Python From Scratch

Python Try Except & User Input & String Formatting

Lesson 18 Content
• Python Try Except
• Exception Handling
• Many Exceptions
• Else
• Finally
• Raise an exception

• Python User Input

• Python 3.6
• Python 2.7

• Python String Formatting

• String format()
• Multiple Values
• Index Numbers
• Named Indexes
 Python Try Except
The try block lets you test a block of code for errors.
The except block lets you handle the error.
The else block lets you execute code when there is no error.
The finally block lets you execute code, regardless of the result of the try- and except blocks.

Exception Handling
When an error occurs, or exception as we call it, Python will normally stop and generate an error
message.
These exceptions can be handled using the try statement:
Example
The try block will generate an exception, because x is not defined:
try:
print(x)
except:
print("An exception occurred")

Since the try block raises an error, the except block will be executed.
Without the try block, the program will crash and raise an error:
Example
This statement will raise an error, because x is not defined:
print(x)

Many Exceptions
You can define as many exception blocks as you want, e.g. if you want to execute a special block of
code for a special kind of error:
Example
Print one message if the try block raises a NameError and another for other errors:
try:
print(x)
except NameError:
print("Variable x is not defined")
except:
print("Something else went wrong")

Else
You can use the else keyword to define a block of code to be executed if no errors were raised:
Example
In this example, the try block does not generate any error:
try:
print("Hello")
except:
print("Something went wrong")
else:
print("Nothing went wrong")
Finally
The finally block, if specified, will be executed regardless if the try block raises an error or not.
Example
try:
print(x)
except:
print("Something went wrong")
finally:
print("The 'try except' is finished")

This can be useful to close objects and clean up resources:

Example
Try to open and write to a file that is not writable:
try:
f = open("demofile.txt")
try:
f.write("Lorum Ipsum")
except:
print("Something went wrong when writing to the file")
finally:
f.close()
except:
print("Something went wrong when opening the file")

The program can continue, without leaving the file object open.

Raise an exception
As a Python developer you can choose to throw an exception if a condition occurs.
To throw (or raise) an exception, use the raise keyword.
Example
Raise an error and stop the program if x is lower than 0:
x = -1

if x < 0:
raise Exception("Sorry, no numbers below zero")

The raise keyword is used to raise an exception.

You can define what kind of error to raise, and the text to print to the user.
Example
Raise a TypeError if x is not an integer:
x = "hello"

if not type(x) is int:

raise TypeError("Only integers are allowed")
 Python User Input
User Input

Python allows for user input.

That means we are able to ask the user for input.

The method is a bit different in Python 3.6 than Python 2.7.

Python 3.6 uses the input() method.

Python 2.7 uses the raw_input() method.

The following example asks for the username, and when you entered the username, it gets printed on
the screen:
Python 3.6
username = input("Enter username:")
print("Username is: " + username)

Python 2.7
username = raw_input("Enter username:")
print("Username is: " + username)

Python stops executing when it comes to the input() function, and continues when the user has given
some input.
 Python String Formatting
To make sure a string will display as expected, we can format the result with the format() method.
String format()
The format() method allows you to format selected parts of a string.
Sometimes there are parts of a text that you do not control, maybe they come from a database, or user
input?
To control such values, add placeholders (curly
brackets {}) in the text, and run the values through You can add parameters inside the curly
the format() method: brackets to specify how to convert the value:
Example Example
Add a placeholder where you want to display the Format the price to be displayed as a
price: number with two decimals:
price = 49 txt = "The price is {:.2f}
txt = "The price is {} dollars" dollars"
print(txt.format(price))

Multiple Values And add more placeholders:

If you want to use more values, just add
Example
more values to the format() method: quantity = 3
print(txt.format(price, itemno, itemno = 567
count)) price = 49
myorder = "I want {} pieces of item number {}
for {:.2f} dollars."
print(myorder.format(quantity, itemno, price))

Index Numbers
You can use index numbers (a number inside the curly brackets {0}) to be sure the values are placed in
the correct placeholders: Also, if you want to refer to the same value
Example more than once, use the index number:
quantity = 3
itemno = 567
Example
price = 49 age = 36
myorder = "I want {0} pieces of item name = "John"
number {1} for {2:.2f} dollars." txt = "His name is {1}. {1} is {0}
print(myorder.format(quantity, years old."
itemno, price)) print(txt.format(age, name))

Named Indexes
You can also use named indexes by entering a name inside the curly brackets {carname}, but then you
must use names when you pass the parameter values txt.format(carname = "Ford"):
Example
myorder = "I have a {carname}, it is a {model}."
print(myorder.format(carname = "Ford", model = "Mustang"))