000-python-basics-reference.

md 1/7/2020

Python basics reference for beginners

This summary is not intended as a teaching guide but a reminder on how the basic features of Python
work. It is intended for use after having done an introduction to Python.

My detailed Python notes can be found at https://pbaumgarten.com/python

Last updated: January 2020 by P.Baumgarten

Print and input

To print text to screen:

print("Hello world!")

To print a variable to screen:

name = "Han Solo"

record = 12
print(f"{name} completed the Kessel run in {record} parsecs")
# notice the 'f' in front of the first set of quotes

To ask the user for input

name = input("What is your name? ") ## Input saved as text string

num = int(input("Type an integer between 1 and 100: ")) ## Input saved as an integer
double = num * 2
print(f"Hello {name}, double your number is {double}")

Sometimes you need to format the variables you are printing.

val = 12
print( f"With leading spaces to make it 4 characters wide is {val:4}" ) # prints ' 12'
print( f"With leading zeros to make it 4 characters wide is {val:04}" ) # prints '0012'
val = 3.14
print( f"To 2 decimal places is {val:.2f}" ) # prints '3.14'
print( f"To 5 decimal places is {val:.5f}" ) # prints '3.14000'
print( f"With spaces to make it 8 characters wide with 3 decimal places is {val:8.3f}" )
print( f"With zeros to make it 8 characters wide with 3 decimal places is {val:08.3f}" )

1 / 12
000-python-basics-reference.md 1/7/2020

Numbers
Python has two types of numbers: integers and floats. Integers are "whole numbers" without decimals,
floats are the name given to numbers that contain decimals.

To get the result of a mathematical calculation, put the equation on the right of an equal sign, and the
variable you wish the answer saved in on the left of the equal sign.

Arithmetic

a = 100
b = 6
c = a + b # addition ... c == 106
c = a - b # subtraction ... c == 94
c = a * b # multiplication ... c == 400
c = a / b # division ... c == 16.66667
c = a // b # integer division ... c == 16 (how many times does 6 go into 100)
c = a % b # modulus remainder ... c == 4 (ie: remainder of 100 divided by 6)
c = a ** b # exponent ... c == 1000000000000 (ie: 10^6)

Geometry and trigonometry

import math # add this line to the top of your program for the math functions to work

math.pi - returns value of pi with as much precision as available to your computer

math.hypot( a, b ) - returns the hypotenuse for a right angled triangle with side lengths a
and b
math.sin( radians ) - returns the sin() for an angle provided in radians
math.cos( radians ) - returns the cos() for an angle provided in radians
math.tan( radians ) - returns the tan() for an angle provided in radians
math.asin( ratio ) - returns the inverse sin() for a ratio. answer provided in radians
math.acos( ratio ) - returns the inverse cos() for a ratio. answer provided in radians
math.atan( ratio ) - returns the inverse tan() for a ratio. answer provided in radians
math.degrees( radians ) - convert angle from radians to degrees
math.radians( degrees ) - convert angle from degrees to radians

Example: How long is the hypotenuse of a triangle if the adjacent side is 20, and the angle is 45
degrees?

import math
adjacent = 20.0
angle = 45.0
hypotenuse = adjacent / math.cos( math.radians( angle ))
print(hypotenuse) # prints 28.284...

Converting

new_integer = int( "10" ) # convert string "10" to integer 10

new_float = float( "3.14" ) # convert string "3.14" to float 3.14
new_string = str( 42 ) # convert integer 42 to string "42"

2 / 12
000-python-basics-reference.md 1/7/2020

Strings
Assign a text string a value

mytext = "Hello"

Searching strings

mytext = "To infinity and beyond!"

if "infinity" in mytext:
print("Yes, the word infinity is in the string")
else:
print("No, the word infinity is not in the string")

Get substrings

String positions start from 0. That is, the first letter is position 0, the second letter is position 1
and so forth.
When asking for a range of characters, Python will give you a substring that includes the starting
position number, but not including the end position number.

original_text = "To infinity and beyond!"

new_text = original_text[:2] ## Get from start up to not including position 2, ie: "To"
new_text = original_text[16:] ## Get from position 16 to end, ie: "beyond!"
new_text = original_text[3:11] ## Get from position 3 up to not position 11. ie: "infinity"

Changing strings

original_text = "To infinity and beyond!"

new_text = original_text.lower() ## == "to infinity and beyond!"
new_text = original_text.upper() ## == "TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!"
new_text = original_text.title() ## == "To Infinity And Beyond!"
new_text = original_text.swapcase() ## == "tO INFINITY AND BEYOND!"
new_text = original_text.ljust(30) ## == "To infinity and beyond! "
new_text = original_text.rjust(30) ## == " To infinity and beyond!"
new_text = original_text.replace(" ", "--") ## == "To--infinity--and--beyond!"

Query content of string

text = "To infinity and beyond!"

num = len(text) ## get length of string ... num == 23
num = text.count(" ") ## count spaces in string ... num == 3
num = text.index("o") ## position of first 'o' in the string ... num == 1
num = text.rindex("o") ## position of last 'o' in the string ... num == 19
result = text.isnumeric() ## does it contain only numbers?
result = text.isalpha() ## does it contain only letters?
result = text.islower() ## is it all lowercase?
result = text.isupper() ## is it all uppercase?
result = text.istitle() ## is it all title case?
result = text.isspace() ## is it all spaces?

3 / 12
000-python-basics-reference.md 1/7/2020

If statements
An "if" statement defines code that will run if the answer to a question is True. To ask a question,
have Python to compare two or more values to see if they obey a rule. Examples of comparisions we
can ask...

if 1 == 1: ## Is 1 equal to 1 ... True

if 1 == 0: ## Is 1 equal to 0 ... False
if "a" == "a": ## Is "a" equal to "a" ... True
if "a" == "A": ## Is "a" equal to "A" ... False
if "a" != "z": ## Is "a" not equal to "z" ... True
if 1 > 0: ## Is 1 greater than 0 ... True
if -1 > 0: ## Is -1 greater than 0 ... False
if 2 >= 3: ## Is 2 greater or equal to 3 ... False
if -3 < -1: ## Is -3 less than -1 ... True
if 3 < 1: ## Is 3 less than 1 ... False
if 2 <= 3: ## Is 2 less or equal to 3 ... True

We can also query string content such as:

text = "May the force be with you!"

if "force" in text:
print("The force is strong with this string")
else:
print("The force is not with this string")

We can also join multiple queries together using the and or or key words such as...

a = int(input("Enter a number: "))

if a > 0 and a < 10:
print("You entered a number between 0 and 10")
if a < 0 or a > 10:
print("You entered a number less than 0 or greater than 10")

You can join multiple if queries together using elif.

a = int(input("Enter a number: "))

if a > 10:
print("a is bigger than 10")
elif a > 0:
print("a is bigger than 0 but not bigger than 10")
elif a == 0:
print("a is zero")
else:
print("a is less than 0")

Remember:

Use a double equal sign to compare two values! A single equal is used to set the value rather
than ask if they are a match.
End your "question" with a colon and indent the code to run when the comparison is True.
The if statement will keep asking questions of the various elif until it finds one that is True.
After one item is True, it will skip the rest of the options available.

4 / 12
000-python-basics-reference.md 1/7/2020

While loops
The while loop works very similar to the if statement. Any question you can ask of an if statement
can be used in a while loop. The difference being that so long as something is True, it will keep
running the same indented section of code. An example:

stop_at = int(input("Enter a number for me to count up to: "))

num = 1
while num <= stop_at:
print( num )
num = num + 1
print("The end!")

Another example...

import random
secret = random.randint(1,99) # generate a random number between 1 and 99
guess = int(input("Guess my secret number between 1 and 99: "))
while guess != secret:
if guess > secret:
guess = int(input("Too high. Guess again: "))
elif guess < secret:
guess = int(input("Too low. Guess again: "))
print("Correct!")

For loops
You can also use a for-loop when you know the number of iterations you wish to loop in advance.

limit = int(input("Enter a number for me to count up to: "))

for number in range(limit): # will loop from 0 to limit-1
print( number )
print("The end!")

You can also specify a starting number other than zero. For instance

for number in range(50, 100): # will loop from 50 to 99

print( number )
print("The end!")

You can even specify that it counts downwards, or using an interval different to one by specifying a
third parameter to the range() function.

for number in range(100, 0, -1): # will loop from 100 to 1

print( number )
print("The end!")

5 / 12
000-python-basics-reference.md 1/7/2020

Lists and for-loops

A list is a means of storing multiple values to one variable name. Other programming languages call
these 'arrays'.

Example lists:

primes = [1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23]

vowels = ["A", "E", "I", "O", "U"]
starwars = ["Luke", "Han", "Leah", "Obi-wan", "Yoda", "Rey", "Finn"]

Lists have many of the same features of strings (which is really just a list of characters) to query them
and get sub-parts from.

size = len( starwars ) ## How many items in the starwars list

first = starwars[0] ## Get the first item in the starwars list
second = starwars[1] ## Get the second item in the starwars list
last = starwars[-1] ## Get the last item in the starwars list
starwars.append("Darth Vadar") ## Add an item to the starwars list
starwars.sort() ## Sort the list into alphabetical or numerical order
smallest = min(primes) ## Get the smallest value from the list
largest = max(primes) ## Get the largest value from the list

You can query if an item exists inside a list

starwars = ["Luke", "Han", "Leah", "Obi-wan", "Yoda", "Rey", "Finn"]

if "Luke" in starwars: ## Is "Luke" in the starwars list?
print("Luke is in starwars")
else:
print("Luke is not in starwars")

We can also use a for loop to process every item in a list

starwars = ["Luke", "Han", "Leah", "Obi-wan", "Yoda", "Rey", "Finn"]

for character in starwars:
print(f"{character} is a person in Starwars")

6 / 12
000-python-basics-reference.md 1/7/2020

Defining functions
A function allows us to define a block of code as our own Python command to use. One useful
purpose of this is it allows you to reuse code without having to continually copy-and-paste it. This then
means you can also modify/improve it by only editing it once. Very useful.

Use the def keyword to define a new function, provide the name you wish to assign, and then
parenthesis and a colon. Indent the code to include in the function and then end the intendation when
the function specific code ends.

# Create a function...
def a_useless_function():
print("This is a fairly useless function")

# Execute the function 3 times...

a_useless_function()
a_useless_function()
a_useless_function()

You can provide parameters to functions so their behaviour can be customised each time. A simple
example...

def area_of_triangle( base, height ):

area = 0.5 * base * height
return area # send this value back to the code that ran the function

print( area_of_triangle( 10.0, 15.0 )) # prints 75.0

print( area_of_triangle( 7.0, 12.0 )) # prints 42.0
print( area_of_triangle( 4.0, 5.5 )) # prints 11.0

7 / 12
000-python-basics-reference.md 1/7/2020

Files
Read entire file as a string

with open("countries.txt", "r") as f: # Open file for reading

content = f.read() # Load entire file into 1 large string
print(content) # Do something with the string

Read entire file as a list, one string per line

with open("countries.txt", "r") as f: # Open file for reading

content = f.read() # Load entire file into 1 large string
lines = content.splitlines() # Split into lines
for line in lines:
print(line)

Writing a text file - Using just a string

content = "My exciting material"

with open("stuff.txt", "w") as f: # Open file stuff.txt for writing
f.write(content) # Write this string to the file

Writing a text file - Using a list of strings

content = ['Leah', 'Obi-wan', 'Yoda', 'Rey', 'Finn', 'bb-8']

save = "\n".join(content) # Convert list to a string, adding a new-line character
after each string
with open("people.txt", "w") as f: # Open file people.txt for writing
f.write(save) # Write this string to the file

Add to a file without replacing the original content

content = "More exciting material"

with open("stuff.txt", "a") as f: # Open file stuff.txt for appending
f.write(content) # Add this string to the file

File opening modes:

r for reading
w for writing (erasing it if it exist)
a for appending (add to file without erasing previous content)

Remember

The with statement will close the file when you unindent
.splitlines() behaves like .split("\n")
For greater predictability, cast everything to strings before writing to files

8 / 12
000-python-basics-reference.md 1/7/2020

Exceptions
Generic try/except

Warning the generic exception catch is bad practice and hides bugs. Any unintentional error in
your code (such as a mis-spelling) could cause an exception that results in hours of frustration to
diagnose.

try:
denominator = int(input("Please enter a number: "))
result = 100 / denominator
print(f"100 divided by {denominator} is {result}")
except:
print("I can't do that!")

Try/except checking for specific error types

try:
denominator = int(input("Please enter a number: "))
result = 100 / denominator
print(f"100 divided by {denominator} is {result}")
except ValueError:
print("That wasn't a number")
except ZeroDivisionError:
print("I can't divide by zero")

Generate your own exception

x = 10
if x > 5:
raise ValueError("Not allowed to have a number greater than 5")

9 / 12
000-python-basics-reference.md 1/7/2020

Dates and times

Creating a datetime

from datetime import datetime

# Create a datetime using current computer date & time

now = datetime.now()

# Create a datetime with year=2019, month=12, day=25

christmas = datetime( 2019, 12, 25 )

# Create a datetime with year=2019, month=12, day=25, hour=11, minute=00, seconds=00

christmas = datetime( 2019, 12, 25, 11, 00, 00 )

# Create a datetime from a formatted string

birth_text = input("What is your birthday (write it as dd/mm/yyyy) ?")
birth_date = datetime.strptime( birth_text, "%d/%m/%Y" )

Using timestamps (number of seconds since 01/01/1970 00:00 UTC)

from datetime import datetime

# Create a timestamp based on current date/time

timestamp = datetime.now().timestamp()

# Create a timestamp from existing date/time object

apollo_11 = datetime( 1969, 7, 20, 20, 17, 40 )
timestamp = apollo_11.timestamp() # -14215340.0

# Create a datetime from a timestamp

timestamp = 1563958625 # Number of seconds since 01/01/1970 00:00 UTC
july24_2019 = datetime.fromtimestamp(timestamp)

Differences between dates with timedelta

timedelta acceptsany combination of the following options: days=0, seconds=0,

microseconds=0, milliseconds=0, minutes=0, hours=0, weeks=0

from datetime import datetime, timedelta

apollo_11 = datetime( 1969, 7, 20, 20, 17, 40 )

now = datetime.now()

# Create a timedelta automatically by subtracting two dates

diff = now - apollo_11
print(f"Apollo 11 landed {diff.days} days ago!")

# Create a new date by adding a timedelta to a date

ten_thousand = apollo_11 + timedelta( days=10000 )
print(f"10'000 days after Apollo 11 was { tenthousand.strftime("%d %B, %Y") }")

Create pretty date/time strings using strftime()

pretty_date_1 = apollo_11.strftime("%A, %d %B, %Y") # 'Sunday, 20 July, 1969'

pretty_date_2 = apollo_11.strftime("%d/%m/%Y") # '20/07/1969'
pretty_time = apollo_11.strftime("%H:%M:%S") # '20:17:40'

10 / 12
000-python-basics-reference.md 1/7/2020

Date based codes

%a - Weekday abbreviated (eg: Sun)

%A - Weekday full name (eg: Sunday)
%d - Day number in month (zero padded eg: 02)
%b - Month name abbreviated (eg: Jan)
%B - Month full name (eg: January)
%m - Month number (zero padded eg: 01)
%y - Year without century (zero padded)
%Y - Year with century (zero padded)

Time based codes

%I - Hour 12 hour clock (zero padded)

%H - Hour 24 hour clock (zero padded)
%M - Minute (zero padded)
%S - Second (zero padded)
%p - AM or PM

Get parts of date/time

from datetime import datetime

apollo_11 = datetime( 1969, 7, 20, 20, 17, 40 )
y = apollo_11.year # 1969
m = apollo_11.month # 7 (July)
d = apollo_11.day # 20
hr = apollo_11.hour # 20 (8:00pm in 24 hr time)
mi = apollo_11.minute # 17
se = apollo_11.second # 40
wkd = apollo_11.weekday() # 6 (0=Monday so 6 is Sunday)

Replace parts of a date using replace()

from datetime import datetime

date_1 = datetime(1980, 6, 20)
date_2 = date_1.replace( year = 2019 ) # Replace the year
print(date_2) # 20/06/2019

11 / 12
000-python-basics-reference.md 1/7/2020

Dictionaries

# Create an empty dictionary

person = { } # Curly braces instead of the square brackets used for lists

# Set values to your dictionary

person["given_name"] = "Paul"
person["family_name"] = "Baumgarten"

# Get elements from the dictionary

print( person["given_ame"] )
print( person["family_name"] )

# Add / modify elements in the dictionary

person["email"] = "pbaumgarten@isl.ch"
person["website"] = "https://pbaumgarten.com"

# Remove an element from the dictionary

del person["website"]

Loop through all the elements of the dictionary

for key,val in person.items():

print(f"field {key} has value {val}")

Convert a dictionary/list structure into a JSON string (useful for saving to a file)

import json

# Convert to JSON text string

json_text = json.dumps( person )

# Save it to a file
with open("person.txt", "w") as f:
f.write( json_text )

Convert a JSON string into a dictionary/list structure (usefil for loading from a file)

import json

# Load from a file

with open("person.txt", "r") as f:
content = f.read()

# Convert string text to dictionary/list structure

person = json.loads( content )

12 / 12