kodkod | Intro Course

Installations: Everything You Install in the Course

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In this lesson

This lesson is built from a few short chapters, in the same order as the slides:

Chapter 1 — the course tools: what each tool does
Chapter 2 — the installation steps, one by one
Chapter 3 — checking that everything is installed, and what we will install later in the course

Chapter 1: The Course Tools

What will we learn?

In this lesson we will get to know the course and how we work in it, and then set up the development environment — the set of tools we will use to write and run code throughout the course. By the end of the lesson all the tools will be installed on your computer, and you will know what each one is for:

A Database and Setting Up MySQL: Tables, Keys, Docker and a Driver

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In this lesson

This lesson is built from two chapters, in the same order as the slides:

Chapter 1 — what a Database is: table, row, column, Primary Key and data types
Chapter 2 — setting up MySQL: Docker, Database Client and a Driver

Chapter 1: What a Database Is — Table, Row, Column, Primary Key and Data Types

What will we learn?

Why you need a Database.
What a Relational Database is.
Table, Row, Column.
Primary Key.
Basic Data Types.

What we will not learn here (on purpose)

Here we learn only the basics needed for CRUD: a connection, one table, and creating, reading, updating and deleting. We will not learn JOIN, GROUP BY, HAVING, Sub-Queries, advanced normalization, indexes or Stored Procedures. You will learn those in depth later in the track.

Backend and HTTP: Who Does What, Methods and Status Codes

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In this lesson

This lesson is built from two chapters, in the same order as the slides:

Chapter 1 — what a Backend is: Client, Server, Database, API and Endpoint
Chapter 2 — HTTP Methods and Status Codes

Chapter 1: What a Backend Is — Client, Server, Database, API and Endpoint

What will we learn?

Now we move from programs that run on our own computer to software that others talk to over the network. This lesson gives the big picture and the words:

Classes and Objects: From the Problem to a Complete Class

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In this lesson

This lesson is built as one story, in the same order as the slides. We start from a small bank system written with dictionaries and functions, see where it breaks, and in every chapter add one tool that solves one problem:

Clean Code A: Good Names, Small Functions and a Single Responsibility

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

What will we learn?

Until now the goal was “make the code work”. From today, the goal is also to make it clear. We will learn:

Connecting Routes to Database Actions: the Architecture

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

What will we learn?

Now we connect everything: the server from the backend and FastAPI topic, and the database from the databases topic. This lesson focuses on the architecture, that is, how the parts connect, and implements the first two Endpoints (reading). In the next lesson, the rest.

Exceptions A: Why Error Handling Is Needed, try and except

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

What will we learn?

What an Exception is.
Why real software has to handle errors and not crash.
The try / except syntax.
Different handling for different kinds of errors.

Why do we need this?

Imagine a small calculator server: one client sends "hello" instead of a number, and the whole server crashes. All the clients who come after them get “Connection refused”.

list: Creating, Accessing, Adding, Removing, Searching and Looping

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

What will we learn?

list is the most common data structure in Python. We already used it briefly. Today we will learn it properly:

Modules: Why We Split into Files, import, from and as

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

What will we learn?

What a Module is.
Why a project is split into several files.
Three forms of importing: import, from ... import, as.
What exactly happens when Python imports a file.

Why do we need this?

We already used modules: import os, import logging, import socket. Today we will write our own.

Networks and the Internet: Client-Server, Addresses, Protocols and the Journey of a Request

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In this lesson

This lesson is built from a few short chapters, in the same order as the slides:

Chapter 1 — computer networks, LAN, the internet, client and server
Chapter 2 — IP address, port, domain and DNS
Chapter 3 — request, response and protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, TCP and UDP
Chapter 4 — what happens from the moment you type an address until the site is shown

Chapter 1: Computer Networks, LAN, the Internet, Client and Server

What will we learn?

What a computer network is.
LAN (local network) versus the internet.
The router, the device that connects networks.
The client-server model, the basis of every website, app and server we will build in the backend and databases topics.

Why do we need this?

Every modern app talks to the network: WhatsApp, websites, games, and in the backend and databases topics also the server you will write. Backend developers write exactly the server side. Frontend developers write the client side. Without understanding this model, you cannot understand what your code does.