In the previous lessons, you learned about code comments, the pass keyword, and about print(). You can think of them as building blocks for your Python programs. From a zoomed-out perspective, programming is the practice of assembling different building blocks to form a cohesive structure.
You can build an impressive amount of different structures with just a few different types of building blocks.
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There are a lot of different building blocks, but you can also group them into a few categories to make them easier to understand. In this course, you will learn about the different building blocks from a practical perspective.
Why practical first? Think of LEGO sets. Most people would prefer to create a structure instead of studying all the different blocks that exist first.
Why Blocks
In the same way, this course aims to get you to build stuff from the get-go. You'll learn about what the blocks are that you're using when you need to know more about them. This approach to learning is supported by many influential voices in education as being most effective for most people.
You already followed that process once when you built the Guess the Number game earlier on. Over the next sections, you'll learn about some of the background that went into building this game. There will be a bit of theory, but you'll get to apply it in practice as soon as possible so that you'll get your computer to do fun and interesting work for you.
Additional Resources
- Blog Post about David Perkin's famous book: Making Learning Whole
- Essay by Paul Lockhart: A Mathematician's Lament