CSC 9010: Natural Language

Processing
Python Intro

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

This presentation taken partly from:
Introduction to Python I

CSE-391: Artificial Intelligence

University of Pennsylvania
Matt Huenerfauth
January 2004

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

 What is Python?
• A programming language with strong
similarities to PERL, but with powerful
typing and object oriented features.
– Commonly used for producing HTML content
on websites. Great for text files.
– Useful built-in types (lists, dictionaries).
– Clean syntax, powerful extensions.

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

 Why Python?
• Natural Language ToolKit
• Ease of use; interpreter
• AI Processing: Symbolic
– Python’s built-in datatypes for strings, lists, and more.
– Java or C++ require the use of special classes for this.
• AI Processing: Statistical
– Python has strong numeric processing capabilities:
matrix operations, etc.
– Suitable for probability and machine learning code.

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

 Learning Python
• Unfortunately, we won’t have time to cover all of
Python in class; so, we’re just going to go over
ome highlights.
– You’ll need to learn more on your own.
– Homework 0 asks you to install Python or get
comfortable using it here in the lab. It also asks you to
read some online Python tutorials.
– Later homeworks will include Python programming
exercises to help you practice.
– We will fairly rapidly move to using the Natural
Language ToolKit.
Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt
 Python Tutorials
Things to read through
• “Dive into Python” (Chapters 2 to 4)
http://diveintopython.org/
• Python 101 – Beginning Python
http://www.rexx.com/~dkuhlman/python_101/python_101.html
Things to refer to
• The Official Python Tutorial
http://www.python.org/doc/current/tut/tut.html
• The Python Quick Reference
http://rgruet.free.fr/PQR2.3.html

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

 Installing Python
• Python is installed on the PCs in 156.
• Python for Win/Mac/Unix/Linux is
available from www.python.org.
– Generally an easy install.
– On macs, already part of OS X.
– For NLTK you need Python 2.3 or higher.
• GUI development environment: IDLE.

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

Credits:
http://hkn.eecs.berkeley.edu/~dyoo/python/idle_intro/index.html
IDLE Development Environment
• Shell for interactive evaluation.
• Text editor with color-coding and smart
indenting for creating python files.
• Menu commands for changing system
settings and running files.
• We will use IDLE in class.

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

 Look at a sample of code…
x = 34 - 23 # A comment.
y = “Hello” # Another one.
z = 3.45
if z == 3.45 or y == “Hello”:
x = x + 1
y = y + “ World” # String concat.
print x
print y

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

 Look at a sample of code…
x = 34 - 23 # A comment.
y = “Hello” # Another one.
z = 3.45
if z == 3.45 or y == “Hello”:
x = x + 1
y = y + “ World” # String concat.
print x
print y

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

 Enough to Understand the Code
• Assignment uses = and comparison uses ==.
• For numbers +-*/% are as expected.
– Special use of + for string concatenation.
– Special use of % for string formatting.
• Logical operators are words (and, or, not)
not symbols (&&, ||, !).
• The basic printing command is “print.”
• First assignment to a variable will create it.
– Variable types don’t need to be declared.
– Python figures out the variable types on its own.

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

 Basic Datatypes
• Integers (default for numbers)
z=5/2 # Answer is 2, integer division.
• Floats
x = 3.456
• Strings
Can use “” or ‘’ to specify. “abc” ‘abc’ (Same thing.)
Unmatched ones can occur within the string. “matt’s”
Use triple double-quotes for multi-line strings or strings
than contain both ‘ and “ inside of them: “““a‘b“c”””

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

 Whitespace
• Whitespace is meaningful in Python: especially
indentation and placement of newlines.
– Use a newline to end a line of code.
(Not a semicolon like in C++ or Java.)
(Use \ when must go to next line prematurely.)
– No braces { } to mark blocks of code in Python…
Use consistent indentation instead. The first line with a
new indentation is considered outside of the block.
– Often a colon appears at the start of a new block.
(We’ll see this later for function and class definitions.)

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

 Comments
• Start comments with # – the rest of line is ignored.
• Can include a “documentation string” as the first
line of any new function or class that you define.
• The development environment, debugger, and
other tools use it: it’s good style to include one.
def my_function(x, y):
“““This is the docstring. This
function does blah blah blah.”””
# The code would go here...

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

 Look at a sample of code…
x = 34 - 23 # A comment.
y = “Hello” # Another one.
z = 3.45
if z == 3.45 or y == “Hello”:
x = x + 1
y = y + “ World” # String concat.
print x
print y

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

 Python and Types
Python determines the data types
in a program automatically. “Dynamic Typing”

But Python’s not casual about types, it

enforces them after it figures them out. “Strong Typing”

So, for example, you can’t just append an integer to a string.

You must first convert the integer to a string itself.
x = “the answer is ” # Decides x is string.
y = 23 # Decides y is integer.
print x + y # Python will complain about this.
Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt
 Naming Rules
• Names are case sensitive and cannot start with a
number. They can contain letters, numbers, and
underscores.
bob Bob _bob _2_bob_ bob_2 BoB
• There are some reserved words:
and, assert, break, class, continue,
def, del, elif, else, except, exec,
finally, for, from, global, if,
import, in, is, lambda, not, or, pass,
print, raise, return, try, while

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

 Accessing Non-existent Name
• If you try to access a name before it’s been properly
created (by placing it on the left side of an
assignment), you’ll get an error.
>>> y

Traceback (most recent call last):

File "<pyshell#16>", line 1, in -toplevel-
y
NameError: name ‘y' is not defined
>>> y = 3
>>> y
3
Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt
 Multiple Assignment
• You can also assign to multiple names at the same
time.

>>> x, y = 2, 3
>>> x
2
>>> y
3

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

 String Operations
• We can use some methods built-in to the string data
type to perform some formatting operations on
strings:

>>> “hello”.upper()
‘HELLO’

• There are many other handy string operations

available. Check the Python documentation for
more.
Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt
 Printing with Python
• You can print a string to the screen using “print.”
• Using the % string operator in combination with the
print command, we can format our output text.
>>> print “%s xyz %d” % (“abc”, 34)
abc xyz 34

“Print” automatically adds a newline to the end of the string. If

you include a list of strings, it will concatenate them with a
space between them.
>>> print “abc” >>> print “abc”, “def”
abc abc def

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

 Hands On
Okay, let’s try it.
• www.python.org/doc/current/tut/tut.html
• Or on these PCs under Documentation.
• First two sections you should read. For
now:
• Start tonight with Section 3, An Informal
Introduction to Python, and work through
the examples given.

Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt

 Assignment 1, due Jan 27
A. INSTALLING AND RUNNING PYTHON
You can use Python on your own computer or in this lab. If you want to work on
your own system, install Python from www.python.org/download. If you want to
work here, it's already installed for you.

Start up the interactive Python editor (IDLE) and do the following "finger exercises"
interactively:
1. Set a variable to the string "Hello" Set another variable to the string "World"
Echo your two variables.
2. Add up the numbers 1 to 5 and output their sum.
3. Capture the output of your session and turn it in at the beginning of the next
class.

B. EXPLORING PYTHON
Once you've carried out the above, try some additional things in Python. Work
through the tutorial; or try something new. Make a note of anything that you have
difficulty with or where Python didn't do what you expect. Also turn in a writeup of
what you tried and what comments you have. (You may, but don't have to, turn in the
output of your remaining explorations)

This should be trivial to do; the only real goal of this task is to be sure that you have a
working Python installation and can start and work with the interactive editor.
Based on presentation from www.cis.upenn.edu/~cse391/cse391_2004/PythonIntro1.ppt