After successful completion of the course, students are able to write and exectue simple programs in the programming language Python.Students are capable of handling variables with predefined and self-defined custom types and are able to apply type-specific operations. In addition to simple, ordinary types (integer, float, boolean) they master compund types like strings, lists, and maps. Students are familiar with the classical control structures (conditional branches and loops), are able to structure the program code with user-defined functions, and can read data from as well as write data to file. Finally, they know how to incorporate external libraries into their program code and are able to analyse and visualize komplex datasets.

The course teaches the basics of computer programming based on the general-purpose programming language Python.Using selected examples, it is demonstrated how a complex problem is analyzed, broken down into small manageable subtasks and finally converted into an algorithm. These algorithms are finally applied to geodetic and environmental engineering specific data sets. The acquired knowledge is applied programming of assigned tasks.

Presentation of the concepts of computer programming using Python.

• presentation of teaching content via online video tutorials (theory and practical coding examples)
• deployment of a central web based programming environment (Jupyter notebooks) for practical work
• self assessment via multiple choice tests in TUWEL (theory) and exercises (small progamming tasks) in the Jupyter notebook environment
• automated evaluation and feedback for self assessment tasks
• individual support by student assistants (tutors)

• 2 practical programming assignments (program code) in homework
• 1 practical programming assignment @TU Vienna (November)
• 1 theory test (multiple choice, cloze, drag&drop, kprim) @TU Vienna (January)

Basic computer skills are required for the course, in particular the use of a PC with MS Windows or Linux operating system and the use of web browsers.

Beginners are recommended to complete the following free (online) basic courses (TU Graz):

• Digitale Kompetenzen für Studienanfänger_innen
• Informatik-Fit

For a low-threshold introduction to computer programming, please refer to the following TU Vienna courses:

• Programmieren mit Processing 1
• Programmieren mit Processing 2

Especially as an introduction to Python programming and preparation for this course, an interactive basic course has been created, which is recommended for students with no or little previous knowledge:

• Python für Naturwissenschaften