Workshop: Standard Library Essentials (Optional, Self-Study)¶

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From the lesson

Workshop problems for Section 11 Concepts. Build each yourself first, then expand the solution to check.

Four optional workshop problems, one per concept step, in a car scenario. Self-study: check python-workshop/solutions.

Step-01: Import a Module and Use math¶

Concepts: math.sqrt, math.ceil, math.floor.

Write a program that, using the math module, prints these labeled lines:

Task-1: the square root of 196 (use math.sqrt).
Task-2: the ceiling of 9.1 (use math.ceil).
Task-3: the floor of 7.9 (use math.floor).

Expected output

sqrt 196: 14.0
ceil 9.1: 10
floor 7.9: 7

Need a hint?

math.sqrt returns a float (14.0), while math.ceil and math.floor round to whole int values up and down.

Show the solution

s11_workshop01_sol_math_module.py

import math

# Task-1: print the square root of 196
print("sqrt 196:", math.sqrt(196))
# Task-2: print the ceiling of 9.1
print("ceil 9.1:", math.ceil(9.1))
# Task-3: print the floor of 7.9
print("floor 7.9:", math.floor(7.9))

View the full solution file on GitHub

Pages for this step: Concept | Practice | Workshop

Python Files for this step: Concept | Practice | Practice Solutions | Workshop | Workshop Solutions

Step-02: Random Values with random¶

Concepts: random.seed, random.choice, random.randint.

Write a program that seeds random with 3 (use random.seed), then prints these labeled lines:

Task-1: one car picked at random (use random.choice) from the list Mazda, Tesla, Honda, Kia.
Task-2: a lucky number from 1 to 100 (use random.randint).

Expected output

picked: Tesla
lucky number: 76

Need a hint?

Seed with random.seed(3) before random.choice(cars) and random.randint(1, 100) so the picked car and lucky number are reproducible.

Show the solution

s11_workshop02_sol_random_module.py

import random

random.seed(3)
# Task-1: pick and print one random car
cars = ["Mazda", "Tesla", "Honda", "Kia"]
print("picked:", random.choice(cars))
# Task-2: print a lucky number from 1 to 100
print("lucky number:", random.randint(1, 100))

View the full solution file on GitHub

Pages for this step: Concept | Practice | Workshop

Python Files for this step: Concept | Practice | Practice Solutions | Workshop | Workshop Solutions

Step-03: Dates with datetime¶

Concepts: datetime(y, m, d), strftime, timedelta.

Write a program that builds a datetime bought for 15 March 2024 and a service date 180 days after it (add a timedelta of 180 days), then prints these labeled lines:

Task-1: bought formatted as %d %B %Y (use strftime).
Task-2: the year of bought (use .year).
Task-3: service formatted as %d %B %Y (use strftime).

Expected output

bought: 15 March 2024
year: 2024
service due: 11 September 2024

Need a hint?

Both formatted lines use .strftime("%d %B %Y"), where %B is the full month name. Read .year directly off the datetime, and get the service date with bought + timedelta(days=180); timedelta handles the month rollover for you.

Show the solution

s11_workshop03_sol_datetime_module.py

from datetime import datetime, timedelta

bought = datetime(2024, 3, 15)
# Task-1: print bought formatted as day month year
print("bought:", bought.strftime("%d %B %Y"))
# Task-2: print the year of bought
print("year:", bought.year)
service = bought + timedelta(days=180)
# Task-3: print service date formatted as day month year
print("service due:", service.strftime("%d %B %Y"))

View the full solution file on GitHub

Pages for this step: Concept | Practice | Workshop

Python Files for this step: Concept | Practice | Practice Solutions | Workshop | Workshop Solutions

Step-04: Count Items with collections.Counter¶

Concepts: Counter, most_common.

Write a program that, for the list of brands Mazda, Tesla, Mazda, Honda, Tesla, Mazda, prints these lines:

Task-1: how many times each brand appears (use Counter).
Task-2: the single most frequent brand (use most_common(1)).

Expected output

Counter({'Mazda': 3, 'Tesla': 2, 'Honda': 1})
[('Mazda', 3)]

Need a hint?

Counter(brands) tallies repeated list items and prints sorted by frequency; most_common(1) returns a list with just the top (brand, count) pair.

Show the solution

s11_workshop04_sol_collections_counter.py

from collections import Counter

brands = ["Mazda", "Tesla", "Mazda", "Honda", "Tesla", "Mazda"]
# Task-1: count and print how many times each brand appears
counts = Counter(brands)
print(counts)
# Task-2: print the single most frequent brand
print(counts.most_common(1))

View the full solution file on GitHub

Pages for this step: Concept | Practice | Workshop

Python Files for this step: Concept | Practice | Practice Solutions | Workshop | Workshop Solutions

Finished this section?

Check your work against the solutions above, then head back to the Section 11 lesson, or try the Section 11 practice for more reps.

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