Python is a simple yet powerful programming language to learn. It accommodates all levels of programmers from beginners to advanced programmers. Python is flexible and can work on available operating systems e.g., Mac, Windows, and Linux. Have you learned about the bare basics of python but are confused on how to apply them? Well, this article shows you how to make a program that calculates your total days, minutes, and seconds you have been alive! It is a very simple program that demonstrates how some things work in this programming language. Note that this is for users who have a basic understanding of python.

Steps

  1. 1
    Open up a new window in python shell by pressing ctrl-N or going to 'File' and 'New window'.
  2. 2
    Start with an introductory sentence. So you have to use the print function. Type below codes:

    print("Let's see how long you have lived in days, minutes and seconds.")
    
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  3. 3
    Ask the user's name. It's nice to know what the user's name is, so type this in line 2:
      name = input("name: ")
      
    • The variable "name" has now been replaced by the user's input.
  4. 4
    Ask their age. You need to know the age, now you do the same thing as above except you have to use the "int" function, because the user will enter a number, like this:
      print("now enter your age")
      age = int(input("age: "))
      
    • The variable "age" has now been replaced by the user's input.
  5. 5
    Do the conversions using the user's given age.
      days = age * 365
      minutes = age * 525948     
      seconds = age * 31556926
      
    • Once you have written this, Python automatically changes the values for days, minutes, and seconds, based on the user's input of age.
  6. 6
    Display to the user his/her information.
      print(name, "has been alive for", days,"days", minutes, "minutes and", seconds, "seconds!  Wow!")
      
  7. 7
    Congrats! you made a real program that serves a purpose! Save it and run it by going to 'run' and 'run module'. Try it out for yourself!
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    What do I do if I get errors while trying to create a simple program?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Try to check and read over your code. Are your variable names correct? Are there any misused brackets or symbols? Usually it will be highlighted if this is the case. If it is, try to figure out how to fix it the best you can.
  • Question
    The program closes after I type my name and never shows me how many seconds I lived. I copied and pasted everything here. I am using Python 2.7 and can't get a newer version as I use Win XP. Do you have any suggestions for me?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Under python 2.7, 'input()' asks for an input to execute (a python statement). The exemple above is for python 3 which disable the direct execution of code via 'input()'. So, if you need the user to give you an input, use 'raw_input()' instead of 'input()'
  • Question
    How do I write a comment?
    Cluster Duck
    Cluster Duck
    Community Answer
    There are two ways to write a comment in python. A # is used for a one line comment. A """ is used for a multi line comment.
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About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 27 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 238,468 times.
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Co-authors: 27
Updated: February 18, 2022
Views: 238,468
Categories: Python
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