30517 - PYTHON PROGRAMMING FOR ECONOMICS, MANAGEMENT AND FINANCE

Students attending the course are recommended to have already taken an introductory course on programming, whatever the language used.

The primary goal of this course is to give students a basic introduction to object-oriented and procedural programming, using Python. Most models and examples are taken from Economics, Management and Finance.

• Primitive types and class types.
• Functions (procedures, and fruitful functions), including recursion.
• Basic statements: assignment, if-statements, loops, blocks, function calls.
• Objects and classes, including subclasses, inheritance, and overriding.
• Sequences and dictionaries.
• Testing and debugging.
• Program development; stepwise refinement (top-down design) and object-oriented design.
• Basic searching and sorting algorithms.
• A model of execution.
• Programming style considerations.

• Define procedural programming language concepts (including expressions, decision statements, simple data types, Boolean logic, input/output, loop constructs, and procedures).
• Describe and explain the working of the algorithms presented in the course.
• Explain the workflow of a computer program in general and with respect to the Python programming language.
• Recognise the relationship between a problem description and program design.
• Decompose problems into simpler problems.
• Recognise the limitations of algorithms.

• Use procedural programming language concepts including expressions, decision statements, simple data types, Boolean logic, input/output, loop constructs, and procedures.
• Combine programming techniques to solve problems of varying degrees of difficulty in the fields of Economic, Management and Finance.
• Refine computer programs through testing and debugging to ensure proper operation.
• Find and understand programming language documentation to learn new information needed to solve programming problems.
• Implement problem solving strategies.
• Demonstrate how basic data structures (list, graphs, trees, sets, tables) function.
• Investigate different strategies for algorithm development and evaluate these to select an appropriate solution to a given problem.
• Determine the complexity of simple algorithms.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Exercises (exercises, database, software etc.)
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Individual assignments
• Group assignments

• Simple and less simple programming exercises are assigned to have students practice the language.
• Some case studies are analyzed through discussion in class.
• Individual assignments consist of readings, exercises, and multiple choice questions.
• Group assignments consist of programming task to be performed in a given time frame.

Assessment for attending students uses all three methods with one written test about the programming language and a number of individual and group assignments during the course.

Assessment for not attending students are based only on a written exam and a programming project to be discussed with the instructor.

Online textbooks and references are given through the Bboard platform.