Python values and your weekly study plan

What you will learn

• Store text, integers, and Boolean values.
• Calculate a small weekly study plan.
• Convert text input deliberately instead of mixing it with numbers.

Theory: values and types

A value has a type. "Python" is a string: text inside quotes. 30 is an integer: a whole number. True and False are Boolean values: they represent yes/no conditions. Python variable names do not start with $, unlike PHP variable names.

Assignment uses =. It attaches a value to a name. Equality uses == to compare two values. Good names describe the meaning: minutes_per_day is clearer than x.

Worked example

Create study_plan.py in your practice folder:

topic = "Python"
minutes_per_day = 30
days = 5
weekly_minutes = minutes_per_day * days
target_minutes = 120
enough_time = weekly_minutes >= target_minutes

print(f"Topic: {topic}")
print(f"Weekly minutes: {weekly_minutes}")
print(f"Target reached: {enough_time}")

Run python study_plan.py on Windows, py study_plan.py if that is your installed launcher, or python3 study_plan.py on Ubuntu/Linux. You can also use your virtual environment's interpreter. The source code is identical on these platforms. Expected output:

Topic: Python
Weekly minutes: 150
Target reached: True

The multiplication uses two integers. >= compares the total with the target. It produces a Boolean value. This is a calculation, not a promise that spending time automatically produces skill.

Guided practice

1. Change days to 3. Expect Weekly minutes: 90 and Target reached: False.
2. Change days to 0. Expect zero minutes and False.
3. Change the topic to SQL. The calculation should stay the same.
4. Use type(days) in a print statement to inspect its type.

Text is different from a number

"30" is text. 30 is a number. They are different values. Terminal input from input() is text, even when someone types digits. This example demonstrates conversion:

text_minutes = "30"
minutes = int(text_minutes)
print(minutes + 10)

Expected output: 40. Converting "thirty" with int() raises ValueError. Later you will catch that error and show a useful message. Do not silently accept negative study durations in a real application.

Independent exercise

Set a weekly target of 180 minutes. Calculate the number of minutes still needed after studying 25 minutes on four days. Print Minutes remaining: 80. Then try exactly 180 completed minutes: the result should be zero. If the completed time is greater than the target, the remaining time should also be zero, not a negative number.

Common mistakes

• Writing true instead of True: Python capitalizes Boolean literals.
• Quoting every number: text cannot be used as an integer without deliberate conversion.
• Writing = when comparing: use == for equality.
• Expecting int("thirty") to work: conversion can fail; validate real user input.

Self-check — not graded

1. Is "5" the same type as 5?
2. What is the result of 90 >= 120?
3. Why does int("thirty") fail?

Interview practice

“What should you do before using a number from an input form?” Explain validation, conversion, allowed ranges, and useful errors. The same principle applies to Laravel request validation and Python programs.

English practice and glossary

• Variable: a name that refers to a value.
• Integer: a whole number.
• String: text.
• Boolean: True or False.
• Conversion: changing a value into another type when that operation is valid.

Write: “My weekly target is __ minutes. I have completed __ minutes. I still need __ minutes.” Explain the program aloud in three sentences.

Next step

Learn how lists, dictionaries, conditions, and loops work together in a task report.