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---
language: python
contributors:
- ["Louie Dinh", "http://ldinh.ca"]
filename: learnpython.py
---
Python was created by Guido Van Rossum in the early 90's. It is now one of the most popular
languages in existence. I fell in love with Python for its syntactic clarity. It's basically
executable pseudocode.
Feedback would be highly appreciated! You can reach me at [@louiedinh](http://twitter.com/louiedinh) or louiedinh [at] [google's email service]
Note: This article applies to Python 2.7 specifically, but should be applicable
to Python 2.x. Look for another tour of Python 3 soon!
```python
# Single line comments start with a hash.
""" Multiline strings can be written
using three "'s, and are often used
as comments
"""
####################################################
## 1. Primitive Datatypes and Operators
####################################################
# You have numbers
3 #=> 3
# Math is what you would expect
1 + 1 #=> 2
8 - 1 #=> 7
10 * 2 #=> 20
35 / 5 #=> 7
# Division is a bit tricky. It is integer division and floors the results
# automatically.
5 / 2 #=> 2
# To fix division we need to learn about floats.
2.0 # This is a float
11.0 / 4.0 #=> 2.75 ahhh...much better
# Enforce precedence with parentheses
(1 + 3) * 2 #=> 8
# Boolean values are primitives
True
False
# negate with not
not True #=> False
not False #=> True
# Equality is ==
1 == 1 #=> True
2 == 1 #=> False
# Inequality is !=
1 != 1 #=> False
2 != 1 #=> True
# More comparisons
1 < 10 #=> True
1 > 10 #=> False
2 <= 2 #=> True
2 >= 2 #=> True
# Comparisons can be chained!
1 < 2 < 3 #=> True
2 < 3 < 2 #=> False
# Strings are created with " or '
"This is a string."
'This is also a string.'
# Strings can be added too!
"Hello " + "world!" #=> "Hello world!"
# A string can be treated like a list of characters
"This is a string"[0] #=> 'T'
# % can be used to format strings, like this:
"%s can be %s" % ("strings", "interpolated")
# A newer way to format strings is the format method.
# This method is the preferred way
"{0} can be {1}".format("strings", "formatted")
# You can use keywords if you don't want to count.
"{name} wants to eat {food}".format(name="Bob", food="lasagna")
# None is an object
None #=> None
# Don't use the equality `==` symbol to compare objects to None
# Use `is` instead
"etc" is None #=> False
None is None #=> True
# The 'is' operator tests for object identity. This isn't
# very useful when dealing with primitive values, but is
# very useful when dealing with objects.
# None, 0, and empty strings/lists all evaluate to False.
# All other values are True
0 == False #=> True
"" == False #=> True
####################################################
## 2. Variables and Collections
####################################################
# Printing is pretty easy
print "I'm Python. Nice to meet you!"
# No need to declare variables before assigning to them.
some_var = 5 # Convention is to use lower_case_with_underscores
some_var #=> 5
# Accessing a previously unassigned variable is an exception.
# See Control Flow to learn more about exception handling.
some_other_var # Raises a name error
# if can be used as an expression
"yahoo!" if 3 > 2 else 2 #=> "yahoo!"
# Lists store sequences
li = []
# You can start with a prefilled list
other_li = [4, 5, 6]
# Add stuff to the end of a list with append
li.append(1) #li is now [1]
li.append(2) #li is now [1, 2]
li.append(4) #li is now [1, 2, 4]
li.append(3) #li is now [1, 2, 4, 3]
# Remove from the end with pop
li.pop() #=> 3 and li is now [1, 2, 4]
# Let's put it back
li.append(3) # li is now [1, 2, 4, 3] again.
# Access a list like you would any array
li[0] #=> 1
# Look at the last element
li[-1] #=> 3
# Looking out of bounds is an IndexError
li[4] # Raises an IndexError
# You can look at ranges with slice syntax.
# (It's a closed/open range for you mathy types.)
li[1:3] #=> [2, 4]
# Omit the beginning
li[2:] #=> [4, 3]
# Omit the end
li[:3] #=> [1, 2, 4]
# Remove arbitrary elements from a list with del
del li[2] # li is now [1, 2, 3]
# You can add lists
li + other_li #=> [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] - Note: li and other_li is left alone
# Concatenate lists with extend
li.extend(other_li) # Now li is [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
# Check for existence in a list with in
1 in li #=> True
# Examine the length with len
len(li) #=> 6
# Tuples are like lists but are immutable.
tup = (1, 2, 3)
tup[0] #=> 1
tup[0] = 3 # Raises a TypeError
# You can do all those list thingies on tuples too
len(tup) #=> 3
tup + (4, 5, 6) #=> (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
tup[:2] #=> (1, 2)
2 in tup #=> True
# You can unpack tuples (or lists) into variables
a, b, c = (1, 2, 3) # a is now 1, b is now 2 and c is now 3
# Tuples are created by default if you leave out the parentheses
d, e, f = 4, 5, 6
# Now look how easy it is to swap two values
e, d = d, e # d is now 5 and e is now 4
# Dictionaries store mappings
empty_dict = {}
# Here is a prefilled dictionary
filled_dict = {"one": 1, "two": 2, "three": 3}
# Look up values with []
filled_dict["one"] #=> 1
# Get all keys as a list
filled_dict.keys() #=> ["three", "two", "one"]
# Note - Dictionary key ordering is not guaranteed.
# Your results might not match this exactly.
# Get all values as a list
filled_dict.values() #=> [3, 2, 1]
# Note - Same as above regarding key ordering.
# Check for existence of keys in a dictionary with in
"one" in filled_dict #=> True
1 in filled_dict #=> False
# Looking up a non-existing key is a KeyError
filled_dict["four"] # KeyError
# Use get method to avoid the KeyError
filled_dict.get("one") #=> 1
filled_dict.get("four") #=> None
# The get method supports a default argument when the value is missing
filled_dict.get("one", 4) #=> 1
filled_dict.get("four", 4) #=> 4
# Setdefault method is a safe way to add new key-value pair into dictionary
filled_dict.setdefault("five", 5) #filled_dict["five"] is set to 5
filled_dict.setdefault("five", 6) #filled_dict["five"] is still 5
# Sets store ... well sets
empty_set = set()
# Initialize a set with a bunch of values
some_set = set([1,2,2,3,4]) # some_set is now set([1, 2, 3, 4])
# Since Python 2.7, {} can be used to declare a set
filled_set = {1, 2, 2, 3, 4} # => {1 2 3 4}
# Add more items to a set
filled_set.add(5) # filled_set is now {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
# Do set intersection with &
other_set = {3, 4, 5, 6}
filled_set & other_set #=> {3, 4, 5}
# Do set union with |
filled_set | other_set #=> {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
# Do set difference with -
{1,2,3,4} - {2,3,5} #=> {1, 4}
# Check for existence in a set with in
2 in filled_set #=> True
10 in filled_set #=> False
####################################################
## 3. Control Flow
####################################################
# Let's just make a variable
some_var = 5
# Here is an if statement. Indentation is significant in python!
# prints "some_var is smaller than 10"
if some_var > 10:
print "some_var is totally bigger than 10."
elif some_var < 10: # This elif clause is optional.
print "some_var is smaller than 10."
else: # This is optional too.
print "some_var is indeed 10."
"""
For loops iterate over lists
prints:
dog is a mammal
cat is a mammal
mouse is a mammal
"""
for animal in ["dog", "cat", "mouse"]:
# You can use % to interpolate formatted strings
print "%s is a mammal" % animal
"""
`range(number)` returns a list of numbers
from zero to the given number
prints:
0
1
2
3
"""
for i in range(4):
print i
"""
While loops go until a condition is no longer met.
prints:
0
1
2
3
"""
x = 0
while x < 4:
print x
x += 1 # Shorthand for x = x + 1
# Handle exceptions with a try/except block
# Works on Python 2.6 and up:
try:
# Use raise to raise an error
raise IndexError("This is an index error")
except IndexError as e:
pass # Pass is just a no-op. Usually you would do recovery here.
####################################################
## 4. Functions
####################################################
# Use def to create new functions
def add(x, y):
print "x is %s and y is %s" % (x, y)
return x + y # Return values with a return statement
# Calling functions with parameters
add(5, 6) #=> prints out "x is 5 and y is 6" and returns 11
# Another way to call functions is with keyword arguments
add(y=6, x=5) # Keyword arguments can arrive in any order.
# You can define functions that take a variable number of
# positional arguments
def varargs(*args):
return args
varargs(1, 2, 3) #=> (1,2,3)
# You can define functions that take a variable number of
# keyword arguments, as well
def keyword_args(**kwargs):
return kwargs
# Let's call it to see what happens
keyword_args(big="foot", loch="ness") #=> {"big": "foot", "loch": "ness"}
# You can do both at once, if you like
def all_the_args(*args, **kwargs):
print args
print kwargs
"""
all_the_args(1, 2, a=3, b=4) prints:
(1, 2)
{"a": 3, "b": 4}
"""
# When calling functions, you can do the opposite of varargs/kwargs!
# Use * to expand tuples and use ** to expand kwargs.
args = (1, 2, 3, 4)
kwargs = {"a": 3, "b": 4}
all_the_args(*args) # equivalent to foo(1, 2, 3, 4)
all_the_args(**kwargs) # equivalent to foo(a=3, b=4)
all_the_args(*args, **kwargs) # equivalent to foo(1, 2, 3, 4, a=3, b=4)
# Python has first class functions
def create_adder(x):
def adder(y):
return x + y
return adder
add_10 = create_adder(10)
add_10(3) #=> 13
# There are also anonymous functions
(lambda x: x > 2)(3) #=> True
# There are built-in higher order functions
map(add_10, [1,2,3]) #=> [11, 12, 13]
filter(lambda x: x > 5, [3, 4, 5, 6, 7]) #=> [6, 7]
# We can use list comprehensions for nice maps and filters
[add_10(i) for i in [1, 2, 3]] #=> [11, 12, 13]
[x for x in [3, 4, 5, 6, 7] if x > 5] #=> [6, 7]
####################################################
## 5. Classes
####################################################
# We subclass from object to get a class.
class Human(object):
# A class attribute. It is shared by all instances of this class
species = "H. sapiens"
# Basic initializer
def __init__(self, name):
# Assign the argument to the instance's name attribute
self.name = name
# An instance method. All methods take self as the first argument
def say(self, msg):
return "%s: %s" % (self.name, msg)
# A class method is shared among all instances
# They are called with the calling class as the first argument
@classmethod
def get_species(cls):
return cls.species
# A static method is called without a class or instance reference
@staticmethod
def grunt():
return "*grunt*"
# Instantiate a class
i = Human(name="Ian")
print i.say("hi") # prints out "Ian: hi"
j = Human("Joel")
print j.say("hello") #prints out "Joel: hello"
# Call our class method
i.get_species() #=> "H. sapiens"
# Change the shared attribute
Human.species = "H. neanderthalensis"
i.get_species() #=> "H. neanderthalensis"
j.get_species() #=> "H. neanderthalensis"
# Call the static method
Human.grunt() #=> "*grunt*"
####################################################
## 6. Modules
####################################################
# You can import modules
import math
print math.sqrt(16) #=> 4
# You can get specific functions from a module
from math import ceil, floor
print ceil(3.7) #=> 4.0
print floor(3.7) #=> 3.0
# You can import all functions from a module.
# Warning: this is not recommended
from math import *
# You can shorten module names
import math as m
math.sqrt(16) == m.sqrt(16) #=> True
# Python modules are just ordinary python files. You
# can write your own, and import them. The name of the
# module is the same as the name of the file.
# You can find out which functions and attributes
# defines a module.
import math
dir(math)
```
## Ready For More?
### Free Online
* [Learn Python The Hard Way](http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/)
* [Dive Into Python](http://www.diveintopython.net/)
* [The Official Docs](http://docs.python.org/2.6/)
* [Hitchhiker's Guide to Python](http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/)
* [Python Module of the Week](http://pymotw.com/2/)
### Dead Tree
* [Programming Python](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596158106/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0596158106&linkCode=as2&tag=homebits04-20)
* [Dive Into Python](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1441413022/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1441413022&linkCode=as2&tag=homebits04-20)
* [Python Essential Reference](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0672329786/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0672329786&linkCode=as2&tag=homebits04-20)
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