Building Your First Python Project: A Simple Calculator

Creating a simple calculator is a great way to start your Python journey. This project will cover basic arithmetic operations and user input handling.

Why Build a Calculator?

• Hands-on practice: Reinforces Python basics like variables, functions, and user input.
• Immediate results: Easy to test and improve.
• Foundation for advanced projects: Helps in learning program logic and structure.

Step 1: Setting Up Your Environment

Ensure you have Python installed on your system. You can check your Python version by running:

python --version

If Python is not installed, download it from python.org.

Step 2: Writing the Basic Calculator Code

Let’s create a Python script for our calculator.

def add(x, y):
    return x + y

def subtract(x, y):
    return x - y

def multiply(x, y):
    return x * y

def divide(x, y):
    if y == 0:
        return "Error: Division by zero is not allowed"
    return x / y

def calculator():
    print("Select operation:")
    print("1. Add")
    print("2. Subtract")
    print("3. Multiply")
    print("4. Divide")

    choice = input("Enter choice (1/2/3/4): ")

    if choice in ('1', '2', '3', '4'):
        num1 = float(input("Enter first number: "))
        num2 = float(input("Enter second number: "))

        if choice == '1':
            print(f"Result: {add(num1, num2)}")
        elif choice == '2':
            print(f"Result: {subtract(num1, num2)}")
        elif choice == '3':
            print(f"Result: {multiply(num1, num2)}")
        elif choice == '4':
            print(f"Result: {divide(num1, num2)}")
    else:
        print("Invalid Input")

# Run the calculator
calculator()

Step 3: Running Your Calculator

Save the script as calculator.py and run it in the terminal using:

python calculator.py

Step 4: Enhancements

To make your calculator more advanced, consider adding:

• A loop to allow multiple calculations without restarting the program.
• Exception handling to manage incorrect user inputs.
• A GUI using Tkinter for a better user experience.

Conclusion

Building a simple calculator is a great beginner project to understand Python basics. Keep exploring and enhancing your project to learn more.

Quiz Questions

1. What function in Python is used to take user input?
2. How do you handle division by zero in a calculator?
3. What are the four basic arithmetic operations?
4. How do you convert user input into a number in Python?
5. How can you improve this calculator further?