Python for beginner - GPA Calculator Sample

Why learn Python?

Python is a general-purpose, versatile and popular programming language. It's great as a first language because it is concise and easy to read, and it is also a good language to have in any programmer's stack as it can be used for everything from web development to software development and scientific applications.

Learn by sample code

Beside self-training the basic concept on Python such as: variable, class, data type, ... To give you guys the first look on what Python look like. I wanna show you a traditional sample code which help student calculate their GPA, take a look!

Show me the code!

A. Create dictionaries

• Create three dictionaries: lloyd, alice, and tyler.
• Give each dictionary the keys "name", "homework", "quizzes", and "tests".
• Now fill out your lloyd, alice and tyler dictionary with the appropriate scores.

• Create a list called students that contains lloyd, alice, and tyler.
• For each student in your students list, print out that student's data, as follows:

B. Create function average

• Define a function called average that has one argument, numbers.
• Inside that function, call the built-in sum() function with the numbers list as a parameter. Store the result in a variable called total.
• Use float() to convert total and store the result in total.
• Divide total by the length of the numbers list. Use the built-in len() function to calculate that.
• Return that result.

C. Create function get_average

• Define a function called get_average that takes one argument called student.
• Make a variable homework that stores the average() of student["homework"].
• Repeat step 2 for "quizzes" and "tests".
• Multiply the 3 averages by their weights and return the sum of those three. Homework is 10%, quizzes are 30% and tests are 60%.

D. Create function get_letter_grade

• Define a new function called get_letter_grade that has one argument called score. Expect score to be a number.

• Inside your function, test score using a chain of if: / elif: / else: statements, like so:

   - If score is 90 or above: return "A"
   - Else if score is 80 or above: return "B"
   - Else if score is 70 or above: return "C"
   - Else if score is 60 or above: return "D"
   - Otherwise: return "F"
  

E. Create function get_class_average

• Define a function called get_class_average that has one argument students. You can expect students to be a list containing your three students.
• First, make an empty list called results.
• For each student item in the class list, calculate get_average(student) and then call results.append() with that result.
• Finally, return the result of calling average() with results.
• Finally, print out the result of calling get_class_average with your students list. Your students should be [lloyd, alice, tyler].
• Then, print the result of get_letter_grade for the class's average.

And the result