Chapter 2

Python Basics
Prof. Hyeong-Seok Ko
Seoul National University
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Contents
• Hello World
• IDLE (Python GUI)
• Value, Type, Variable
• Basic Operators
Hello World
• “Hello World” in Python Command Line
Hello World
• “Hello World” in IDLE (Python GUI)
IDLE (Python GUI)
• Integrated DeveLopment Environment (IDLE) for Python
– Multi-window text editor
• with syntax highlighting, auto-completion, smart indentation, and so on.
– Python shell with syntax highlighting
• IDLEs for other languages
– Visual Studio (C, C++, C#, ...)
– Xcode (C, C++, Objective-C, Java, ...)
– Eclipse (Mostly for Java)
– And many others!
Running a Source Code File (in IDLE)
• File > New File
• Type:
print("Hello, Python!")
print(42)
print(3.14, "Hello")
• File > Save As <hello.py>
• Press F5
Running a Source Code File (in cmd)

We will work mostly in IDLE, not in cmd.

Value and Type
• What is ‘Value’?
– "Hello, World" is a string value.
– 42 is a number value.
• What is ‘Type’?
– "Hello, World" is a string type (str)
– 42 is an integer type (int)
– 3.14 is a floating-point number type (float)
Value and Type
• “type” function
print(42, type(42))
print(4.2, type(4.2))
print("Hello", type("Hello"))
print(type("Hello"), type(type("Hello")))
Type Checking
• “isinstance” function
print(isinstance(42, int))
print(isinstance(42, float))
print(isinstance(4.2, int))
print(isinstance(4.2, float))
print(isinstance("Hello", str))
Boolean Type
• Data type with two values (True, False)
print(True, type(True))
print(False, type(False))
print(1<2, type(1<2))
print(1>2, type(1>2))
print(True or False, type(True or False))
print(True and False, type(True and False))
print(not True, type(not True))
Variable
• A variable is a name that refers to a value.
• The assignment statement creates a new variable and gives it a value.

variable

var = 10.0 assignment statement

print(var, type(var))
Variable

length = 10
print("Area : ", length*length)
print("Volume : ", length*length*length)
Operators
• Operators are special symbols that represent computations like
addition and multiplication.
• The values the operator uses are called operands.
– ex) What is the operator and operands in the following?
• b = 3**4
• a = 2 + 3
• a += 1 # a = a + 1
• a *= 2 # a = a * 2
• a /= 3 # a = a / 3
Examples
• >>> 1+1
• 2
• >>> a = 14
• >>> b = 32
• >>> a * b
• 448
• >>> c = b/a
• >>> print(c)
• 2.2857142857142856
Complex Examples
• >>> ((2.0+5.0)*(9.0+4.0))/10.0
• 9.0999999999999996
• >>> 5+4*8
• 37
Order of Operations
• PEMDAS and Left-to-Right
1. Parentheses
2. Exponentiation
3. Multiplication and Division
4. Addition and Subtraction

• Exmaple:
– 6**8/6 vs. 6**(8/6)
– Compare the results!
– 279936.0 vs. 10.902723556992836
Operations on Strings
• Addition
– "Hello, " + "World"
– Hello, World

• Multiplication
– "Fun"*3
– FunFunFun
– This is illegal: "Fun" * "3"
Comparison Operators
• >>> a = 8
• >>> b = 5
• >>> c = a < b
• >>> print(c)
• False
Comparison Operators
• Less-than: <
• Less-or-equal: <=
• Equal: ==
• Not-equal: !=
• Greater-than: >
• Greater-equal: >=
Logical Operators
• Not: not a
• Identity: a is b
• Identity*: a is not b
Logical Operators Example
• >>> a = False
• >>> print(not a)
• True
• >>> b = 42; c = 31
• >>> print(b is c) semi-colon for line
• False breaker
• >>> print(b is not c)
• True
Mathematical Operators
• Exponentiation (ab): a**b
• Modulo: a%b
• Floor-division: a//b
• Float-division: a/b
Mathematical Operators Examples
• >>> a = 2; b = 5
• >>> print(a**b)
• 32
• >>> print(b%a)
• 1
• >>> print(b//a)
• 2
• >>> print(b/a)
• 2.5
Dividing Integers and Floats
• >>> a = 42.0; b = 5.0
• >>> print(a/b)
• 8.4
• >>> print(a//b)
• 8.0
• >>> a = 42; b = 5
• >>> print(a/b)
• 8.4
Bitwise Operators

a = 53 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1

b = 29 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1
Bitwise And Operator: &

a = 53 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1

b = 29 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1

a&b = 21 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1
Bitwise Or Operator: |

a = 53 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1

b = 29 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1

a|b = 61 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1
Bitwise Xor Operator: ^

a = 53 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1

b = 29 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1

a^b = 40 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
 Bitwise Inversion Operator: ~

a = 53 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1
Two’s Complement.

?
~a = -54 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
Bitwise Shift Operators: >> and <<
• Right shift: a>>b
Shifts a by b bits
• Left shift: a<<b

a = 53
print(a>>1)
a = 53 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 print(a)

26
a>>1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 53

What is the mathematical meaning of

right and left shift operator?
Homework
• Repeat the previous bitwise operations with a = 256, b = 29.
• Can you explain the results?

a = 256
b = 29
print(a&b)
a = 53 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 print(a|b)

0
b = 29 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 285
Comments
• Notes for Humans!
• Single-line comment (#)
# compute the average
avg = (a+b+c+d)/4.0

• Multi-line comment (""")

"""
This program computes the 2-D heat equation
using blah blah blah. See also Kim et al.
2010.
"""