Introduction to Python
An introduction to Python programming with
NumPy, SciPy and Matplotlib/Pylab
Antoine Lefebvre
Sound Modeling, Acoustics and Signal Processing Research Axis
Introduction to Python
Introduction
Introduction
Python is a simple, powerful and efficient interpreted
language.
Together with the NumPy, SciPy and Matplotlib/Pylab, it
provides a nice environment for scientific works.
It is a good alternative to Matlab. It does not provide as
much functionality, but the language is way more powerful.
Some programming experience (C/C++ and/or Matlab)
would help to follow the workshop.
Introduction to Python
Introduction
Goals of the presentation
Introduce the Python programming language and standard
libraries.
Introduce the Numpy, Scipy and Matplotlib/Pylab packages.
Discuss how it can be useful for CIRMMT members.
Introduction to Python
Introduction
content of the presentation
I
Python - description of the language
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
Language
Syntax
Types
Conditionals and loops
Errors
Functions
Modules
Classes
Python - overview of the standard library
NumPy
SciPy
Matplotlib/Pylab
Introduction to Python
Python
What is Python?
I
Python is an interpreted, object-oriented, high-level
programming language with dynamic semantics.
Python is simple and easy to learn.
Python is open source, free and cross-platform.
Python provides high-level built in data structures.
Python is useful for rapid application development.
Python can be used as a scripting or glue language.
Python emphasizes readability.
Python supports modules and packages.
Python bugs or bad inputs will never cause a segmentation
fault.
Introduction to Python
Python
The language
Features
Python programs are compiled to bytecode before
interpretation (provide fast execution).
Python supports OS tools: environment variables, files,
sockets, pipes, processes, threads, regular expressions, and so
on.
Python comes with an interface to the Tk GUI called Tkinter.
Python runs as fast as Matlab (and sometimes faster).
Introduction to Python
Python
The language
More features (extract from the book Learning Python)
Dynamic typing
Built-in object types
Built-in tools
Library utilities
Third-party utilities
Automatic memory management
Introduction to Python
Python
Syntax
Syntax
I
comments are indicated with #
two statements on the same line are separated with a
semicolon ;
no semicolon at the end of lines
a long line continue on next with \ (it is not always needed)
grouping is obtained through indentation
one Python script is considered a module that can be run or
imported by other modules
assignment uses the equal sign =
Introduction to Python
Python
Syntax
Assignment
I
Assignment creates references, not values:
tmp = "hello"; tmp = 10
# the first string will be deallocated
Contrary to C, assignment do not have value:
y = (x = x + 1) is invalid
As in C: x += 1 is valid
Note that pre/post increment/decrement: x++; ++x; x--;
--x are invalid
Multiple assignment (references to a unique object): x=y=z=1
Multiple assignments: (x,y,z)=(3.5,5.5,string)
Example of swaping variables value: (x,y)=(y,x)
Introduction to Python
Python
Syntax
Identifiers
First character: a letter or the symbol
Additional characters: alphanumeric or the symbol
They are case-sensitive
Introduction to Python
Python
Syntax
Documentation
The first unassigned string in a module, class declaration, or
function declaration can be accessed through by using
obj. doc
where obj is the module, class, or function name.
doc is one of Python special variables.
Introduction to Python
Python
Syntax
Special variables
I
Python relies on many special variables that can be accessed
by your code.
One is the name variables.
When a module is run, it contains the string main .
When the module is imported, it contains the modules name.
You can add code that runs only when a module is called
directly:
if name == main : test()
The use of special variables is an advanced topic. We wont
talk about that too much.
Introduction to Python
Python
Types
Built-in object types
Numbers : 3.1415, 1234, 999L, 3+4j
Strings : spam, "guidos"
Lists : [1, [2, three], 4]
Dictionaries : {food:spam, taste:yum}
Tuples : (1,spam, 4, U)
Files : text = open(eggs, r).read()
Introduction to Python
Python
Types
numbers
integers 1234, -24, 0
unlimited precision integers 999999999999L
floating 1.23, 3.14e-10, 4E210, 4.0e+210
oct and hex 0177, 0x9ff
complex 3+4j, 3.0+4.0j, 3J
Introduction to Python
Python
Types
strings (immutable sequences)
single quote s1 = egg
double quotes s2 = "spams"
triple quotes block = """..."""
concatenate s1 + s2
repeat s2 * 3
index,slice s2[i], s2[i:j]
length len(s2)
formatting "a %s parrot" % dead
iteration for x in s2 # x loop through each character of s2
membership m in s2, # return True if the m is in the string
s2
Introduction to Python
Python
Types
Lists
Ordered collections of arbitrary objects
Accessed by offset
Variable length, heterogeneous, arbitrarily nestable
Mutable sequence
Arrays of object references
Introduction to Python
Python
Types
Lists operations
empty list L = []
four items L2 = [0, 1, 2, 3]
nested L3 = [abc, [def, ghi]]
index L2[i], L3[i][j]
slice, length L2[i:j], len(L2)
concatenate, repeat L1 + L2, L2 * 3
iteration, membership for x in L2, 3 in L2
methods L2.append(4), L2.sort(), L2.index(1),
L2.reverse()
shrinking del L2[k], L2[i:j] = []
assignment L2[i] = 1, L2[i:j] = [4,5,6]
create list range(4), xrange(0, 4) # useful to loop
Introduction to Python
Python
Types
Dictionaries
Accessed by key, not offset
Unordered collections of arbitrary objects
Variable length, heterogeneous, arbitrarily nestable
Of the category mutable mapping
Tables of object references (hash tables)
Introduction to Python
Python
Types
Dictionaries operations
empty d1 = {}
two-item d2 = {spam:
nesting d3 = {food:
2, eggs:
{ham:
3}
1, egg:
2}}
indexing d2[eggs], d3[food][ham]
methods d2.has key(eggs), d2.keys(), d2.values()
length len(d1)
add/change d2[key] = new
deleting del d2[key]
Introduction to Python
Python
Types
tuples
They are like lists but immutable. Why Lists and Tuples?
When you want to make sure the content wont change.
Introduction to Python
Python
Types
Files
input input = open(data, r)
read all S = input.read()
read N bytes S = input.read(N)
read next S = input.readline()
read in lists L = input.readlines()
output output = open(/tmp/spam, w)
write output.write(S)
write strings output.writelines(L)
close output.close()
Introduction to Python
Python
Types
Unsupported Types
No Boolean type, use integers.
no char or single byte, use strings of length one or integers
no pointer
int vs. short vs. long, there is only one integer type in Python
(its a C long)
float vs. double, there is only one floating point type in
Python (its a C double)
Introduction to Python
Python
Types
Comparisons vs. Equality
L1 = [1, (a, 3)]
L2 = [1, (a, 3)]
L1 == L2, L1 is L2
(1, 0)
The == operator tests value equivalence
The is operator tests object identity
Introduction to Python
Python
Conditionals and loops
if, elif, else
>>> if not done and (x > 1):
>>>
doit()
>>> elif done and (x <= 1):
>>>
dothis()
>>> else:
>>>
dothat()
Introduction to Python
Python
Conditionals and loops
while, break
>>> while True:
>>>
line = ReadLine()
>>>
if len(line) == 0:
>>>
break
>>> def showMaxFactor(num):
>>>
cnt = num / 2
>>>
while cnt > 1:
>>>
if (num % cnt == 0):
>>>
print larg. fact. of %d is %d%(num, cnt)
>>>
break
>>>
count = cnt - 1
>>>
else:
>>>
print num, "is prime"
Introduction to Python
Python
Conditionals and loops
for
>>> for letter in hello world:
>>>
print letter
>>> for item in [12, test, 0.1+1.2J]:
>>>
print item
>>> for i in range(2,10,2):
>>>
print i
Equivalent to the C loop:
for (i = 2; i < 10; i+=2){
printf("%d\n",i);
}
Introduction to Python
Python
Conditionals and loops
pass
>>> def stub():
>>>
pass
Introduction to Python
Python
Conditionals and loops
switch/case
There is no such statement in Python. It can be implementd
efficiently with a dictionary of functions:
>>> result = {
>>> a: lambda x: x * 5,
>>> b: lambda x: x + 7,
>>> c: lambda x: x - 2
>>>}
>>> result[b](10)
Note: anonymous function need be defined with the lambda
construct. The following functions f and g do the same thing:
>>> def f(x): return x**2
>>> g = lambda x: x**2
lambda functions can be place anywhere a function is expected
without formal definition.
Introduction to Python
Python
Errors
errors and exceptions
NameError attempt to access an undeclared variable
ZeroDivisionError division by any numeric zero
SyntaxError Python interpreter syntax error
IndexError request for an out-of-range index for sequence
KeyError request for a non-existent dictionary key
IOError input/output error
AttributeError attempt to access an unknown object attribute
Introduction to Python
Python
Errors
>>> try:
>>>
f = open(blah)
>>> except IOError:
>>>
print could not open file
Introduction to Python
Python
Errors
assertion
>>> assert 0 < val < 100, Value out of range
Introduction to Python
Python
Functions
Functions
Functions can return any type of object
When nothing is return the None object is returned by default
There is two ways to specify function parameters: standard
and keyworded
Parameters can have default arguments
Variable-length arguments are supported
Introduction to Python
Python
Functions
function example
>>> def typical_function(a,b=2,d=func):
>>>
""" Function showing how to define
>>>
arguments with and w/o default values
>>>
Expect a function object for the third
>>>
"""
>>>
>>>
return d(a,b)
>>>
>>> test(3); test(b=4,a=3);
>>> test(1,2,lambda x,y: x*y); test(1,2,g)
Introduction to Python
Python
Functions
Functions with variable-length arguments
>>> def vargtest(a, b, *nkw, **kw):
>>>
display regular args and all variable args
>>>
print a is:, a
>>>
print b is:, b
>>>
for eachNKW in nkw:
>>>
print additional non-keyword arg:, \
>>>
eachNKW
>>>
for eachKW in kw.keys():
>>>
print "additional keyword arg %s: %s" %\
>>>
(eachKW, kw[eachKW])
>>>
>>> vargtest(1,2,3,4,x=2,y=3)
>>> vargtest(1,2,*(4,5,6),**{x:1,y:3})
Introduction to Python
Python
Modules
Modules, namespaces and packages
I
A file is a module. Suppose we have a file called myio.py,
implementing a function called load
If we want to use that function from another module we do
>>> import myio
>>> myio.load()
All the code present in myio.py will be in the myio
namespace
You can import specific parts of a module
>>> from myio import load
>>> load()
Packages are bundle of modules. We wont cover that.
Introduction to Python
Python
Classes
Classes
>>> class Cone(WaveguideProfile):
>>>
def __init__(self,d0,de,L):
>>>
"Create a cone"
>>>
self.a0 = d0/2
>>>
self.ae = de/2
>>>
self.L = L
>>>
def __del__(self):
>>>
pass
>>>
def radius(self,z):
>>>
return self.ae + (self.a0-self.ae)*z/self.L
>>>
def radiusp(self,z):
>>>
"derivative of the radius at z"
>>>
return (self.a0-self.ae)/self.L
>>> c = Cone(0.1,0.2,1.5); c.radius(0.5)
Introduction to Python
Python
Classes
overloading
Python does not support method or function overloading
You have to rely on the type() built-in function
>>> def testtype(a):
>>>
if type(a) == types.FloatType:
>>>
print "I got a float"
>>>
elif type(A) == types.ComplexType:
>>>
print "A complex number"
>>>
else:
>>>
print "something else"
Introduction to Python
Python standard library
standard library core modules
os file and process operations
os.path platform-independant path and filename utilities
time datEs and times related functions
string commonly used string operations
math,cmath math operations and constants, complex version
re regular expressions
sys access to interpreter variables
gc control over garbage collector
copy allow to copy object
Introduction to Python
Python standard library
other standard library modules
Support for threads, pipes, signals, etc.
Support for common file formats: XML, SGML and HTML;
zip and gzip; a lexer
Support for network protocols
Support for reading and writing images and sound
Support for databases
Support for debugging, profiling and analysing code
Introduction to Python
Python standard library
some GUI packages
Tkinter standard Python interface to the Tk GUI toolkit
(cross-platform)
wxPython toolkit for Python built around the popular
wxWidgets C++ toolkit (cross-platform)
PyQt binding to the Qt toolkit (cross-platform)
PyGTK bindings for the GTK widget set
Introduction to Python
NumPy
NumPy - fundamental package for scientific computing
with Python
powerful N-dimensional array object
sophisticated functions
basic linear algebra functions
basic Fourier transforms
sophisticated random number capabilities
tools for integrating Fortran code.
tools for integrating C/C++ code.
Introduction to Python
NumPy
Comparison with Matlab
I
In NumPy, operation are elementwise by default
There is a matrix type for linear algebra (subclass of array)
Indexing start at 0 in NumPy
Using Python with NumPy gives more programming power
Function definition in Matlab have many restriction
NumPy/SciPy is free but still widely used
Matlab have lots of toolboxes for specific task (lot less in
Numpy/SciPy)
There are many packages for ploting in Python that are as
good as Matlab
Introduction to Python
NumPy
Some Matlbab/NumPy equivalence
Matlab
a = [1 2 3; 4 5 6]
a(end)
a(2,5)
a(2,:)
a(1:5,:)
a(end-4:end,:)
a(1:3,5:9)
a(1:2:end,:)
a(end:-1:1,:) or flipud(a)
a.
a
a*b
a .* b
a./b
NumPy
a = array([[1.,2.,3.],[4.,5.,6.]])
a[-1]
a[1,4]
a[1] or a[1,:]
a[0:5] or a[:5] or a[0:5,:]
a[-5:]
a[0:3][:,4:9]
a[::2,:]
a[::-1,:]
a.transpose() or a.T
a.conj().transpose() or a.conj().T
dot(a,b)
a*b
a/b
Introduction to Python
NumPy
Some Matlbab/NumPy equivalence cont.
Matlab
a.3
find(a>0.5)
a(a<0.5)=0
a(:) = 3
y=x
y=x(2,:)
y=x(:)
1:10
0:9
zeros(3,4)
zeros(3,4,5)
ones(3,4)
eye(3)
NumPy
a**3
where(a>0.5)
a[a<0.5]=0
a[:] = 3
y = x.copy()
y = x[2,:].copy()
y = x.flatten(1)
arange(1.,11.) or r [1.:11.]
arange(10.) or r [:10.]
zeros((3,4))
zeros((3,4,5))
ones((3,4))
eye(3)
Introduction to Python
NumPy
Some Matlbab/NumPy equivalence cont.
Matlab
diag(a)
diag(a,0)
rand(3,4)
linspace(1,3,4)
[x,y]=meshgrid(0:8,0:5)
repmat(a, m, n)
[a b]
[a; b]
max(max(a))
max(a)
max(a,[],2)
max(a,b)
norm(v)
NumPy
diag(a) or a.diagonal()
diag(a,0) or a.diagonal(0)
random.rand(3,4)
linspace(1,3,4)
mgrid[0:9.,0:6.]
tile(a, (m, n))
concatenate((a,b),1) or hstack((a,b)) or c [a,b
concatenate((a,b)) or vstack((a,b)) or r [a,b]
a.max()
a.max(0)
a.max(1)
where(a>b, a, b)
sqrt(dot(v,v)) or linalg.norm(v)
Introduction to Python
NumPy
Some Matlbab/NumPy equivalence cont.
Matlab
inv(a)
pinv(a)
a\b
b/a
[U,S,V]=svd(a)
chol(a)
[V,D]=eig(a)
[Q,R,P]=qr(a,0)
[L,U,P]=lu(a)
conjgrad
fft(a)
ifft(a)
sort(a)
sortrows(a,i)
NumPy
linalg.inv(a)
linalg.pinv(a)
linalg.solve(a,b)
Solve a.T x.T = b.T instead
(U, S, V) = linalg.svd(a)
linalg.cholesky(a)
linalg.eig(a)
(Q,R)=Sci.linalg.qr(a)
(L,U)=linalg.lu(a) or (LU,P)=linalg.lu factor(a)
Sci.linalg.cg
fft(a)
ifft(a)
sort(a) or a.sort()
a[argsort(a[:,0],i)]
Introduction to Python
SciPy
Scipy
I
The SciPy library depends on NumPy
gathers a variety of high level science and engineering modules
together:
Fftpack discrete fourier transform algorithms
Integrate integration routines
Interpolate interpolation tools
Linalg linear algebra routines
Optimize optimization tools
Signal signal processing tools
Sparse sparse matrices
Stats statistical functions
Io data input and output
Special definitions of many usual math functions
Weave C/C++ integration
Introduction to Python
SciPy
scipy.signal - signal processing tools
I
Convolution
B-splines
Filtering
Filter design
Matlab-style IIR filter design
Linear Systems
LTI Reresentations
Waveforms
Window functions
Wavelets
Introduction to Python
SciPy
scipy.io - data input and output
I
I
It contains routines to read and write data
Important for us, it supports MATLAB mat files
I
I
loadmat()
savemat()
Introduction to Python
Matplotlib/Pylab
Matplotlib/Pylab
Matplotlib is a object oriented plotting library.
Pylab is the interface on top of Matplotlib emulating
MATLAB functions.
You can use latex expressions to add math to your plot.
Introduction to Python
Matplotlib/Pylab
Examples and exercices
We continue the presentation by studying code examples and
experimenting with the Python interpreter.