Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.

T) SEM - III

1-Python Lists
Introduction
The most basic data structure in Python is the sequence.

Each element of a sequence is assigned a number - its position or index. The first index is zero,
the second index is one, and so forth.

Python has six built-in types of sequences, but the most common ones are lists and tuples.

Python Lists
The list is a most versatile datatype available in Python which can be written as a list of comma-
separated values (items) between square brackets.

Important thing about a list is that items in a list need not be of the same type.

Creating a list is as simple as putting different comma-separated values between square brackets.
For example –

list1 = ['physics', 'chemistry', 1997, 2000];

list2 = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ];
list3 = ["a", "b", "c", "d"]

Accessing Values in Lists

To access values in lists, use the square brackets for slicing along with the index or indices to
obtain value available at that index. For example −

#!/usr/bin/python

list1 = ['physics', 'chemistry', 1997, 2000];

list2 = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ];

print "list1[0]: ", list1[0]

print "list2[1:5]: ", list2[1:5]

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −

list1[0]: physics
list2[1:5]: [2, 3, 4, 5]
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

Updating Lists List are Mutable .

You can update single or multiple elements of lists by giving the slice on the left-hand side of the
assignment operator, and you can add to elements in a list with the append() method. For
example −

#!/usr/bin/python

list = ['physics', 'chemistry', 1997, 2000];

print "Value available at index 2 : "

print list[2]
list[2] = 2001;
print "New value available at index 2 : "
print list[2]

Result :
Value available at index 2 :
1997
New value available at index 2 :
2001

Delete List Elements

To remove a list element, you can use either the del statement if you know exactly which
element(s) you are deleting or the remove() method if you do not know. For example –

#!/usr/bin/python

list1 = ['physics', 'chemistry', 1997, 2000];

print list1
del list1[2];
print "After deleting value at index 2 : "
print list1

When the above code is executed, it produces following result −

['physics', 'chemistry', 1997, 2000]

After deleting value at index 2 :
['physics', 'chemistry', 2000]
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

Basic List Operations

Lists respond to the + and * operators much like strings; they mean concatenation and repetition
here too, except that the result is a new list, not a string.

In fact, lists respond to all of the general sequence operations we used on strings in the prior
chapter.

Python Expression Results Description

len([1, 2, 3]) 3 Length
[1, 2, 3] + [4, 5, 6] [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] Concatenation
['Hi!'] * 4 ['Hi!', 'Hi!', 'Hi!', 'Hi!'] Repetition
3 in [1, 2, 3] True Membership
for x in [1, 2, 3]: print x, 123 Iteration

Built-in List Functions & Methods:

Python includes the following list functions −

SN Function with Description

1 cmp(list1, list2)

Compares elements of both lists.

2 len(list)

Gives the total length of the list.

3 max(list)

Returns item from the list with max value.

4 min(list)

Returns item from the list with min value.

5 list(seq)

Converts a tuple into list.

Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

Python includes following list methods

SN Methods with Description

1 list.append(obj)

Appends object obj to list

2 list.count(obj)

Returns count of how many times obj occurs in list

3 list.extend(seq)

Appends the contents of seq to list

4 list.index(obj)

Returns the lowest index in list that obj appears

5 list.insert(index, obj)

Inserts object obj into list at offset index

6 list.pop(obj=list[-1])

Removes and returns last object or obj from list

7 list.remove(obj)

Removes object obj from list

8 list.reverse()

Reverses objects of list in place

9 list.sort([func])

Sorts objects of list, use compare func if given

Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

2-Python Tuples
Introduction
• A tuple is a sequence of immutable Python objects.
• Tuples are sequences, just like lists.
• The differences between tuples and lists are, the tuples cannot be changed unlike lists and
tuples use parentheses, whereas lists use square brackets.
• Creating a tuple is as simple as putting different comma-separated values.
• Optionally you can put these comma-separated values between parentheses also. For
example −

tup1 = ('physics', 'chemistry', 1997, 2000);

tup2 = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 );
tup3 = "a", "b", "c", "d";

The empty tuple is written as two parentheses containing nothing −

tup1 = ();

To write a tuple containing a single value you have to include a comma, even though there is
only one value −

tup1 = (50,);

Like string indices, tuple indices start at 0, and they can be sliced, concatenated, and so on.

Accessing Values in Tuples:

To access values in tuple, use the square brackets for slicing along with the index or indices to
obtain value available at that index. For example −

#!/usr/bin/python

tup1 = ('physics', 'chemistry', 1997, 2000);

tup2 = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 );

print "tup1[0]: ", tup1[0]

print "tup2[1:5]: ", tup2[1:5]
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −

tup1[0]: physics
tup2[1:5]: [2, 3, 4, 5]

Updating Tuples
• Tuples are immutable which means you cannot update or change the values of tuple
elements.
• You are able to take portions of existing tuples to create new tuples as the following
example demonstrates −

#!/usr/bin/python

tup1 = (12, 34.56);

tup2 = ('abc', 'xyz');

# Following action is not valid for tuples

# tup1[0] = 100;

# So let's create a new tuple as follows

tup3 = tup1 + tup2;
print tup3

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −

(12, 34.56, 'abc', 'xyz')\

Delete Tuple Elements

Removing individual tuple elements is not possible.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with putting together another tuple with the undesired
elements discarded.

To explicitly remove an entire tuple, just use the del statement. For example:

#!/usr/bin/python

tup = ('physics', 'chemistry', 1997, 2000);

print tup
del tup;
print "After deleting tup : "
print tup
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

This produces the following result. Note an exception raised, this is because after del tup tuple
does not exist any more –

('physics', 'chemistry', 1997, 2000)

After deleting tup :
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "test.py", line 9, in <module>
print tup;
NameError: name 'tup' is not defined

Basic Tuples Operations

Tuples respond to the + and * operators much like strings; they mean concatenation and
repetition here too, except that the result is a new tuple, not a string.

In fact, tuples respond to all of the general sequence operations we used on strings in the prior
chapter −

Python Expression Results Description

len((1, 2, 3)) 3 Length
(1, 2, 3) + (4, 5, 6) (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) Concatenation
('Hi!',) * 4 ('Hi!', 'Hi!', 'Hi!', 'Hi!') Repetition
3 in (1, 2, 3) True Membership
for x in (1, 2, 3): print x, 123 Iteration

Built-in Tuple Functions

Python includes the following tuple functions −

SN Function with Description

1 cmp(tuple1, tuple2)

Compares elements of both tuples.

2 len(tuple)

Gives the total length of the tuple.

3 max(tuple)

Returns item from the tuple with max value.

4 min(tuple)

Returns item from the tuple with min value.

Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

5 tuple(seq)

Converts a list into tuple.

Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

3-Python Dictionary
Introduction
• Each key is separated from its value by a colon (:), the items are separated by commas,
and the whole thing is enclosed in curly braces.
• An empty dictionary without any items is written with just two curly braces, like this: {}.
• Keys are unique within a dictionary while values may not be.
• The values of a dictionary can be of any type, but the keys must be of an immutable data
type such as strings, numbers, or tuples.

Accessing Values in Dictionary:

To access dictionary elements, you can use the familiar square brackets along with the key to
obtain its value.

Following is a simple example −

#!/usr/bin/python

dict = {'Name': 'Zara', 'Age': 7, 'Class': 'First'}

print "dict['Name']: ", dict['Name']

print "dict['Age']: ", dict['Age']

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −

dict['Name']: Zara
dict['Age']: 7

If we attempt to access a data item with a key, which is not part of the dictionary, we get an error
as follows –

#!/usr/bin/python

dict = {'Name': 'Zara', 'Age': 7, 'Class': 'First'}

print "dict['Alice']: ", dict['Alice']

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −

dict['Alice']:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "test.py", line 4, in <module>
print "dict['Alice']: ", dict['Alice'];
KeyError: 'Alice'
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

Updating Dictionary
You can update a dictionary by adding a new entry or a key-value pair, modifying an existing
entry, or deleting an existing entry as shown below in the simple example −

#!/usr/bin/python

dict = {'Name': 'Zara', 'Age': 7, 'Class': 'First'}

dict['Age'] = 8; # update existing entry

dict['School'] = "DPS School"; # Add new entry

print "dict['Age']: ", dict['Age']

print "dict['School']: ", dict['School']

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −

dict['Age']: 8
dict['School']: DPS School

Delete Dictionary Elements

You can either remove individual dictionary elements or clear the entire contents of a dictionary.
You can also delete entire dictionary in a single operation.

To explicitly remove an entire dictionary, just use the del statement. Following is a simple
example −

#!/usr/bin/python

dict = {'Name': 'Zara', 'Age': 7, 'Class': 'First'}

del dict['Name']; # remove entry with key 'Name'

dict.clear(); # remove all entries in dict
del dict ; # delete entire dictionary

print "dict['Age']: ", dict['Age']

print "dict['School']: ", dict['School']

This produces the following result. Note that an exception is raised because after del dict
dictionary does not exist any more −

dict['Age']:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "test.py", line 8, in <module>
print "dict['Age']: ", dict['Age'];
TypeError: 'type' object is unsubscriptable
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

Properties of Dictionary Keys

Dictionary values have no restrictions. They can be any arbitrary Python object, either standard
objects or user-defined objects. However, same is not true for the keys.

There are two important points to remember about dictionary keys −

(a) More than one entry per key not allowed. Which means no duplicate key is allowed. When
duplicate keys encountered during assignment, the last assignment wins. For example −

#!/usr/bin/python

dict = {'Name': 'Zara', 'Age': 7, 'Name': 'Manni'}

print "dict['Name']: ", dict['Name']

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −

dict['Name']: Manni

(b) Keys must be immutable. Which means you can use strings, numbers or tuples as dictionary
keys but something like ['key'] is not allowed. Following is a simple example:

#!/usr/bin/python

dict = {['Name']: 'Zara', 'Age': 7}

print "dict['Name']: ", dict['Name']

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −

Traceback (most recent call last):

File "test.py", line 3, in <module>
dict = {['Name']: 'Zara', 'Age': 7};
TypeError: list objects are unhashable

Built-in Dictionary Functions & Methods −

Python includes the following dictionary functions −

SN Function with Description

1 cmp(dict1, dict2)

Compares elements of both dict.

2 len(dict)
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

Gives the total length of the dictionary. This would be equal to the number of items in the
dictionary.
3 str(dict)

Produces a printable string representation of a dictionary

4 type(variable)

Returns the type of the passed variable. If passed variable is dictionary, then it would return
a dictionary type.

Python includes following dictionary methods −

SN Methods with Description

1 dict.clear()

Removes all elements of dictionary dict

2 dict.copy()

Returns a shallow copy of dictionary dict

3 dict.fromkeys()

Create a new dictionary with keys from seq and values set to value.
4 dict.get(key, default=None)

For key key, returns value or default if key not in dictionary

5 dict.has_key(key)

Returns true if key in dictionary dict, false otherwise

6 dict.items()

Returns a list of dict's (key, value) tuple pairs

7 dict.keys()

Returns list of dictionary dict's keys

Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

Python Files I/O

This chapter covers all the basic I/O functions available in Python. For more functions, please
refer to standard Python documentation.

Printing to the Screen

The simplest way to produce output is using the print statement where you can pass zero or more
expressions separated by commas. This function converts the expressions you pass into a string
and writes the result to standard output as follows −

#!/usr/bin/python

print "Python is really a great language,", "isn't it?"

This produces the following result on your standard screen −

Python is really a great language, isn't it?

Reading Keyboard Input

Python provides two built-in functions to read a line of text from standard input, which by
default comes from the keyboard. These functions are −

• raw_input
• input

The raw_input Function

The raw_input([prompt]) function reads one line from standard input and returns it as a string
(removing the trailing newline).

#!/usr/bin/python

str = raw_input("Enter your input: ");

print "Received input is : ", str

This prompts you to enter any string and it would display same string on the screen. When I
typed "Hello Python!", its output is like this −

Enter your input: Hello Python

Received input is : Hello Python
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

The input Function

The input([prompt]) function is equivalent to raw_input, except that it assumes the input is a
valid Python expression and returns the evaluated result to you.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = input("Enter your input: ");

print "Received input is : ", str

This would produce the following result against the entered input −

Enter your input: [x*5 for x in range(2,10,2)]

Recieved input is : [10, 20, 30, 40]

Opening and Closing Files

Until now, you have been reading and writing to the standard input and output. Now, we will see
how to use actual data files.

Python provides basic functions and methods necessary to manipulate files by default. You can
do most of the file manipulation using a file object.

The open Function

Before you can read or write a file, you have to open it using Python's built-in open() function.
This function creates a file object, which would be utilized to call other support methods
associated with it.
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

Syntax
file object = open(file_name [, access_mode][, buffering])

Here are parameter details:

• file_name: The file_name argument is a string value that contains the name of the file
that you want to access.
• access_mode: The access_mode determines the mode in which the file has to be opened,
i.e., read, write, append, etc. A complete list of possible values is given below in the
table. This is optional parameter and the default file access mode is read (r).
• buffering: If the buffering value is set to 0, no buffering takes place. If the buffering
value is 1, line buffering is performed while accessing a file. If you specify the buffering
value as an integer greater than 1, then buffering action is performed with the indicated
buffer size. If negative, the buffer size is the system default(default behavior).

Here is a list of the different modes of opening a file −

Modes Description
r Opens a file for reading only. The file pointer is placed at the beginning of the file.
This is the default mode.
rb Opens a file for reading only in binary format. The file pointer is placed at the
beginning of the file. This is the default mode.
r+ Opens a file for both reading and writing. The file pointer placed at the beginning of
the file.
rb+ Opens a file for both reading and writing in binary format. The file pointer placed at
the beginning of the file.
w Opens a file for writing only. Overwrites the file if the file exists. If the file does not
exist, creates a new file for writing.
wb Opens a file for writing only in binary format. Overwrites the file if the file exists. If
the file does not exist, creates a new file for writing.
w+ Opens a file for both writing and reading. Overwrites the existing file if the file exists.
If the file does not exist, creates a new file for reading and writing.
wb+ Opens a file for both writing and reading in binary format. Overwrites the existing file
if the file exists. If the file does not exist, creates a new file for reading and writing.
a Opens a file for appending. The file pointer is at the end of the file if the file exists.
That is, the file is in the append mode. If the file does not exist, it creates a new file for
writing.
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

The file Object Attributes

Once a file is opened and you have one file object, you can get various information related to that
file.

Here is a list of all attributes related to file object:

Attribute Description
file.closed Returns true if file is closed, false otherwise.
file.mode Returns access mode with which file was opened.
file.name Returns name of the file.
file.softspace Returns false if space explicitly required with print, true otherwise.

Example
#!/usr/bin/python

# Open a file
fo = open("foo.txt", "wb")
print "Name of the file: ", fo.name
print "Closed or not : ", fo.closed
print "Opening mode : ", fo.mode
print "Softspace flag : ", fo.softspace

This produces the following result −

Name of the file: foo.txt

Closed or not : False
Opening mode : wb
Softspace flag : 0
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

The close() Method

The close() method of a file object flushes any unwritten information and closes the file object,
after which no more writing can be done.

Python automatically closes a file when the reference object of a file is reassigned to another file.
It is a good practice to use the close() method to close a file.

Syntax
fileObject.close();

Example
#!/usr/bin/python

# Open a file
fo = open("foo.txt", "wb")
print "Name of the file: ", fo.name

# Close opend file

fo.close()

This produces the following result −

Name of the file: foo.txt

Reading and Writing Files

The file object provides a set of access methods to make our lives easier. We would see how to
use read() and write() methods to read and write files.

The write() Method

The write() method writes any string to an open file. It is important to note that Python strings
can have binary data and not just text.

The write() method does not add a newline character ('\n') to the end of the string −
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

Syntax
fileObject.write(string);

Here, passed parameter is the content to be written into the opened file.

Example
#!/usr/bin/python

# Open a file
fo = open("foo.txt", "wb")
fo.write( "Python is a great language.\nYeah its great!!\n");

# Close opend file

fo.close()

The above method would create foo.txt file and would write given content in that file and finally
it would close that file. If you would open this file, it would have following content.

Python is a great language.

Yeah its great!!

The read() Method

The read() method reads a string from an open file. It is important to note that Python strings can
have binary data. apart from text data.

Syntax
fileObject.read([count]);

Here, passed parameter is the number of bytes to be read from the opened file. This method starts
reading from the beginning of the file and if count is missing, then it tries to read as much as
possible, maybe until the end of file.
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

Example

Let's take a file foo.txt, which we created above.

#!/usr/bin/python

# Open a file
fo = open("foo.txt", "r+")
str = fo.read(10);
print "Read String is : ", str
# Close opend file
fo.close()

This produces the following result −

Read String is : Python is

Renaming and Deleting Files

Python os module provides methods that help you perform file-processing operations, such as
renaming and deleting files.

To use this module you need to import it first and then you can call any related functions.

The rename() Method

The rename() method takes two arguments, the current filename and the new filename.

Syntax
os.rename(current_file_name, new_file_name)

Example

Following is the example to rename an existing file test1.txt:

#!/usr/bin/python
import os

# Rename a file from test1.txt to test2.txt

os.rename( "test1.txt", "test2.txt" )
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

The remove() Method

You can use the remove() method to delete files by supplying the name of the file to be deleted
as the argument.

Syntax
os.remove(file_name)

Example

Following is the example to delete an existing file test2.txt −

#!/usr/bin/python
import os

# Delete file test2.txt

os.remove("text2.txt")

Directories in Python
All files are contained within various directories, and Python has no problem handling these too.
The os module has several methods that help you create, remove, and change directories.

The mkdir() Method

You can use the mkdir() method of the os module to create directories in the current directory.
You need to supply an argument to this method which contains the name of the directory to be
created.

Syntax
os.mkdir("newdir")

Example

Following is the example to create a directory test in the current directory −

#!/usr/bin/python
import os

# Create a directory "test"

os.mkdir("test")
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

The chdir() Method

You can use the chdir() method to change the current directory. The chdir() method takes an
argument, which is the name of the directory that you want to make the current directory.

Syntax
os.chdir("newdir")

Example

Following is the example to go into "/home/newdir" directory −

#!/usr/bin/python
import os

# Changing a directory to "/home/newdir"

os.chdir("/home/newdir")

The getcwd() Method

The getcwd() method displays the current working directory.

Syntax
os.getcwd()

Example

Following is the example to give current directory −

#!/usr/bin/python
import os

# This would give location of the current directory

os.getcwd()

The rmdir() Method

The rmdir() method deletes the directory, which is passed as an argument in the method.

Before removing a directory, all the contents in it should be removed.

Syntax:
os.rmdir('dirname')
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

Example

Following is the example to remove "/tmp/test" directory. It is required to give fully qualified
name of the directory, otherwise it would search for that directory in the current directory.

#!/usr/bin/python
import os

# This would remove "/tmp/test" directory.

os.rmdir( "/tmp/test" )
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

4-Python Exceptions

Introduction
Python provides two very important features to handle any unexpected error in your Python
programs and to add debugging capabilities in them −

• Exception Handling: This would be covered in this tutorial. Here is a list standard
Exceptions available in Python:
• Assertions: This would be covered in Assertions in Python

List of Standard Exceptions −

EXCEPTION DESCRIPTION
NAME
Exception Base class for all exceptions
StopIteration Raised when the next() method of an iterator does not point to any
object.
SystemExit Raised by the sys.exit() function.
StandardError Base class for all built-in exceptions except StopIteration and
SystemExit.
ArithmeticError Base class for all errors that occur for numeric calculation.
OverflowError Raised when a calculation exceeds maximum limit for a numeric type.
FloatingPointError Raised when a floating point calculation fails.
ZeroDivisionError Raised when division or modulo by zero takes place for all numeric
types.
AssertionError Raised in case of failure of the Assert statement.
AttributeError Raised in case of failure of attribute reference or assignment.
EOFError Raised when there is no input from either the raw_input() or input()
function and the end of file is reached.
ImportError Raised when an import statement fails.
KeyboardInterrupt Raised when the user interrupts program execution, usually by pressing
Ctrl+c.
LookupError Base class for all lookup errors.
IndexError Raised when an index is not found in a sequence.

KeyError Raised when the specified key is not found in the dictionary.
NameError Raised when an identifier is not found in the local or global namespace.
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

Assertions in Python

• An assertion is a sanity-check that you can turn on or turn off when you are done with
your testing of the program.
• The easiest way to think of an assertion is to liken it to a raise-if statement (or to be more
accurate, a raise-if-not statement). An expression is tested, and if the result comes up
false, an exception is raised.
• Assertions are carried out by the assert statement, the newest keyword to Python,
introduced in version 1.5.
• Programmers often place assertions at the start of a function to check for valid input, and
after a function call to check for valid output.

The assert Statement

When it encounters an assert statement, Python evaluates the accompanying expression, which is
hopefully true. If the expression is false, Python raises an AssertionError exception.

The syntax for assert is −

assert Expression[, Arguments]

If the assertion fails, Python uses ArgumentExpression as the argument for the AssertionError.

AssertionError exceptions can be caught and handled like any other exception using the try-
except statement, but if not handled, they will terminate the program and produce a traceback.

What is Exception?
• An exception is an event, which occurs during the execution of a program that disrupts
the normal flow of the program's instructions.
• In general, when a Python script encounters a situation that it cannot cope with, it raises
an exception.
• An exception is a Python object that represents an error.
• When a Python script raises an exception, it must either handle the exception
immediately otherwise it terminates and quits.

Handling an exception
If you have some suspicious code that may raise an exception, you can defend your program by
placing the suspicious code in a try: block. After the try: block, include an except: statement,
followed by a block of code which handles the problem as elegantly as possible.
Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

Syntax

Here is simple syntax of try....except...else blocks −

try:
You do your operations here;
......................
except ExceptionI:
If there is ExceptionI, then execute this block.
except ExceptionII:
If there is ExceptionII, then execute this block.
......................
else:
If there is no exception then execute this block.

Here are few important points about the above-mentioned syntax −

• A single try statement can have multiple except statements. This is useful when the try
block contains statements that may throw different types of exceptions.
• You can also provide a generic except clause, which handles any exception.
• After the except clause(s), you can include an else-clause. The code in the else-block
executes if the code in the try: block does not raise an exception.
• The else-block is a good place for code that does not need the try: block's protection.

Example

This example opens a file, writes content in the, file and comes out gracefully because there is no
problem at all −

#!/usr/bin/python

try:
fh = open("testfile", "w")
fh.write("This is my test file for exception handling!!")
except IOError:
print "Error: can\'t find file or read data"
else:
print "Written content in the file successfully"
fh.close()

This produces the following result −

Written content in the file successfully

Compiled by : Prof. Mohd. Shahid Subject : Python Programming Class : SYBSc(I.T) SEM - III

Example

This example tries to open a file where you do not have write permission, so it raises an
exception −

#!/usr/bin/python

try:
fh = open("testfile", "r")
fh.write("This is my test file for exception handling!!")
except IOError:
print "Error: can\'t find file or read data"
else:
print "Written content in the file successfully"

This produces the following result −

Error: can't find file or read data

The try-finally Clause

You can use a finally: block along with a try: block. The finally block is a place to put any code
that must execute, whether the try-block raised an exception or not. The syntax of the try-finally
statement is this −

try:
You do your operations here;
......................
Due to any exception, this may be skipped.
finally:
This would always be executed.
......................

You cannot use else clause as well along with a finally clause.

Example
#!/usr/bin/python

try:
fh = open("testfile", "w")
fh.write("This is my test file for exception handling!!")
finally:
print "Error: can\'t find file or read data"

If you do not have permission to open the file in writing mode, then this will produce the
following result:

Error: can't find file or read data