Category: Information System Design and Development

Python – print()

The print() function displays a string to the screen. It can be used like this.

  • print(“hello there”) – displays hello there
  • print(4*4) – displays 16
  • print(“4*4”) – displays 4*4

Note that the last line has quotes around the calculation causing the string to be displayed.

You can use either a single quote ‘ or double quotes ” within the brackets. More on this later.

Python – Input()

Python input() function returns a string to the assigned variable. This can cause us problems when we want to store integers or floats.

We can use the int() function to convert the string to a integer or the float() function to convert it to a floating point. It is better to do this when you get the input or initialise the variable as you may forget later in the program.

InputInt
The first block of code shows Python returning a string. The second block of code uses a int() to return an Integer

 

Header Images

So I have changed theme… again. Now I need some new images for the header, that’s where you come in. I would like you to create a suitable header for the site, I think a computing based theme is appropriate. Use any package you like but I would like the image to be 1102 × 350 pixels and a PNG. You can submit in other sizes and formats but I will crop the image if I use it.

Please email in your submissions to my Glow account.

The current header images are from previous posts of pupil work. The image below was created in Tagxedo using the course assessment grids.
cloud

Evolution of BBC website

bbcOver the years the BBC website has seen a number of changes. These changes were often driven by the rise of new technology.

Take for example the display you are currently viewing this post on. In 1997 the standard PC display was about 1024×768 at best and most people were using SVGA (800×600) as the 14″ CRT screens of the time were a little small. So we moved up to larger CRTs before dropping them and moving to TFTs and introducing widescreen 1920×1080 (1080p).  Laptops brought problems of their own with fiddly input devices and small screens that had large pixels counts.  Then tablets and smart phones brought in touch screens that didn’t have the pixel perfect aim of a mouse.  Faster Internet connections meant that we could start to access and stream audio, then video.

Every time there was an evolution in hardware or software, the site needed to be changed. As well as the hardware changes, society was changing as well. We wanted our information displayed and interacted with in a different way.  This means that the BBC’s site today is quite different from the site that started in 1997.

Take a look at the posts below for more information.