Lab 1: Infrastructure, Functions, and Logic

Welcome to your first lab! This week is focused on setting up your development environment, understanding Python functions, and applying logic to solve problems.

Important

Submission Note: The work for Days 3, 4, and 5 will be submitted together via GitHub on Friday (1/16).

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📅 Schedule & Tasks

Day 3: Infrastructure Setup (Monday, 1/12)

Goal: Get your coding environment (GitHub Codespaces) ready.

1. GitHub Account: Create a GitHub account if you do not have one. Please use a professional username.
2. Join Classroom: Click the [INSERT_LINK] provided by your instructor and select your name from the roster.
3. Launch Codespaces: Once in your repository, click the green Code button, select the Codespaces tab, and click Create codespace on main.
4. Coding Task: Open the blank file lab1_3.py and replace pass with:

def add(x, y):
    return x + y

4a. Install Extensions: To make coding easier, click the Extensions icon on the left sidebar (it looks like four squares), search for "Python," and ensure the official extension by Microsoft is installed. This provides features like syntax highlighting and error detection.

5. Verify: In the terminal, run python3 test_3.py.

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Understanding Test Results

When you run your tests, the unittest framework will provide feedback in the terminal. Here is how to read the output:

✅ What Success Looks Like

If your function is written correctly, you will see a dot for every test that passed and an OK message.

...
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Ran 3 tests in 0.001s

OK

❌ What Failure Looks Like

If your function returns the wrong value (for example, if you subtracted instead of added), you will see an F, a "Traceback" showing the specific line that failed, and a FAILED message.

..F
======================================================================
FAIL: test_add_positive (__main__.TestLab1_3)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
AssertionError: 5 != -1 : Expected 5, but got -1

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Ran 3 tests in 0.001s

FAILED (failures=1)

Day 4: Functions (Wednesday, 1/14)

Goal: Translate requirements into working Python functions. Open lab1_4.py and write the following:

Function Name	Arguments	Description
calculate_average	num1, num2, num3	Calculate the mathematical average of three different numbers.
add_tax	bill_total	Given a dollar amount, return the total after adding a 10% sales tax.
greet_user	name	Accept a string and return a greeting that says "Hello" followed by that name.

Verify: Run python3 test_4.py in the terminal.

Day 5: Boolean Logic & Testing (Friday, 1/16)

Goal: Use conditional logic to solve more complex problems. Open lab1_5.py and write the following:

Function Name	Arguments	Description
check_multiple	number	Return True if the number is a multiple of both 3 and 5. Otherwise, return False.
check_password	input_string	Compare the input to a secret word of your choice. Return "access granted" if they match, or "access denied" if they don't.
calculate_federal_tax	salary	Use chained conditionals to return a tax amount based on these brackets:

• <= $11k: 10%

• $11k - $44,725: 12%

• $44,725 - $95,375: 22%

• Over $95,375: 24% |

Verify: Run python3 test_5.py in the terminal.

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🐍 New to Python?

What is a .py file?

A file ending in .py is a plain text file containing Python code. The computer reads this "script" from top to bottom. In this lab, your .py files contain functions (reusable blocks of code), while your test_ files check if those functions work correctly.

Running Code via the Command Line

The Terminal is the text interface at the bottom of your screen. To run your code or tests, you must tell the Python "interpreter" which file to read.

• To run your script: ```bash python3 lab1_4.py

• To run your tests (Recommended): ```bash python3 test_4.py

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📥 Submission Instructions

Once Day 5 is complete, use the Source Control (branch icon) menu in Codespaces:

1. Stage: Click the + next to your changed files.
2. Commit: Type "Completed Lab 1" in the box and click Commit.
3. Push: Click Sync Changes to upload your work to GitHub.
4. Verify: Go to your GitHub URL and ensure your code appears there.