Example python3: pop0 – simple population program

eJournal: uffmm.org,
ISSN 2567-6458, 2-3.April 2019
Email: info@uffmm.org
Author: Gerd Doeben-Henisch
Email: gerd@doeben-henisch.de

CONTEXT

This is a possible 2nd step in the overall topic ‘Co-Learning python3′. After downloading WinPython and activating the integrated editor ‘spyder’ (see here),  one can edit a first simple program dealing with population dynamics in a most simple way (see the source code below under the title ‘EXAMPLE: pop0.py’.

BASIC PROGRAMMING ELEMENTS

SOURCE FILE

The source code is stored under the name ‘pop0.py’. It is a ‘stand alone’ program not making use of any kind of a library except the built in functions of python3. The external libraries can be included by the ‘import command’.

FUNCTION DEFINITION

If one wants to use the built-in functions in some new way one can do this by telling the computer the keyword ‘def‘ which states that the following text defines a new function.

A function has always a name, some input arguments between rounded brackets followed by a colon marking the beginning of the function-body.  After the colon follows a list of built-in commands or some already defined functions. With defined functions one can make life much easier. Instead of repeating all the commands of the function-body again and again one can limit the writing to the call of the function name with its input arguments.

In the example file we have the following function definition:

def pop0(p,br,dr):
       p=p+(p*br)-(p*dr)
       return p

The name is pop0, the input arguments are (p,br,dr), the used built-in functions are +, -, *, return as well as the =-sign, and the new composition is p=p+(p*br)-(p*dr). This new composition combines known function names with new variable names to compute a certain mathematical mapping. The result of this simple mapping is stored in the variable ‘p’ and it is delivered to the outside of the function pop0 by the return-statement.

NECESSARY INPUT VALUES

To run the program one has to call the defined new function. But because the called function will need some values for the input variables one has first to enable the user to interact with the program by some input commands.

The input commands are informing the user which kind of information is asked for and the answers of the users will be stored in the variables p, br, and dr. The input values can also be ‘casted‘ into different value types like int — for integer — and float — for floating point –.

Here is the protocol of a possible input:

Number of citizens in the start year? 1000

Birthrate %? 0.82

Deathrate in %? 0.92

CALLING A DEFINED FUNCTION

After these preparations one can call the defined new function with the statement pnew = pop0(p,br,dr). Because the input variables have values received from the user the new function can start it’s mapping and can compute the follow up value for the population.

SHOW RESULTS

To show the user this new value explicitly on the screen  one has to use the print function, the counterpart to the input function:  print(‘New population number:\n’,int(pnew)). The print function prints the new value for the population number on the screen.  If you look closer to the print function you can detect some inherent structure: print() is the main structure with the function name ‘print’ and the brackets () as the placeholder for possible input arguments. In the used example the input arguments have two ‘parts’: (‘…’,v). The ‘…’-part allows some text which will be shown to the user, in our case New population number: followed by a line break caused by the symbols \n. The v-part allows the names of variables which have some values which can be printed. In the used example we have the expression int(pnew). pnew is the name of a variable with a value delivered by the pop0() function enabled by the return p function of the pop0() function. (Attention: the ‘return’ function works without ()-brackets to receive input arguments! The variable ‘p’ is an input argument) The value delivered by ‘return p’ is a floating point value. But because we have only ‘whole citizens’ we cast the non-integer parts of the float value away by making the variable ‘pnew’ an argument of another function int(). The int() function translates a floating point value into an integer value. This is the reason that we do not see ‘999.0’ but ‘999’:

New population number:
999

REMARK: Global and Local Variables

This simple example tells already something about the difference between global and local values. If one enters the variable names ‘p’ and ‘pnew’ in the python console of the spyder editor then one can see the following:

p
Out[5]: 1000

pnew
Out[6]: 999.0

After the function call to pop0() the original value of ‘p’ is unchanged, and the new value ‘pnew’ is different. That means the new value of ‘p internal in the function’ and the ‘old value of p external to the function’ are separated. The name of a variable has therefore to be distinguished with regard to the actual context: The same name  in different contexts (inside a function definition or outside) does represents different memory spaces.   The variable names inside a function definition are called local variables and the variable names external to a function definition are called global variables.

A continuation of this post you can find here.

SOURCE CODE: EXAMPLE: pop0.py

pop0.py as pop0.pdf