PythonPartOne

Python Part One: An Introduction

This workshop is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. CC 4.0 License

Source

For this workshop, I recommend installing Python 3 using Anaconda. The workshop was built using the Spyder IDE, but users can use any python environment they prefer.

What is Python?

Why use Python?

General programming language…good at most tasks Chart of python popularity as a programming language

Python Setup

Installing Python

Spyder Interface

We are using Spyder for this workshop. Here’s how to get started with Spyder:

Screenshot of default Spyder layout

Image of Spyder layout

Variables & Data Types

Use variables to store values.

age = 42
first_name = 'Ahmed'

Use print to display values.

print(first_name, 'is', age, 'years old')

Ahmed is 42 years old

Variables must be created before they are used.

print(last_name)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
NameError                                 Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-1-c1fbb4e96102> in <module>()
----> 1 print(last_name)

NameError: name 'last_name' is not defined

Variables can be used in calculations.

age = age + 3
print('Age in three years:', age)

Age in three years: 45

Every value has a type.

Use the built-in function type to find the type of a value.

print(type(52))

<class 'int'>

fitness = 'average'
print(type(fitness))

<class 'str'>

Types control what operations (or methods) can be performed on a given value.

print(5 - 3)

2

print('hello' - 'h')

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TypeError                                 Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-2-67f5626a1e07> in <module>()
----> 1 print('hello' - 'h')

TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for -: 'str' and 'str'

You can use the “+” and “*” operators on strings.

full_name = 'Ahmed' + ' ' + 'Walsh'
print(full_name)

Ahmed Walsh

separator = '=' * 10
print(separator)

==========

Strings have a length (but numbers don’t).

print(len(full_name))

11

print(len(52))

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TypeError                                 Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-3-f769e8e8097d> in <module>()
----> 1 print(len(52))

TypeError: object of type 'int' has no len()

Must convert numbers to strings or vice versa when operating on them.

print(1 + '2')

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TypeError                                 Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-4-fe4f54a023c6> in <module>()
----> 1 print(1 + '2')

TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +: 'int' and 'str'

print(1 + int('2'))
print(str(1) + '2')

3
12

Can mix integers and floats freely in operations.

print('half is', 1 / 2.0)
print('three squared is', 3.0 ** 2)

half is 0.5
three squared is 9.0

Variables only change value when something is assigned to them.

first = 1
second = 5 * first
first = 2
print('first is', first, 'and second is', second)

first is 2 and second is 5

Built-In Functions & Libraries

Use comments to add documentation to programs.

# This sentence isn't executed by Python.
adjustment = 0.5   # Neither is this - anything after '#' is ignored.

A function may take zero or more arguments.

print('before')
print()
print('after')

before

after

Commonly-used built-in functions include max, min, and round.

print(max(1, 2, 3))
print(min('a', 'A', '0'))

3
0

Functions may only work for certain (combinations of) arguments.

print(max(1, 'a'))

TypeError: unorderable types: str() > int()

Functions may have default values for some arguments.

round(3.712)

4

round(3.712, 1)

3.7

Use the built-in function help to get help for a function.

help(round)

Help on built-in function round in module builtins:

round(...)
    round(number[, ndigits]) -> number

    Round a number to a given precision in decimal digits (default 0 digits).
    This returns an int when called with one argument, otherwise the
    same type as the number. ndigits may be negative.

Most of the power of a programming language is in its libraries.

A program must import a library module before using it.

import math

print('pi is', math.pi)
print('cos(pi) is', math.cos(math.pi))

pi is 3.141592653589793
cos(pi) is -1.0

Use help to learn about the contents of a library module.

help(math)

Help on module math:

NAME
    math

MODULE REFERENCE
    http://docs.python.org/3.5/library/math

    The following documentation is automatically generated from the Python
    source files.  It may be incomplete, incorrect or include features that
    are considered implementation detail and may vary between Python
    implementations.  When in doubt, consult the module reference at the
    location listed above.

DESCRIPTION
    This module is always available.  It provides access to the
    mathematical functions defined by the C standard.

FUNCTIONS
    acos(...)
        acos(x)

        Return the arc cosine (measured in radians) of x.
⋮ ⋮ ⋮

Import specific items from a library module to shorten programs.

from math import cos, pi

print('cos(pi) is', cos(pi))

cos(pi) is -1.0

Create an alias for a library module when importing it to shorten programs.

import math as m

print('cos(pi) is', m.cos(m.pi))

cos(pi) is -1.0

Lists

A list stores many values in a single structure.

pressures = [0.273, 0.275, 0.277, 0.275, 0.276]
print('pressures:', pressures)
print('length:', len(pressures))

pressures: [0.273, 0.275, 0.277, 0.275, 0.276]
length: 5

Use an item’s index to fetch it from a list.

print('zeroth item of pressures:', pressures[0])
print('fourth item of pressures:', pressures[4])

zeroth item of pressures: 0.273
fourth item of pressures: 0.276

Lists’ values can be replaced by assigning to them.

pressures[0] = 0.265
print('pressures is now:', pressures)

pressures is now: [0.265, 0.275, 0.277, 0.275, 0.276]

Appending items to a list lengthens it.

primes = [2, 3, 5]
print('primes is initially:', primes)
primes.append(7)
primes.append(9)
print('primes has become:', primes)

primes is initially: [2, 3, 5]
primes has become: [2, 3, 5, 7, 9]

teen_primes = [11, 13, 17, 19]
middle_aged_primes = [37, 41, 43, 47]
print('primes is currently:', primes)
primes.extend(teen_primes)
print('primes has now become:', primes)
primes.append(middle_aged_primes)
print('primes has finally become:', primes)

primes is currently: [2, 3, 5, 7, 9]
primes has now become: [2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 17, 19]
primes has finally become: [2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 17, 19, [37, 41, 43, 47]]

Note that while extend maintains the “flat” structure of the list, appending a list to a list makes the result two-dimensional.

Use del to remove items from a list entirely.

print('primes before removing last item:', primes)
del primes[4]
print('primes after removing last item:', primes)

primes before removing last item: [2, 3, 5, 7, 9]
primes after removing last item: [2, 3, 5, 7]

The empty list contains no values.

Lists may contain values of different types.

goals = [1, 'Create lists.', 2, 'Extract items from lists.', 3, 'Modify lists.']

Character strings can be indexed like lists.

element = 'carbon'
print('zeroth character:', element[0])
print('third character:', element[3])

zeroth character: c
third character: b

Character strings are immutable.

element[0] = 'C'

TypeError: 'str' object does not support item assignment

Indexing beyond the end of the collection is an error.

print('99th element of element is:', element[99])

Loops

A for loop executes commands once for each value in a collection.

for number in [2, 3, 5]:
    print(number)

print(2)
print(3)
print(5)

2
3
5

The first line of the for loop must end with a colon, and the body must be indented.

for number in [2, 3, 5]:
print(number)

IndentationError: expected an indented block

firstName="Jon"
  lastName="Smith"

  File "<ipython-input-7-f65f2962bf9c>", line 2
    lastName="Smith"
    ^
IndentationError: unexpected indent

A for loop is made up of a collection, a loop variable, and a body.

for number in [2, 3, 5]:
    print(number)

Loop variables can be called anything.

for kitten in [2, 3, 5]:
    print(kitten)

The body of a loop can contain many statements.

primes = [2, 3, 5]
for p in primes:
    squared = p ** 2
    cubed = p ** 3
    print(p, squared, cubed)

2 4 8
3 9 27
5 25 125

Use range to iterate over a sequence of numbers.

print('a range is not a list: range(0, 3)')
for number in range(0,3):
    print(number)

a range is not a list: range(0, 3)
0
1
2

The Accumulator pattern turns many values into one.

# Sum the first 10 integers.
total = 0
for number in range(10):
   total = total + (number + 1)
print(total)

55

Conditionals

Use if statements to control whether or not a block of code is executed.

mass = 3.54
if mass > 3.0:
    print(mass, 'is large')

mass = 2.07
if mass > 3.0:
    print (mass, 'is large')

3.54 is large

Conditionals are often used inside loops.

masses = [3.54, 2.07, 9.22, 1.86, 1.71]
for m in masses:
    if m > 3.0:
        print(m, 'is large')

3.54 is large
9.22 is large

Use else to execute a block of code when an if condition is not true.

masses = [3.54, 2.07, 9.22, 1.86, 1.71]
for m in masses:
    if m > 3.0:
        print(m, 'is large')
    else:
        print(m, 'is small')

3.54 is large
2.07 is small
9.22 is large
1.86 is small
1.71 is small

Use elif to specify additional tests.

masses = [3.54, 2.07, 9.22, 1.86, 1.71]
for m in masses:
    if m > 9.0:
        print(m, 'is HUGE')
    elif m > 3.0:
        print(m, 'is large')
    else:
        print(m, 'is small')

3.54 is large
2.07 is small
9.22 is HUGE
1.86 is small
1.71 is small

Conditions are tested once, in order.

grade = 85
if grade >= 70:
    print('grade is C')
elif grade >= 80:
    print('grade is B')
elif grade >= 90:
    print('grade is A')

grade is C

velocity = 10.0
if velocity > 20.0:
    print('moving too fast')
else:
    print('adjusting velocity')
    velocity = 50.0

adjusting velocity

velocity = 10.0
for i in range(5): # execute the loop 5 times
    print(i, ':', velocity)
    if velocity > 20.0:
        print('moving too fast')
        velocity = velocity - 5.0
    else:
        print('moving too slow')
        velocity = velocity + 10.0
print('final velocity:', velocity)

0 : 10.0
moving too slow
1 : 20.0
moving too slow
2 : 30.0
moving too fast
3 : 25.0
moving too fast
4 : 20.0
moving too slow
final velocity: 30.0

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