Computational Thinking & Learning Python During an AI Revolution

The Real Python Podcast

Has the current growth of artificial intelligence (AI) systems made you wonder what the future holds for Python developers? What are the hidden benefits of learning to program in Python and practicing computational thinking? This week on the show, we speak with author Lawrence Gray about his upcoming book “Mastering Python: A Problem Solving Approach.”

Lawrence shares how learning Python helped him through a dark and trying time. He developed lifelong skills that he wants to pass along through teaching and authoring a book.

We discuss what you can do to prepare for a future where coding jobs are automated through AI. He shares ways that Python can help build the higher-order thinking skills required by future careers. We also talk about how Python can help with computational thinking and promote cognitive development.

This week’s episode is brought to you by Site24x7.

Course Spotlight: Looping With Python enumerate()

Once you learn about for loops in Python, you know that using an index to access items in a sequence isn’t very Pythonic. So what do you do when you need that index value? In this course, you’ll learn all about Python’s built-in enumerate(), where it’s used, and how you can emulate its behavior.

Topics:

• 00:00:00 – Introduction
• 00:02:29 – Learning Python and changing how you think
• 00:05:07 – What is the goal of the book?
• 00:05:59 – Discovering Python during a dark period
• 00:10:32 – What is unique to Python that helped you?
• 00:12:43 – How did you start teaching Python?
• 00:14:40 – Teaching Python to art students
• 00:18:52 – Sponsor: Site24x7.com
• 00:19:48 – Why write about computational thinking?
• 00:21:55 – Why learn Python now?
• 00:25:18 – Multiple modalities for Python
• 00:29:32 – Other optimistic thoughts on the future
• 00:34:15 – Reskilling a workforce
• 00:37:16 – What skills can be developed?
• 00:41:13 – Video Course Spotlight
• 00:42:40 – Bloom’s taxonomy
• 00:48:00 – Sharing the positive impact of Python
• 00:50:26 – What are you excited about in the world of Python?
• 00:51:32 – What do you want to learn next?
• 00:52:45 – How can people follow your work online?
• 00:52:47 – Thanks and goodbye

Show Links:

• The Future of Jobs Report 2023 - World Economic Forum
• Mastering Python: Get Access to Chapter 1
• Computational thinking - Wikipedia
• Bloom’s taxonomy - Wikipedia
• Probably Overthinking It – Data science, Bayesian Statistics, and other ideas
• scikit-learn: machine learning in Python - documentation
• Yellowbrick: Machine Learning Visualization - documentation
• PyCon US 2024 - PyCon US 2024
• Education Summit - PyCon US 2023
• PyTorch - Get Started
• Lawrence Gray Personal Site

Level up your Python skills with our expert-led courses:

• Using k-Nearest Neighbors (kNN) in Python
• How to Write Pythonic Loops
• Looping With Python enumerate()

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