Python for Absolute Beginners Transcripts
Chapter: Problem solving techniques for writing software
Lecture: Some techniques for problem solving in programming
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Before we get into our new project
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that we're going to work on, let's talk
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about some techniques and ideas that'll help you
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get started when you're trying to solve a problem
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and you're not sure what to do.
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The first thing to ask is have you seen
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similar problems.
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Have you seen solutions to similar problems.
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You're not completely new to programming.
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You've already made it part way
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through this course, for example.
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Have we worked with data in some way
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that is similar to this?
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Have you been looking around on the internet
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and seen other ideas and solutions
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that are maybe out there, or other tutorials?
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Have you worked on something like this before?
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This is really, really helpful because
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you can compare what that problem and solution is
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to what you need to do
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and see how they're the same and different.
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And when they're the same
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they can give you some guidance on what to do.
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Visualizing the data is really helpful, as well.
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It's one thing to say well, I have, I don't know
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this data and some file and it's kind of hard
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to conceptualize or whatever.
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But if you can see it, and maybe this is
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loading into Excel, this is
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maybe this is seeing the data in a debugger
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or something like that.
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If you can see the data, you could even
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just print it out and see what comes out.
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If you can see the data that can help you
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think about how you need to interact with it.
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So this is an important role, an important step in here.
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Divide and conquer: you've probably heard this one
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before for problem solving
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but it's really, really important.
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Imagine you're writing a commerce site
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you might be working on the part of the problem
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where it's, like, let the user buy something.
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Okay, well that sounds really complicated
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so what's involved with that?
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Well, you've got to charge their credit card
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you got to verify some stuff
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you got to get their shipping information
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and then you got to send out an e-mail receipt.
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You've got to actually have the stuff sent to them.
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Whew, that's a lot to think about all going on there.
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But break it into smaller pieces.
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One of the steps there is, send them an e-mail.
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Okay, well, think about how to send an e-mail.
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And you can research that really clearly.
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One of the steps is getting their shipping address.
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Well, how might you get their street, their city
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their state, and so on, from them?
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Well, that's not too intimidating likely.
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So, breaking it down into these steps
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these high-level steps, and then trying to attack them
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one at a time, and maybe even breaking those
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into further, smaller steps is super, super helpful.
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Run through the data structures.
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We saw using the right data structure
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in our rock-paper-scissors game
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simplified the code dramatically.
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It let us think about an even more generalized
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problem, actually simpler than our small simple case.
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Remember we switched out, like, the rules of the game
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from if, else statements down into a simple dictionary.
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And in that chapter, we talked about the different
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kinds of data structures that are very, very common:
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lists, sets, dictionaries
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and then, even some of the other ones.
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But just thinking through when you're
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at a lower level of this divide and conquer stuff
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how do you store the data and interact
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with it in the right data structure?
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That can make a huge difference.
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Another one, which we haven't touched on yet
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because we're just focused on getting the basics
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of Python working, is the external package ecosystem
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in Python.
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So the place that you go and get these packages
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is called PyPI, or the Python Packaging Index.
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And it's at pypi.org.
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Over there, there's 215,000 libraries meant
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to solve certain problems.
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So, if you're trying to do something
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like some complex step, like, let's say, send an e-mail
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there's a ton of libraries over there
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built for sending e-mail.
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If you're doing something with physics
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instead of doing all the Python code
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to actually do some complex physics calculation
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there's probably a library, just say
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do that calculation, and it just does it.
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So if you can solve the problem
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by having someone else solve it for you
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and by that I mean using a library
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that already solves that problem
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that is a really good option.
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So be sure to check that out.
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Sometimes it's daunting to see so many
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different libraries and know which one you want
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so check out awesomepython.com.
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They have sort of a ranking of
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the popular ones categorized by
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the different types of areas you're working.
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Also, just realize this is part of the journey.
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It may feel like, well I'm stuck because
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I'm a beginner, I'm stuck because I'm not good
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at programming, I'm stuck because, whatever.
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No, everyone goes through this.
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Everyone who works on creating software
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has to go through these steps of the blank page
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with a cursor just looking at them
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and some problem to solve.
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You get better, quicker at running through
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these different techniques, but you got to realize
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that it's part of the journey
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and just take it for what it is, and enjoy it.
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Some parts will be frustrating
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but then when you solve them
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it'll be really, really satisfying.
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So part of the journey.
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And finally, just start.
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Sounds simple, a lot of people have problems with this.
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It's easy to sit around and think, and think, and think
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and plan, and compare, and think about trade-offs
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and what not, when you're trying to solve these problems.
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Maybe I should do it this way
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maybe I should do it that way.
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Oh, what about this?
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It can get really overwhelming
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and you can just get stuck in what's called
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analysis paralysis.
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That's just trying to analyze the problem
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and never actually getting started.
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Here's the thing about software:
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you write it one way, if you don't like it that way
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you change it.
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You have data one way, you don't like it
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you convert it to another structure or format
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data structure, whatever.
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As you get started, as you make progress
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you realize what the detailed steps are
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what mistakes you made, go back and change them.
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So just start, and once you've got an idea
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just run with it.
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If it's not the best idea, back track a little
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and then you can change it.
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Nothing's set in stone.
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It's just words and characters on a screen, right?
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So here are a handful of techniques to help
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you solve some of the problems that you might
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run into to create the software that you're trying
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to create as a software developer.
