How many Bytes in…

In this challenge we will write a set of functions to calculate how many Bytes there are in a given number of kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes or petabytes.

First let’s investigate the link between these storage units:

Subroutines?

By completing this challenge we will investigate how subroutines (functions/procedures) are used in Python to create sections of code that can be called/reused many times within a program. Subroutines mean that a section of code can be identified using a name (identifier). This enables us to add more instructions to the already existing functions used in Python such as print or input.

To create a new function in Python we have to declare it first using the keyword def in Python. Our first function will be called kilobytes_to_bytes() and will take one parameter: numberOfKilobytes: (integer value).

def kilobytes_to_bytes(numberOfKilobytes):

We will then add the code to calculate the number of bytes that this function should return:

def kilobytes_to_bytes(numberOfKilobytes):
      bytes = 1024 * numberOfKilobytes
      return bytes

Note how the code for the subroutine/function is indented to the right.

We will then be able to call our the kilobytes_to_bytes() function to perform any conversion. T

numberOfBytes = kilobytes_to_bytes(5)

Check the Python code below where we have implemented and used the kilobytes_to_bytes() function to convert a user input into bytes.

Your task consists of creating another set of functions as follows:

• megabytes_to_bytes()
• gigabytes_to_bytes()
• terabytes_to_bytes()
• petabytes_to_bytes()

Extension Task

Create a new Python program that will:

• Ask the user how old they are (age in years),
• Convert this number in days knowing that there are 365.25 days in a year,
• Output this number of days to the end-user.

Add more code to your program to calculate:

• How old is the user in days,
• How old is the user in hours,
• How old is the user in minutes,
• How old is the user in seconds.