An operating system (OS) is software that starts up a computer and keeps it running and following your commands. An operating system’s main responsibilities are:

• to run applications, which are useful programs such as a calculator or word processor
• allows you to interact with applications
• creates and maintains the user-interface (the display on the screen, such as icons you click)
• controls and manages the file system so you can read, write, save, and delete files
• translates and communicates your request (e.g., saving a file or printing your homework) with your computer’s hardware.

Let’s look at the tools a computer needs to understand high-level (that means, a little like English) programming languages. Then, let’s discuss language paradigms, how languages can be grouped by their features in various ways.

Python is a beautiful language. It’s fun to learn, and its syntax (aka grammar) is simple yet elegant. Python is a popular choice for beginning programmers, yet powerful enough to back some of the world’s most popular products and applications from companies such as NASA, Google, Microsoft, and Instagram. One of Python’s design goals is to make the programming experience feel almost as natural as writing English.

Before starting this assignment, you should review the Python lecture notes, including the exercises at the bottom.

Searching for an item and sorting a collection of items form an important part of many computer programs. In this lecture, we will analyze four algorithms; two for each of the following common tasks:

• Searching: finding the position (or index) of a value within a list
• Sorting: ordering a list of values