Introduction to Python Programming

On Team 573 we have used Python to program our FRC robots since 2023 years. This section will hopefully give you a good starting point when you need to figure out how to do something for the team.

Where to Start Learning Python Programming

There are many great websites to teach you how to use Python code. Here is a Python overview, https://developers.google.com/edu/python If you want to get started from scratch in programming at home this is a great place to get started. The rest of this section briefly covers some of the things in Python that we use in FRC robotics

Variable Types

A great feature of Python is that it auto assigns variable types based on its inital assignment. You can also explicitly define variable types. Here is a table of commonly use variable types in Python.

Short Name	Definition
int	Whole numbers
float	Number with a decimal point.
list	Comma seperate list of variables of any other type.
bool	Boolean value (true or false)
string	Used for words in code

Loops

Since the main loop of FRC robot code loop continously we don’t use many loops in our code. Still its good to know about them.

While Loop

while True:
  # Do Something

For Loop

list = [0,1,2,3]
for i in list:
  # Do Something

Conditionals

We use coniditional statements all the time in FRC robot code. We use them based upon controller inputs or sensors. Any example of some are below.

If Statement

if i == 573:
  # Do Something

Else If Statement

if i == 573:
  # Do Something
elif i == 1:
  # Do Something Else

Else Statement

if i == 573:
  # Do Something
elif i == 1:
  # Do Something Elseif
else:
  # Do Something Else

In order to use a conditional you generally need to compare to values. The table below shows several comparators.

Symbol	Comparision
==	Is Equal
!=	Is Not Equal
<	Less Than
<=	Less Than Or Equal
>	Greater Than
>=	Greater Than Or Equal
&&	And
||	Or