consulted the debugging manual?
Have you consulted a classmate?
Can your query wait until you can ask the lecturers during the next scheduled practical or question hour?
If not, questions about the practicals can also be asked to lecturers on Microsoft Teams.
Learning to program is learning a way of thinking and it begins with making a lot of errors. That will be a bit frustrating, but you will never unlearn that way of thinking the rest of your working lives. It’s worth the investment!