Python Introduction
[Module-I]
What is Python?
Python is a popular programming language. It was created by Guido van
Rossum, and released in 1991.
It is used for:
web development (server-side),
software development,
mathematics,
system scripting.
What can Python do?
Python can be used on a server to create web applications.
Python can be used alongside software to create workflows.
Python can connect to database systems. It can also read and modify
files.
Python can be used to handle big data and perform complex
mathematics.
Python can be used for rapid prototyping, or for production-ready
software development.
Why Python?
Python works on different platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, Raspberry
Pi, etc).
Python has a simple syntax similar to the English language.
Python has syntax that allows developers to write programs with fewer
lines than some other programming languages.
Python runs on an interpreter system, meaning that code can be
executed as soon as it is written. This means that prototyping can be
very quick.
Python can be treated in a procedural way, an object-oriented way or a
functional way.
Python Syntax compared to other programming
languages
1
Python was designed for readability, and has some similarities to the
English language with influence from mathematics.
Python uses new lines to complete a command, as opposed to other
programming languages which often use semicolons or parentheses.
Python relies on indentation, using whitespace, to define scope; such
as the scope of loops, functions and classes. Other programming
languages often use curly-brackets for this purpose.
Example
print("Hello, World!")
Python Variables
Variables
Variables are containers for storing data values.
Creating Variables
Python has no command for declaring a variable.
A variable is created the moment you first assign a value to it.
Example
x = 5
y = "John"
print(x)
print(y)
Variables do not need to be declared with any particular type, and can even
change type after they have been set.
Example
x = 4 # x is of type int
x = "Sally" # x is now of type str
print(x)
Casting
2
If you want to specify the data type of a variable, this can be done with
casting.
Example
x = str(3) # x will be '3'
y = int(3) # y will be 3
z = float(3) # z will be 3.0
Get the Type
You can get the data type of a variable with the type() function.
Example
x = 5
y = "John"
print(type(x))
print(type(y))
Single or Double Quotes?
String variables can be declared either by using single or double quotes:
Example
x = "John"
# is the same as
x = 'John'
Case-Sensitive
Variable names are case-sensitive.
Example
This will create two variables:
a = 4
A = "Sally"
#A will not overwrite a
3
Python Comments
Comments can be used to explain Python code.
Comments can be used to make the code more readable.
Comments can be used to prevent execution when testing code.
Creating a Comment
Comments starts with a # and Python will ignore them:
Example
#This is a comment
print("Hello, World!")
Comments can be placed at the end of a line, and Python will ignore the rest
of the line:
Example
print("Hello, World!") #This is a comment
A comment does not have to be text that explains the code, it can also be
used to prevent Python from executing code:
Example
#print("Hello, World!")
print("Cheers, Mate!")
Multi Line Comments
Python does not really have a syntax for multi line comments.
To add a multiline comment you could insert a # for each line:
Example
4
#This is a comment
#written in
#more than just one line
print("Hello, World!")
Or, not quite as intended, you can use a multiline string.
Since Python will ignore string literals that are not assigned to a variable, you
can add a multiline string (triple quotes) in your code, and place your
comment inside it:
Example
"""
This is a comment
written in
more than just one line
"""
print("Hello, World!")
Python Indentation
Indentation refers to the spaces at the beginning of a code line.
Where in other programming languages the indentation in code is for
readability only, the indentation in Python is very important.
Python uses indentation to indicate a block of code.
Example
if 5 > 2:
print("Five is greater than two!")
Python will give you an error if you skip the indentation:
Example
Syntax Error:
if 5 > 2:
print("Five is greater than two!")
The number of spaces is up to you as a programmer, but it has to be at least
one.
Example
5
if 5 > 2:
print("Five is greater than two!")
if 5 > 2:
print("Five is greater than two!")
You have to use the same number of spaces in the same block of code,
otherwise Python will give you an error:
Example
Syntax Error:
if 5 > 2:
print("Five is greater than two!")
print("Five is greater than two!")
The Python Command Line
To test a short amount of code in python sometimes it is quickest and easiest
not to write the code in a file. This is made possible because Python can be
run as a command line itself.
Type the following on the Windows, Mac or Linux command line:
C:\Users\Your Name>python
Or, if the "python" command did not work, you can try "py":
C:\Users\Your Name>py
From there you can write any python, including our hello world example from
earlier in the tutorial:
C:\Users\Your Name>python
Python 3.6.4 (v3.6.4:d48eceb, Dec 19 2017, 06:04:45) [MSC v.1900 32 bit
(Intel)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> print("Hello, World!")
Which will write "Hello, World!" in the command line:
Whenever you are done in the python command line, you can simply type
the following to quit the python command line interface:
exit()
6
Python Keywords
Keywords are the reserved words in Python. We cannot use a keyword as a
variable name, function name or any other identifier.
Here's a list of all keywords in Python Programming
Keywords in Python programming language
False await else import pass
None break except in raise
True class finally is return
and continue for lambda try
as def from nonlocal while
assert del global not with
async elif if or yield
Multi-line statement in Python
In Python, the end of a statement is marked by a newline character. But we can
make a statement extend over multiple lines with the line continuation character
(\). For example:
a=1+2+3+\
4+5+6+\
7+8+9
This is an explicit line continuation. In Python, line continuation is implied inside
parentheses ( ), brackets [ ], and braces { }. For instance, we can implement
the above multi-line statement as:
a = (1 + 2 + 3 +
4+5+6+
7
7 + 8 + 9)
Here, the surrounding parentheses ( ) do the line continuation implicitly. Same
is the case with [ ] and { }. For example:
colors = ['red',
'blue',
'green']
We can also put multiple statements in a single line using semicolons, as
follows:
a = 1; b = 2; c = 3