Python Intro

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.

Good to know
• The most recent major version of Python is Python 3, which we shall be
using in this tutorial. However, Python 2, although not being updated with
anything other than security updates, is still quite popular.
• In this tutorial Python will be written in a text editor. It is possible to write
Python in an Integrated Development Environment, such as Thonny,
Pycharm, Netbeans or Eclipse which are particularly useful when
managing larger collections of Python files.
Python Syntax compared to other programming languages
• 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.

Python Getting Started

Python Install
Many PCs and Macs will have python already installed.

To check if you have python installed on a Windows PC, search in the start bar
for Python or run the following on the Command Line (cmd.exe):

C:\Users\>python --version

If you find that you do not have Python installed on your computer, then you
can download it for free from the following website: https://www.python.org/

Python Quickstart
Python is an interpreted programming language, this means that as a developer
you write Python (.py) files in a text editor and then put those files into the
python interpreter to be executed.

The way to run a python file is like this on the command line:

C:\Users\>python helloworld.py

Where "helloworld.py" is the name of your python file.

Let's write our first Python file, called helloworld.py, which can be done in any
text editor.

helloworld.py

print("Hello, World!")
Simple as that. Save your file. Open your command line, navigate to the
directory where you saved your file, and run:
C:\Users\>python helloworld.py

The output should read:

Hello, World!
Congratulations, you have written and executed your first Python program.

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:

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!")
Hello, World!

Whenever you are done in the python command line, you can simply type the
following to quit the python command line interface:

exit()
Python Syntax
Execute Python Syntax
As we learned in the previous page, Python syntax can be executed by writing
directly in the Command Line:

>>> print("Hello, World!")

Hello, World!

Or by creating a python file on the server, using the .py file extension, and
running it in the Command Line:

C:\Users\Your Name>python myfile.py

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, the most common use is
four, but it has to be at least one.

Example
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!")

Python Variables
In Python, variables are created when you assign a value to it:

Example
Variables in Python:

x = 5
y = "Hello, World!"
Python has no command for declaring a variable.
Comments
Python has commenting capability for the purpose of in-code documentation.

Comments start with a #, and Python will render the rest of the line as a
comment:

Example
Comments in Python:

#This is a comment.
print("Hello, World!")

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:

#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:

#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:

"""
This is a comment
written in
more than just one line
"""
print("Hello, World!")

As long as the string is not assigned to a variable, Python will read the code, but
then ignore it, and you have made a multiline comment.

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
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
a = 4
A = "Sally"
#A will not overwrite a

Variable Names
A variable can have a short name (like x and y) or a more descriptive name
(age, carname, total_volume). Rules for Python variables:

• A variable name must start with a letter or the underscore character

• A variable name cannot start with a number
• A variable name can only contain alpha-numeric characters and
underscores (A-z, 0-9, and _ )
• Variable names are case-sensitive (age, Age and AGE are three different
variables)

Example
Legal variable names:

myvar = "John"
my_var = "John"
_my_var = "John"
myVar = "John"
MYVAR = "John"
myvar2 = "John"

Example
Illegal variable names:

2myvar = "John"
my-var = "John"
my var = "John"
Many Values to Multiple Variables
Python allows you to assign values to multiple variables in one line:

Example
x, y, z = "Orange", "Banana", "Cherry"
print(x)
print(y)
print(z)

Note: Make sure the number of variables matches the number of values, or
else you will get an error.

One Value to Multiple Variables

And you can assign the same value to multiple variables in one line:

Example
x = y = z = "Orange"
print(x)
print(y)
print(z)

Output Variables
The Python print() function is often used to output variables.

Example
x = "Python is awesome"
print(x)

In the print() function, you output multiple variables, separated by a comma:

Example
x = "Python"
y = "is"
z = "awesome"
print(x, y, z)
You can also use the + operator to output multiple variables:

Example
x = "Python "
y = "is "
z = "awesome"
print(x + y + z)
notice the space character after "Python " and "is ", without them the result
would be "Pythonisawesome".

For numbers, the + character works as a mathematical operator:

Example
x = 5
y = 10
print(x + y)

In the print() function, when you try to combine a string and a number with
the + operator, Python will give you an error:

Example
x = 5
y = "John"
print(x + y)

The best way to output multiple variables in the print() function is to separate
them with commas, which even support different data types:

Example
x = 5
y = "John"
print(x, y)
Python Data Types
Built-in Data Types
In programming, data type is an important concept.

Variables can store data of different types, and different types can do different
things.

Python has the following data types built-in by default, in these categories:

Text Type: str

Numeric Types: int, float, complex

Sequence Types: list, tuple, range

Mapping Type: dict

Set Types: set, frozenset

Boolean Type: bool

Binary Types: bytes, bytearray, memoryview

None Type: NoneType

Getting the Data Type

You can get the data type of any object by using the type() function:

Example
Print the data type of the variable x:

x = 5
print(type(x))
Setting the Data Type
In Python, the data type is set when you assign a value to a variable:

Example Data Type

x = "Hello World" str

x = 20 int

x = 20.5 float

Python Numbers
Python Numbers
There are three numeric types in Python:

• int
• float
• complex

Variables of numeric types are created when you assign a value to them:

Example
x = 1 # int
y = 2.8 # float
z = 1j # complex
To verify the type of any object in Python, use the type() function:

Example
print(type(x))
print(type(y))
print(type(z))

Int
Int, or integer, is a whole number, positive or negative, without decimals, of
unlimited length.

Example
Integers:

x = 1
y = 35656222554887711
z = -3255522

print(type(x))
print(type(y))
print(type(z))

Float
Float, or "floating point number" is a number, positive or negative, containing
one or more decimals.

Example
Floats:

x = 1.10
y = 1.0
z = -35.59

print(type(x))
print(type(y))
print(type(z))
Float can also be scientific numbers with an "e" to indicate the power of 10.

Example
Floats:

x = 35e3
y = 12E4
z = -87.7e100

print(type(x))
print(type(y))
print(type(z))

Type Conversion
You can convert from one type to another with the int(), float(),
and complex() methods:

Example
Convert from one type to another:

x = 1 # int
y = 2.8 # float
z = 1j # complex

#convert from int to float:

a = float(x)

#convert from float to int:

b = int(y)

#convert from int to complex:

c = complex(x)

print(a)
print(b)
print(c)

print(type(a))
print(type(b))
print(type(c))

Python Casting
Specify a Variable Type
There may be times when you want to specify a type on to a variable. This can
be done with casting. Python is an object-orientated language, and as such it
uses classes to define data types, including its primitive types.

Casting in python is therefore done using constructor functions:

• int() - constructs an integer number from an integer literal, a float literal

(by removing all decimals), or a string literal (providing the string
represents a whole number)
• float() - constructs a float number from an integer literal, a float literal
or a string literal (providing the string represents a float or an integer)
• str() - constructs a string from a wide variety of data types, including
strings, integer literals and float literals

Example
Integers:
x = int(1) # x will be 1
y = int(2.8) # y will be 2
z = int("3") # z will be 3

Example
Floats:

x = float(1) # x will be 1.0

y = float(2.8) # y will be 2.8
z = float("3") # z will be 3.0
w = float("4.2") # w will be 4.2

Example
Strings:

x = str("s1") # x will be 's1'

y = str(2) # y will be '2'
z = str(3.0) # z will be '3.0'
Python Strings
Strings
Strings in python are surrounded by either single quotation marks, or double
quotation marks.

'hello' is the same as "hello".

You can display a string literal with the print() function:

Example
print("Hello")
print('Hello')

Assign String to a Variable

Assigning a string to a variable is done with the variable name followed by an
equal sign and the string:

Example
a = "Hello"
print(a)

Multiline Strings
You can assign a multiline string to a variable by using three quotes:

Example
You can use three double quotes:

a = """Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,

consectetur adipiscing elit,
sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt
ut labore et dolore magna aliqua."""
print(a)
Or three single quotes:

Example
a = '''Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetur adipiscing elit,
sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt
ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.'''
print(a)
Note: in the result, the line breaks are inserted at the same position as in the
code.

Strings are Arrays

Like many other popular programming languages, strings in Python are arrays
of bytes representing unicode characters.

However, Python does not have a character data type, a single character is
simply a string with a length of 1.

Square brackets can be used to access elements of the string.

Example
Get the character at position 1 (remember that the first character has the
position 0):

a = "Hello, World!"
print(a[1])

String Length
To get the length of a string, use the len() function.

Example
The len() function returns the length of a string:

a = "Hello, World!"
print(len(a))
Check String
To check if a certain phrase or character is present in a string, we can use the
keyword in.

Example
Check if "free" is present in the following text:

txt = "The best things in life are free!"

print("free" in txt)

Check if NOT
To check if a certain phrase or character is NOT present in a string, we can use
the keyword not in.

Example
Check if "expensive" is NOT present in the following text:

txt = "The best things in life are free!"

print("expensive" not in txt)

Python - Modify Strings

Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on strings.

Upper Case
Example
The upper() method returns the string in upper case:

a = "Hello, World!"
print(a.upper())
Lower Case
Example
The lower() method returns the string in lower case:

a = "Hello, World!"
print(a.lower())

Python - String Concatenation

String Concatenation
To concatenate, or combine, two strings you can use the + operator.

Example
Merge variable a with variable b into variable c:

a = "Hello"
b = "World"
c = a + b
print(c)

Example
To add a space between them, add a " ":

a = "Hello"
b = "World"
c = a + " " + b
print(c)
Python - Format - Strings
String Format
As we learned in the Python Variables chapter, we cannot combine strings and
numbers like this:

Example
age = 36
txt = "My name is John, I am " + age
print(txt)

But we can combine strings and numbers by using the format() method!

The format() method takes the passed arguments, formats them, and places
them in the string where the placeholders {} are:

Example
Use the format() method to insert numbers into strings:

age = 36
txt = "My name is John, and I am {}"
print(txt.format(age))

The format() method takes unlimited number of arguments, and are placed into
the respective placeholders:

Example
quantity = 3
itemno = 567
price = 49.95
myorder = "I want {} pieces of item {} for {} dollars."
print(myorder.format(quantity, itemno, price))
You can use index numbers {0} to be sure the arguments are placed in the
correct placeholders:

Example
quantity = 3
itemno = 567
price = 49.95
myorder = "I want to pay {2} dollars for {0} pieces of item {1}."
print(myorder.format(quantity, itemno, price))

Python - Escape Characters

Escape Character
To insert characters that are illegal in a string, use an escape character.

An escape character is a backslash \ followed by the character you want to

insert.

An example of an illegal character is a double quote inside a string that is

surrounded by double quotes:

Example
You will get an error if you use double quotes inside a string that is surrounded
by double quotes:

txt = "We are the so-called "Vikings" from the north."

To fix this problem, use the escape character \":

Example
The escape character allows you to use double quotes when you normally would
not be allowed:

txt = "We are the so-called \"Vikings\" from the north."

Escape Characters
Other escape characters used in Python:

Python User Input

User Input
Python allows for user input.

That means we are able to ask the user for input.

The method is a bit different in Python 3.6 than Python 2.7.

Python 3.6 uses the input() method.

Python 2.7 uses the raw_input() method.

The following example asks for the username, and when you entered the
username, it gets printed on the screen:

Python 3.6
username = input("Enter username:")
print("Username is: " + username)

Python 2.7
username = raw_input("Enter username:")
print("Username is: " + username)

Python stops executing when it comes to the input() function, and continues
when the user has given some input.