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Fundamentals of Python

Fundamentals of Python
By Manoj 8.6 K Views 29  min read Updated on December 30, 2021

In this part of the Python Fundamental tutorial, you will learn about statements like expression statement and assignment
statement, RHS expression, indentation, tokens, keywords, identifiers, various types of operators and lots more.

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Comments in Python

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Python Variables -
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Python Dictionary

Python Operators

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Python Built in
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Python Fundamentals:
Fundamentals of Python consists of a discussion of basic building blocks of the Python programming language. Here,
“Fundamentals of Python” is divided into the following categories. And we will be discussing each topic separately.

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Statements

Expressions
Assignment Statements

Indentations
Comments

Single-line comments
Multi-line comment
doc-staring comments
 Variables
Constants
Tokens

Identifiers
Keywords
Literals
Operators

First and foremost, we will be discussing statements in Python.

Statements
Python statements are nothing but logical instructions that interpreters can read and execute. It can be both single and
multiline.

There are two categories of statements in Python:

Expression Statements
Assignment Statements

Expression Statement:
With the help of expressions, we perform operations like addition, subtraction, concentration etc.

In other words, it is a statement that returns a value.

it is an expression if it appears-

On the right side of an assignment,

As a parameter to a method call.

Note: An expression must have a return.

Example:
 Using simple arithmetic expression:

(1+5) * 3

18

Using a function in an expression:

pow (3,2)

Assignment Statements
With the help of assignment statements, we create new variables, assign values and also change values.

Structure of an assignment statement syntax:

#LHS <=> RHS

variable = expression

We can categorize Assignment statements into three primary categories based on what’s on the Right-Hand Side of the
statement.

Value-Based Expression on RHS

Current Variable on RHS
Operation on RHS

Value-Based Expression on the RHS:

In this case, Python allocates a new memory location to the newly assigned variable.

Let us take an example of this category.

First, let’s create a string and assign it to a variable “test”,

Then, we will check the memory location id python has assigned for the variable

test= "Hello World"

id(test)

Note:

Look at the example shown below:

test1="Hello"

id(test1)

output:

2524751071304

test2="Hello"

id(test2)

output:

2524751071304
As you might have noticed that we have assigned the same string to two different variables. But python allocated the
same memory location for both the variables. That is because:

Python allocates the same memory location for the two cases mentioned below:

If the strings with less than 20 characters that don’t have white spaces and
Integers ranging between (-5 to +255).

This concept used by Python to save memory is also called Interning.

Current Python variable on RHS:

In this case, Python doesn’t allocate a new memory location.

Let’s understand that with the help of an example:

current_var= "It's HumbleGumble"

print(id(current_var))

new_var= current_var

print(id(new_var))

24751106240

2524751106240

As you can see we have the same location id allotted for the two variables.

Operation on RHS:
In this category, we have an operation on the right side of the statement, which is the defining factor of the type of our
statement.

Let’s understand that with the help of an example:

test= 7 * 2

type(test)

int

test1= 7 * 2 / 10

type(test1)

output:

float

Multiline statements
There are two ways to define multiline statements.

Implicit Method
Explicit Method

The end of a statement in python is considered as a newline character, to extend the statements over multiple lines we can
use two methods.

Implicit: By using parenthesis like (), {} or [].

e.g.

a = (0 + 1 + 2 +

    3 + 4 + 5)

Explicit: By using continuation character “\”.

a = 0 + 1 + 2 + \

    3 + 4 + 5
Indentation
Unlike most programming languages python uses indentation to mark a block of code. According to python style
guidelines or PEP8, you should keep an indent size of four.

Most of the programming languages provide indentation for better code formatting and don’t enforce to have it. But in
Python it is mandatory. This is why indentation is so crucial in Python.

Comments
Comments are nothing but tagged lines of in codes which increases the readability of the code and make the code self-
explanatory. Comments can be of two categories:

Single-line comments:
With the help of one ‘#’, we begin a single-line comment

Example:

test= 7 * 2

type(test)

#Single-line comment

Multi-line comments:
With the help of ‘‘‘… ’’,’ we write multiline comments in python.

Example:

test1= 7 * 2 / 10

type(test1)

'''

line one

line two

line three

'''

Docstring comments:
Python has the documentation strings (or docstrings) feature. It gives programmers an easy way of adding quick notes with
every Python module, function, class, and method.

The strings defined using the triple-quotation mark are multiline comments. However, if such a string is placed immediately
after a function or class definition or on top of a module, then they turn into docstrings.

Example:

def SayFunction():

    '''

    Strings written using '''_''' after a function represents docstring of func

    Python docstrings are not comments

    '''

    print("just a docstring")

print("Let us see how to print the docstring value")

print(theFunction.__doc__)
Variables:
A variable is a memory address that can change and when a memory address cannot change then it is known as constant.
Variable is the name of the memory location where data is stored. Once a variable is stored then space is allocated in
memory. It defines a variable using a combination of numbers, letters, and the underscore character.

Assigning Values to Variables

There is no need for an explicit declaration to reserve memory. The assignment is done using the equal (=) operator. Some
examples of legal python variables are –

i = 1

j = 2

Multiple Variable Assignment:

You can assign a single value to the multiple variables as follows –

a=2

Also, we can assign multiple values to the multiple variables as follows –

a, b, c = 2, 25, ‘abc’

Note: Python is a type inferred language i.e. it automatically detects the type of assigned variable.

For instance,

test=1

type(test)

output:

int

test1="String"

type(test1)

output:

str

Constants:
Constant is a type of variable that holds values, whose value cannot be changed. In reality, we rarely use constants in
python.

Assigning a value to a constant in Python

Constants are usually declared and assigned on a different module/file.

#Declare constants in a separate file called constant.py

PI = 3.14

GRAVITY = 9.8
 Then import it to the main file.

#inside main.py we import the constants

import constant

print(constant.PI)

print(constant.GRAVITY)

Token
Tokens are the smallest unit of the program. There are the following tokens in Python:

Reserved words or Keywords

Identifiers
Literals
Operators

Keywords:
Keywords are nothing but a set of special words, which are reserved by python and have specific meanings. Remember
that we are not allowed to use keywords as variables in python.

Keywords in python are case sensitive.

We’ve just captured here a snapshot of the possible Python keywords.

help> keywords

Here is a list of the Python keywords.  Enter any keyword to get more help.

False              def               if                   raise

None              del               import           return

True               elif                in                  try

and                else              is                  while

as                  except          lambda         with

assert            finally            nonlocal       yield

break             for                 not

class              from              or                 continue         global           pass

Identifiers
Identifiers in python are nothing but user-defined names to represent programmable entities like variables, functions,
classes, modules or any other objects.

But there are a few rules that we need to follow while defining an identifier. They are:

You can use a sequence of letters (lowercase (a to z) or uppercase (A to Z)). You can also mix up digits (0 to 9) or an
underscore (_) while defining an identifier.
You can’t use digits to begin an identifier name.
You should not use Reserved Keywords to define an identifier.
 Other than underscore (_) you are not allowed to use any other special characters.
Even though python doc says that you can name an identifier with unlimited length. But it is not entirely true.

Using a large name (more than 79 chars) would lead to the violation of a rule set by the PEP-8 standard. It says.

Literals:
The other built-in objects in python are Literals. Literals can be defined as data that is given in a variable or constant.
Python has the following literals:

String Literals:

A string literal is a sequence of characters surrounded by quotes. We can use both single, double or triple quotes for a
string. And, a character literal is a single character surrounded by single or double-quotes.

Numeric Literals:

Numeric Literals are immutable (unchangeable). Numeric literals can belong to 3 different numerical types Integer, Float,
and Complex.

Boolean Literals:

A Boolean literal can have any of the two values: True or False.

Collection literals:

There are four different literal collections List literals, Tuple literals, Dict literals, and Set literals. 

Special literals:

Python contains one special literal i.e. None. We use it to specify that field that is not created.

Operators:
Operators are the symbols that perform the operation on some values. These values are known as operands.

In Python, operators are categorized into the following categories:

Arithmetic Operators
Relational Operators
Assignment Operators
Logical Operators
Membership Operators
Identity Operators
Bitwise Operators
Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic Operator Description Example

Operators Name

+ Addition Perform Addition I=40,

J=20

>>>I+ J

>>>60

– Subtraction Perform Subtraction I=40,

J=20

>>>I – J

>>>20

* Multiplication Perform Multiplication I=40,

J=20

>>>I * J

>>> 800

/ Division Perform Division I=30,

J=20

>>>I /J

>>> 2.5

% Modulus Return the remainder after Division I=40,

J=20

>>>I /J

>>> 0

** Exponent Performs exponential (power) calculation I=4, J=20

>>>I /J

>>> 204

// Floor Division Perform division remove the decimal value and return Quotient I=30,
value J=20

>>>I//J

>>> 1

Relational Operators

It is also known as the comparison operator because it compares the values. After comparison, it returns the Boolean value
i.e. either true or false.

Operator Operator Name Description Example

== Equal to If the values of two operands are equal, then then it returns true. I = 20, J =
20

(I == J) is
True
 != Not Equal to If the values of two operands are not equal, then it returns true. I = 20, J =
20

(I == J) is
False

<  Less than If the value of the left operand is less than the value of the right operand, I = 40, J =
then it returns true 20

(I < J) is
False

> Greater than If the value of the left operand is greater than the value of the right I= 40, J =
operand, then it returns true 20

(I > J) is
True

<= Less than or If the value of the left operand is less than or equal to the value of the I = 40, J =
equal to right operand, then it returns true 20

(I <= J) is
False

>= Greater than or If the value of the left operand is greater than or equal to the value of the I = 40, J =
equal to right operand, then it returns true. 20

(I >= J) is
True

<>  Not equal to If the values of two operands are not equal, then the condition becomes I=40, J =
(similar to !=) true 20

(I <> J) is
True.

Assignment Operators

Operator Operator Name Description Example

= Assignment It assigns a value from right side operand to left side operand I = 40

It assigns 40
to I

+= Add then assign It performs addition and then results is assigned to the left- I+=J

hand operand that means I =

I+J

-= Subtract then assign It performs subtraction and then results is assigned to the left- I-=J

hand operand that means I =

I–J

*= Multiply the assign It performs multiplication and then the results are assigned to I*=J

the left-hand operand. that means I =

I*J
 /= Divide then assign It performs division and then results is assigned to the left-hand I/=J

operand that means I =

I/J

%= Modulus then assign It performs modulus and then results is assigned to the left- I%=J

hand operand that means I =

I%J

**= Exponent then assign It performs exponent and then results is assigned to the left- I**=J

hand operand that means I =

I ** J

//= The floor division It performs floor division and then results is assigned to the left- I//=J

then assign hand operand that means I =

I // J

Logical Operators

Operator Operator Description Example

Name

and Logical AND When Both side condition is true the result is true otherwise false 2<1 and
2<3

False

or Logical OR When at least one condition is true then the result is true otherwise 2<1 or 2<3

false True

not Logical NOT Reverse the condition Not (5>4)

False

Membership Operators

Operator Description Example

in It returns true if it finds a variable in the sequence otherwise returns false List = [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]

i=1

if i in List:

   print(‘i is available in list’)

else:

   print(‘i is not available in

list’)

Output – i is available in list

 not in It returns true if it does not find a variable in the sequence otherwise List = [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]

returns false j=10

if j not in List:

print (‘j is not available in

list’)

else:

print (‘j is available in list’)

Output – j is not available in

list

Bitwise Operators

It performs bit by bit operation.

Suppose there are two variables,

I = 10 and

J = 20

and their binary values are:

I = 10 = 0000 1010

J = 20 = 0001 0100

now let us see how bitwise operators perform.

Operator Operator Description Example

Name

& Binary AND If both bits are 1 then 1 otherwise 0 I & J

0000 0000

| Binary OR If one of the bits is 1 then 1 otherwise 0 I | J

0001 1110

^ Binary XOR If both bits are same, then 0 otherwise 1 I ^ J

0001 1110

~ Binary If bit is 1 the make it 0 and if bit is 0 the make it 1 ~I

Complement 1111 0101

<<  Binary Left Shift The left operand is moved left by the number of bits specified by the I << 2

right operand. 240 i.e. 1111

0000

>>  Binary Right The left operand is moved right by the number of bits specified by I >> 2

Shift the right operand. 15 i.e. 1111

Identity Operators

These operators are used to compare the memory address of two objects.

Operator Description Example

 is It returns true if both operand‘s identity is same otherwise false I = 20

J = 20

if(I is J):

   print (‘I and J have the same

identity)

else:

   print (‘I and J have not same

identity’)

Output – I and J have same identity

is not It returns true if both operand‘s identity is not the same otherwise I = 20

false J = 230

if(I is not J):

   print (‘I and J have not same

identity’)

else:

   print (‘I and J have the same

identity)

Output – I and J have not same

identity

This brings us to the end of this module. The next module in Learn Python Online  highlights Python datatypes. See you
there!

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