The Python Challenge
There were two components for this challenge: (1) analysing the financial records of a company; and (2) modernising the vote-counting process in a small, rural town. In both cases, data analyses were sped up using Python.
Analysing Financial Records
The records consisted of profits and losses over the span of 86 months. This script was used to summarise the data. Results indicated that the company obtained a net profit of $38,382,578 over the period included in the analysis. Though posting a positive net profit, the month-by-month change was, on average, -$2315.12. The greatest increase in profit was recorded in February 2012 ($1,926,159) and was lower than the absolute value of the greatest decrease in profit; this was recorded in September 2013 (-$2,196,167). These indicators seem to suggest that the company is facing a loss trend rather than a profit trend.
Counting Votes
This script was used to hasten the counting of the votes. There were four candidates running for office in the small rural town. Of the 3,521,001 voters, 63% voted for Khan, making him the winner by popular vote (Table 1).
Table 1. Results of the election
| Candidate | No. of votes | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Khan | 2218231 | 63.0 |
| Correy | 704200 | 20.0 |
| Li | 492940 | 14.0 |
| O'Tooley | 105630 | 3.0 |