INDEX

Python Tutorial
Python HOME
Python Intro
Python Get Started
Python Syntax
Python Comments
Python Variables
Python Data Types
Python Numbers
Python Casting
Python Strings
Python Booleans
Python Operators
Python Lists
Python Tuples
Python Sets
Python Dictionaries
Python If...Else
Python While Loops
Python For Loops
Python Functions
Python Lambda
Python Arrays
Python Classes/Objects
Python Inheritance
Python Iterators
Python Scope
Python Modules
Python Dates
Python Math
Python JSON
Python RegEx
Python PIP
Python Try...Except
Python User Input
Python String Formatting

File Handling
Python File Handling
Python Read Files
Python Write/Create Files
Python Delete Files

Python Modules
NumPy Tutorial
Pandas Tutorial
SciPy Tutorial
Django Tutorial

Python Matplotlib
Matplotlib Intro
Matplotlib Get Started
Matplotlib Pyplot
Matplotlib Plotting
Matplotlib Markers
Matplotlib Line
Matplotlib Labels
Matplotlib Grid
Matplotlib Subplot
Matplotlib Scatter
Matplotlib Bars
Matplotlib Histograms
Matplotlib Pie Charts

Machine Learning
Getting Started
Mean Median Mode
Standard Deviation
Percentile
Data Distribution
Normal Data Distribution
Scatter Plot
Linear Regression
Polynomial Regression
Multiple Regression
Scale
Train/Test
Decision Tree
Confusion Matrix
Hierarchical Clustering
Logistic Regression
Grid Search
Categorical Data
K-means
Bootstrap Aggregation
Cross Validation
AUC - ROC Curve
K-nearest neighbors

Python MySQL
MySQL Get Started
MySQL Create Database
MySQL Create Table
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By
MySQL Delete
MySQL Drop Table
MySQL Update
MySQL Limit
MySQL Join

Python MongoDB
MongoDB Get Started
MongoDB Create Database
MongoDB Create Collection
MongoDB Insert
MongoDB Find
MongoDB Query
MongoDB Sort
MongoDB Delete
MongoDB Drop Collection
MongoDB Update
MongoDB Limit

Python Reference
Python Overview
Python Built-in Functions
Python String Methods
Python List Methods
Python Dictionary Methods
Python Tuple Methods
Python Set Methods
Python File Methods
Python Keywords
Python Exceptions
Python Glossary

Module Reference
Random Module
Requests Module
Statistics Module
Math Module
cMath Module

Python How To
Remove List Duplicates
Reverse a String
Add Two Numbers

Python Examples
Python Examples
Python Compiler
Python Exercise
Python Introduction
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What is Python?

Python is a popular programming language. It was created by Guido van Rossum,

and released in 1991

It is used for:

• web development (server-side),

• software development
• mathematics,
• system scripting.

What can Python do?

• Python can be used on a server to create web applications.

• Python can be used alongside software to create workflows.
• Python can connect to database systems. It can also read and modify files.
• Python can be used to handle big data and perform complex mathematics.
• Python can be used for rapid prototyping, or for production-ready software
development.

Why Python?

• Python works on different platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, Raspberry Pi, etc).
• Python has a simple syntax similar to the English language.
• Python has syntax that allows developers to write programs with fewer lines than
some other programming languages.
• Python runs on an interpreter system, meaning that code can be executed as soon
as it is written. This means that prototyping can be very quick.
• Python can be treated in a procedural way, an object-oriented way or a functional
way.

Good to know

• The most recent major version of Python is Python 3, which we shall be using in this
tutorial. However, Python 2, although not being updated with anything other than
security updates, is still quite popular.
• In this tutorial Python will be written in a text editor. It is possible to write Python in
an Integrated Development Environment,

such as Thonny, Pycharm, Netbeans or Eclipse which are particularly useful when
managing larger collections of Python files.
Python Syntax compared to other programming languages

• Python was designed for readability, and has some similarities to the English
language with influence from mathematics.
• Python uses new lines to complete a command, as opposed to other programming
languages which often use semicolons or parentheses.
• Python relies on indentation, using whitespace, to define scope; such as the scope
of loops, functions and classes. Other programming languages often use curly-
brackets for this purpose

Example
print("Hello, World!")
Try it Yourself »

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Python Getting Started
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Python Install

Many PCs and Macs will have python already installed.

To check if you have python installed on a Windows PC, search in the start bar for Python
or run the following on the Command Line (cmd.exe):

C:\Users\Your Name>python --version

To check if you have python installed on a Linux or Mac, then on linux open the command
line or on Mac open the Terminal and type:

python --version

If you find that you do not have Python installed on your computer, then you can download
it for free from the following website: https://www.python.org/

Python Quickstart

Python is an interpreted programming language, this means that as a developer you write
Python (.py) files in a text editor and then put those files into the python interpreter to be
executed.

The way to run a python file is like this on the command line:

C:\Users\Your Name>python helloworld.py

Where "helloworld.py" is the name of your python file.

Let's write our first Python file, called helloworld.py, which can be done in any text editor.

helloworld.py

print("Hello, World!")
Try it Yourself »

Simple as that. Save your file. Open your command line, navigate to the directory where
you saved your file, and run:

C:\Users\Your Name>python helloworld.py

The output should read:

Hello, World!

Congratulations, you have written and executed your first Python program.
The Python Command Line

To test a short amount of code in python sometimes it is quickest and easiest not to write
the code in a file. This is made possible because Python can be run as a command line
itself.

Type the following on the Windows, Mac or Linux command line:

C:\Users\Your Name>python
Or, if the "python" command did not work, you can try "py":
C:\Users\Your Name>py

From there you can write any python, including our hello world example from earlier in the
tutorial:

C:\Users\Your Name>python
Python 3.6.4 (v3.6.4:d48eceb, Dec 19 2017, 06:04:45) [MSC v.1900 32 bit (Intel)] on
win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> print("Hello, World!")

Which will write "Hello, World!" in the command line:

C:\Users\Your Name>python
Python 3.6.4 (v3.6.4:d48eceb, Dec 19 2017, 06:04:45) [MSC v.1900 32 bit (Intel)] on
win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> print("Hello, World!")
Hello, World!

Whenever you are done in the python command line, you can simply type the following to
quit the python command line interface:

exit()

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Python Syntax
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Execute Python Syntax

As we learned in the previous page, Python syntax can be executed by writing directly in
the Command Line:

>>> print("Hello, World!")

Hello, World!

Or by creating a python file on the server, using the .py file extension, and running it in
the Command Line:
C:\Users\Your Name>python myfile.py

Python Indentation
Indentation refers to the spaces at the beginning of a code line.

Where in other programming languages the indentation in code is for readability

only, the indentation in Python is very important

Python uses indentation to indicate a block of code.

Example
if 5 > 2:
print("Five is greater than two!")
Try it Yourself »

Python will give you an error if you skip the indentation:

Example
Syntax Error:

if 5 > 2:
print("Five is greater than two!")
Try it Yourself »

The number of spaces is up to you as a programmer, the most common use is four, but i

t has to be at least one.

Example
if 5 > 2:
print("Five is greater than two!")
if 5 > 2:
print("Five is greater than two!")
Try it Yourself »

You have to use the same number of spaces in the same block of code,
otherwise Python will give you an error

Example
Syntax Error:
 if 5 > 2:
print("Five is greater than two!")
print("Five is greater than two!")
Try it Yourself »

Python Variables
In Python, variables are

created when you assign a value to it

:

Example
Variables in Python:

x = 5
y = "Hello, World!"
Try it Yourself »

Python has no command for declaring a variable.

You will learn more about variables in the Python Variables chapter.

Comments
Python has commenting capability for the purpose of in-code documentation

Comments start with a #, and Python will render the rest of the line as a comment:

Example
Comments in Python:

#This is a comment.
print("Hello, World!")
Try it Yourself »

With Exercises
Exercise:
Insert the missing part of the code below to output "Hello World".
 ("Hello World")

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

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Comments can be used to explain Python code.

Comments can be used to make the code more readable.

Comments can be used to prevent execution when testing code

Creating a Comment
Comments starts with a #, and Python will ignore them:

Example
#This is a comment
print("Hello, World!")
Try it Yourself »

Comments can be placed at the end of a line, and Python will ignore the rest
of the line:

Example
print("Hello, World!") #This is a comment
Try it Yourself »

A comment does not have to be text

that explains the code, it can also be u

sed to prevent Python from executing code:

Example
#print("Hello, World!")
print("Cheers, Mate!")
Try it Yourself »

Multi Line Comments

Python does not really have a syntax for multi line comments
 .

To add a multiline comment you could insert a # for each line:

Example
#This is a comment
#written in
#more than just one line
print("Hello,World!")
Try it Yourself »

Or, not quite as intended, you can use a multiline string

Since Python will ignore string literals that are not assigned to a variable, you can add a
multiline string (triple quotes)

in your code, and place your comment inside it:

Example
"""
This is a comment
written in
more than just one line
"""
print("Hello, World!")
Try it Yourself »

As long as the string is not assigned to a variable, Python will read the code, but then
ignore it, and you have made a multiline comment.

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
Comments in Python are written with a special character, which one?

This is a comment

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

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Python Variables
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Variables
Variables

are containers for storing data values.

Creating Variables
Python has no command for declaring a variable.

A variable is created the moment you first

assign a value to it.

Example
x = 5
y = "John"
print(x)
print(y)
Try it Yourself »

Variables do not need to be declared with any particular type

, and can even change type after they have been set
.

Example
x = 4 # x is of type int
x = "Sally" # x is now of type str

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Casting
If you want to specify the data type of a variable

, this can be done with casting.

Example

x = str(3) # x will be '3'

y = int(3) # y

will be 3
z = float(3) # z will be 3.0
Try it Yourself »

Get the Type

You can get the data type of a variable

with the type() function.

Example
x = 5
y = "John"
print(type(x))
print(type(y))
Try it Yourself »
You will learn more about data types and casting later in this tutorial.

Single or Double Quotes?

String variables can be declared either by using single or double quotes:

Example
x = "John"
# is the same as
x = 'John'
Try it Yourself »

Case-Sensitive
Variable names are case-sensitive.

Example
This will create two variables:

a = 4
A = "Sally"
#A will not overwrite a
Try it Yourself »
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Python - Variable Names

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Variable Names
A variable can have a short name (like x and y) or a more descriptive name (age, carname,
total_volume)
. Rules for Python variables:

• A variable name must start with a letter or the underscore character

• A variable name cannot start with a number
• A variable name can only contain alpha-numeric characters and underscores (A-z,
0-9, and _ )
• Variable names are

case-sensitive (age, Age and AGE are three different variables)

Example
Legal variable names:

myvar = "John"
my_var = "John"
_my_var = "John"
myVar = "John"
MYVAR = "John"
myvar2 = "John"
Try it Yourself »

Example
Illegal variable names:

2myvar = "John"
my-var = "John"
my var = "John"
Try it Yourself »
Remember that variable names are case-sensitive

Multi Words Variable Names

Variable names with more than one word can be difficult to read.

There are several techniques

you can use to make them more readable:

Camel Case
Each word, except the first, starts with a capital letter:

myVariable
Name = "John"

Pascal Case
Each word starts with a capital letter:

MyVariableN
ame = "John"

Snake Case
Each word is separated by an underscore character:

my_variable_name = "John"

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Python Variables - Assign Multiple
Values
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Many Values to Multiple Variables

Python allows you to assign values to multiple variables in one line

Example
x, y, z = "Orange", "Banana", "Cherry"
print(x)
print(y)
print(z)
Try it Yourself »

Note: Make sure the

number of variables matches the number of values, or else you will get an error.

One Value to Multiple Variables

And you can assign the same value to multiple variables in one line

Example
x = y = z = "Orange"
print(x)
print(y)
print(z)
Try it Yourself »

Unpack a Collection
If you have a collection of values in a list, tuple etc

.
Python allows you to extract the values into variables. This is called unpacking
.

Example
Unpack a list:

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

x, y, z = fruits
print(x)
print(y)
print(z)
Try it Yourself »

Learn more about unpacking in our Unpack Tuples Chapter.

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Output Variables
The Python print() function

is often used to output variables.

Example
x = "Python is awesome"
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

In the print() function, you output multiple

variables, separated by a comma

Example
x = "Python"
y = "is"
z = "awesome"
print(x, y, z)
Try it Yourself »

You can also use the + operator

to output
multiple variables:

Example
x = "Python "
y = "is "
z = "awesome"
print(x + y + z)
Try it Yourself »

Notice the space character

after "Python " and "is ",

without them the result would be "Pythonisawesome".

For numbers, the +

character works as a mathematical operator

:

Example
x = 5
y = 10
print(x + y)
Try it Yourself »

In the print() function, when you try to

combine a string and a number

with the +
operator, Python will give you an error
:

Example
x = 5
y = "John"
print(x + y)
Try it Yourself »

The best way to output multiple variables in the print() function is to

separate them with commas,

which even support different data types
:

Example
x = 5
y = "John"
print(x, y)
Try it Yourself »

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Global Variables
Variables that are

created outside of a function (as in all of the examples above) are known as global variables.

Global variables

can be used by everyone, both inside of functions and outside

.

Example
Create a variable outside of a function, and use it inside the function

x = "awesome"

def myfunc():
print("Python is " + x)

myfunc()
Try it Yourself »

If you create a variable with the same name inside a function, this variable
will

be local, and
can only be used inside the function
. The
global variable
with the same name will remain as it was, global and with the original value
.

Example
Create a variable inside a function, with the same name as the global variable

x = "awesome"

def myfunc():
x = "fantastic"
print("Python is " + x)

myfunc()

print("Python is " + x)
Try it Yourself »
The global Keyword
Normally, when you create a variable inside a function, that variable is
local, and can only be used inside that function.

To create a global variable inside a function, you can use the

global keyword.

Example
If you use the global keyword, the variable belongs to the global scope

:
def myfunc():
global x
x = "fantastic"

myfunc()

print("Python is " + x)
Try it Yourself »

Also, use the global keyword if you want to change a global variable inside a function

Example
To change the value of a global variable inside a function, refer to the
variable by using the global keyword:

x = "awesome"

def myfunc():
global x

x = "fantastic"

myfunc()

print("Python is " + x)
Try it Yourself »

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Python Data Types
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Built-in Data Types

In programming, data type is an important concept.

Variables can store data of different types, and different types can do different things.

Python has the following data types built-in by default, in these categories:

Text Type: str

Numeric Types: int, float, complex

Sequence Types: list, tuple, range

Mapping Type: dict

Set Types: set, frozenset

Boolean Type: bool

Binary Types: bytes, bytearray, memoryview

None Type: NoneType

Getting the Data Type

You can get the data type of any object by using the type() function:

Example
Print the data type of the variable x:

x = 5
print(type(x))
Try it Yourself »

Setting the Data Type

In Python, the data type is set when you assign a value to a variable:
Example Data Type Try it

x = "Hello World" str Try it »

x = 20 int Try it »

x = 20.5 float Try it »

x = 1j complex Try it »

x = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"] list Try it »

x = ("apple", "banana", "cherry") tuple Try it »

x = range(6) range Try it »

x = {"name" : "John", "age" : 36} dict Try it »

x = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"} set Try it »

x = frozenset({"apple", "banana", frozenset Try it »

"cherry"})

x = True bool Try it »

x = b"Hello" bytes Try it »

 x = bytearray(5) bytearray Try it »

x = memoryview(bytes(5)) memoryview Try it »

x = None NoneType Try it »

Setting the Specific Data Type

If you want to specify the data type, you can use the following constructor functions:

Example Data Type Try it

x = str("Hello World") str Try it »

x = int(20) int Try it »

x = float(20.5) float Try it »

x = complex(1j) complex Try it »

x = list(("apple", "banana", list Try it »

"cherry"))
 x = tuple(("apple", "banana", tuple Try it »
"cherry"))

x = range(6) range Try it »

x = dict(name="John", age=36) dict Try it »

x = set(("apple", "banana", set Try it »

"cherry"))

x = frozenset(("apple", "banana", frozenset Try it »

"cherry"))

x = bool(5) bool Try it »

x = bytes(5) bytes Try it »

x = bytearray(5) bytearray Try it »

x = memoryview(bytes(5)) memoryview Try it »

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
The following code example would print the data type of x, what data type would that be?

x = 5
print(type(x))
Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

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Python Numbers
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Python Numbers
There are three numeric types in Python:

• int
• float
• complex

Variables of numeric types are created when you assign a value to them:

Example
x = 1 # int
y = 2.8 # float
z = 1j # complex

To verify the type of any object in Python, use the type() function:

Example
print(type(x))
print(type(y))
print(type(z))

Try it Yourself »

Int
Int, or integer, is a whole number, positive or negative, without decimals, of unlimited
length.

Example
Integers:

x = 1
y = 35656222554887711
z = -3255522

print(type(x))
print(type(y))
print(type(z))
Try it Yourself »

Float
Float, or "floating point number" is a number, positive or negative, containing one or
more decimals.

Example
Floats:

x = 1.10
y = 1.0
z = -35.59

print(type(x))
print(type(y))
print(type(z))
Try it Yourself »

Float can also be scientific numbers with an "e" to indicate the power of 10.

Example
Floats:

x = 35e3
y = 12E4
z = -87.7e100

print(type(x))
print(type(y))
print(type(z))
Try it Yourself »
Complex
Complex numbers are written with a "j" as the imaginary part:

Example
Complex:

x = 3+5j
y = 5j
z = -5j

print(type(x))
print(type(y))
print(type(z))
Try it Yourself »

Type Conversion
You can convert from one type to another with the int(), float(), and complex() methods:

Example
Convert from one type to another:

x = 1 # int
y = 2.8 # float
z = 1j # complex

#convert from int to float:

a = float(x)

#convert from float to int:

b = int(y)

#convert from int to complex:

c = complex(x)

print(a)
print(b)
print(c)

print(type(a))
print(type(b))
print(type(c))
Try it Yourself »

Note: You cannot convert complex numbers into another number type.
 Random Number
Python does not have a random() function to make a random number, but Python has a
built-in module called random that can be used to make random numbers:

Example
Import the random module, and display a random number between 1 and 9:

import random

print(random.randrange(1, 10))
Try it Yourself »

In our Random Module Reference you will learn more about the Random module.

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
Insert the correct syntax to convert x into a floating point number.

x = 5
x = (x)

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

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Python Casting
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Specify a Variable Type

There may be times when you want to specify a type on to a variable. This can be done
with casting. Python is an object-orientated language, and as such it uses classes to
define data types, including its primitive types.

Casting in python is therefore done using constructor functions:

• int() - constructs an integer number from an integer literal, a float literal (by
removing all decimals), or a string literal (providing the string represents a whole
number)
• float() - constructs a float number from an integer literal, a float literal or a string
literal (providing the string represents a float or an integer)
• str() - constructs a string from a wide variety of data types, including strings,
integer literals and float literals

Example
Integers:

x = int(1) # x will be 1
y = int(2.8) # y will be 2
z = int("3") # z will be 3

Try it Yourself »

Example
Floats:

x = float(1) # x will be 1.0

y = float(2.8) # y will be 2.8
z = float("3") # z will be 3.0
w = float("4.2") # w will be 4.2

Try it Yourself »

Example
Strings:

x = str("s1") # x will be 's1'

y = str(2) # y will be '2'
z = str(3.0) # z will be '3.0'
Try it Yourself »

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Strings
Strings in python are surrounded by either single quotation marks, or double quotation
marks.

'hello' is the same as "hello".

You can display a string literal with the print() function:

Example
print("Hello")
print('Hello')
Try it Yourself »

Assign String to a Variable

Assigning a string to a variable is done with the variable name followed by an equal sign
and the string:

Example
a = "Hello"
print(a)
Try it Yourself »

Multiline Strings
You can assign a multiline string to a variable by using three quotes:

Example
You can use three double quotes:

a = """Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,

consectetur adipiscing elit,
sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt
ut labore et dolore magna aliqua."""
print(a)
Try it Yourself »

Or three single quotes:

Example
a = '''Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetur adipiscing elit,
sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt
ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.'''
print(a)
Try it Yourself »

Note: in the result, the line breaks are inserted at the same position as in the code.
Strings are Arrays
Like many other popular programming languages, strings in Python are arrays of bytes
representing unicode characters.

However, Python does not have a character data type, a single character is simply a
string with a length of 1.

Square brackets can be used to access elements of the string.

Example
Get the character at position 1 (remember that the first character has the position 0):

a = "Hello, World!"
print(a[1])
Try it Yourself »

Looping Through a String

Since strings are arrays, we can loop through the characters in a string, with a for loop.

Example
Loop through the letters in the word "banana":

for x in "banana":
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Learn more about For Loops in our Python For Loops chapter.

String Length
To get the length of a string, use the len() function.

Example
The len() function returns the length of a string:
a = "Hello, World!"
print(len(a))
Try it Yourself »

Check String
To check if a certain phrase or character is present in a string, we can use the
keyword in.

Example
Check if "free" is present in the following text:

txt = "The best things in life are free!"

print("free" in txt)

Try it Yourself »

Use it in an if statement:

Example
Print only if "free" is present:

txt = "The best things in life are free!"

if "free" in txt:
print("Yes, 'free' is present.")
Try it Yourself »

Learn more about If statements in our Python If...Else chapter.

Check if NOT
To check if a certain phrase or character is NOT present in a string, we can use the
keyword not in.

Example
Check if "expensive" is NOT present in the following text:

txt = "The best things in life are free!"

print("expensive" not in txt)
Try it Yourself »

Use it in an if statement:
Example
print only if "expensive" is NOT present:

txt = "The best things in life are free!"

if "expensive" not in txt:
print("No, 'expensive' is NOT present.")
Try it Yourself »

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Python - Slicing Strings

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Slicing
You can return a range of characters by using the slice syntax.

Specify the start index and the end index, separated by a colon, to return a part of the
string.

Example
Get the characters from position 2 to position 5 (not included):

b = "Hello, World!"
print(b[2:5])
Try it Yourself »

Note: The first character has index 0.

Slice From the Start

By leaving out the start index, the range will start at the first character:

Example
Get the characters from the start to position 5 (not included):
b = "Hello, World!"
print(b[:5])
Try it Yourself »

Slice To the End

By leaving out the end index, the range will go to the end:

Example
Get the characters from position 2, and all the way to the end:

b = "Hello, World!"
print(b[2:])
Try it Yourself »

Negative Indexing
Use negative indexes to start the slice from the end of the string:

Example
Get the characters:

From: "o" in "World!" (position -5)

To, but not included: "d" in "World!" (position -2):

b = "Hello, World!"
print(b[-5:-2])
Try it Yourself »

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Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on strings.
Upper Case
Example
The upper() method returns the string in upper case:

a = "Hello, World!"
print(a.upper())
Try it Yourself »

Lower Case
Example
The lower() method returns the string in lower case:

a = "Hello, World!"
print(a.lower())
Try it Yourself »

Remove Whitespace
Whitespace is the space before and/or after the actual text, and very often you want to
remove this space.

Example
The strip() method removes any whitespace from the beginning or the end:

a = " Hello, World! "

print(a.strip()) # returns "Hello, World!"
Try it Yourself »

Replace String
Example
The replace() method replaces a string with another string:
a = "Hello, World!"
print(a.replace("H", "J"))
Try it Yourself »

Split String
The split() method returns a list where the text between the specified separator becomes
the list items.

Example
The split() method splits the string into substrings if it finds instances of the separator:

a = "Hello, World!"
print(a.split(",")) # returns ['Hello', ' World!']
Try it Yourself »

Learn more about Lists in our Python Lists chapter.

String Methods
Learn more about String Methods with our String Methods Reference

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String Concatenation
To concatenate, or combine, two strings you can use the + operator.

Example
Merge variable a with variable b into variable c:

a = "Hello"
b = "World"
c = a + b
print(c)
Try it Yourself »

Example
To add a space between them, add a " ":

a = "Hello"
b = "World"
c = a + " " + b
print(c)
Try it Yourself »

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String Format
As we learned in the Python Variables chapter, we cannot combine strings and numbers
like this:

Example
age = 36
txt = "My name is John, I am " + age
print(txt)
Try it Yourself »

But we can combine strings and numbers by using the format() method!

The format() method takes the passed arguments, formats them, and places them in the
string where the placeholders {} are:

Example
Use the format() method to insert numbers into strings:

age = 36
txt = "My name is John, and I am {}"
print(txt.format(age))
Try it Yourself »

The format() method takes unlimited number of arguments, and are placed into the
respective placeholders:

Example
quantity = 3
itemno = 567
price = 49.95
myorder = "I want {} pieces of item {} for {} dollars."
print(myorder.format(quantity, itemno, price))
Try it Yourself »

You can use index numbers {0} to be sure the arguments are placed in the correct
placeholders:

Example
quantity = 3
itemno = 567
price = 49.95
myorder = "I want to pay {2} dollars for {0} pieces of item {1}."
print(myorder.format(quantity, itemno, price))
Try it Yourself »

Learn more about String Formatting in our String Formatting chapter.

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Escape Character
To insert characters that are illegal in a string, use an escape character.

An escape character is a backslash \ followed by the character you want to insert.

An example of an illegal character is a double quote inside a string that is surrounded by

double quotes:

Example
You will get an error if you use double quotes inside a string that is surrounded by double
quotes:

txt = "We are the so-called "Vikings" from the north."

Try it Yourself »

To fix this problem, use the escape character \":

Example
The escape character allows you to use double quotes when you normally would not be
allowed:
txt = "We are the so-called \"Vikings\" from the north."
Try it Yourself »

Escape Characters
Other escape characters used in Python:

Code Result Try it

\' Single Quote Try it »

\\ Backslash Try it »

\n New Line Try it »

\r Carriage Return Try it »

\t Tab Try it »

\b Backspace Try it »

\f Form Feed

\ooo Octal value Try it »

\xhh Hex value

 ❮ PreviousNext ❯

String Methods
Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on strings.

Note: All string methods return new values. They do not change the original string.

Method Description

capitalize() Converts the first character to upper case

casefold() Converts string into lower case

center() Returns a centered string

count() Returns the number of times a specified value

occurs in a string

encode() Returns an encoded version of the string

endswith() Returns true if the string ends with the specified

value

expandtabs() Sets the tab size of the string

find() Searches the string for a specified value and returns

the position of where it was found

format() Formats specified values in a string

format_map() Formats specified values in a string

index() Searches the string for a specified value and returns

the position of where it was found

isalnum() Returns True if all characters in the string are

alphanumeric

isalpha() Returns True if all characters in the string are in the

alphabet

isdecimal() Returns True if all characters in the string are

decimals

isdigit() Returns True if all characters in the string are digits

isidentifier() Returns True if the string is an identifier

islower() Returns True if all characters in the string are lower

case

isnumeric() Returns True if all characters in the string are

numeric

isprintable() Returns True if all characters in the string are

printable

isspace() Returns True if all characters in the string are

whitespaces
istitle() Returns True if the string follows the rules of a title

isupper() Returns True if all characters in the string are upper

case

join() Joins the elements of an iterable to the end of the

string

ljust() Returns a left justified version of the string

lower() Converts a string into lower case

lstrip() Returns a left trim version of the string

maketrans() Returns a translation table to be used in translations

partition() Returns a tuple where the string is parted into three

parts

replace() Returns a string where a specified value is replaced

with a specified value

rfind() Searches the string for a specified value and returns

the last position of where it was found

rindex() Searches the string for a specified value and returns

the last position of where it was found

rjust() Returns a right justified version of the string

rpartition() Returns a tuple where the string is parted into three
parts

rsplit() Splits the string at the specified separator, and

returns a list

rstrip() Returns a right trim version of the string

split() Splits the string at the specified separator, and

returns a list

splitlines() Splits the string at line breaks and returns a list

startswith() Returns true if the string starts with the specified

value

strip() Returns a trimmed version of the string

swapcase() Swaps cases, lower case becomes upper case and

vice versa

title() Converts the first character of each word to upper

case

translate() Returns a translated string

upper() Converts a string into upper case

 zfill() Fills the string with a specified number of 0 values
at the beginning

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Test Yourself With Exercises

Now you have learned a lot about Strings, and how to use them in Python.

Are you ready for a test?

Try to insert the missing part to make the code work as expected:

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
Use the len method to print the length of the string.

x = "Hello World"
print( )

Submit Answer »

Go to the Exercise section and test all of our Python Strings Exercises:

Python String Exercises

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Booleans represent one of two values: True or False.

Boolean Values
In programming you often need to know if an expression is True or False.

You can evaluate any expression in Python, and get one of two answers, True or False.

When you compare two values, the expression is evaluated and Python returns the
Boolean answer:

Example
print(10 > 9)
print(10 == 9)
print(10 < 9)
Try it Yourself »

When you run a condition in an if statement, Python returns True or False:

Example
Print a message based on whether the condition is True or False:

a = 200
b = 33

if b > a:
print("b is greater than a")
else:
print("b is not greater than a")
Try it Yourself »

Evaluate Values and Variables

The bool() function allows you to evaluate any value, and give you True or False in return,

Example
Evaluate a string and a number:

print(bool("Hello"))
print(bool(15))

Try it Yourself »

Example
Evaluate two variables:
x = "Hello"
y = 15

print(bool(x))
print(bool(y))

Try it Yourself »

Most Values are True

Almost any value is evaluated to True if it has some sort of content.

Any string is True, except empty strings.

Any number is True, except 0.

Any list, tuple, set, and dictionary are True, except empty ones.

Example
The following will return True:

bool("abc")
bool(123)
bool(["apple", "cherry", "banana"])

Try it Yourself »

Some Values are False

In fact, there are not many values that evaluate to False, except empty values, such
as (), [], {}, "", the number 0, and the value None. And of course the value False evaluates
to False.

Example
The following will return False:

bool(False)
bool(None)
bool(0)
bool("")
bool(())
bool([])
bool({})
Try it Yourself »

One more value, or object in this case, evaluates to False, and that is if you have an
object that is made from a class with a __len__ function that returns 0 or False:

Example
class myclass():
def __len__(self):
return 0

myobj = myclass()
print(bool(myobj))
Try it Yourself »

Functions can Return a Boolean

You can create functions that returns a Boolean Value:

Example
Print the answer of a function:

def myFunction() :
return True

print(myFunction())
Try it Yourself »

You can execute code based on the Boolean answer of a function:

Example
Print "YES!" if the function returns True, otherwise print "NO!":

def myFunction() :
return True

if myFunction():
print("YES!")
else:
print("NO!")
Try it Yourself »

Python also has many built-in functions that return a boolean value, like
the isinstance() function, which can be used to determine if an object is of a certain data
type:
 Example
Check if an object is an integer or not:

x = 200
print(isinstance(x, int))
Try it Yourself »

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
The statement below would print a Boolean value, which one?

print(10 > 9)

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

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Python Operators
Operators are used to perform operations on variables and values.

In the example below, we use the + operator to add together two values:

Example
print(10 + 5)
Run example »

Python divides the operators in the following groups:

• Arithmetic operators
• Assignment operators
• Comparison operators
• Logical operators
• Identity operators
• Membership operators
• Bitwise operators
Python Arithmetic Operators
Arithmetic operators are used with numeric values to perform common mathematical
operations:

Operator Name Example Try it

+ Addition x+y Try it »

- Subtraction x-y Try it »

* Multiplication x*y Try it »

/ Division x/y Try it »

% Modulus x%y Try it »

** Exponentiation x ** y Try it »

// Floor division x // y Try it »

Python Assignment Operators

Assignment operators are used to assign values to variables:

Operator Example Same As Try it

= x=5 x=5 Try it »

+= x += 3 x=x+3 Try it »

-= x -= 3 x=x-3 Try it »

*= x *= 3 x=x*3 Try it »

/= x /= 3 x=x/3 Try it »

%= x %= 3 x=x%3 Try it »

//= x //= 3 x = x // 3 Try it »

**= x **= 3 x = x ** 3 Try it »

&= x &= 3 x=x&3 Try it »

|= x |= 3 x=x|3 Try it »

^= x ^= 3 x=x^3 Try it »

>>= x >>= 3 x = x >> 3 Try it »

<<= x <<= 3 x = x << 3 Try it »

Python Comparison Operators
Comparison operators are used to compare two values:

Operator Name Example Try it

== Equal x == y Try it »

!= Not equal x != y Try it »

> Greater than x>y Try it »

< Less than x<y Try it »

>= Greater than or equal to x >= y Try it »

<= Less than or equal to x <= y Try it »

Python Logical Operators

Logical operators are used to combine conditional statements:

Operator Description Example Try it

 and Returns True if both statements are x < 5 and x < 10 Try it »
true

or Returns True if one of the x < 5 or x < 4 Try it »

statements is true

not Reverse the result, returns False if not(x < 5 and x Try it »
the result is true < 10)

Python Identity Operators

Identity operators are used to compare the objects, not if they are equal, but if they are
actually the same object, with the same memory location:

Operator Description Example Try it

is Returns True if both variables are x is y Try it »

the same object

is not Returns True if both variables are x is not y Try it »

not the same object

Python Membership Operators

Membership operators are used to test if a sequence is presented in an object:

Operator Description Example Try it

 in Returns True if a sequence with the x in y Try it
specified value is present in the object »

not in Returns True if a sequence with the x not in y Try it

specified value is not present in the »
object

Python Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operators are used to compare (binary) numbers:

Operator Name Description

& AND Sets each bit to 1 if both bits are 1

| OR Sets each bit to 1 if one of two bits is 1

^ XOR Sets each bit to 1 if only one of two bits is 1

~ NOT Inverts all the bits

<< Zero fill left Shift left by pushing zeros in from the right and let the
shift leftmost bits fall off

>> Signed Shift right by pushing copies of the leftmost bit in

right shift from the left, and let the rightmost bits fall off
Test Yourself With Exercises
Exercise:
Multiply 10 with 5, and print the result.

print(10 5)

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python Lists
mylist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

List
Lists are used to store multiple items in a single variable.

Lists are one of 4 built-in data types in Python used to store collections of data, the other
3 are Tuple, Set, and Dictionary, all with different qualities and usage.

Lists are created using square brackets:

Example
Create a List:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

List Items
List items are ordered, changeable, and allow duplicate values.

List items are indexed, the first item has index [0], the second item has index [1] etc.

Ordered
When we say that lists are ordered, it means that the items have a defined order, and
that order will not change.

If you add new items to a list, the new items will be placed at the end of the list.

Note: There are some list methods that will change the order, but in general: the order
of the items will not change.

Changeable
The list is changeable, meaning that we can change, add, and remove items in a list after
it has been created.

Allow Duplicates
Since lists are indexed, lists can have items with the same value:

Example
Lists allow duplicate values:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "apple", "cherry"]

print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

List Length
To determine how many items a list has, use the len() function:
Example
Print the number of items in the list:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

print(len(thislist))
Try it Yourself »

List Items - Data Types

List items can be of any data type:

Example
String, int and boolean data types:

list1 = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

list2 = [1, 5, 7, 9, 3]
list3 = [True, False, False]
Try it Yourself »

A list can contain different data types:

Example
A list with strings, integers and boolean values:

list1 = ["abc", 34, True, 40, "male"]

Try it Yourself »

type()
From Python's perspective, lists are defined as objects with the data type 'list':

<class 'list'>

Example
What is the data type of a list?

mylist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

print(type(mylist))
Try it Yourself »
The list() Constructor
It is also possible to use the list() constructor when creating a new list.

Example
Using the list() constructor to make a List:

thislist = list(("apple", "banana", "cherry")) # note the double round-brackets

print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

Python Collections (Arrays)

There are four collection data types in the Python programming language:

• List is a collection which is ordered and changeable. Allows duplicate members.

• Tuple is a collection which is ordered and unchangeable. Allows duplicate
members.
• Set is a collection which is unordered, unchangeable*, and unindexed. No duplicate
members.
• Dictionary is a collection which is ordered** and changeable. No duplicate
members.

*Set items are unchangeable, but you can remove and/or add items whenever you like.

**As of Python version 3.7, dictionaries are ordered. In Python 3.6 and earlier,
dictionaries are unordered.

When choosing a collection type, it is useful to understand the properties of that type.
Choosing the right type for a particular data set could mean retention of meaning, and, it
could mean an increase in efficiency or security.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python - Access List Items

Access Items
List items are indexed and you can access them by referring to the index number:
Example
Print the second item of the list:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

print(thislist[1])
Try it Yourself »

Note: The first item has index 0.

Negative Indexing
Negative indexing means start from the end

-1 refers to the last item, -2 refers to the second last item etc.

Example
Print the last item of the list:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

print(thislist[-1])
Try it Yourself »

Range of Indexes
You can specify a range of indexes by specifying where to start and where to end the
range.

When specifying a range, the return value will be a new list with the specified items.

Example
Return the third, fourth, and fifth item:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango"]

print(thislist[2:5])
Try it Yourself »

Note: The search will start at index 2 (included) and end at index 5 (not included).

Remember that the first item has index 0.

By leaving out the start value, the range will start at the first item:

Example
This example returns the items from the beginning to, but NOT including, "kiwi":

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango"]

print(thislist[:4])
Try it Yourself »
By leaving out the end value, the range will go on to the end of the list:

Example
This example returns the items from "cherry" to the end:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango"]

print(thislist[2:])
Try it Yourself »

Range of Negative Indexes

Specify negative indexes if you want to start the search from the end of the list:

Example
This example returns the items from "orange" (-4) to, but NOT including "mango" (-1):

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango"]

print(thislist[-4:-1])
Try it Yourself »

Check if Item Exists

To determine if a specified item is present in a list use the in keyword:

Example
Check if "apple" is present in the list:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

if "apple" in thislist:
print("Yes, 'apple' is in the fruits list")
Try it Yourself »

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Change Item Value
To change the value of a specific item, refer to the index number:

Example
Change the second item:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thislist[1] = "blackcurrant"
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

Change a Range of Item Values

To change the value of items within a specific range, define a list with the new values,
and refer to the range of index numbers where you want to insert the new values:

Example
Change the values "banana" and "cherry" with the values "blackcurrant" and
"watermelon":

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "mango"]

thislist[1:3] = ["blackcurrant", "watermelon"]
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

If you insert more items than you replace, the new items will be inserted where you
specified, and the remaining items will move accordingly:

Example
Change the second value by replacing it with two new values:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thislist[1:2] = ["blackcurrant", "watermelon"]
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

Note: The length of the list will change when the number of items inserted does not
match the number of items replaced.

If you insert less items than you replace, the new items will be inserted where you
specified, and the remaining items will move accordingly:

Example
Change the second and third value by replacing it with one value:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thislist[1:3] = ["watermelon"]
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

Insert Items
To insert a new list item, without replacing any of the existing values, we can use
the insert() method.

The insert() method inserts an item at the specified index:

Example
Insert "watermelon" as the third item:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thislist.insert(2, "watermelon")
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

Note: As a result of the example above, the list will now contain 4 items.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Append Items
To add an item to the end of the list, use the append() method:

Example
Using the append() method to append an item:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thislist.append("orange")
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »
Insert Items
To insert a list item at a specified index, use the insert() method.

The insert() method inserts an item at the specified index:

Example
Insert an item as the second position:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thislist.insert(1, "orange")
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

Note: As a result of the examples above, the lists will now contain 4 items.

Extend List
To append elements from another list to the current list, use the extend() method.

Example
Add the elements of tropical to thislist:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

tropical = ["mango", "pineapple", "papaya"]
thislist.extend(tropical)
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

The elements will be added to the end of the list.

Add Any Iterable

The extend() method does not have to append lists, you can add any iterable object
(tuples, sets, dictionaries etc.).

Example
Add elements of a tuple to a list:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
thistuple = ("kiwi", "orange")
thislist.extend(thistuple)
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

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Remove Specified Item

The remove() method removes the specified item.

Example
Remove "banana":

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thislist.remove("banana")
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

Remove Specified Index

The pop() method removes the specified index.

Example
Remove the second item:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thislist.pop(1)
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

If you do not specify the index, the pop() method removes the last item.

Example
Remove the last item:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thislist.pop()
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

The del keyword also removes the specified index:

Example
Remove the first item:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

del thislist[0]
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

The del keyword can also delete the list completely.

Example
Delete the entire list:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

del thislist
Try it Yourself »

Clear the List

The clear() method empties the list.

The list still remains, but it has no content.

Example
Clear the list content:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thislist.clear()
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Loop Through a List
You can loop through the list items by using a for loop:

Example
Print all items in the list, one by one:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

for x in thislist:
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Learn more about for loops in our Python For Loops Chapter.

Loop Through the Index Numbers

You can also loop through the list items by referring to their index number.

Use the range() and len() functions to create a suitable iterable.

Example
Print all items by referring to their index number:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

for i in range(len(thislist)):
print(thislist[i])
Try it Yourself »

The iterable created in the example above is [0, 1, 2].

Using a While Loop

You can loop through the list items by using a while loop.

Use the len() function to determine the length of the list, then start at 0 and loop your
way through the list items by referring to their indexes.

Remember to increase the index by 1 after each iteration.

Example
Print all items, using a while loop to go through all the index numbers

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

i = 0
while i < len(thislist):
print(thislist[i])
i = i + 1
Try it Yourself »

Learn more about while loops in our Python While Loops Chapter.

Looping Using List Comprehension

List Comprehension offers the shortest syntax for looping through lists:

Example
A short hand for loop that will print all items in a list:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

[print(x) for x in thislist]
Try it Yourself »

Learn more about list comprehension in the next chapter: List Comprehension.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

List Comprehension
List comprehension offers a shorter syntax when you want to create a new list based on
the values of an existing list.

Example:

Based on a list of fruits, you want a new list, containing only the fruits with the letter "a"
in the name.

Without list comprehension you will have to write a for statement with a conditional test
inside:

Example
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "kiwi", "mango"]
newlist = []

for x in fruits:
if "a" in x:
newlist.append(x)

print(newlist)
Try it Yourself »

With list comprehension you can do all that with only one line of code:

Example
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "kiwi", "mango"]

newlist = [x for x in fruits if "a" in x]

print(newlist)
Try it Yourself »

The Syntax
newlist = [expression for item in iterable if condition == True]

The return value is a new list, leaving the old list unchanged.

Condition
The condition is like a filter that only accepts the items that valuate to True.

Example
Only accept items that are not "apple":

newlist = [x for x in fruits if x != "apple"]

Try it Yourself »

The condition if x != "apple" will return True for all elements other than "apple",
making the new list contain all fruits except "apple".

The condition is optional and can be omitted:

Example
With no if statement:

newlist = [x for x in fruits]

Try it Yourself »

Iterable
The iterable can be any iterable object, like a list, tuple, set etc.

Example
You can use the range() function to create an iterable:

newlist = [x for x in range(10)]

Try it Yourself »

Same example, but with a condition:

Example
Accept only numbers lower than 5:

newlist = [x for x in range(10) if x < 5]

Try it Yourself »

Expression
The expression is the current item in the iteration, but it is also the outcome, which you
can manipulate before it ends up like a list item in the new list:

Example
Set the values in the new list to upper case:

newlist = [x.upper() for x in fruits]

Try it Yourself »

You can set the outcome to whatever you like:

Example
Set all values in the new list to 'hello':

newlist = ['hello' for x in fruits]

Try it Yourself »

The expression can also contain conditions, not like a filter, but as a way to manipulate
the outcome:

Example
Return "orange" instead of "banana":

newlist = [x if x != "banana" else "orange" for x in fruits]

Try it Yourself »

The expression in the example above says:

"Return the item if it is not banana, if it is banana return orange".

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Python - Sort Lists

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Sort List Alphanumerically

List objects have a sort() method that will sort the list alphanumerically, ascending, by
default:

Example
Sort the list alphabetically:

thislist = ["orange", "mango", "kiwi", "pineapple", "banana"]

thislist.sort()
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

Example
Sort the list numerically:

thislist = [100, 50, 65, 82, 23]

thislist.sort()
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

Sort Descending
To sort descending, use the keyword argument reverse = True:

Example
Sort the list descending:

thislist = ["orange", "mango", "kiwi", "pineapple", "banana"]

thislist.sort(reverse = True)
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

Example
Sort the list descending:

thislist = [100, 50, 65, 82, 23]

thislist.sort(reverse = True)
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

Customize Sort Function

You can also customize your own function by using the keyword argument key
= function.

The function will return a number that will be used to sort the list (the lowest number
first):

Example
Sort the list based on how close the number is to 50:

def myfunc(n):
return abs(n - 50)

thislist = [100, 50, 65, 82, 23]

thislist.sort(key = myfunc)
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »
Case Insensitive Sort
By default the sort() method is case sensitive, resulting in all capital letters being sorted
before lower case letters:

Example
Case sensitive sorting can give an unexpected result:

thislist = ["banana", "Orange", "Kiwi", "cherry"]

thislist.sort()
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

Luckily we can use built-in functions as key functions when sorting a list.

So if you want a case-insensitive sort function, use str.lower as a key function:

Example
Perform a case-insensitive sort of the list:

thislist = ["banana", "Orange", "Kiwi", "cherry"]

thislist.sort(key = str.lower)
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

Reverse Order
What if you want to reverse the order of a list, regardless of the alphabet?

The reverse() method reverses the current sorting order of the elements.

Example
Reverse the order of the list items:

thislist = ["banana", "Orange", "Kiwi", "cherry"]

thislist.reverse()
print(thislist)
Try it Yourself »

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Python - Copy Lists
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Copy a List
You cannot copy a list simply by typing list2 = list1, because: list2 will only be
a reference to list1, and changes made in list1 will automatically also be made in list2.

There are ways to make a copy, one way is to use the built-in List method copy().

Example
Make a copy of a list with the copy() method:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

mylist = thislist.copy()
print(mylist)
Try it Yourself »

Another way to make a copy is to use the built-in method list().

Example
Make a copy of a list with the list() method:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

mylist = list(thislist)
print(mylist)
Try it Yourself »

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Python - Join Lists

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Join Two Lists
There are several ways to join, or concatenate, two or more lists in Python.

One of the easiest ways are by using the + operator.

Example
Join two list:

list1 = ["a", "b", "c"]

list2 = [1, 2, 3]

list3 = list1 + list2

print(list3)
Try it Yourself »

Another way to join two lists is by appending all the items from list2 into list1, one by
one:

Example
Append list2 into list1:

list1 = ["a", "b" , "c"]

list2 = [1, 2, 3]

for x in list2:
list1.append(x)

print(list1)
Try it Yourself »

Or you can use the extend() method, which purpose is to add elements from one list to
another list:

Example
Use the extend() method to add list2 at the end of list1:

list1 = ["a", "b" , "c"]

list2 = [1, 2, 3]

list1.extend(list2)
print(list1)
Try it Yourself »

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Python - List Methods
❮ PreviousNext ❯

List Methods
Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on lists.

Method Description

append() Adds an element at the end of the list

clear() Removes all the elements from the list

copy() Returns a copy of the list

count() Returns the number of elements with the specified value

extend() Add the elements of a list (or any iterable), to the end of
the current list

index() Returns the index of the first element with the specified
value

insert() Adds an element at the specified position

pop() Removes the element at the specified position

 remove() Removes the item with the specified value

reverse() Reverses the order of the list

sort() Sorts the list

Python List Exercises

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Test Yourself With Exercises

Now you have learned a lot about lists, and how to use them in Python.

Are you ready for a test?

Try to insert the missing part to make the code work as expected:

Exercise:
Print the second item in the fruits list.

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

print( )

Submit Answer »

Go to the Exercise section and test all of our Python List Exercises:

Python List Exercises

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Python Tuples
❮ PreviousNext ❯

mytuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

Tuple
Tuples are used to store multiple items in a single variable.

Tuple is one of 4 built-in data types in Python used to store collections of data, the other
3 are List, Set, and Dictionary, all with different qualities and usage.

A tuple is a collection which is ordered and unchangeable.

Tuples are written with round brackets.

Example
Create a Tuple:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

print(thistuple)
Try it Yourself »

Tuple Items
Tuple items are ordered, unchangeable, and allow duplicate values.

Tuple items are indexed, the first item has index [0], the second item has index [1] etc.

Ordered
When we say that tuples are ordered, it means that the items have a defined order, and
that order will not change.
Unchangeable
Tuples are unchangeable, meaning that we cannot change, add or remove items after the
tuple has been created.

Allow Duplicates
Since tuples are indexed, they can have items with the same value:

Example
Tuples allow duplicate values:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry", "apple", "cherry")

print(thistuple)
Try it Yourself »

Tuple Length
To determine how many items a tuple has, use the len() function:

Example
Print the number of items in the tuple:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

print(len(thistuple))
Try it Yourself »

Create Tuple With One Item

To create a tuple with only one item, you have to add a comma after the item, otherwise
Python will not recognize it as a tuple.

Example
One item tuple, remember the comma:
thistuple = ("apple",)
print(type(thistuple))

#NOT a tuple
thistuple = ("apple")
print(type(thistuple))
Try it Yourself »

Tuple Items - Data Types

Tuple items can be of any data type:

Example
String, int and boolean data types:

tuple1 = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

tuple2 = (1, 5, 7, 9, 3)
tuple3 = (True, False, False)
Try it Yourself »

A tuple can contain different data types:

Example
A tuple with strings, integers and boolean values:

tuple1 = ("abc", 34, True, 40, "male")

Try it Yourself »

type()
From Python's perspective, tuples are defined as objects with the data type 'tuple':

<class 'tuple'>

Example
What is the data type of a tuple?

mytuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

print(type(mytuple))
Try it Yourself »
The tuple() Constructor
It is also possible to use the tuple() constructor to make a tuple.

Example
Using the tuple() method to make a tuple:

thistuple = tuple(("apple", "banana", "cherry")) # note the double round-brackets

print(thistuple)
Try it Yourself »

Python Collections (Arrays)

There are four collection data types in the Python programming language:

• List is a collection which is ordered and changeable. Allows duplicate members.

• Tuple is a collection which is ordered and unchangeable. Allows duplicate
members.
• Set is a collection which is unordered, unchangeable*, and unindexed. No duplicate
members.
• Dictionary is a collection which is ordered** and changeable. No duplicate
members.

*Set items are unchangeable, but you can remove and/or add items whenever you like.

**As of Python version 3.7, dictionaries are ordered. In Python 3.6 and earlier,
dictionaries are unordered.

When choosing a collection type, it is useful to understand the properties of that type.
Choosing the right type for a particular data set could mean retention of meaning, and, it
could mean an increase in efficiency or security.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python - Access Tuple Items

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Access Tuple Items

You can access tuple items by referring to the index number, inside square brackets:

Example
Print the second item in the tuple:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

print(thistuple[1])
Try it Yourself »

Note: The first item has index 0.

Negative Indexing
Negative indexing means start from the end.

-1 refers to the last item, -2 refers to the second last item etc.

Example
Print the last item of the tuple:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

print(thistuple[-1])
Try it Yourself »

Range of Indexes
You can specify a range of indexes by specifying where to start and where to end the range.

When specifying a range, the return value will be a new tuple with the specified items.

Example
Return the third, fourth, and fifth item:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango")

print(thistuple[2:5])
Try it Yourself »

Note: The search will start at index 2 (included) and end at index 5 (not included).

Remember that the first item has index 0.

By leaving out the start value, the range will start at the first item:
Example
This example returns the items from the beginning to, but NOT included, "kiwi":

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango")

print(thistuple[:4])
Try it Yourself »

By leaving out the end value, the range will go on to the end of the list:

Example
This example returns the items from "cherry" and to the end:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango")

print(thistuple[2:])
Try it Yourself »

Range of Negative Indexes

Specify negative indexes if you want to start the search from the end of the tuple:

Example
This example returns the items from index -4 (included) to index -1 (excluded)

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango")

print(thistuple[-4:-1])
Try it Yourself »

Check if Item Exists

To determine if a specified item is present in a tuple use the in keyword:

Example
Check if "apple" is present in the tuple:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

if "apple" in thistuple:
print("Yes, 'apple' is in the fruits tuple")
Try it Yourself »
 ❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python - Update Tuples

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Tuples are unchangeable, meaning that you cannot change, add, or remove items once
the tuple is created.

But there are some workarounds.

Change Tuple Values

Once a tuple is created, you cannot change its values. Tuples are unchangeable,
or immutable as it also is called.

But there is a workaround. You can convert the tuple into a list, change the list, and
convert the list back into a tuple.

Example
Convert the tuple into a list to be able to change it:

x = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

y = list(x)
y[1] = "kiwi"
x = tuple(y)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Add Items
Since tuples are immutable, they do not have a build-in append() method, but there are
other ways to add items to a tuple.

1. Convert into a list: Just like the workaround for changing a tuple, you can convert it
into a list, add your item(s), and convert it back into a tuple.
Example
Convert the tuple into a list, add "orange", and convert it back into a tuple:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

y = list(thistuple)
y.append("orange")
thistuple = tuple(y)

Try it Yourself »

2. Add tuple to a tuple. You are allowed to add tuples to tuples, so if you want to add
one item, (or many), create a new tuple with the item(s), and add it to the existing tuple:

Example
Create a new tuple with the value "orange", and add that tuple:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

y = ("orange",)
thistuple += y

print(thistuple)

Try it Yourself »

Note: When creating a tuple with only one item, remember to include a comma after the
item, otherwise it will not be identified as a tuple.

Remove Items
Note: You cannot remove items in a tuple.

Tuples are unchangeable, so you cannot remove items from it, but you can use the
same workaround as we used for changing and adding tuple items:

Example
Convert the tuple into a list, remove "apple", and convert it back into a tuple:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

y = list(thistuple)
y.remove("apple")
thistuple = tuple(y)

Try it Yourself »
Or you can delete the tuple completely:

Example
The del keyword can delete the tuple completely:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

del thistuple
print(thistuple) #this will raise an error because the tuple no longer exists
Try it Yourself »

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Python - Unpack Tuples

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Unpacking a Tuple
When we create a tuple, we normally assign values to it. This is called "packing" a tuple:

Example
Packing a tuple:

fruits = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

Try it Yourself »

But, in Python, we are also allowed to extract the values back into variables. This is called
"unpacking":

Example
Unpacking a tuple:

fruits = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

(green, yellow, red) = fruits

print(green)
print(yellow)
print(red)
Try it Yourself »

Note: The number of variables must match the number of values in the tuple, if not, you
must use an asterisk to collect the remaining values as a list.

Using Asterisk*
If the number of variables is less than the number of values, you can add an * to the
variable name and the values will be assigned to the variable as a list:

Example
Assign the rest of the values as a list called "red":

fruits = ("apple", "banana", "cherry", "strawberry", "raspberry")

(green, yellow, *red) = fruits

print(green)
print(yellow)
print(red)
Try it Yourself »

If the asterisk is added to another variable name than the last, Python will assign values
to the variable until the number of values left matches the number of variables left.

Example
Add a list of values the "tropic" variable:

fruits = ("apple", "mango", "papaya", "pineapple", "cherry")

(green, *tropic, red) = fruits

print(green)
print(tropic)
print(red)
Try it Yourself »

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Python - Loop Tuples
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Loop Through a Tuple

You can loop through the tuple items by using a for loop.

Example
Iterate through the items and print the values:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

for x in thistuple:
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Learn more about for loops in our Python For Loops Chapter.

Loop Through the Index Numbers

You can also loop through the tuple items by referring to their index number.

Use the range() and len() functions to create a suitable iterable.

Example
Print all items by referring to their index number:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

for i in range(len(thistuple)):
print(thistuple[i])
Try it Yourself »
Using a While Loop
You can loop through the list items by using a while loop.

Use the len() function to determine the length of the tuple, then start at 0 and loop your
way through the tuple items by refering to their indexes.

Remember to increase the index by 1 after each iteration.

Example
Print all items, using a while loop to go through all the index numbers:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

i = 0
while i < len(thistuple):
print(thistuple[i])
i = i + 1
Try it Yourself »

Learn more about while loops in our Python While Loops Chapter.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python - Join Tuples

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Join Two Tuples

To join two or more tuples you can use the + operator:

Example
Join two tuples:

tuple1 = ("a", "b" , "c")

tuple2 = (1, 2, 3)

tuple3 = tuple1 + tuple2

print(tuple3)
Try it Yourself »
Multiply Tuples
If you want to multiply the content of a tuple a given number of times, you can use
the * operator:

Example
Multiply the fruits tuple by 2:

fruits = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

mytuple = fruits * 2

print(mytuple)
Try it Yourself »

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Python - Tuple Methods

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Tuple Methods
Python has two built-in methods that you can use on tuples.

Method Description

count() Returns the number of times a specified value occurs

in a tuple

index() Searches the tuple for a specified value and returns the
position of where it was found
 ❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python - Tuple Exercises

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Test Yourself With Exercises

Now you have learned a lot about tuples, and how to use them in Python.

Are you ready for a test?

Try to insert the missing part to make the code work as expected:

Exercise:
Print the first item in the fruits tuple.

fruits = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

print( )

Submit Answer »

Go to the Exercise section and test all of our Python Tuple Exercises:

Python Tuple Exercises

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Python Sets
❮ PreviousNext ❯

myset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

Set
Sets are used to store multiple items in a single variable.

Set is one of 4 built-in data types in Python used to store collections of data, the other 3
are List, Tuple, and Dictionary, all with different qualities and usage.

A set is a collection which is unordered, unchangeable*, and unindexed.

* Note: Set items are unchangeable, but you can remove items and add new items.

Sets are written with curly brackets.

Example
Create a Set:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

print(thisset)
Try it Yourself »

Note: Sets are unordered, so you cannot be sure in which order the items will appear.

Set Items
Set items are unordered, unchangeable, and do not allow duplicate values.

Unordered
Unordered means that the items in a set do not have a defined order.

Set items can appear in a different order every time you use them, and cannot be
referred to by index or key.
Unchangeable
Set items are unchangeable, meaning that we cannot change the items after the set has
been created.

Once a set is created, you cannot change its items, but you can remove items and add
new items.

Duplicates Not Allowed

Sets cannot have two items with the same value.

Example
Duplicate values will be ignored:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry", "apple"}

print(thisset)
Try it Yourself »

Get the Length of a Set

To determine how many items a set has, use the len() function.

Example
Get the number of items in a set:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

print(len(thisset))
Try it Yourself »

Set Items - Data Types

Set items can be of any data type:

Example
String, int and boolean data types:

set1 = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

set2 = {1, 5, 7, 9, 3}
set3 = {True, False, False}
Try it Yourself »

A set can contain different data types:

Example
A set with strings, integers and boolean values:

set1 = {"abc", 34, True, 40, "male"}

Try it Yourself »

type()
From Python's perspective, sets are defined as objects with the data type 'set':

<class 'set'>

Example
What is the data type of a set?

myset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

print(type(myset))
Try it Yourself »

The set() Constructor

It is also possible to use the set() constructor to make a set.

Example
Using the set() constructor to make a set:

thisset = set(("apple", "banana", "cherry")) # note the double round-brackets

print(thisset)
Try it Yourself »
Python Collections (Arrays)
There are four collection data types in the Python programming language:

• List is a collection which is ordered and changeable. Allows duplicate members.

• Tuple is a collection which is ordered and unchangeable. Allows duplicate
members.
• Set is a collection which is unordered, unchangeable*, and unindexed. No duplicate
members.
• Dictionary is a collection which is ordered** and changeable. No duplicate
members.

*Set items are unchangeable, but you can remove items and add new items.

**As of Python version 3.7, dictionaries are ordered. In Python 3.6 and earlier,
dictionaries are unordered.

When choosing a collection type, it is useful to understand the properties of that type.
Choosing the right type for a particular data set could mean retention of meaning, and, it
could mean an increase in efficiency or security.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python - Access Set Items

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Access Items
You cannot access items in a set by referring to an index or a key.

But you can loop through the set items using a for loop, or ask if a specified value is
present in a set, by using the in keyword.

Example
Loop through the set, and print the values:
thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

for x in thisset:
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Example
Check if "banana" is present in the set:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

print("banana" in thisset)
Try it Yourself »

Change Items
Once a set is created, you cannot change its items, but you can add new items.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python - Add Set Items

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Add Items
Once a set is created, you cannot change its items, but you can add new items.

To add one item to a set use the add() method.

Example
Add an item to a set, using the add() method:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

thisset.add("orange")

print(thisset)
Try it Yourself »
Add Sets
To add items from another set into the current set, use the update() method.

Example
Add elements from tropical into thisset:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

tropical = {"pineapple", "mango", "papaya"}

thisset.update(tropical)

print(thisset)
Try it Yourself »

Add Any Iterable

The object in the update() method does not have to be a set, it can be any iterable object
(tuples, lists, dictionaries etc.).

Example
Add elements of a list to at set:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

mylist = ["kiwi", "orange"]

thisset.update(mylist)

print(thisset)
Try it Yourself »

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Python - Remove Set Items
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Remove Item
To remove an item in a set, use the remove(), or the discard() method.

Example
Remove "banana" by using the remove() method:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

thisset.remove("banana")

print(thisset)
Try it Yourself »

Note: If the item to remove does not exist, remove() will raise an error.

Example
Remove "banana" by using the discard() method:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

thisset.discard("banana")

print(thisset)
Try it Yourself »

Note: If the item to remove does not exist, discard() will NOT raise an error.

You can also use the pop() method to remove an item, but this method will remove
the last item. Remember that sets are unordered, so you will not know what item that
gets removed.

The return value of the pop() method is the removed item.

Example
Remove the last item by using the pop() method:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

x = thisset.pop()
print(x)

print(thisset)
Try it Yourself »

Note: Sets are unordered, so when using the pop() method, you do not know which item
that gets removed.

Example
The clear() method empties the set:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

thisset.clear()

print(thisset)
Try it Yourself »

Example
The del keyword will delete the set completely:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

del thisset

print(thisset)
Try it Yourself »

Python - Loop Sets

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Loop Items
You can loop through the set items by using a for loop:

Example
Loop through the set, and print the values:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

for x in thisset:
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python - Join Sets

Join Two Sets
There are several ways to join two or more sets in Python.

You can use the union() method that returns a new set containing all items from both
sets, or the update() method that inserts all the items from one set into another:

Example
The union() method returns a new set with all items from both sets:

set1 = {"a", "b" , "c"}

set2 = {1, 2, 3}

set3 = set1.union(set2)
print(set3)
Try it Yourself »

Example
The update() method inserts the items in set2 into set1:

set1 = {"a", "b" , "c"}

set2 = {1, 2, 3}

set1.update(set2)
print(set1)
Try it Yourself »

Note: Both union() and update() will exclude any duplicate items.
Keep ONLY the Duplicates
The intersection_update() method will keep only the items that are present in both sets.

Example
Keep the items that exist in both set x, and set y:

x = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

y = {"google", "microsoft", "apple"}

x.intersection_update(y)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

The intersection() method will return a new set, that only contains the items that are
present in both sets.

Example
Return a set that contains the items that exist in both set x, and set y:

x = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

y = {"google", "microsoft", "apple"}

z = x.intersection(y)

print(z)
Try it Yourself »

Keep All, But NOT the Duplicates

The symmetric_difference_update() method will keep only the elements that are NOT present
in both sets.

Example
Keep the items that are not present in both sets:

x = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

y = {"google", "microsoft", "apple"}

x.symmetric_difference_update(y)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »
The symmetric_difference() method will return a new set, that contains only the elements
that are NOT present in both sets.

Example
Return a set that contains all items from both sets, except items that are present in both:

x = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

y = {"google", "microsoft", "apple"}

z = x.symmetric_difference(y)

print(z)
Try it Yourself »

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us

Python - Set Methods

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Set Methods
Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on sets.

Method Description

add() Adds an element to the set

clear() Removes all the elements from the

set
copy() Returns a copy of the set

difference() Returns a set containing the

difference between two or more
sets

difference_update() Removes the items in this set that

are also included in another,
specified set

discard() Remove the specified item

intersection() Returns a set, that is the

intersection of two other sets

intersection_update() Removes the items in this set that

are not present in other, specified
set(s)

isdisjoint() Returns whether two sets have a

intersection or not

issubset() Returns whether another set

contains this set or not

issuperset() Returns whether this set contains

another set or not

pop() Removes an element from the set

remove() Removes the specified element

 symmetric_difference() Returns a set with the symmetric
differences of two sets

symmetric_difference_update() inserts the symmetric differences

from this set and another

union() Return a set containing the union

of sets

update() Update the set with the union of

this set and others

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python - Set Exercises

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Test Yourself With Exercises

Now you have learned a lot about sets, and how to use them in Python.

Are you ready for a test?

Try to insert the missing part to make the code work as expected:

Exercise:
Check if "apple" is present in the fruits set.

fruits = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

if "apple" fruits:
 print("Yes, apple is a fruit!")

Submit Answer »

Go to the Exercise section and test all of our Python Set Exercises:

Python Set Exercises

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Python Dictionaries
❮ PreviousNext ❯

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}

Dictionary
Dictionaries are used to store data values in key:value pairs.

A dictionary is a collection which is ordered*, changeable and do not allow duplicates.

As of Python version 3.7, dictionaries are ordered. In Python 3.6 and earlier, dictionaries
are unordered.

Dictionaries are written with curly brackets, and have keys and values:

Example
Create and print a dictionary:

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
print(thisdict)
Try it Yourself »

Dictionary Items
Dictionary items are ordered, changeable, and does not allow duplicates.

Dictionary items are presented in key:value pairs, and can be referred to by using the
key name.

Example
Print the "brand" value of the dictionary:

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
print(thisdict["brand"])

Try it Yourself »

Ordered or Unordered?
As of Python version 3.7, dictionaries are ordered. In Python 3.6 and earlier, dictionaries
are unordered.

When we say that dictionaries are ordered, it means that the items have a defined order,
and that order will not change.

Unordered means that the items does not have a defined order, you cannot refer to an
item by using an index.

Changeable
Dictionaries are changeable, meaning that we can change, add or remove items after the
dictionary has been created.

Duplicates Not Allowed

Dictionaries cannot have two items with the same key:

Example
Duplicate values will overwrite existing values:

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964,
"year": 2020
}
print(thisdict)
Try it Yourself »

Dictionary Length
To determine how many items a dictionary has, use the len() function:

Example
Print the number of items in the dictionary:

print(len(thisdict))
Try it Yourself »

Dictionary Items - Data Types

The values in dictionary items can be of any data type:

Example
String, int, boolean, and list data types:

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"electric": False,
"year": 1964,
"colors": ["red", "white", "blue"]
}
Try it Yourself »
type()
From Python's perspective, dictionaries are defined as objects with the data type 'dict':

<class 'dict'>

Example
Print the data type of a dictionary:

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
print(type(thisdict))
Try it Yourself »

Python Collections (Arrays)

There are four collection data types in the Python programming language:

• List is a collection which is ordered and changeable. Allows duplicate members.

• Tuple is a collection which is ordered and unchangeable. Allows duplicate
members.
• Set is a collection which is unordered, unchangeable*, and unindexed. No duplicate
members.
• Dictionary is a collection which is ordered** and changeable. No duplicate
members.

*Set items are unchangeable, but you can remove and/or add items whenever you like.

**As of Python version 3.7, dictionaries are ordered. In Python 3.6 and earlier,
dictionaries are unordered.

When choosing a collection type, it is useful to understand the properties of that type.
Choosing the right type for a particular data set could mean retention of meaning, and, it
could mean an increase in efficiency or security.

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Python - Access Dictionary Items
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Accessing Items
You can access the items of a dictionary by referring to its key name, inside square
brackets:

Example
Get the value of the "model" key:

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
x = thisdict["model"]

Try it Yourself »

There is also a method called get() that will give you the same result:

Example
Get the value of the "model" key:

x = thisdict.get("model")

Try it Yourself »

Get Keys
The keys() method will return a list of all the keys in the dictionary.

Example
Get a list of the keys:

x = thisdict.keys()
Try it Yourself »
The list of the keys is a view of the dictionary, meaning that any changes done to the
dictionary will be reflected in the keys list.

Example
Add a new item to the original dictionary, and see that the keys list gets updated as well:

car = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}

x = car.keys()

print(x) #before the change

car["color"] = "white"

print(x) #after the change

Try it Yourself »

Get Values
The values() method will return a list of all the values in the dictionary.

Example
Get a list of the values:

x = thisdict.values()
Try it Yourself »

The list of the values is a view of the dictionary, meaning that any changes done to the
dictionary will be reflected in the values list.

Example
Make a change in the original dictionary, and see that the values list gets updated as
well:

car = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
x = car.values()

print(x) #before the change

car["year"] = 2020

print(x) #after the change

Try it Yourself »

Example
Add a new item to the original dictionary, and see that the values list gets updated as
well:

car = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}

x = car.values()

print(x) #before the change

car["color"] = "red"

print(x) #after the change

Try it Yourself »

Get Items
The items() method will return each item in a dictionary, as tuples in a list.

Example
Get a list of the key:value pairs

x = thisdict.items()
Try it Yourself »

The returned list is a view of the items of the dictionary, meaning that any changes done
to the dictionary will be reflected in the items list.

Example
Make a change in the original dictionary, and see that the items list gets updated as well:

car = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}

x = car.items()

print(x) #before the change

car["year"] = 2020

print(x) #after the change

Try it Yourself »

Example
Add a new item to the original dictionary, and see that the items list gets updated as
well:

car = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}

x = car.items()

print(x) #before the change

car["color"] = "red"

print(x) #after the change

Try it Yourself »

Check if Key Exists

To determine if a specified key is present in a dictionary use the in keyword:

Example
Check if "model" is present in the dictionary:

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
if "model" in thisdict:
print("Yes, 'model' is one of the keys in the thisdict dictionary")
Try it Yourself »
 ❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python - Change Dictionary Items

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Change Values
You can change the value of a specific item by referring to its key name:

Example
Change the "year" to 2018:

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
thisdict["year"] = 2018

Try it Yourself »

Update Dictionary
The update() method will update the dictionary with the items from the given argument.

The argument must be a dictionary, or an iterable object with key:value pairs.

Example
Update the "year" of the car by using the update() method:

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
thisdict.update({"year": 2020})
Try it Yourself »
 ❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python - Add Dictionary Items

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Adding Items
Adding an item to the dictionary is done by using a new index key and assigning a value
to it:

Example
thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
thisdict["color"] = "red"
print(thisdict)

Try it Yourself »

Update Dictionary
The update() method will update the dictionary with the items from a given argument. If
the item does not exist, the item will be added.

The argument must be a dictionary, or an iterable object with key:value pairs.

Example
Add a color item to the dictionary by using the update() method:

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
thisdict.update({"color": "red"})
Try it Yourself »
 ❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python - Remove Dictionary Items

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Removing Items
There are several methods to remove items from a dictionary:

Example
The pop() method removes the item with the specified key name:

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
thisdict.pop("model")
print(thisdict)
Try it Yourself »

Example
The popitem() method removes the last inserted item (in versions before 3.7, a random
item is removed instead):

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
thisdict.popitem()
print(thisdict)
Try it Yourself »

Example
The del keyword removes the item with the specified key name:

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
del thisdict["model"]
print(thisdict)
Try it Yourself »

Example
The del keyword can also delete the dictionary completely:

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
del thisdict
print(thisdict) #this will cause an error because "thisdict" no longer exists.
Try it Yourself »

Example
The clear() method empties the dictionary:

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
thisdict.clear()
print(thisdict)
Try it Yourself »

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Python - Loop Dictionaries

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Loop Through a Dictionary

You can loop through a dictionary by using a for loop.

When looping through a dictionary, the return value are the keys of the dictionary, but
there are methods to return the values as well.

Example
Print all key names in the dictionary, one by one:

for x in thisdict:
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Example
Print all values in the dictionary, one by one:

for x in thisdict:
print(thisdict[x])
Try it Yourself »

Example
You can also use the values() method to return values of a dictionary:

for x in thisdict.values():
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Example
You can use the keys() method to return the keys of a dictionary:

for x in thisdict.keys():
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Example
Loop through both keys and values, by using the items() method:

for x, y in thisdict.items():
print(x, y)
Try it Yourself »

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Python - Copy Dictionaries

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Copy a Dictionary
You cannot copy a dictionary simply by typing dict2 = dict1, because: dict2 will only be
a reference to dict1, and changes made in dict1 will automatically also be made in dict2.

There are ways to make a copy, one way is to use the built-in Dictionary method copy().

Example
Make a copy of a dictionary with the copy() method:

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
mydict = thisdict.copy()
print(mydict)
Try it Yourself »

Another way to make a copy is to use the built-in function dict().

Example
Make a copy of a dictionary with the dict() function:

thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
mydict = dict(thisdict)
print(mydict)
Try it Yourself »

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Python - Nested Dictionaries

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Nested Dictionaries
A dictionary can contain dictionaries, this is called nested dictionaries.
Example
Create a dictionary that contain three dictionaries:

myfamily = {
"child1" : {
"name" : "Emil",
"year" : 2004
},
"child2" : {
"name" : "Tobias",
"year" : 2007
},
"child3" : {
"name" : "Linus",
"year" : 2011
}
}
Try it Yourself »

Or, if you want to add three dictionaries into a new dictionary:

Example
Create three dictionaries, then create one dictionary that will contain the other three
dictionaries:

child1 = {
"name" : "Emil",
"year" : 2004
}
child2 = {
"name" : "Tobias",
"year" : 2007
}
child3 = {
"name" : "Linus",
"year" : 2011
}

myfamily = {
"child1" : child1,
"child2" : child2,
"child3" : child3
}
Try it Yourself »

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Python Dictionary Methods
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Dictionary Methods
Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on dictionaries.

Method Description

clear() Removes all the elements from the dictionary

copy() Returns a copy of the dictionary

fromkeys() Returns a dictionary with the specified keys and value

get() Returns the value of the specified key

items() Returns a list containing a tuple for each key value

pair

keys() Returns a list containing the dictionary's keys

pop() Removes the element with the specified key

popitem() Removes the last inserted key-value pair

 setdefault() Returns the value of the specified key. If the key does
not exist: insert the key, with the specified value

update() Updates the dictionary with the specified key-value

pairs

values() Returns a list of all the values in the dictionary

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python Dictionary Exercises

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Test Yourself With Exercises

Now you have learned a lot about dictionaries, and how to use them in Python.

Are you ready for a test?

Try to insert the missing part to make the code work as expected:

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
Use the get method to print the value of the "model" key of the car dictionary.

car = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
print( )

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

Go to the Exercise section and test all of our Python Dictionary Exercises:

Python Dictionary Exercises

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python If ... Else

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python Conditions and If statements

Python supports the usual logical conditions from mathematics:

• Equals: a == b
• Not Equals: a != b
• Less than: a < b
• Less than or equal to: a <= b
• Greater than: a > b
• Greater than or equal to: a >= b

These conditions can be used in several ways, most commonly in "if statements" and
loops.

An "if statement" is written by using the if keyword.

Example
If statement:

a = 33
b = 200
if b > a:
print("b is greater than a")
Try it Yourself »
In this example we use two variables, a and b, which are used as part of the if statement
to test whether b is greater than a. As a is 33, and b is 200, we know that 200 is greater
than 33, and so we print to screen that "b is greater than a".

Indentation
Python relies on indentation (whitespace at the beginning of a line) to define scope in the
code. Other programming languages often use curly-brackets for this purpose.

Example
If statement, without indentation (will raise an error):

a = 33
b = 200
if b > a:
print("b is greater than a") # you will get an error
Try it Yourself »

Elif
The elif keyword is pythons way of saying "if the previous conditions were not true, then
try this condition".

Example
a = 33
b = 33
if b > a:
print("b is greater than a")
elif a == b:
print("a and b are equal")

Try it Yourself »

In this example a is equal to b, so the first condition is not true, but the elif condition is
true, so we print to screen that "a and b are equal".

Else
The else keyword catches anything which isn't caught by the preceding conditions.
Example
a = 200
b = 33
if b > a:
print("b is greater than a")
elif a == b:
print("a and b are equal")
else:
print("a is greater than b")

Try it Yourself »

In this example a is greater than b, so the first condition is not true, also
the elif condition is not true, so we go to the else condition and print to screen that "a
is greater than b".

You can also have an else without the elif:

Example
a = 200
b = 33
if b > a:
print("b is greater than a")
else:
print("b is not greater than a")

Try it Yourself »

Short Hand If
If you have only one statement to execute, you can put it on the same line as the if
statement.

Example
One line if statement:

if a > b: print("a is greater than b")

Try it Yourself »

Short Hand If ... Else

If you have only one statement to execute, one for if, and one for else, you can put it all
on the same line:
Example
One line if else statement:

a = 2
b = 330
print("A") if a > b else print("B")
Try it Yourself »

This technique is known as Ternary Operators, or Conditional Expressions.

You can also have multiple else statements on the same line:

Example
One line if else statement, with 3 conditions:

a = 330
b = 330
print("A") if a > b else print("=") if a == b else print("B")
Try it Yourself »

And
The and keyword is a logical operator, and is used to combine conditional statements:

Example
Test if a is greater than b, AND if c is greater than a:

a = 200
b = 33
c = 500
if a > b and c > a:
print("Both conditions are True")

Try it Yourself »

Or
The or keyword is a logical operator, and is used to combine conditional statements:

Example
Test if a is greater than b, OR if a is greater than c:
 a = 200
b = 33
c = 500
if a > b or a > c:
print("At least one of the conditions is True")

Try it Yourself »

Nested If
You can have if statements inside if statements, this is called nested if statements.

Example
x = 41

if x > 10:
print("Above ten,")
if x > 20:
print("and also above 20!")
else:
print("but not above 20.")
Try it Yourself »

The pass Statement

if statements cannot be empty, but if you for some reason have an if statement with no
content, put in the pass statement to avoid getting an error.

Example
a = 33
b = 200

if b > a:
pass
Try it Yourself »

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
Print "Hello World" if a is greater than b.
a = 50
b = 10
a b
print("Hello World")

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python While Loops

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Python Loops
Python has two primitive loop commands:

• while loops
• for loops

The while Loop

With the while loop we can execute a set of statements as long as a condition is true.

Example
Print i as long as i is less than 6:

i = 1
while i < 6:
print(i)
i += 1

Try it Yourself »

Note: remember to increment i, or else the loop will continue forever.

The while loop requires relevant variables to be ready, in this example we need to define
an indexing variable, i, which we set to 1.

The break Statement

With the break statement we can stop the loop even if the while condition is true:

Example
Exit the loop when i is 3:

i = 1
while i < 6:
print(i)
if i == 3:
break
i += 1
Try it Yourself »

The continue Statement

With the continue statement we can stop the current iteration, and continue with the
next:

Example
Continue to the next iteration if i is 3:

i = 0
while i < 6:
i += 1
if i == 3:
continue
print(i)

Try it Yourself »

The else Statement

 With the else statement we can run a block of code once when the condition no longer is
true:

Example
Print a message once the condition is false:

i = 1
while i < 6:
print(i)
i += 1
else:
print("i is no longer less than 6")

Try it Yourself »

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
Print i as long as i is less than 6.

i = 1
i < 6
print(i)
i += 1

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Python For Loops
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python For Loops

A for loop is used for iterating over a sequence (that is either a list, a tuple, a dictionary,
a set, or a string).

This is less like the for keyword in other programming languages, and works more like
an iterator method as found in other object-orientated programming languages.

With the for loop we can execute a set of statements, once for each item in a list, tuple,
set etc.

Example
Print each fruit in a fruit list:

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

for x in fruits:
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

The for loop does not require an indexing variable to set beforehand.

Looping Through a String

Even strings are iterable objects, they contain a sequence of characters:

Example
Loop through the letters in the word "banana":

for x in "banana":
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

The break Statement

With the break statement we can stop the loop before it has looped through all the items:

Example
Exit the loop when x is "banana":

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

for x in fruits:
print(x)
if x == "banana":
break

Try it Yourself »

Example
Exit the loop when x is "banana", but this time the break comes before the print:

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

for x in fruits:
if x == "banana":
break
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

The continue Statement

With the continue statement we can stop the current iteration of the loop, and continue
with the next:

Example
Do not print banana:

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

for x in fruits:
if x == "banana":
continue
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

The range() Function

To loop through a set of code a specified number of times, we can use
the range() function,
The range() function returns a sequence of numbers, starting from 0 by default, and
increments by 1 (by default), and ends at a specified number.

Example
Using the range() function:

for x in range(6):
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Note that range(6) is not the values of 0 to 6, but the values 0 to 5.

The range() function defaults to 0 as a starting value, however it is possible to specify

the starting value by adding a parameter: range(2, 6), which means values from 2 to 6
(but not including 6):

Example
Using the start parameter:

for x in range(2, 6):

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

The range() function defaults to increment the sequence by 1, however it is possible to

specify the increment value by adding a third parameter: range(2, 30, 3):

Example
Increment the sequence with 3 (default is 1):

for x in range(2, 30, 3):

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Else in For Loop

The else keyword in a for loop specifies a block of code to be executed when the loop is
finished:

Example
Print all numbers from 0 to 5, and print a message when the loop has ended:

for x in range(6):
print(x)
else:
print("Finally finished!")
Try it Yourself »

Note: The else block will NOT be executed if the loop is stopped by a break statement.

Example
Break the loop when x is 3, and see what happens with the else block:

for x in range(6):
if x == 3: break
print(x)
else:
print("Finally finished!")
Try it Yourself »

Nested Loops
A nested loop is a loop inside a loop.

The "inner loop" will be executed one time for each iteration of the "outer loop":

Example
Print each adjective for every fruit:

adj = ["red", "big", "tasty"]

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

for x in adj:
for y in fruits:
print(x, y)
Try it Yourself »

The pass Statement

for loops cannot be empty, but if you for some reason have a for loop with no content,
put in the pass statement to avoid getting an error.

Example
for x in [0, 1, 2]:
pass
Try it Yourself »
Test Yourself With Exercises
Exercise:
Loop through the items in the fruits list.

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

x fruits
print(x)

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python Functions
❮ PreviousNext ❯

A function is a block of code which only runs when it is called.

You can pass data, known as parameters, into a function.

A function can return data as a result.

Creating a Function
In Python a function is defined using the def keyword:

Example
def my_function():
print("Hello from a function")

Calling a Function
To call a function, use the function name followed by parenthesis:

Example
def my_function():
print("Hello from a function")

my_function()
Try it Yourself »

Arguments
Information can be passed into functions as arguments.

Arguments are specified after the function name, inside the parentheses. You can add as
many arguments as you want, just separate them with a comma.

The following example has a function with one argument (fname). When the function is
called, we pass along a first name, which is used inside the function to print the full
name:

Example
def my_function(fname):
print(fname + " Refsnes")

my_function("Emil")
my_function("Tobias")
my_function("Linus")
Try it Yourself »

Arguments are often shortened to args in Python documentations.

Parameters or Arguments?
The terms parameter and argument can be used for the same thing: information that are
passed into a function.

From a function's perspective:

A parameter is the variable listed inside the parentheses in the function definition.

An argument is the value that is sent to the function when it is called.

Number of Arguments
By default, a function must be called with the correct number of arguments. Meaning that
if your function expects 2 arguments, you have to call the function with 2 arguments, not
more, and not less.

Example
This function expects 2 arguments, and gets 2 arguments:

def my_function(fname, lname):

print(fname + " " + lname)

my_function("Emil", "Refsnes")
Try it Yourself »
If you try to call the function with 1 or 3 arguments, you will get an error:

Example
This function expects 2 arguments, but gets only 1:

def my_function(fname, lname):

print(fname + " " + lname)

my_function("Emil")
Try it Yourself »

Arbitrary Arguments, *args

If you do not know how many arguments that will be passed into your function, add
a * before the parameter name in the function definition.

This way the function will receive a tuple of arguments, and can access the items
accordingly:

Example
If the number of arguments is unknown, add a * before the parameter name:

def my_function(*kids):
print("The youngest child is " + kids[2])

my_function("Emil", "Tobias", "Linus")

Try it Yourself »

Arbitrary Arguments are often shortened to *args in Python documentations.

Keyword Arguments
You can also send arguments with the key = value syntax.

This way the order of the arguments does not matter.

Example
def my_function(child3, child2, child1):
print("The youngest child is " + child3)

my_function(child1 = "Emil", child2 = "Tobias", child3 = "Linus")

Try it Yourself »

The phrase Keyword Arguments are often shortened to kwargs in Python documentations.

Arbitrary Keyword Arguments, **kwargs

If you do not know how many keyword arguments that will be passed into your function,
add two asterisk: ** before the parameter name in the function definition.

This way the function will receive a dictionary of arguments, and can access the items
accordingly:

Example
If the number of keyword arguments is unknown, add a double ** before the parameter
name:

def my_function(**kid):
print("His last name is " + kid["lname"])

my_function(fname = "Tobias", lname = "Refsnes")

Try it Yourself »

Arbitrary Kword Arguments are often shortened to **kwargs in Python documentations.

Default Parameter Value

The following example shows how to use a default parameter value.

If we call the function without argument, it uses the default value:

Example
def my_function(country = "Norway"):
print("I am from " + country)

my_function("Sweden")
my_function("India")
my_function()
my_function("Brazil")
Try it Yourself »

Passing a List as an Argument

You can send any data types of argument to a function (string, number, list, dictionary
etc.), and it will be treated as the same data type inside the function.

E.g. if you send a List as an argument, it will still be a List when it reaches the function:

Example
def my_function(food):
for x in food:
print(x)

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

my_function(fruits)

Try it Yourself »

Return Values
To let a function return a value, use the return statement:

Example
def my_function(x):
return 5 * x

print(my_function(3))
print(my_function(5))
print(my_function(9))
Try it Yourself »
The pass Statement
function definitions cannot be empty, but if you for some reason have a function definition
with no content, put in the pass statement to avoid getting an error.

Example
def myfunction():
pass
Try it Yourself »

Recursion
Python also accepts function recursion, which means a defined function can call itself.

Recursion is a common mathematical and programming concept. It means that a function

calls itself. This has the benefit of meaning that you can loop through data to reach a
result.

The developer should be very careful with recursion as it can be quite easy to slip into
writing a function which never terminates, or one that uses excess amounts of memory
or processor power. However, when written correctly recursion can be a very efficient and
mathematically-elegant approach to programming.

In this example, tri_recursion() is a function that we have defined to call itself

("recurse"). We use the k variable as the data, which decrements (-1) every time we
recurse. The recursion ends when the condition is not greater than 0 (i.e. when it is 0).

To a new developer it can take some time to work out how exactly this works, best way
to find out is by testing and modifying it.

Example
Recursion Example

def tri_recursion(k):
if(k > 0):
result = k + tri_recursion(k - 1)
print(result)
else:
result = 0
return result

print("\n\nRecursion Example Results")

tri_recursion(6)

Try it Yourself »
Test Yourself With Exercises
Exercise:
Create a function named my_function.

:
print("Hello from a function")

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

Python Lambda
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A lambda function is a small anonymous function.

A lambda function can take any number of arguments, but can only have one
expression.

Syntax
lambda arguments : expression

The expression is executed and the result is returned:

Example
Add 10 to argument a, and return the result:

x = lambda a : a + 10
print(x(5))
Try it Yourself »

Lambda functions can take any number of arguments:

Example
Multiply argument a with argument b and return the result:

x = lambda a, b : a * b
print(x(5, 6))
Try it Yourself »

Example
Summarize argument a, b, and c and return the result:

x = lambda a, b, c : a + b + c
print(x(5, 6, 2))
Try it Yourself »

Why Use Lambda Functions?

The power of lambda is better shown when you use them as an anonymous function
inside another function.

Say you have a function definition that takes one argument, and that argument will be
multiplied with an unknown number:

def myfunc(n):
return lambda a : a * n

Use that function definition to make a function that always doubles the number you send
in:

Example
def myfunc(n):
return lambda a : a * n

mydoubler = myfunc(2)

print(mydoubler(11))
Try it Yourself »

Or, use the same function definition to make a function that always triples the number
you send in:

Example
def myfunc(n):
return lambda a : a * n

mytripler = myfunc(3)
 print(mytripler(11))
Try it Yourself »

Or, use the same function definition to make both functions, in the same program:

Example
def myfunc(n):
return lambda a : a * n

mydoubler = myfunc(2)
mytripler = myfunc(3)

print(mydoubler(11))
print(mytripler(11))
Try it Yourself »

Use lambda functions when an anonymous function is required for a short period of time.

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
Create a lambda function that takes one parameter (a) and returns it.

x =

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

❮ PreviousNext ❯

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Python Arrays
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Note: Python does not have built-in support for Arrays, but Python Lists can be used
instead.

Arrays
Note: This page shows you how to use LISTS as ARRAYS, however, to work with arrays
in Python you will have to import a library, like the NumPy library.

Arrays are used to store multiple values in one single variable:

Example
Create an array containing car names:

cars = ["Ford", "Volvo", "BMW"]

Try it Yourself »

What is an Array?
An array is a special variable, which can hold more than one value at a time.

If you have a list of items (a list of car names, for example), storing the cars in single
variables could look like this:

car1 = "Ford"
car2 = "Volvo"
car3 = "BMW"

However, what if you want to loop through the cars and find a specific one? And what if
you had not 3 cars, but 300?

The solution is an array!

An array can hold many values under a single name, and you can access the values by
referring to an index number.
Access the Elements of an Array
You refer to an array element by referring to the index number.

Example
Get the value of the first array item:

x = cars[0]
Try it Yourself »

Example
Modify the value of the first array item:

cars[0] = "Toyota"
Try it Yourself »

The Length of an Array

Use the len() method to return the length of an array (the number of elements in an
array).

Example
Return the number of elements in the cars array:

x = len(cars)
Try it Yourself »

Note: The length of an array is always one more than the highest array index.

Looping Array Elements

You can use the for in loop to loop through all the elements of an array.

Example
Print each item in the cars array:
for x in cars:
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Adding Array Elements

You can use the append() method to add an element to an array.

Example
Add one more element to the cars array:

cars.append("Honda")
Try it Yourself »

Removing Array Elements

You can use the pop() method to remove an element from the array.

Example
Delete the second element of the cars array:

cars.pop(1)
Try it Yourself »

You can also use the remove() method to remove an element from the array.

Example
Delete the element that has the value "Volvo":

cars.remove("Volvo")
Try it Yourself »

Note: The list's remove() method only removes the first occurrence of the specified value.

Array Methods
Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on lists/arrays.
 Method Description

append() Adds an element at the end of the list

clear() Removes all the elements from the list

copy() Returns a copy of the list

count() Returns the number of elements with the specified value

extend() Add the elements of a list (or any iterable), to the end of the current list

index() Returns the index of the first element with the specified value

insert() Adds an element at the specified position

pop() Removes the element at the specified position

remove() Removes the first item with the specified value

reverse() Reverses the order of the list

sort() Sorts the list

Note: Python does not have built-in support for Arrays, but Python Lists can be used
instead.
 ❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python Classes and Objects

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Python Classes/Objects
Python is an object oriented programming language.

Almost everything in Python is an object, with its properties and methods.

A Class is like an object constructor, or a "blueprint" for creating objects.

Create a Class
To create a class, use the keyword class:

Example
Create a class named MyClass, with a property named x:

class MyClass:
x = 5
Try it Yourself »

Create Object
Now we can use the class named MyClass to create objects:

Example
Create an object named p1, and print the value of x:

p1 = MyClass()
print(p1.x)
Try it Yourself »
The __init__() Function
The examples above are classes and objects in their simplest form, and are not really
useful in real life applications.

To understand the meaning of classes we have to understand the built-in __init__()

function.

All classes have a function called __init__(), which is always executed when the class is
being initiated.

Use the __init__() function to assign values to object properties, or other operations that
are necessary to do when the object is being created:

Example
Create a class named Person, use the __init__() function to assign values for name and
age:

class Person:
def __init__(self, name, age):
self.name = name
self.age = age

p1 = Person("John", 36)

print(p1.name)
print(p1.age)
Try it Yourself »

Note: The __init__() function is called automatically every time the class is being used to
create a new object.

Object Methods
Objects can also contain methods. Methods in objects are functions that belong to the
object.

Let us create a method in the Person class:

Example
Insert a function that prints a greeting, and execute it on the p1 object:
class Person:
def __init__(self, name, age):
self.name = name
self.age = age

def myfunc(self):
print("Hello my name is " + self.name)

p1 = Person("John", 36)
p1.myfunc()
Try it Yourself »

Note: The self parameter is a reference to the current instance of the class, and is used
to access variables that belong to the class.

The self Parameter

The self parameter is a reference to the current instance of the class, and is used to
access variables that belongs to the class.

It does not have to be named self , you can call it whatever you like, but it has to be the
first parameter of any function in the class:

Example
Use the words mysillyobject and abc instead of self:

class Person:
def __init__(mysillyobject, name, age):
mysillyobject.name = name
mysillyobject.age = age

def myfunc(abc):
print("Hello my name is " + abc.name)

p1 = Person("John", 36)
p1.myfunc()
Try it Yourself »

Modify Object Properties

You can modify properties on objects like this:

Example
Set the age of p1 to 40:
 p1.age = 40
Try it Yourself »

Delete Object Properties

You can delete properties on objects by using the del keyword:

Example
Delete the age property from the p1 object:

del p1.age
Try it Yourself »

Delete Objects
You can delete objects by using the del keyword:

Example
Delete the p1 object:

del p1
Try it Yourself »

The pass Statement

class definitions cannot be empty, but if you for some reason have a class definition with
no content, put in the pass statement to avoid getting an error.

Example
class Person:
pass
Try it Yourself »

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
Create a class named MyClass:

MyClass:
x = 5

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

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Python Inheritance
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Python Inheritance
Inheritance allows us to define a class that inherits all the methods and properties from
another class.

Parent class is the class being inherited from, also called base class.

Child class is the class that inherits from another class, also called derived class.

Create a Parent Class

Any class can be a parent class, so the syntax is the same as creating any other class:

Example
Create a class named Person, with firstname and lastname properties, and
a printname method:

class Person:
def __init__(self, fname, lname):
self.firstname = fname
self.lastname = lname

def printname(self):
print(self.firstname, self.lastname)
#Use the Person class to create an object, and then execute the printname method:

x = Person("John", "Doe")
x.printname()
Try it Yourself »

Create a Child Class

To create a class that inherits the functionality from another class, send the parent class
as a parameter when creating the child class:

Example
Create a class named Student, which will inherit the properties and methods from
the Person class:

class Student(Person):
pass

Note: Use the pass keyword when you do not want to add any other properties or
methods to the class.

Now the Student class has the same properties and methods as the Person class.

Example
Use the Student class to create an object, and then execute the printname method:

x = Student("Mike", "Olsen")
x.printname()
Try it Yourself »

Add the __init__() Function

So far we have created a child class that inherits the properties and methods from its
parent.

We want to add the __init__() function to the child class (instead of the pass keyword).

Note: The __init__() function is called automatically every time the class is being used to
create a new object.
Example
Add the __init__() function to the Student class:

class Student(Person):
def __init__(self, fname, lname):
#add properties etc.

When you add the __init__() function, the child class will no longer inherit the
parent's __init__() function.

Note: The child's __init__() function overrides the inheritance of the

parent's __init__() function.

To keep the inheritance of the parent's __init__() function, add a call to the
parent's __init__() function:

Example
class Student(Person):
def __init__(self, fname, lname):
Person.__init__(self, fname, lname)
Try it Yourself »

Now we have successfully added the __init__() function, and kept the inheritance of the
parent class, and we are ready to add functionality in the __init__() function.

Use the super() Function

Python also has a super() function that will make the child class inherit all the methods
and properties from its parent:

Example
class Student(Person):
def __init__(self, fname, lname):
super().__init__(fname, lname)
Try it Yourself »

By using the super() function, you do not have to use the name of the parent element, it
will automatically inherit the methods and properties from its parent.

Add Properties
Example
 Add a property called graduationyear to the Student class:

class Student(Person):
def __init__(self, fname, lname):
super().__init__(fname, lname)
self.graduationyear = 2019
Try it Yourself »

In the example below, the year 2019 should be a variable, and passed into
the Student class when creating student objects. To do so, add another parameter in the
__init__() function:

Example
Add a year parameter, and pass the correct year when creating objects:

class Student(Person):
def __init__(self, fname, lname, year):
super().__init__(fname, lname)
self.graduationyear = year

x = Student("Mike", "Olsen", 2019)

Try it Yourself »

Add Methods
Example
Add a method called welcome to the Student class:

class Student(Person):
def __init__(self, fname, lname, year):
super().__init__(fname, lname)
self.graduationyear = year

def welcome(self):
print("Welcome", self.firstname, self.lastname, "to the class of",
self.graduationyear)
Try it Yourself »

If you add a method in the child class with the same name as a function in the parent
class, the inheritance of the parent method will be overridden.

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
What is the correct syntax to create a class named Student that will inherit properties and
methods from a class named Person?

class :

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

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Python Iterators
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Python Iterators
An iterator is an object that contains a countable number of values.

An iterator is an object that can be iterated upon, meaning that you can traverse through
all the values.

Technically, in Python, an iterator is an object which implements the iterator protocol,

which consist of the methods __iter__() and __next__().

Iterator vs Iterable
Lists, tuples, dictionaries, and sets are all iterable objects. They are
iterable containers which you can get an iterator from.

All these objects have a iter() method which is used to get an iterator:

Example
Return an iterator from a tuple, and print each value:

mytuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

myit = iter(mytuple)

print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))

Try it Yourself »

Even strings are iterable objects, and can return an iterator:

Example
Strings are also iterable objects, containing a sequence of characters:

mystr = "banana"
myit = iter(mystr)

print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))

Try it Yourself »

Looping Through an Iterator

We can also use a for loop to iterate through an iterable object:

Example
Iterate the values of a tuple:

mytuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

for x in mytuple:
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Example
Iterate the characters of a string:

mystr = "banana"

for x in mystr:
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

The for loop actually creates an iterator object and executes the next() method for each
loop.
Create an Iterator
To create an object/class as an iterator you have to implement the
methods __iter__() and __next__() to your object.

As you have learned in the Python Classes/Objects chapter, all classes have a function
called __init__(), which allows you to do some initializing when the object is being
created.

The __iter__() method acts similar, you can do operations (initializing etc.), but must
always return the iterator object itself.

The __next__() method also allows you to do operations, and must return the next item in
the sequence.

Example
Create an iterator that returns numbers, starting with 1, and each sequence will increase
by one (returning 1,2,3,4,5 etc.):

class MyNumbers:
def __iter__(self):
self.a = 1
return self

def __next__(self):
x = self.a
self.a += 1
return x

myclass = MyNumbers()
myiter = iter(myclass)

print(next(myiter))
print(next(myiter))
print(next(myiter))
print(next(myiter))
print(next(myiter))
Try it Yourself »

StopIteration
The example above would continue forever if you had enough next() statements, or if it
was used in a for loop.
To prevent the iteration to go on forever, we can use the StopIteration statement.

In the __next__() method, we can add a terminating condition to raise an error if the
iteration is done a specified number of times:

Example
Stop after 20 iterations:

class MyNumbers:
def __iter__(self):
self.a = 1
return self

def __next__(self):
if self.a <= 20:
x = self.a
self.a += 1
return x
else:
raise StopIteration

myclass = MyNumbers()
myiter = iter(myclass)

for x in myiter:
print(x)

Try it Yourself »

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Python Scope
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A variable is only available from inside the region it is created. This is called scope.

Local Scope
A variable created inside a function belongs to the local scope of that function, and can
only be used inside that function.

Example
A variable created inside a function is available inside that function:

def myfunc():
x = 300
print(x)

myfunc()
Try it Yourself »

Function Inside Function

As explained in the example above, the variable x is not available outside the function,
but it is available for any function inside the function:

Example
The local variable can be accessed from a function within the function:

def myfunc():
x = 300
def myinnerfunc():
print(x)
myinnerfunc()

myfunc()
Try it Yourself »

Global Scope
A variable created in the main body of the Python code is a global variable and belongs to
the global scope.

Global variables are available from within any scope, global and local.

Example
A variable created outside of a function is global and can be used by anyone:

x = 300

def myfunc():
 print(x)

myfunc()

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Naming Variables
If you operate with the same variable name inside and outside of a function, Python will
treat them as two separate variables, one available in the global scope (outside the
function) and one available in the local scope (inside the function):

Example
The function will print the local x, and then the code will print the global x:

x = 300

def myfunc():
x = 200
print(x)

myfunc()

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Global Keyword
If you need to create a global variable, but are stuck in the local scope, you can use
the global keyword.

The global keyword makes the variable global.

Example
If you use the global keyword, the variable belongs to the global scope:

def myfunc():
global x
x = 300

myfunc()

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Also, use the global keyword if you want to make a change to a global variable inside a
function.
Example
To change the value of a global variable inside a function, refer to the variable by using
the global keyword:

x = 300

def myfunc():
global x
x = 200

myfunc()

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

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Python Modules
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What is a Module?
Consider a module to be the same as a code library.

A file containing a set of functions you want to include in your application.

Create a Module
To create a module just save the code you want in a file with the file extension .py:

Example
Save this code in a file named mymodule.py

def greeting(name):
print("Hello, " + name)

Use a Module
Now we can use the module we just created, by using the import statement:

Example
Import the module named mymodule, and call the greeting function:

import mymodule

mymodule.greeting("Jonathan")
Run Example »

Note: When using a function from a module, use the

syntax: module_name.function_name.

Variables in Module
The module can contain functions, as already described, but also variables of all types
(arrays, dictionaries, objects etc):

Example
Save this code in the file mymodule.py

person1 = {
"name": "John",
"age": 36,
"country": "Norway"
}

Example
Import the module named mymodule, and access the person1 dictionary:

import mymodule

a = mymodule.person1["age"]
print(a)
Run Example »

Naming a Module
You can name the module file whatever you like, but it must have the file extension .py
Re-naming a Module
You can create an alias when you import a module, by using the as keyword:

Example
Create an alias for mymodule called mx:

import mymodule as mx

a = mx.person1["age"]
print(a)
Run Example »

Built-in Modules
There are several built-in modules in Python, which you can import whenever you like.

Example
Import and use the platform module:

import platform

x = platform.system()
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Using the dir() Function

There is a built-in function to list all the function names (or variable names) in a module.
The dir() function:

Example
List all the defined names belonging to the platform module:

import platform

x = dir(platform)
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Note: The dir() function can be used on all modules, also the ones you create yourself.
 Import From Module
You can choose to import only parts from a module, by using the from keyword.

Example
The module named mymodule has one function and one dictionary:

def greeting(name):
print("Hello, " + name)

person1 = {
"name": "John",
"age": 36,
"country": "Norway"
}

Example
Import only the person1 dictionary from the module:

from mymodule import person1

print (person1["age"])

Run Example »

Note: When importing using the from keyword, do not use the module name when
referring to elements in the module. Example: person1["age"], not mymodule.person1["age"]

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
What is the correct syntax to import a module named "mymodule"?

mymodule

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

 ❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python Datetime
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Python Dates
A date in Python is not a data type of its own, but we can import a module
named datetime to work with dates as date objects.

Example
Import the datetime module and display the current date:

import datetime

x = datetime.datetime.now()
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Date Output
When we execute the code from the example above the result will be:

2022-08-15 18:16:08.789842

The date contains year, month, day, hour, minute, second, and microsecond.

The datetime module has many methods to return information about the date object.

Here are a few examples, you will learn more about them later in this chapter:

Example
Return the year and name of weekday:

import datetime

x = datetime.datetime.now()

print(x.year)
print(x.strftime("%A"))
Try it Yourself »

Creating Date Objects

To create a date, we can use the datetime() class (constructor) of the datetime module.

The datetime() class requires three parameters to create a date: year, month, day.

Example
Create a date object:

import datetime

x = datetime.datetime(2020, 5, 17)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

The datetime() class also takes parameters for time and timezone (hour, minute, second,
microsecond, tzone), but they are optional, and has a default value of 0, (None for
timezone).

The strftime() Method

The datetime object has a method for formatting date objects into readable strings.

The method is called strftime(), and takes one parameter, format, to specify the format of
the returned string:

Example
Display the name of the month:

import datetime

x = datetime.datetime(2018, 6, 1)

print(x.strftime("%B"))
Try it Yourself »

A reference of all the legal format codes:

Directive Description Example Try
it

%a Weekday, short version Wed Try it

»

%A Weekday, full version Wednesday Try it

»

%w Weekday as a number 0-6, 0 3 Try it

is Sunday »

%d Day of month 01-31 31 Try it

»

%b Month name, short version Dec Try it

»

%B Month name, full version December Try it

»

%m Month as a number 01-12 12 Try it

»

%y Year, short version, without 18 Try it

century »

%Y Year, full version 2018 Try it

»
%H Hour 00-23 17 Try it
»

%I Hour 00-12 05 Try it

»

%p AM/PM PM Try it
»

%M Minute 00-59 41 Try it

»

%S Second 00-59 08 Try it

»

%f Microsecond 000000-999999 548513 Try it

»

%z UTC offset +0100

%Z Timezone CST

%j Day number of year 001-366 365 Try it

»

%U Week number of year, 52 Try it

Sunday as the first day of »
week, 00-53
%W Week number of year, 52 Try it
Monday as the first day of »
week, 00-53

%c Local version of date and Mon Dec 31 Try it

time 17:41:00 2018 »

%C Century 20 Try it
»

%x Local version of date 12/31/18 Try it

»

%X Local version of time 17:41:00 Try it

»

%% A % character % Try it
»

%G ISO 8601 year 2018 Try it

»

%u ISO 8601 weekday (1-7) 1 Try it

»

%V ISO 8601 weeknumber (01- 01 Try it

53) »

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Python Math
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python has a set of built-in math functions, including an extensive math module, that
allows you to perform mathematical tasks on numbers.

Built-in Math Functions

The min() and max() functions can be used to find the lowest or highest value in an
iterable:

Example
x = min(5, 10, 25)
y = max(5, 10, 25)

print(x)
print(y)
Try it Yourself »

The abs() function returns the absolute (positive) value of the specified number:

Example
x = abs(-7.25)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

The pow(x, y) function returns the value of x to the power of y (xy).

Example
Return the value of 4 to the power of 3 (same as 4 * 4 * 4):

x = pow(4, 3)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »
The Math Module
Python has also a built-in module called math, which extends the list of mathematical
functions.

To use it, you must import the math module:

import math

When you have imported the math module, you can start using methods and constants of
the module.

The math.sqrt() method for example, returns the square root of a number:

Example
import math

x = math.sqrt(64)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

The math.ceil() method rounds a number upwards to its nearest integer, and
the math.floor() method rounds a number downwards to its nearest integer, and returns
the result:

Example
import math

x = math.ceil(1.4)
y = math.floor(1.4)

print(x) # returns 2
print(y) # returns 1
Try it Yourself »

The math.pi constant, returns the value of PI (3.14...):

Example
import math

x = math.pi

print(x)
Try it Yourself »
Complete Math Module Reference
In our Math Module Reference you will find a complete reference of all methods and
constants that belongs to the Math module.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python JSON
❮ PreviousNext ❯

JSON is a syntax for storing and exchanging data.

JSON is text, written with JavaScript object notation.

JSON in Python
Python has a built-in package called json, which can be used to work with JSON data.

Example
Import the json module:

import json

Parse JSON - Convert from JSON to Python

If you have a JSON string, you can parse it by using the json.loads() method.

The result will be a Python dictionary.

Example
Convert from JSON to Python:

import json
# some JSON:
x = '{ "name":"John", "age":30, "city":"New York"}'

# parse x:
y = json.loads(x)

# the result is a Python dictionary:

print(y["age"])
Try it Yourself »

Convert from Python to JSON

If you have a Python object, you can convert it into a JSON string by using
the json.dumps() method.

Example
Convert from Python to JSON:

import json

# a Python object (dict):

x = {
"name": "John",
"age": 30,
"city": "New York"
}

# convert into JSON:

y = json.dumps(x)

# the result is a JSON string:

print(y)
Try it Yourself »

You can convert Python objects of the following types, into JSON strings:

• dict
• list
• tuple
• string
• int
• float
• True
• False
 • None

Example
Convert Python objects into JSON strings, and print the values:

import json

print(json.dumps({"name": "John", "age": 30}))

print(json.dumps(["apple", "bananas"]))
print(json.dumps(("apple", "bananas")))
print(json.dumps("hello"))
print(json.dumps(42))
print(json.dumps(31.76))
print(json.dumps(True))
print(json.dumps(False))
print(json.dumps(None))
Try it Yourself »

When you convert from Python to JSON, Python objects are converted into the JSON
(JavaScript) equivalent:

Python JSON

dict Object

list Array

tuple Array

str String

int Number

float Number
 True true

False false

None null

Example
Convert a Python object containing all the legal data types:

import json

x = {
"name": "John",
"age": 30,
"married": True,
"divorced": False,
"children": ("Ann","Billy"),
"pets": None,
"cars": [
{"model": "BMW 230", "mpg": 27.5},
{"model": "Ford Edge", "mpg": 24.1}
]
}

print(json.dumps(x))

Try it Yourself »

Format the Result

The example above prints a JSON string, but it is not very easy to read, with no
indentations and line breaks.

The json.dumps() method has parameters to make it easier to read the result:

Example
Use the indent parameter to define the numbers of indents:
json.dumps(x, indent=4)

Try it Yourself »

You can also define the separators, default value is (", ", ": "), which means using a
comma and a space to separate each object, and a colon and a space to separate keys
from values:

Example
Use the separators parameter to change the default separator:

json.dumps(x, indent=4, separators=(". ", " = "))

Try it Yourself »

Order the Result

The json.dumps() method has parameters to order the keys in the result:

Example
Use the sort_keys parameter to specify if the result should be sorted or not:

json.dumps(x, indent=4, sort_keys=True)

Try it Yourself »

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python RegEx
❮ PreviousNext ❯

A RegEx, or Regular Expression, is a sequence of characters that forms a search pattern.

RegEx can be used to check if a string contains the specified search pattern.
RegEx Module
Python has a built-in package called re, which can be used to work with Regular Expressions.

Import the re module:

import re

RegEx in Python
When you have imported the re module, you can start using regular expressions:

Example
Search the string to see if it starts with "The" and ends with "Spain":

import re

txt = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.search("^The.*Spain$", txt)
Try it Yourself »

RegEx Functions
The re module offers a set of functions that allows us to search a string for a match:

Function Description

findall Returns a list containing all matches

search Returns a Match object if there is a match anywhere in the string

split Returns a list where the string has been split at each match

sub Replaces one or many matches with a string

Metacharacters
Metacharacters are characters with a special meaning:

Character Description Example Try it

[] A set of characters "[a-m]" Try it »

\ Signals a special sequence (can "\d" Try it »

also be used to escape special
characters)

. Any character (except newline "he..o" Try it »

character)

^ Starts with "^hello" Try it »

$ Ends with "planet$" Try it »

* Zero or more occurrences "he.*o" Try it »

+ One or more occurrences "he.+o" Try it »

? Zero or one occurrences "he.?o" Try it »

 {} Exactly the specified number of "he.{2}o" Try it »
occurrences

| Either or "falls|stays" Try it »

() Capture and group

Special Sequences
A special sequence is a \ followed by one of the characters in the list below, and has a special meaning:

Character Description Example Try it

\A Returns a match if the specified "\AThe" Try it »

characters are at the beginning of
the string

\b Returns a match where the r"\bain" Try it »

specified characters are at the r"ain\b" Try it »
beginning or at the end of a word
(the "r" in the beginning is making
sure that the string is being treated
as a "raw string")

\B Returns a match where the r"\Bain" Try it »

specified characters are present, r"ain\B" Try it »
but NOT at the beginning (or at the
end) of a word
(the "r" in the beginning is making
sure that the string is being treated
as a "raw string")
 \d Returns a match where the string "\d" Try it »
contains digits (numbers from 0-9)

\D Returns a match where the string "\D" Try it »

DOES NOT contain digits

\s Returns a match where the string "\s" Try it »

contains a white space character

\S Returns a match where the string "\S" Try it »

DOES NOT contain a white space
character

\w Returns a match where the string "\w" Try it »

contains any word characters
(characters from a to Z, digits from
0-9, and the underscore _
character)

\W Returns a match where the string "\W" Try it »

DOES NOT contain any word
characters

\Z Returns a match if the specified "Spain\Z" Try it »

characters are at the end of the
string

Sets
A set is a set of characters inside a pair of square brackets [] with a special meaning:

Set Description Try it

 [arn] Returns a match where one of the specified characters Try it »
(a, r, or n) is present

[a-n] Returns a match for any lower case character, Try it »

alphabetically between a and n

[^arn] Returns a match for any character EXCEPT a, r, Try it »

and n

[0123] Returns a match where any of the specified digits Try it »

(0, 1, 2, or 3) are present

[0-9] Returns a match for any digit between 0 and 9 Try it »

[0-5][0-9] Returns a match for any two-digit numbers Try it »

from 00 and 59

[a-zA-Z] Returns a match for any character alphabetically Try it »

between a and z, lower case OR upper case

[+] In sets, +, *, ., |, (), $,{} has no special meaning, Try it »

so [+] means: return a match for any + character in
the string

The findall() Function

The findall() function returns a list containing all matches.

Example
Print a list of all matches:
import re

txt = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.findall("ai", txt)
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

The list contains the matches in the order they are found.

If no matches are found, an empty list is returned:

Example
Return an empty list if no match was found:

import re

txt = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.findall("Portugal", txt)
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

The search() Function

The search() function searches the string for a match, and returns a Match object if there is a match.

If there is more than one match, only the first occurrence of the match will be returned:

Example
Search for the first white-space character in the string:

import re

txt = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.search("\s", txt)

print("The first white-space character is located in position:", x.start())

Try it Yourself »

If no matches are found, the value None is returned:

Example
Make a search that returns no match:

import re
txt = "The rain in Spain"
x = re.search("Portugal", txt)
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

The split() Function

The split() function returns a list where the string has been split at each match:

Example
Split at each white-space character:

import re

txt = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.split("\s", txt)
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

You can control the number of occurrences by specifying the maxsplit parameter:

Example
Split the string only at the first occurrence:

import re

txt = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.split("\s", txt, 1)
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

The sub() Function

The sub() function replaces the matches with the text of your choice:

Example
Replace every white-space character with the number 9:

import re
txt = "The rain in Spain"
x = re.sub("\s", "9", txt)
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

You can control the number of replacements by specifying the count parameter:

Example
Replace the first 2 occurrences:

import re

txt = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.sub("\s", "9", txt, 2)
print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Match Object
A Match Object is an object containing information about the search and the result.

Note: If there is no match, the value None will be returned, instead of the Match Object.

Example
Do a search that will return a Match Object:

import re

txt = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.search("ai", txt)
print(x) #this will print an object
Try it Yourself »

The Match object has properties and methods used to retrieve information about the search, and the result:

.span() returns a tuple containing the start-, and end positions of the match.
.string returns the string passed into the function
.group() returns the part of the string where there was a match

Example
Print the position (start- and end-position) of the first match occurrence.

The regular expression looks for any words that starts with an upper case "S":

import re
txt = "The rain in Spain"
x = re.search(r"\bS\w+", txt)
print(x.span())
Try it Yourself »

Example
Print the string passed into the function:

import re

txt = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.search(r"\bS\w+", txt)
print(x.string)
Try it Yourself »

Example
Print the part of the string where there was a match.

The regular expression looks for any words that starts with an upper case "S":

import re

txt = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.search(r"\bS\w+", txt)
print(x.group())
Try it Yourself »

Note: If there is no match, the value None will be returned, instead of the Match Object.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python PIP
❮ PreviousNext ❯

What is PIP?
PIP is a package manager for Python packages, or modules if you like.

Note: If you have Python version 3.4 or later, PIP is included by default.
What is a Package?
A package contains all the files you need for a module.

Modules are Python code libraries you can include in your project.

Check if PIP is Installed

Navigate your command line to the location of Python's script directory, and type the
following:

Example
Check PIP version:

C:\Users\Your Name\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\Scripts>pip --version

Install PIP
If you do not have PIP installed, you can download and install it from this
page: https://pypi.org/project/pip/

Download a Package
Downloading a package is very easy.

Open the command line interface and tell PIP to download the package you want.

Navigate your command line to the location of Python's script directory, and type the
following:

Example
Download a package named "camelcase":

C:\Users\Your Name\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\Scripts>pip install

camelcase

Now you have downloaded and installed your first package!

Using a Package
Once the package is installed, it is ready to use.

Import the "camelcase" package into your project.

Example
Import and use "camelcase":

import camelcase

c = camelcase.CamelCase()

txt = "hello world"

print(c.hump(txt))
Run Example »

Find Packages
Find more packages at https://pypi.org/.

Remove a Package
Use the uninstall command to remove a package:

Example
Uninstall the package named "camelcase":

C:\Users\Your Name\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\Scripts>pip uninstall

camelcase

The PIP Package Manager will ask you to confirm that you want to remove the camelcase
package:

Uninstalling camelcase-02.1:
Would remove:
c:\users\Your Name\appdata\local\programs\python\python36-32\lib\site-
packages\camecase-0.2-py3.6.egg-info
c:\users\Your Name\appdata\local\programs\python\python36-32\lib\site-
packages\camecase\*
Proceed (y/n)?

Press y and the package will be removed.

List Packages
Use the list command to list all the packages installed on your system:

Example
List installed packages:

C:\Users\Your Name\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\Scripts>pip list

Result:

Package Version
-----------------------
camelcase 0.2
mysql-connector 2.1.6
pip 18.1
pymongo 3.6.1
setuptools 39.0.1

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python Try Except

❮ PreviousNext ❯

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")
Try it Yourself »

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)
Try it Yourself »

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")
Try it Yourself »
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")
Try it Yourself »

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")
Try it Yourself »

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")
Try it Yourself »

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")
Try it Yourself »

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")
Try it Yourself »

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Python User Input
❮ PreviousNext ❯

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)

Run Example »

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

Run Example »

Python stops executing when it comes to the input() function, and continues when the
user has given some input.

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Python String Formatting
❮ PreviousNext ❯

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 the format() method:

Example
Add a placeholder where you want to display the price:

price = 49
txt = "The price is {} dollars"
print(txt.format(price))
Try it Yourself »

You can add parameters inside the curly brackets to specify how to convert the value:

Example
Format the price to be displayed as a number with two decimals:

txt = "The price is {:.2f} dollars"

Try it Yourself »

Check out all formatting types in our String format() Reference.

Multiple Values
If you want to use more values, just add more values to the format() method:
print(txt.format(price, itemno, count))

And add more placeholders:

Example
quantity = 3
itemno = 567
price = 49
myorder = "I want {} pieces of item number {} for {:.2f} dollars."
print(myorder.format(quantity, itemno, price))
Try it Yourself »

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:

Example
quantity = 3
itemno = 567
price = 49
myorder = "I want {0} pieces of item number {1} for {2:.2f} dollars."
print(myorder.format(quantity, itemno, price))
Try it Yourself »

Also, if you want to refer to the same value more than once, use the index number:

Example
age = 36
name = "John"
txt = "His name is {1}. {1} is {0} years old."
print(txt.format(age, name))
Try it Yourself »

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"))
Try it Yourself »

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Python File Open
❮ PreviousNext ❯

File handling is an important part of any web application.

Python has several functions for creating, reading, updating, and deleting files.

File Handling
The key function for working with files in Python is the open() function.

The open() function takes two parameters; filename, and mode.

There are four different methods (modes) for opening a file:

"r" - Read - Default value. Opens a file for reading, error if the file does not exist

"a" - Append - Opens a file for appending, creates the file if it does not exist

"w" - Write - Opens a file for writing, creates the file if it does not exist

"x" - Create - Creates the specified file, returns an error if the file exists

In addition you can specify if the file should be handled as binary or text mode

"t" - Text - Default value. Text mode

"b" - Binary - Binary mode (e.g. images)

Syntax
To open a file for reading it is enough to specify the name of the file:

f = open("demofile.txt")

The code above is the same as:

f = open("demofile.txt", "rt")

Because "r" for read, and "t" for text are the default values, you do not need to specify
them.
Note: Make sure the file exists, or else you will get an error.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python File Open

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Open a File on the Server

Assume we have the following file, located in the same folder as Python:

demofile.txt

Hello! Welcome to demofile.txt

This file is for testing purposes.
Good Luck!

To open the file, use the built-in open() function.

The open() function returns a file object, which has a read() method for reading the
content of the file:

Example
f = open("demofile.txt", "r")
print(f.read())
Run Example »

If the file is located in a different location, you will have to specify the file path, like this:

Example
Open a file on a different location:

f = open("D:\\myfiles\welcome.txt", "r")
print(f.read())
Run Example »

Read Only Parts of the File

By default the read() method returns the whole text, but you can also specify how many
characters you want to return:

Example
Return the 5 first characters of the file:

f = open("demofile.txt", "r")
print(f.read(5))
Run Example »

Read Lines
You can return one line by using the readline() method:

Example
Read one line of the file:

f = open("demofile.txt", "r")
print(f.readline())
Run Example »

By calling readline() two times, you can read the two first lines:

Example
Read two lines of the file:

f = open("demofile.txt", "r")
print(f.readline())
print(f.readline())
Run Example »

By looping through the lines of the file, you can read the whole file, line by line:

Example
Loop through the file line by line:

f = open("demofile.txt", "r")
for x in f:
print(x)
Run Example »
Close Files
It is a good practice to always close the file when you are done with it.

Example
Close the file when you are finish with it:

f = open("demofile.txt", "r")
print(f.readline())
f.close()
Run Example »

Note: You should always close your files, in some cases, due to buffering, changes made
to a file may not show until you close the file.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python File Write

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Write to an Existing File

To write to an existing file, you must add a parameter to the open() function:

"a" - Append - will append to the end of the file

"w" - Write - will overwrite any existing content

Example
Open the file "demofile2.txt" and append content to the file:

f = open("demofile2.txt", "a")
f.write("Now the file has more content!")
f.close()

#open and read the file after the appending:

f = open("demofile2.txt", "r")
print(f.read())
Run Example »

Example
Open the file "demofile3.txt" and overwrite the content:

f = open("demofile3.txt", "w")
f.write("Woops! I have deleted the content!")
f.close()

#open and read the file after the appending:

f = open("demofile3.txt", "r")
print(f.read())
Run Example »

Note: the "w" method will overwrite the entire file.

Create a New File

To create a new file in Python, use the open() method, with one of the following
parameters:

"x" - Create - will create a file, returns an error if the file exist

"a" - Append - will create a file if the specified file does not exist

"w" - Write - will create a file if the specified file does not exist

Example
Create a file called "myfile.txt":

f = open("myfile.txt", "x")

Result: a new empty file is created!

Example
Create a new file if it does not exist:

f = open("myfile.txt", "w")

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Python Delete File
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Delete a File
To delete a file, you must import the OS module, and run its os.remove() function:

Example
Remove the file "demofile.txt":

import os
os.remove("demofile.txt")

Check if File exist:

To avoid getting an error, you might want to check if the file exists before you try to
delete it:

Example
Check if file exists, then delete it:

import os
if os.path.exists("demofile.txt"):
os.remove("demofile.txt")
else:
print("The file does not exist")

Delete Folder
To delete an entire folder, use the os.rmdir() method:

Example
Remove the folder "myfolder":

import os
os.rmdir("myfolder")
Note: You can only remove empty folders.

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Matplotlib Tutorial
❮ PreviousNext ❯

What is Matplotlib?
Matplotlib is a low level graph plotting library in python that serves as a visualization
utility.

Matplotlib was created by John D. Hunter.

Matplotlib is open source and we can use it freely.

Matplotlib is mostly written in python, a few segments are written in C, Objective-C and
Javascript for Platform compatibility.
Where is the Matplotlib Codebase?
The source code for Matplotlib is located at this github
repository https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Matplotlib Getting Started

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Installation of Matplotlib
If you have Python and PIP already installed on a system, then installation of Matplotlib is
very easy.

Install it using this command:

C:\Users\Your Name>pip install matplotlib

If this command fails, then use a python distribution that already has Matplotlib
installed, like Anaconda, Spyder etc.

Import Matplotlib
Once Matplotlib is installed, import it in your applications by adding
the import module statement:

import matplotlib

Now Matplotlib is imported and ready to use:

Checking Matplotlib Version

The version string is stored under __version__ attribute.
Example
import matplotlib

print(matplotlib.__version__)
Try it Yourself »

Note: two underscore characters are used in __version__.

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Matplotlib Pyplot
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Pyplot
Most of the Matplotlib utilities lies under the pyplot submodule, and are usually imported
under the plt alias:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

Now the Pyplot package can be referred to as plt.

Example
Draw a line in a diagram from position (0,0) to position (6,250):

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

xpoints = np.array([0, 6])

ypoints = np.array([0, 250])

plt.plot(xpoints, ypoints)
plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

You will learn more about drawing (plotting) in the next chapters.

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Matplotlib Plotting
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Plotting x and y points

The plot() function is used to draw points (markers) in a diagram.

By default, the plot() function draws a line from point to point.

The function takes parameters for specifying points in the diagram.

Parameter 1 is an array containing the points on the x-axis.

Parameter 2 is an array containing the points on the y-axis.

If we need to plot a line from (1, 3) to (8, 10), we have to pass two arrays [1, 8] and [3,
10] to the plot function.

Example
Draw a line in a diagram from position (1, 3) to position (8, 10):

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

xpoints = np.array([1, 8])

ypoints = np.array([3, 10])

plt.plot(xpoints, ypoints)
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

The x-axis is the horizontal axis.

The y-axis is the vertical axis.

Plotting Without Line
To plot only the markers, you can use shortcut string notation parameter 'o', which
means 'rings'.

Example
Draw two points in the diagram, one at position (1, 3) and one in position (8, 10):

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

xpoints = np.array([1, 8])

ypoints = np.array([3, 10])

plt.plot(xpoints, ypoints, 'o')

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

You will learn more about markers in the next chapter.

Multiple Points
You can plot as many points as you like, just make sure you have the same number of
points in both axis.

Example
Draw a line in a diagram from position (1, 3) to (2, 8) then to (6, 1) and finally to
position (8, 10):

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

xpoints = np.array([1, 2, 6, 8])

ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.plot(xpoints, ypoints)
plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Default X-Points
If we do not specify the points in the x-axis, they will get the default values 0, 1, 2, 3,
(etc. depending on the length of the y-points.

So, if we take the same example as above, and leave out the x-points, the diagram will
look like this:

Example
Plotting without x-points:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10, 5, 7])

plt.plot(ypoints)
plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

The x-points in the example above is [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5].

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Matplotlib Markers
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Markers
You can use the keyword argument marker to emphasize each point with a specified
marker:

Example
Mark each point with a circle:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.plot(ypoints, marker = 'o')

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Example
Mark each point with a star:

...
plt.plot(ypoints, marker = '*')
...

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Marker Reference
You can choose any of these markers:

Marker Description

'o' Circle Try it »

'*' Star Try it »

'.' Point Try it »

',' Pixel Try it »

'x' X Try it »

'X' X (filled) Try it »

'+' Plus Try it »

'P' Plus (filled) Try it »

's' Square Try it »

'D' Diamond Try it »

'd' Diamond (thin) Try it »

'p' Pentagon Try it »

'H' Hexagon Try it »

'h' Hexagon Try it »

'v' Triangle Down Try it »

 '^' Triangle Up Try it »

'<' Triangle Left Try it »

'>' Triangle Right Try it »

'1' Tri Down Try it »

'2' Tri Up Try it »

'3' Tri Left Try it »

'4' Tri Right Try it »

'|' Vline Try it »

'_' Hline Try it »

Format Strings fmt

You can use also use the shortcut string notation parameter to specify the marker.

This parameter is also called fmt, and is written with this syntax:

marker|line|color

Example
Mark each point with a circle:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.plot(ypoints, 'o:r')
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

The marker value can be anything from the Marker Reference above.

The line value can be one of the following:

Line Reference
Line Syntax Description

'-' Solid line Try it »

 ':' Dotted line Try it »

'--' Dashed line Try it »

'-.' Dashed/dotted line Try it »

Note: If you leave out the line value in the fmt parameter, no line will be plotted.

The short color value can be one of the following:

Color Reference
Color Syntax Description

'r' Red Try it »

'g' Green Try it »

'b' Blue Try it »

'c' Cyan Try it »

'm' Magenta Try it »

'y' Yellow Try it »

'k' Black Try it »

 'w' White Try it »

Marker Size
You can use the keyword argument markersize or the shorter version, ms to set the size of
the markers:

Example
Set the size of the markers to 20:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.plot(ypoints, marker = 'o', ms = 20)

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Marker Color
You can use the keyword argument markeredgecolor or the shorter mec to set the color of
the edge of the markers:

Example
Set the EDGE color to red:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.plot(ypoints, marker = 'o', ms = 20, mec = 'r')

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »
You can use the keyword argument markerfacecolor or the shorter mfc to set the color
inside the edge of the markers:

Example
Set the FACE color to red:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.plot(ypoints, marker = 'o', ms = 20, mfc = 'r')

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Use both the mec and mfc arguments to color of the entire marker:

Example
Set the color of both the edge and the face to red:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np
ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.plot(ypoints, marker = 'o', ms = 20, mec = 'r', mfc = 'r')

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

You can also use Hexadecimal color values:

Example
Mark each point with a beautiful green color:

...
plt.plot(ypoints, marker = 'o', ms = 20, mec = '#4CAF50', mfc = '#4CAF50')
...

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Or any of the 140 supported color names.

Example
Mark each point with the color named "hotpink":

...
plt.plot(ypoints, marker = 'o', ms = 20, mec = 'hotpink', mfc = 'hotpink')
...

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Matplotlib Line
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Linestyle
You can use the keyword argument linestyle, or shorter ls, to change the style of the
plotted line:

Example
Use a dotted line:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.plot(ypoints, linestyle = 'dotted')
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Example
Use a dashed line:

plt.plot(ypoints, linestyle = 'dashed')

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Shorter Syntax
The line style can be written in a shorter syntax:

linestyle can be written as ls.

dotted can be written as :.

dashed can be written as --.

Example
Shorter syntax:

plt.plot(ypoints, ls = ':')

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Line Styles
You can choose any of these styles:

Style Or

'solid' (default) '-' Try it »

'dotted' ':' Try it »

'dashed' '--' Try it »

 'dashdot' '-.' Try it »

'None' '' or ' ' Try it »

Line Color
You can use the keyword argument color or the shorter c to set the color of the line:

Example
Set the line color to red:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.plot(ypoints, color = 'r')

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

You can also use Hexadecimal color values:

Example
Plot with a beautiful green line:

...
plt.plot(ypoints, c = '#4CAF50')
...

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Or any of the 140 supported color names.

Example
Plot with the color named "hotpink":

...
plt.plot(ypoints, c = 'hotpink')
...

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Line Width
You can use the keyword argument linewidth or the shorter lw to change the width of the
line.

The value is a floating number, in points:

Example
Plot with a 20.5pt wide line:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.plot(ypoints, linewidth = '20.5')

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Multiple Lines
You can plot as many lines as you like by simply adding more plt.plot() functions:

Example
Draw two lines by specifying a plt.plot() function for each line:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

y1 = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])
y2 = np.array([6, 2, 7, 11])

plt.plot(y1)
plt.plot(y2)

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

You can also plot many lines by adding the points for the x- and y-axis for each line in
the same plt.plot() function.

(In the examples above we only specified the points on the y-axis, meaning that the
points on the x-axis got the the default values (0, 1, 2, 3).)

The x- and y- values come in pairs:

Example
Draw two lines by specifiyng the x- and y-point values for both lines:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x1 = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y1 = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])
x2 = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y2 = np.array([6, 2, 7, 11])

plt.plot(x1, y1, x2, y2)

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

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❮ PreviousNext ❯

Matplotlib Labels and Title

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Create Labels for a Plot

With Pyplot, you can use the xlabel() and ylabel() functions to set a label for the x- and
y-axis.

Example
Add labels to the x- and y-axis:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = np.array([80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125])
y = np.array([240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330])

plt.plot(x, y)

plt.xlabel("Average Pulse")
plt.ylabel("Calorie Burnage")

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Create a Title for a Plot

With Pyplot, you can use the title() function to set a title for the plot.

Example
Add a plot title and labels for the x- and y-axis:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = np.array([80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125])
y = np.array([240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330])

plt.plot(x, y)

plt.title("Sports Watch Data")

plt.xlabel("Average Pulse")
plt.ylabel("Calorie Burnage")

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Set Font Properties for Title and Labels

You can use the fontdict parameter in xlabel(), ylabel(), and title() to set font properties
for the title and labels.

Example
Set font properties for the title and labels:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = np.array([80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125])
y = np.array([240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330])

font1 = {'family':'serif','color':'blue','size':20}
font2 = {'family':'serif','color':'darkred','size':15}

plt.title("Sports Watch Data", fontdict = font1)

plt.xlabel("Average Pulse", fontdict = font2)
plt.ylabel("Calorie Burnage", fontdict = font2)

plt.plot(x, y)
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »
Position the Title
You can use the loc parameter in title() to position the title.

Legal values are: 'left', 'right', and 'center'. Default value is 'center'.

Example
Position the title to the left:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = np.array([80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125])
y = np.array([240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330])

plt.title("Sports Watch Data", loc = 'left')

plt.xlabel("Average Pulse")
plt.ylabel("Calorie Burnage")

plt.plot(x, y)
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »
Matplotlib Adding Grid Lines
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Add Grid Lines to a Plot

With Pyplot, you can use the grid() function to add grid lines to the plot.

Example
Add grid lines to the plot:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = np.array([80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125])
y = np.array([240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330])

plt.title("Sports Watch Data")

plt.xlabel("Average Pulse")
plt.ylabel("Calorie Burnage")

plt.plot(x, y)

plt.grid()

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Specify Which Grid Lines to Display

You can use the axis parameter in the grid() function to specify which grid lines to
display.

Legal values are: 'x', 'y', and 'both'. Default value is 'both'.

Example
Display only grid lines for the x-axis:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = np.array([80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125])
y = np.array([240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330])

plt.title("Sports Watch Data")

plt.xlabel("Average Pulse")
plt.ylabel("Calorie Burnage")

plt.plot(x, y)

plt.grid(axis = 'x')

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Example
Display only grid lines for the y-axis:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = np.array([80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125])
y = np.array([240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330])

plt.title("Sports Watch Data")

plt.xlabel("Average Pulse")
plt.ylabel("Calorie Burnage")

plt.plot(x, y)
plt.grid(axis = 'y')

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Set Line Properties for the Grid

You can also set the line properties of the grid, like this: grid(color = 'color', linestyle =
'linestyle', linewidth = number).

Example
Set the line properties of the grid:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = np.array([80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125])
y = np.array([240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330])
plt.title("Sports Watch Data")
plt.xlabel("Average Pulse")
plt.ylabel("Calorie Burnage")

plt.plot(x, y)

plt.grid(color = 'green', linestyle = '--', linewidth = 0.5)

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

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Matplotlib Subplot
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Display Multiple Plots

With the subplot() function you can draw multiple plots in one figure:

Example
Draw 2 plots:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

#plot 1:
x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.subplot(1, 2, 1)
plt.plot(x,y)

#plot 2:
x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = np.array([10, 20, 30, 40])

plt.subplot(1, 2, 2)
plt.plot(x,y)

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

The subplot() Function

The subplot() function takes three arguments that describes the layout of the figure.

The layout is organized in rows and columns, which are represented by the first and second argument.

The third argument represents the index of the current plot.

plt.subplot(1, 2, 1)
#the figure has 1 row, 2 columns, and this plot is the first plot.

plt.subplot(1, 2, 2)
#the figure has 1 row, 2 columns, and this plot is the second plot.

So, if we want a figure with 2 rows an 1 column (meaning that the two plots will be displayed on top of each
other instead of side-by-side), we can write the syntax like this:

Example
Draw 2 plots on top of each other:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

#plot 1:
x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.subplot(2, 1, 1)
plt.plot(x,y)

#plot 2:
x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = np.array([10, 20, 30, 40])

plt.subplot(2, 1, 2)
plt.plot(x,y)

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

You can draw as many plots you like on one figure, just descibe the number of rows, columns, and the index of
the plot.

Example
Draw 6 plots:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.subplot(2, 3, 1)
plt.plot(x,y)

x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = np.array([10, 20, 30, 40])

plt.subplot(2, 3, 2)
plt.plot(x,y)

x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.subplot(2, 3, 3)
plt.plot(x,y)

x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = np.array([10, 20, 30, 40])

plt.subplot(2, 3, 4)
plt.plot(x,y)

x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.subplot(2, 3, 5)
plt.plot(x,y)

x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = np.array([10, 20, 30, 40])

plt.subplot(2, 3, 6)
plt.plot(x,y)

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Title
You can add a title to each plot with the title() function:

Example
2 plots, with titles:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

#plot 1:
x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.subplot(1, 2, 1)
plt.plot(x,y)
plt.title("SALES")
#plot 2:
x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = np.array([10, 20, 30, 40])

plt.subplot(1, 2, 2)
plt.plot(x,y)
plt.title("INCOME")

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Super Title
You can add a title to the entire figure with the suptitle() function:

Example
Add a title for the entire figure:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np
#plot 1:
x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.subplot(1, 2, 1)
plt.plot(x,y)
plt.title("SALES")

#plot 2:
x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = np.array([10, 20, 30, 40])

plt.subplot(1, 2, 2)
plt.plot(x,y)
plt.title("INCOME")

plt.suptitle("MY SHOP")
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

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Matplotlib Scatter
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Creating Scatter Plots

With Pyplot, you can use the scatter() function to draw a scatter plot.

The scatter() function plots one dot for each observation. It needs two arrays of the same
length, one for the values of the x-axis, and one for values on the y-axis:

Example
A simple scatter plot:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x = np.array([5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6])
y = np.array([99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86])

plt.scatter(x, y)
plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

The observation in the example above is the result of 13 cars passing by.

The X-axis shows how old the car is.

The Y-axis shows the speed of the car when it passes.

Are there any relationships between the observations?

It seems that the newer the car, the faster it drives, but that could be a coincidence, after
all we only registered 13 cars.

Compare Plots
In the example above, there seems to be a relationship between speed and age, but what
if we plot the observations from another day as well? Will the scatter plot tell us
something else?

Example
Draw two plots on the same figure:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

#day one, the age and speed of 13 cars:

x = np.array([5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6])
y = np.array([99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86])
plt.scatter(x, y)

#day two, the age and speed of 15 cars:

x = np.array([2,2,8,1,15,8,12,9,7,3,11,4,7,14,12])
y = np.array([100,105,84,105,90,99,90,95,94,100,79,112,91,80,85])
plt.scatter(x, y)

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Note: The two plots are plotted with two different colors, by default blue and orange, you
will learn how to change colors later in this chapter.

By comparing the two plots, I think it is safe to say that they both gives us the same
conclusion: the newer the car, the faster it drives.
Colors
You can set your own color for each scatter plot with the color or the c argument:

Example
Set your own color of the markers:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x = np.array([5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6])
y = np.array([99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86])
plt.scatter(x, y, color = 'hotpink')

x = np.array([2,2,8,1,15,8,12,9,7,3,11,4,7,14,12])
y = np.array([100,105,84,105,90,99,90,95,94,100,79,112,91,80,85])
plt.scatter(x, y, color = '#88c999')

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »
Color Each Dot
You can even set a specific color for each dot by using an array of colors as value for
the c argument:

Note: You cannot use the color argument for this, only the c argument.

Example
Set your own color of the markers:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x = np.array([5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6])
y = np.array([99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86])
colors =
np.array(["red","green","blue","yellow","pink","black","orange","purple","beige","
brown","gray","cyan","magenta"])

plt.scatter(x, y, c=colors)

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

ColorMap
The Matplotlib module has a number of available colormaps.

A colormap is like a list of colors, where each color has a value that ranges from 0 to 100.

Here is an example of a colormap:

This colormap is called 'viridis' and as you can see it ranges from 0, which is a purple
color, and up to 100, which is a yellow color.

How to Use the ColorMap

You can specify the colormap with the keyword argument cmap with the value of the
colormap, in this case 'viridis' which is one of the built-in colormaps available in
Matplotlib.

In addition you have to create an array with values (from 0 to 100), one value for each of
the point in the scatter plot:

Example
Create a color array, and specify a colormap in the scatter plot:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np
x = np.array([5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6])
y = np.array([99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86])
colors = np.array([0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100])

plt.scatter(x, y, c=colors, cmap='viridis')

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

You can include the colormap in the drawing by including the plt.colorbar() statement:

Example
Include the actual colormap:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x = np.array([5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6])
y = np.array([99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86])
colors = np.array([0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100])

plt.scatter(x, y, c=colors, cmap='viridis')

plt.colorbar()

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Available ColorMaps
You can choose any of the built-in colormaps:

Name Reverse

Accent Try it » Accent_r Try it »

Blues Try it » Blues_r Try it »

BrBG Try it » BrBG_r Try it »

BuGn Try it » BuGn_r Try it »

BuPu Try it » BuPu_r Try it »

CMRmap Try it » CMRmap_r Try it »

Dark2 Try it » Dark2_r Try it »

GnBu Try it » GnBu_r Try it »

Greens Try it » Greens_r Try it »

Greys Try it » Greys_r Try it »

OrRd Try it » OrRd_r Try it »

Oranges Try it » Oranges_r Try it »

PRGn Try it » PRGn_r Try it »

Paired Try it » Paired_r Try it »

Pastel1 Try it » Pastel1_r Try it »

Pastel2 Try it » Pastel2_r Try it »

PiYG Try it » PiYG_r Try it »

PuBu Try it » PuBu_r Try it »

PuBuGn Try it » PuBuGn_r Try it »

PuOr Try it » PuOr_r Try it »

PuRd Try it » PuRd_r Try it »

Purples Try it » Purples_r Try it »

RdBu Try it » RdBu_r Try it »

RdGy Try it » RdGy_r Try it »

RdPu Try it » RdPu_r Try it »

RdYlBu Try it » RdYlBu_r Try it »

RdYlGn Try it » RdYlGn_r Try it »

Reds Try it » Reds_r Try it »

Set1 Try it » Set1_r Try it »

Set2 Try it » Set2_r Try it »

Set3 Try it » Set3_r Try it »

Spectral Try it » Spectral_r Try it »

Wistia Try it » Wistia_r Try it »

YlGn Try it » YlGn_r Try it »

YlGnBu Try it » YlGnBu_r Try it »

YlOrBr Try it » YlOrBr_r Try it »

YlOrRd Try it » YlOrRd_r Try it »

afmhot Try it » afmhot_r Try it »

autumn Try it » autumn_r Try it »

binary Try it » binary_r Try it »

bone Try it » bone_r Try it »

brg Try it » brg_r Try it »

bwr Try it » bwr_r Try it »

cividis Try it » cividis_r Try it »

cool Try it » cool_r Try it »

coolwarm Try it » coolwarm_r Try it »

copper Try it » copper_r Try it »

cubehelix Try it » cubehelix_r Try it »

flag Try it » flag_r Try it »

gist_earth Try it » gist_earth_r Try it »

gist_gray Try it » gist_gray_r Try it »

gist_heat Try it » gist_heat_r Try it »

gist_ncar Try it » gist_ncar_r Try it »

gist_rainbow Try it » gist_rainbow_r Try it »

gist_stern Try it » gist_stern_r Try it »

gist_yarg Try it » gist_yarg_r Try it »

gnuplot Try it » gnuplot_r Try it »

gnuplot2 Try it » gnuplot2_r Try it »

gray Try it » gray_r Try it »

hot Try it » hot_r Try it »

hsv Try it » hsv_r Try it »

inferno Try it » inferno_r Try it »

jet Try it » jet_r Try it »

magma Try it » magma_r Try it »

nipy_spectral Try it » nipy_spectral_r Try it »

ocean Try it » ocean_r Try it »

pink Try it » pink_r Try it »

plasma Try it » plasma_r Try it »

prism Try it » prism_r Try it »

rainbow Try it » rainbow_r Try it »

seismic Try it » seismic_r Try it »

spring Try it » spring_r Try it »

summer Try it » summer_r Try it »

tab10 Try it » tab10_r Try it »

tab20 Try it » tab20_r Try it »

tab20b Try it » tab20b_r Try it »

tab20c Try it » tab20c_r Try it »

terrain Try it » terrain_r Try it »

twilight Try it » twilight_r Try it »

twilight_shifted Try it » twilight_shifted_r Try it »

 viridis Try it » viridis_r Try it »

winter Try it » winter_r Try it »

Size
You can change the size of the dots with the s argument.

Just like colors, make sure the array for sizes has the same length as the arrays for the
x- and y-axis:

Example
Set your own size for the markers:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x = np.array([5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6])
y = np.array([99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86])
sizes = np.array([20,50,100,200,500,1000,60,90,10,300,600,800,75])

plt.scatter(x, y, s=sizes)

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Alpha
You can adjust the transparency of the dots with the alpha argument.

Just like colors, make sure the array for sizes has the same length as the arrays for the
x- and y-axis:

Example
Set your own size for the markers:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x = np.array([5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6])
y = np.array([99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86])
sizes = np.array([20,50,100,200,500,1000,60,90,10,300,600,800,75])

plt.scatter(x, y, s=sizes, alpha=0.5)

plt.show()
Result:

Try it Yourself »

Combine Color Size and Alpha

You can combine a colormap with different sizes on the dots. This is best visualized if the
dots are transparent:

Example
Create random arrays with 100 values for x-points, y-points, colors and sizes:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x = np.random.randint(100, size=(100))
y = np.random.randint(100, size=(100))
colors = np.random.randint(100, size=(100))
sizes = 10 * np.random.randint(100, size=(100))

plt.scatter(x, y, c=colors, s=sizes, alpha=0.5, cmap='nipy_spectral')

plt.colorbar()
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Matplotlib Bars
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Creating Bars
With Pyplot, you can use the bar() function to draw bar graphs:
Example
Draw 4 bars:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x = np.array(["A", "B", "C", "D"])

y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.bar(x,y)
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

The bar() function takes arguments that describes the layout of the bars.

The categories and their values represented by the first and second argument as arrays.

Example
x = ["APPLES", "BANANAS"]
y = [400, 350]
plt.bar(x, y)
Try it Yourself »

Horizontal Bars
If you want the bars to be displayed horizontally instead of vertically, use
the barh() function:

Example
Draw 4 horizontal bars:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x = np.array(["A", "B", "C", "D"])

y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.barh(x, y)
plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Bar Color
The bar() and barh() takes the keyword argument color to set the color of the bars:

Example
Draw 4 red bars:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x = np.array(["A", "B", "C", "D"])

y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.bar(x, y, color = "red")

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Color Names
You can use any of the 140 supported color names.

Example
Draw 4 "hot pink" bars:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x = np.array(["A", "B", "C", "D"])

y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.bar(x, y, color = "hotpink")

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Color Hex
Or you can use Hexadecimal color values:

Example
Draw 4 bars with a beautiful green color:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x = np.array(["A", "B", "C", "D"])

y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.bar(x, y, color = "#4CAF50")

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Bar Width
The bar() takes the keyword argument width to set the width of the bars:

Example
Draw 4 very thin bars:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x = np.array(["A", "B", "C", "D"])

y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.bar(x, y, width = 0.1)

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

The default width value is 0.8

Note: For horizontal bars, use height instead of width.

Bar Height
The barh() takes the keyword argument height to set the height of the bars:

Example
Draw 4 very thin bars:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x = np.array(["A", "B", "C", "D"])

y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.barh(x, y, height = 0.1)

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

The default height value is 0.8

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Matplotlib Histograms
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Histogram
A histogram is a graph showing frequency distributions.

It is a graph showing the number of observations within each given interval.

Example: Say you ask for the height of 250 people, you might end up with a histogram
like this:
You can read from the histogram that there are approximately:

2 people from 140 to 145cm

5 people from 145 to 150cm
15 people from 151 to 156cm
31 people from 157 to 162cm
46 people from 163 to 168cm
53 people from 168 to 173cm
45 people from 173 to 178cm
28 people from 179 to 184cm
21 people from 185 to 190cm
4 people from 190 to 195cm

Create Histogram
In Matplotlib, we use the hist() function to create histograms.

The hist() function will use an array of numbers to create a histogram, the array is sent
into the function as an argument.

For simplicity we use NumPy to randomly generate an array with 250 values, where the
values will concentrate around 170, and the standard deviation is 10. Learn more
about Normal Data Distribution in our Machine Learning Tutorial.
Example
A Normal Data Distribution by NumPy:

import numpy as np

x = np.random.normal(170, 10, 250)

print(x)

Result:
This will generate a random result, and could look like this:

[167.62255766 175.32495609 152.84661337 165.50264047 163.17457988

162.29867872 172.83638413 168.67303667 164.57361342 180.81120541
170.57782187 167.53075749 176.15356275 176.95378312 158.4125473
187.8842668 159.03730075 166.69284332 160.73882029 152.22378865
164.01255164 163.95288674 176.58146832 173.19849526 169.40206527
166.88861903 149.90348576 148.39039643 177.90349066 166.72462233
177.44776004 170.93335636 173.26312881 174.76534435 162.28791953
166.77301551 160.53785202 170.67972019 159.11594186 165.36992993
178.38979253 171.52158489 173.32636678 159.63894401 151.95735707
175.71274153 165.00458544 164.80607211 177.50988211 149.28106703
179.43586267 181.98365273 170.98196794 179.1093176 176.91855744
168.32092784 162.33939782 165.18364866 160.52300507 174.14316386
163.01947601 172.01767945 173.33491959 169.75842718 198.04834503
192.82490521 164.54557943 206.36247244 165.47748898 195.26377975
164.37569092 156.15175531 162.15564208 179.34100362 167.22138242
147.23667125 162.86940215 167.84986671 172.99302505 166.77279814
196.6137667 159.79012341 166.5840824 170.68645637 165.62204521
174.5559345 165.0079216 187.92545129 166.86186393 179.78383824
161.0973573 167.44890343 157.38075812 151.35412246 171.3107829
162.57149341 182.49985133 163.24700057 168.72639903 169.05309467
167.19232875 161.06405208 176.87667712 165.48750185 179.68799986
158.7913483 170.22465411 182.66432721 173.5675715 176.85646836
157.31299754 174.88959677 183.78323508 174.36814558 182.55474697
180.03359793 180.53094948 161.09560099 172.29179934 161.22665588
171.88382477 159.04626132 169.43886536 163.75793589 157.73710983
174.68921523 176.19843414 167.39315397 181.17128255 174.2674597
186.05053154 177.06516302 171.78523683 166.14875436 163.31607668
174.01429569 194.98819875 169.75129209 164.25748789 180.25773528
170.44784934 157.81966006 171.33315907 174.71390637 160.55423274
163.92896899 177.29159542 168.30674234 165.42853878 176.46256226
162.61719142 166.60810831 165.83648812 184.83238352 188.99833856
161.3054697 175.30396693 175.28109026 171.54765201 162.08762813
164.53011089 189.86213299 170.83784593 163.25869004 198.68079225
166.95154328 152.03381334 152.25444225 149.75522816 161.79200594
162.13535052 183.37298831 165.40405341 155.59224806 172.68678385
179.35359654 174.19668349 163.46176882 168.26621173 162.97527574
192.80170974 151.29673582 178.65251432 163.17266558 165.11172588
183.11107905 169.69556831 166.35149789 178.74419135 166.28562032
169.96465166 178.24368042 175.3035525 170.16496554 158.80682882
187.10006553 178.90542991 171.65790645 183.19289193 168.17446717
155.84544031 177.96091745 186.28887898 187.89867406 163.26716924
169.71242393 152.9410412 158.68101969 171.12655559 178.1482624
 187.45272185 173.02872935 163.8047623 169.95676819 179.36887054
157.01955088 185.58143864 170.19037101 157.221245 168.90639755
178.7045601 168.64074373 172.37416382 165.61890535 163.40873027
168.98683006 149.48186389 172.20815568 172.82947206 173.71584064
189.42642762 172.79575803 177.00005573 169.24498561 171.55576698
161.36400372 176.47928342 163.02642822 165.09656415 186.70951892
153.27990317 165.59289527 180.34566865 189.19506385 183.10723435
173.48070474 170.28701875 157.24642079 157.9096498 176.4248199 ]

Try it Yourself »

The hist() function will read the array and produce a histogram:

Example
A simple histogram:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

x = np.random.normal(170, 10, 250)

plt.hist(x)
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »
 ❮ PreviousNext ❯

Matplotlib Pie Charts

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Creating Pie Charts

With Pyplot, you can use the pie() function to draw pie charts:

Example
A simple pie chart:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

y = np.array([35, 25, 25, 15])

plt.pie(y)
plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

As you can see the pie chart draws one piece (called a wedge) for each value in the array
(in this case [35, 25, 25, 15]).

By default the plotting of the first wedge starts from the x-axis and
move counterclockwise:
Note: The size of each wedge is determined by comparing the value with all the other
values, by using this formula:

The value divided by the sum of all values: x/sum(x)

Labels
Add labels to the pie chart with the label parameter.

The label parameter must be an array with one label for each wedge:

Example
A simple pie chart:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

y = np.array([35, 25, 25, 15])

mylabels = ["Apples", "Bananas", "Cherries", "Dates"]
plt.pie(y, labels = mylabels)
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Start Angle
As mentioned the default start angle is at the x-axis, but you can change the start angle
by specifying a startangle parameter.

The startangle parameter is defined with an angle in degrees, default angle is 0:

Example
Start the first wedge at 90 degrees:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

y = np.array([35, 25, 25, 15])

mylabels = ["Apples", "Bananas", "Cherries", "Dates"]

plt.pie(y, labels = mylabels, startangle = 90)

plt.show()

Result:
Try it Yourself »

Explode
Maybe you want one of the wedges to stand out? The explode parameter allows you to do
that.

The explode parameter, if specified, and not None, must be an array with one value for
each wedge.

Each value represents how far from the center each wedge is displayed:

Example
Pull the "Apples" wedge 0.2 from the center of the pie:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

y = np.array([35, 25, 25, 15])

mylabels = ["Apples", "Bananas", "Cherries", "Dates"]
myexplode = [0.2, 0, 0, 0]
plt.pie(y, labels = mylabels, explode = myexplode)
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Shadow
Add a shadow to the pie chart by setting the shadows parameter to True:

Example
Add a shadow:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

y = np.array([35, 25, 25, 15])

mylabels = ["Apples", "Bananas", "Cherries", "Dates"]
myexplode = [0.2, 0, 0, 0]

plt.pie(y, labels = mylabels, explode = myexplode, shadow = True)

plt.show()
Result:

Try it Yourself »

Colors
You can set the color of each wedge with the colors parameter.

The colors parameter, if specified, must be an array with one value for each wedge:

Example
Specify a new color for each wedge:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

y = np.array([35, 25, 25, 15])

mylabels = ["Apples", "Bananas", "Cherries", "Dates"]
mycolors = ["black", "hotpink", "b", "#4CAF50"]

plt.pie(y, labels = mylabels, colors = mycolors)

plt.show()
Result:

Try it Yourself »

You can use Hexadecimal color values, any of the 140 supported color names, or one of
these shortcuts:

'r' - Red
'g' - Green
'b' - Blue
'c' - Cyan
'm' - Magenta
'y' - Yellow
'k' - Black
'w' - White

Legend
To add a list of explanation for each wedge, use the legend() function:

Example
Add a legend:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

y = np.array([35, 25, 25, 15])

mylabels = ["Apples", "Bananas", "Cherries", "Dates"]

plt.pie(y, labels = mylabels)

plt.legend()
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Legend With Header

To add a header to the legend, add the title parameter to the legend function.

Example
Add a legend with a header:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

y = np.array([35, 25, 25, 15])

mylabels = ["Apples", "Bananas", "Cherries", "Dates"]
plt.pie(y, labels = mylabels)
plt.legend(title = "Four Fruits:")
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Machine Learning
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Machine Learning is making the computer learn from studying data and statistics.

Machine Learning is a step into the direction of artificial intelligence (AI).

Machine Learning is a program that analyses data and learns to predict the outcome.

Where To Start?
In this tutorial we will go back to mathematics and study statistics, and how to calculate
important numbers based on data sets.

We will also learn how to use various Python modules to get the answers we need.

And we will learn how to make functions that are able to predict the outcome based on
what we have learned.

Data Set
In the mind of a computer, a data set is any collection of data. It can be anything from
an array to a complete database.

Example of an array:

[99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86]

Example of a database:

Carname Color Age Speed AutoPass

BMW red 5 99 Y

Volvo black 7 86 Y

VW gray 8 87 N
 VW white 7 88 Y

Ford white 2 111 Y

VW white 17 86 Y

Tesla red 2 103 Y

BMW black 9 87 Y

Volvo gray 4 94 N

Ford white 11 78 N

Toyota gray 12 77 N

VW white 9 85 N

Toyota blue 6 86 Y

By looking at the array, we can guess that the average value is probably around 80 or
90, and we are also able to determine the highest value and the lowest value, but what
else can we do?

And by looking at the database we can see that the most popular color is white, and the
oldest car is 17 years, but what if we could predict if a car had an AutoPass, just by
looking at the other values?

That is what Machine Learning is for! Analyzing data and predicting the outcome!

In Machine Learning it is common to work with very large data sets. In this tutorial we
will try to make it as easy as possible to understand the different concepts of machine
learning, and we will work with small easy-to-understand data sets.
Data Types
To analyze data, it is important to know what type of data we are dealing with.

We can split the data types into three main categories:

• Numerical
• Categorical
• Ordinal

Numerical data are numbers, and can be split into two numerical categories:

• Discrete Data
- numbers that are limited to integers. Example: The number of cars passing by.
• Continuous Data
- numbers that are of infinite value. Example: The price of an item, or the size of
an item

Categorical data are values that cannot be measured up against each other. Example: a
color value, or any yes/no values.

Ordinal data are like categorical data, but can be measured up against each other.
Example: school grades where A is better than B and so on.

By knowing the data type of your data source, you will be able to know what technique to
use when analyzing them.

You will learn more about statistics and analyzing data in the next chapters.

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Machine Learning - Mean Median
Mode
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Mean, Median, and Mode

What can we learn from looking at a group of numbers?

In Machine Learning (and in mathematics) there are often three values that interests us:

• Mean - The average value

• Median - The mid point value
• Mode - The most common value

Example: We have registered the speed of 13 cars:

speed = [99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86]

What is the average, the middle, or the most common speed value?

Mean
The mean value is the average value.

To calculate the mean, find the sum of all values, and divide the sum by the number of
values:

(99+86+87+88+111+86+103+87+94+78+77+85+86) / 13 = 89.77

The NumPy module has a method for this. Learn about the NumPy module in our NumPy
Tutorial.

Example
Use the NumPy mean() method to find the average speed:

import numpy

speed = [99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86]

x = numpy.mean(speed)
print(x)
Run example »

Median
The median value is the value in the middle, after you have sorted all the values:

77, 78, 85, 86, 86, 86, 87, 87, 88, 94, 99, 103, 111

It is important that the numbers are sorted before you can find the median.

The NumPy module has a method for this:

Example
Use the NumPy median() method to find the middle value:

import numpy

speed = [99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86]

x = numpy.median(speed)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

If there are two numbers in the middle, divide the sum of those numbers by two.

77, 78, 85, 86, 86, 86, 87, 87, 94, 98, 99, 103

(86 + 87) / 2 = 86.5

Example
Using the NumPy module:

import numpy

speed = [99,86,87,88,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86]

x = numpy.median(speed)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »
Mode
The Mode value is the value that appears the most number of times:

99, 86, 87, 88, 111, 86, 103, 87, 94, 78, 77, 85, 86 = 86

The SciPy module has a method for this. Learn about the SciPy module in our SciPy
Tutorial.

Example
Use the SciPy mode() method to find the number that appears the most:

from scipy import stats

speed = [99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86]

x = stats.mode(speed)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Chapter Summary
The Mean, Median, and Mode are techniques that are often used in Machine Learning, so
it is important to understand the concept behind them.

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Machine Learning - Standard
Deviation
❮ PreviousNext ❯

What is Standard Deviation?

Standard deviation is a number that describes how spread out the values are.

A low standard deviation means that most of the numbers are close to the mean
(average) value.

A high standard deviation means that the values are spread out over a wider range.

Example: This time we have registered the speed of 7 cars:

speed = [86,87,88,86,87,85,86]

The standard deviation is:

0.9

Meaning that most of the values are within the range of 0.9 from the mean value, which
is 86.4.

Let us do the same with a selection of numbers with a wider range:

speed = [32,111,138,28,59,77,97]

The standard deviation is:

37.85

Meaning that most of the values are within the range of 37.85 from the mean value,
which is 77.4.

As you can see, a higher standard deviation indicates that the values are spread out over
a wider range.

The NumPy module has a method to calculate the standard deviation:

Example
Use the NumPy std() method to find the standard deviation:
import numpy

speed = [86,87,88,86,87,85,86]

x = numpy.std(speed)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Example
import numpy

speed = [32,111,138,28,59,77,97]

x = numpy.std(speed)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Variance
Variance is another number that indicates how spread out the values are.

In fact, if you take the square root of the variance, you get the standard deviation!

Or the other way around, if you multiply the standard deviation by itself, you get the
variance!

To calculate the variance you have to do as follows:

1. Find the mean:

(32+111+138+28+59+77+97) / 7 = 77.4

2. For each value: find the difference from the mean:

32 - 77.4 = -45.4
111 - 77.4 = 33.6
138 - 77.4 = 60.6
28 - 77.4 = -49.4
59 - 77.4 = -18.4
77 - 77.4 = - 0.4
97 - 77.4 = 19.6

3. For each difference: find the square value:

(-45.4)2 = 2061.16
(33.6)2 = 1128.96
(60.6)2 = 3672.36
(-49.4)2 = 2440.36
(-18.4)2 = 338.56
(- 0.4)2 = 0.16
(19.6)2 = 384.16

4. The variance is the average number of these squared differences:

(2061.16+1128.96+3672.36+2440.36+338.56+0.16+384.16) / 7 = 1432.2

Luckily, NumPy has a method to calculate the variance:

Example
Use the NumPy var() method to find the variance:

import numpy

speed = [32,111,138,28,59,77,97]

x = numpy.var(speed)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Standard Deviation
As we have learned, the formula to find the standard deviation is the square root of the
variance:

√1432.25 = 37.85

Or, as in the example from before, use the NumPy to calculate the standard deviation:

Example
Use the NumPy std() method to find the standard deviation:

import numpy

speed = [32,111,138,28,59,77,97]

x = numpy.std(speed)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »
Symbols
Standard Deviation is often represented by the symbol Sigma: σ
Variance is often represented by the symbol Sigma Square: σ 2

Chapter Summary
The Standard Deviation and Variance are terms that are often used in Machine Learning,
so it is important to understand how to get them, and the concept behind them.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Machine Learning - Percentiles

❮ PreviousNext ❯

What are Percentiles?

Percentiles are used in statistics to give you a number that describes the value that a
given percent of the values are lower than.

Example: Let's say we have an array of the ages of all the people that lives in a street.

ages = [5,31,43,48,50,41,7,11,15,39,80,82,32,2,8,6,25,36,27,61,31]

What is the 75. percentile? The answer is 43, meaning that 75% of the people are 43 or
younger.

The NumPy module has a method for finding the specified percentile:

Example
Use the NumPy percentile() method to find the percentiles:

import numpy

ages = [5,31,43,48,50,41,7,11,15,39,80,82,32,2,8,6,25,36,27,61,31]
x = numpy.percentile(ages, 75)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

Example
What is the age that 90% of the people are younger than?

import numpy

ages = [5,31,43,48,50,41,7,11,15,39,80,82,32,2,8,6,25,36,27,61,31]

x = numpy.percentile(ages, 90)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Data Distribution
Earlier in this tutorial we have worked with very small amounts of data in our examples,
just to understand the different concepts.

In the real world, the data sets are much bigger, but it can be difficult to gather real
world data, at least at an early stage of a project.

How Can we Get Big Data Sets?

To create big data sets for testing, we use the Python module NumPy, which comes with
a number of methods to create random data sets, of any size.

Example
Create an array containing 250 random floats between 0 and 5:

import numpy

x = numpy.random.uniform(0.0, 5.0, 250)

print(x)
Try it Yourself »
Histogram
To visualize the data set we can draw a histogram with the data we collected.

We will use the Python module Matplotlib to draw a histogram.

Learn about the Matplotlib module in our Matplotlib Tutorial.

Example
Draw a histogram:

import numpy
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = numpy.random.uniform(0.0, 5.0, 250)

plt.hist(x, 5)
plt.show()

Result:

Run example »

Histogram Explained
We use the array from the example above to draw a histogram with 5 bars.

The first bar represents how many values in the array are between 0 and 1.

The second bar represents how many values are between 1 and 2.

Etc.

Which gives us this result:

• 52 values are between 0 and 1

• 48 values are between 1 and 2
• 49 values are between 2 and 3
• 51 values are between 3 and 4
• 50 values are between 4 and 5

Note: The array values are random numbers and will not show the exact same result on
your computer.

Big Data Distributions

An array containing 250 values is not considered very big, but now you know how to
create a random set of values, and by changing the parameters, you can create the data
set as big as you want.

Example
Create an array with 100000 random numbers, and display them using a histogram with
100 bars:

import numpy
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = numpy.random.uniform(0.0, 5.0, 100000)

plt.hist(x, 100)
plt.show()
Run example »

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Machine Learning - Normal Data
Distribution
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Normal Data Distribution

In the previous chapter we learned how to create a completely random array, of a given
size, and between two given values.

In this chapter we will learn how to create an array where the values are concentrated
around a given value.

In probability theory this kind of data distribution is known as the normal data
distribution, or the Gaussian data distribution, after the mathematician Carl Friedrich
Gauss who came up with the formula of this data distribution.

Example
A typical normal data distribution:

import numpy
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = numpy.random.normal(5.0, 1.0, 100000)

plt.hist(x, 100)
plt.show()

Result:
Run example »

Note: A normal distribution graph is also known as the bell curve because of it's
characteristic shape of a bell.

Histogram Explained
We use the array from the numpy.random.normal() method, with 100000 values, to draw a
histogram with 100 bars.

We specify that the mean value is 5.0, and the standard deviation is 1.0.

Meaning that the values should be concentrated around 5.0, and rarely further away than
1.0 from the mean.

And as you can see from the histogram, most values are between 4.0 and 6.0, with a top
at approximately 5.0.

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Machine Learning - Scatter Plot
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Scatter Plot
A scatter plot is a diagram where each value in the data set is represented by a dot.

The Matplotlib module has a method for drawing scatter plots, it needs two arrays of the
same length, one for the values of the x-axis, and one for the values of the y-axis:

x = [5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6]

y = [99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86]

The x array represents the age of each car.

The y array represents the speed of each car.

Example
Use the scatter() method to draw a scatter plot diagram:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = [5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6]
y = [99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86]

plt.scatter(x, y)
plt.show()

Result:

Run example »

Scatter Plot Explained

The x-axis represents ages, and the y-axis represents speeds.

What we can read from the diagram is that the two fastest cars were both 2 years old,
and the slowest car was 12 years old.

Note: It seems that the newer the car, the faster it drives, but that could be a
coincidence, after all we only registered 13 cars.
Random Data Distributions
In Machine Learning the data sets can contain thousands-, or even millions, of values.

You might not have real world data when you are testing an algorithm, you might have to
use randomly generated values.

As we have learned in the previous chapter, the NumPy module can help us with that!

Let us create two arrays that are both filled with 1000 random numbers from a normal
data distribution.

The first array will have the mean set to 5.0 with a standard deviation of 1.0.

The second array will have the mean set to 10.0 with a standard deviation of 2.0:

Example
A scatter plot with 1000 dots:

import numpy
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = numpy.random.normal(5.0, 1.0, 1000)

y = numpy.random.normal(10.0, 2.0, 1000)

plt.scatter(x, y)
plt.show()

Result:
Run example »

Scatter Plot Explained

We can see that the dots are concentrated around the value 5 on the x-axis, and 10 on
the y-axis.

We can also see that the spread is wider on the y-axis than on the x-axis.

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Machine Learning - Linear
Regression
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Regression
The term regression is used when you try to find the relationship between variables.

In Machine Learning, and in statistical modeling, that relationship is used to predict the outcome of future events.

Linear Regression
Linear regression uses the relationship between the data-points to draw a straight line through all them.

This line can be used to predict future values.

In Machine Learning, predicting the future is very important.

How Does it Work?

Python has methods for finding a relationship between data-points and to draw a line of linear regression. We
will show you how to use these methods instead of going through the mathematic formula.

In the example below, the x-axis represents age, and the y-axis represents speed. We have registered the age and
speed of 13 cars as they were passing a tollbooth. Let us see if the data we collected could be used in a linear
regression:

Example
Start by drawing a scatter plot:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = [5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6]
y = [99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86]

plt.scatter(x, y)
plt.show()

Result:
Run example »

Example
Import scipy and draw the line of Linear Regression:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

from scipy import stats

x = [5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6]
y = [99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86]

slope, intercept, r, p, std_err = stats.linregress(x, y)

def myfunc(x):
return slope * x + intercept

mymodel = list(map(myfunc, x))

plt.scatter(x, y)
plt.plot(x, mymodel)
plt.show()

Result:

Run example »

Example Explained
Import the modules you need.

You can learn about the Matplotlib module in our Matplotlib Tutorial.

You can learn about the SciPy module in our SciPy Tutorial.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

from scipy import stats

Create the arrays that represent the values of the x and y axis:

x = [5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6]
y = [99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86]

Execute a method that returns some important key values of Linear Regression:

slope, intercept, r, p, std_err = stats.linregress(x, y)

Create a function that uses the slope and intercept values to return a new value. This new value represents
where on the y-axis the corresponding x value will be placed:

def myfunc(x):
return slope * x + intercept

Run each value of the x array through the function. This will result in a new array with new values for the y-axis:

mymodel = list(map(myfunc, x))

Draw the original scatter plot:

plt.scatter(x, y)

Draw the line of linear regression:

plt.plot(x, mymodel)

Display the diagram:

plt.show()

R for Relationship
It is important to know how the relationship between the values of the x-axis and the values of the y-axis is, if
there are no relationship the linear regression can not be used to predict anything.

This relationship - the coefficient of correlation - is called r.

The r value ranges from -1 to 1, where 0 means no relationship, and 1 (and -1) means 100% related.
Python and the Scipy module will compute this value for you, all you have to do is feed it with the x and y
values.

Example
How well does my data fit in a linear regression?

from scipy import stats

x = [5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6]
y = [99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86]

slope, intercept, r, p, std_err = stats.linregress(x, y)

print(r)

Try it Yourself »

Note: The result -0.76 shows that there is a relationship, not perfect, but it indicates that we could use linear
regression in future predictions.

Predict Future Values

Now we can use the information we have gathered to predict future values.

Example: Let us try to predict the speed of a 10 years old car.

To do so, we need the same myfunc() function from the example above:

def myfunc(x):
return slope * x + intercept

Example
Predict the speed of a 10 years old car:

from scipy import stats

x = [5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6]
y = [99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86]

slope, intercept, r, p, std_err = stats.linregress(x, y)

def myfunc(x):
return slope * x + intercept

speed = myfunc(10)

print(speed)
Run example »

The example predicted a speed at 85.6, which we also could read from the diagram:
Bad Fit?
Let us create an example where linear regression would not be the best method to predict future values.

Example
These values for the x- and y-axis should result in a very bad fit for linear regression:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

from scipy import stats

x = [89,43,36,36,95,10,66,34,38,20,26,29,48,64,6,5,36,66,72,40]
y = [21,46,3,35,67,95,53,72,58,10,26,34,90,33,38,20,56,2,47,15]

slope, intercept, r, p, std_err = stats.linregress(x, y)

def myfunc(x):
return slope * x + intercept

mymodel = list(map(myfunc, x))

plt.scatter(x, y)
plt.plot(x, mymodel)
plt.show()
Result:

Run example »

And the r for relationship?

Example
You should get a very low r value.

import numpy
from scipy import stats

x = [89,43,36,36,95,10,66,34,38,20,26,29,48,64,6,5,36,66,72,40]
y = [21,46,3,35,67,95,53,72,58,10,26,34,90,33,38,20,56,2,47,15]

slope, intercept, r, p, std_err = stats.linregress(x, y)

print(r)

Try it Yourself »

The result: 0.013 indicates a very bad relationship, and tells us that this data set is not suitable for linear
regression.
 ❮ PreviousNext ❯

Machine Learning - Polynomial

Regression
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Polynomial Regression
If your data points clearly will not fit a linear regression (a straight line through all data
points), it might be ideal for polynomial regression.

Polynomial regression, like linear regression, uses the relationship between the variables
x and y to find the best way to draw a line through the data points.
How Does it Work?
Python has methods for finding a relationship between data-points and to draw a line of
polynomial regression. We will show you how to use these methods instead of going
through the mathematic formula.

In the example below, we have registered 18 cars as they were passing a certain
tollbooth.

We have registered the car's speed, and the time of day (hour) the passing occurred.

The x-axis represents the hours of the day and the y-axis represents the speed:

Example
Start by drawing a scatter plot:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = [1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15,16,18,19,21,22]
y = [100,90,80,60,60,55,60,65,70,70,75,76,78,79,90,99,99,100]

plt.scatter(x, y)
plt.show()

Result:
Run example »

Example
Import numpy and matplotlib then draw the line of Polynomial Regression:

import numpy
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = [1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15,16,18,19,21,22]
y = [100,90,80,60,60,55,60,65,70,70,75,76,78,79,90,99,99,100]

mymodel = numpy.poly1d(numpy.polyfit(x, y, 3))

myline = numpy.linspace(1, 22, 100)

plt.scatter(x, y)
plt.plot(myline, mymodel(myline))
plt.show()

Result:

Run example »

Example Explained
Import the modules you need.
You can learn about the NumPy module in our NumPy Tutorial.

You can learn about the SciPy module in our SciPy Tutorial.

import numpy
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

Create the arrays that represent the values of the x and y axis:

x = [1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15,16,18,19,21,22]
y = [100,90,80,60,60,55,60,65,70,70,75,76,78,79,90,99,99,100]

NumPy has a method that lets us make a polynomial model:

mymodel = numpy.poly1d(numpy.polyfit(x, y, 3))

Then specify how the line will display, we start at position 1, and end at position 22:

myline = numpy.linspace(1, 22, 100)

Draw the original scatter plot:

plt.scatter(x, y)

Draw the line of polynomial regression:

plt.plot(myline, mymodel(myline))

Display the diagram:

plt.show()

R-Squared
It is important to know how well the relationship between the values of the x- and y-axis
is, if there are no relationship the polynomial regression can not be used to predict
anything.

The relationship is measured with a value called the r-squared.

The r-squared value ranges from 0 to 1, where 0 means no relationship, and 1 means
100% related.

Python and the Sklearn module will compute this value for you, all you have to do is feed
it with the x and y arrays:

Example
How well does my data fit in a polynomial regression?

import numpy
from sklearn.metrics import r2_score

x = [1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15,16,18,19,21,22]
y = [100,90,80,60,60,55,60,65,70,70,75,76,78,79,90,99,99,100]

mymodel = numpy.poly1d(numpy.polyfit(x, y, 3))

print(r2_score(y, mymodel(x)))
Try if Yourself »

Note: The result 0.94 shows that there is a very good relationship, and we can use
polynomial regression in future predictions.

Predict Future Values

Now we can use the information we have gathered to predict future values.

Example: Let us try to predict the speed of a car that passes the tollbooth at around 17
P.M:

To do so, we need the same mymodel array from the example above:

mymodel = numpy.poly1d(numpy.polyfit(x, y, 3))

Example
Predict the speed of a car passing at 17 P.M:

import numpy
from sklearn.metrics import r2_score

x = [1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15,16,18,19,21,22]
y = [100,90,80,60,60,55,60,65,70,70,75,76,78,79,90,99,99,100]

mymodel = numpy.poly1d(numpy.polyfit(x, y, 3))

speed = mymodel(17)
print(speed)
Run example »

The example predicted a speed to be 88.87, which we also could read from the diagram:
Bad Fit?
Let us create an example where polynomial regression would not be the best method to
predict future values.

Example
These values for the x- and y-axis should result in a very bad fit for polynomial
regression:

import numpy
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = [89,43,36,36,95,10,66,34,38,20,26,29,48,64,6,5,36,66,72,40]
y = [21,46,3,35,67,95,53,72,58,10,26,34,90,33,38,20,56,2,47,15]

mymodel = numpy.poly1d(numpy.polyfit(x, y, 3))

myline = numpy.linspace(2, 95, 100)

plt.scatter(x, y)
plt.plot(myline, mymodel(myline))
plt.show()
Result:

Run example »

And the r-squared value?

Example
You should get a very low r-squared value.

import numpy
from sklearn.metrics import r2_score

x = [89,43,36,36,95,10,66,34,38,20,26,29,48,64,6,5,36,66,72,40]
y = [21,46,3,35,67,95,53,72,58,10,26,34,90,33,38,20,56,2,47,15]

mymodel = numpy.poly1d(numpy.polyfit(x, y, 3))

print(r2_score(y, mymodel(x)))

Try if Yourself »

The result: 0.00995 indicates a very bad relationship, and tells us that this data set is not
suitable for polynomial regression.
 ❮ PreviousNext ❯

Machine Learning - Multiple

Regression
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Multiple Regression
Multiple regression is like linear regression, but with more than one independent value,
meaning that we try to predict a value based on two or more variables.

Take a look at the data set below, it contains some information about cars.

Car Model Volume Weight CO2

Toyota Aygo 1000 790 99

Mitsubishi Space Star 1200 1160 95

Skoda Citigo 1000 929 95

Fiat 500 900 865 90

Mini Cooper 1500 1140 105

VW Up! 1000 929 105

Skoda Fabia 1400 1109 90

Mercedes A-Class 1500 1365 92

Ford Fiesta 1500 1112 98

Audi A1 1600 1150 99

Hyundai I20 1100 980 99

Suzuki Swift 1300 990 101

Ford Fiesta 1000 1112 99

Honda Civic 1600 1252 94

Hundai I30 1600 1326 97

 Opel Astra 1600 1330 97

BMW 1 1600 1365 99

Mazda 3 2200 1280 104

Skoda Rapid 1600 1119 104

Ford Focus 2000 1328 105

Ford Mondeo 1600 1584 94

Opel Insignia 2000 1428 99

Mercedes C-Class 2100 1365 99

Skoda Octavia 1600 1415 99

Volvo S60 2000 1415 99

Mercedes CLA 1500 1465 102

Audi A4 2000 1490 104

Audi A6 2000 1725 114

Volvo V70 1600 1523 109

BMW 5 2000 1705 114

Mercedes E-Class 2100 1605 115

Volvo XC70 2000 1746 117

Ford B-Max 1600 1235 104

BMW 2 1600 1390 108

Opel Zafira 1600 1405 109

Mercedes SLK 2500 1395 120

We can predict the CO2 emission of a car based on the size of the engine, but with
multiple regression we can throw in more variables, like the weight of the car, to make
the prediction more accurate.

How Does it Work?

In Python we have modules that will do the work for us. Start by importing the Pandas
module.

import pandas
Learn about the Pandas module in our Pandas Tutorial.

The Pandas module allows us to read csv files and return a DataFrame object.

The file is meant for testing purposes only, you can download it here: cars.csv

df = pandas.read_csv("cars.csv")

Then make a list of the independent values and call this variable X.

Put the dependent values in a variable called y.

X = df[['Weight', 'Volume']]
y = df['CO2']

Tip: It is common to name the list of independent values with a upper case X, and the
list of dependent values with a lower case y.

We will use some methods from the sklearn module, so we will have to import that
module as well:

from sklearn import linear_model

From the sklearn module we will use the LinearRegression() method to create a linear
regression object.

This object has a method called fit() that takes the independent and dependent values
as parameters and fills the regression object with data that describes the relationship:

regr = linear_model.LinearRegression()
regr.fit(X, y)

Now we have a regression object that are ready to predict CO2 values based on a car's
weight and volume:

#predict the CO2 emission of a car where the weight is 2300kg, and the
volume is 1300cm3:
predictedCO2 = regr.predict([[2300, 1300]])

Example
See the whole example in action:

import pandas
from sklearn import linear_model

df = pandas.read_csv("cars.csv")

X = df[['Weight', 'Volume']]
y = df['CO2']

regr = linear_model.LinearRegression()
regr.fit(X, y)

#predict the CO2 emission of a car where the weight is 2300kg, and the volume is
1300cm3:
predictedCO2 = regr.predict([[2300, 1300]])

print(predictedCO2)

Result:
[107.2087328]

Run example »

We have predicted that a car with 1.3 liter engine, and a weight of 2300 kg, will release
approximately 107 grams of CO2 for every kilometer it drives.

Coefficient
The coefficient is a factor that describes the relationship with an unknown variable.

Example: if x is a variable, then 2x is x two times. x is the unknown variable, and the
number 2 is the coefficient.

In this case, we can ask for the coefficient value of weight against CO2, and for volume
against CO2. The answer(s) we get tells us what would happen if we increase, or
decrease, one of the independent values.

Example
Print the coefficient values of the regression object:

import pandas
from sklearn import linear_model

df = pandas.read_csv("cars.csv")

X = df[['Weight', 'Volume']]
y = df['CO2']

regr = linear_model.LinearRegression()
regr.fit(X, y)

print(regr.coef_)

Result:
[0.00755095 0.00780526]

Run example »
Result Explained
The result array represents the coefficient values of weight and volume.

Weight: 0.00755095
Volume: 0.00780526

These values tell us that if the weight increase by 1kg, the CO2 emission increases by
0.00755095g.

And if the engine size (Volume) increases by 1 cm3, the CO2 emission increases by
0.00780526 g.

I think that is a fair guess, but let test it!

We have already predicted that if a car with a 1300cm3 engine weighs 2300kg, the CO2
emission will be approximately 107g.

What if we increase the weight with 1000kg?

Example
Copy the example from before, but change the weight from 2300 to 3300:

import pandas
from sklearn import linear_model

df = pandas.read_csv("cars.csv")

X = df[['Weight', 'Volume']]
y = df['CO2']

regr = linear_model.LinearRegression()
regr.fit(X, y)

predictedCO2 = regr.predict([[3300, 1300]])

print(predictedCO2)

Result:
[114.75968007]

Run example »

We have predicted that a car with 1.3 liter engine, and a weight of 3300 kg, will release
approximately 115 grams of CO2 for every kilometer it drives.

Which shows that the coefficient of 0.00755095 is correct:

107.2087328 + (1000 * 0.00755095) = 114.75968

 ❮ PreviousNext ❯

Machine Learning - Scale

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Scale Features
When your data has different values, and even different measurement units, it can be
difficult to compare them. What is kilograms compared to meters? Or altitude compared
to time?

The answer to this problem is scaling. We can scale data into new values that are easier
to compare.

Take a look at the table below, it is the same data set that we used in the multiple
regression chapter, but this time the volume column contains values in liters instead
of cm3 (1.0 instead of 1000).

The file is meant for testing purposes only, you can download it here: cars2.csv

Car Model Volume Weight CO2

Toyota Aygo 1.0 790 99

Mitsubishi Space Star 1.2 1160 95

Skoda Citigo 1.0 929 95

Fiat 500 0.9 865 90

Mini Cooper 1.5 1140 105

VW Up! 1.0 929 105

Skoda Fabia 1.4 1109 90

Mercedes A-Class 1.5 1365 92

Ford Fiesta 1.5 1112 98

Audi A1 1.6 1150 99

Hyundai I20 1.1 980 99

Suzuki Swift 1.3 990 101

Ford Fiesta 1.0 1112 99

 Honda Civic 1.6 1252 94

Hundai I30 1.6 1326 97

Opel Astra 1.6 1330 97

BMW 1 1.6 1365 99

Mazda 3 2.2 1280 104

Skoda Rapid 1.6 1119 104

Ford Focus 2.0 1328 105

Ford Mondeo 1.6 1584 94

Opel Insignia 2.0 1428 99

Mercedes C-Class 2.1 1365 99

Skoda Octavia 1.6 1415 99

Volvo S60 2.0 1415 99

Mercedes CLA 1.5 1465 102

Audi A4 2.0 1490 104

Audi A6 2.0 1725 114

Volvo V70 1.6 1523 109

BMW 5 2.0 1705 114

Mercedes E-Class 2.1 1605 115

Volvo XC70 2.0 1746 117

Ford B-Max 1.6 1235 104

BMW 2 1.6 1390 108

Opel Zafira 1.6 1405 109

Mercedes SLK 2.5 1395 120

It can be difficult to compare the volume 1.0 with the weight 790, but if we scale them
both into comparable values, we can easily see how much one value is compared to the
other.

There are different methods for scaling data, in this tutorial we will use a method called
standardization.

The standardization method uses this formula:

z = (x - u) / s
Where z is the new value, x is the original value, u is the mean and s is the standard
deviation.

If you take the weight column from the data set above, the first value is 790, and the
scaled value will be:

(790 - 1292.23) / 238.74 = -2.1

If you take the volume column from the data set above, the first value is 1.0, and the
scaled value will be:

(1.0 - 1.61) / 0.38 = -1.59

Now you can compare -2.1 with -1.59 instead of comparing 790 with 1.0.

You do not have to do this manually, the Python sklearn module has a method
called StandardScaler() which returns a Scaler object with methods for transforming data
sets.

Example
Scale all values in the Weight and Volume columns:

import pandas
from sklearn import linear_model
from sklearn.preprocessing import StandardScaler
scale = StandardScaler()

df = pandas.read_csv("cars2.csv")

X = df[['Weight', 'Volume']]

scaledX = scale.fit_transform(X)

print(scaledX)

Result:
Note that the first two values are -2.1 and -1.59, which corresponds to our calculations:

[[-2.10389253 -1.59336644]
[-0.55407235 -1.07190106]
[-1.52166278 -1.59336644]
[-1.78973979 -1.85409913]
[-0.63784641 -0.28970299]
[-1.52166278 -1.59336644]
[-0.76769621 -0.55043568]
[ 0.3046118 -0.28970299]
[-0.7551301 -0.28970299]
[-0.59595938 -0.0289703 ]
[-1.30803892 -1.33263375]
[-1.26615189 -0.81116837]
[-0.7551301 -1.59336644]
[-0.16871166 -0.0289703 ]
[ 0.14125238 -0.0289703 ]
 [ 0.15800719 -0.0289703 ]
[ 0.3046118 -0.0289703 ]
[-0.05142797 1.53542584]
[-0.72580918 -0.0289703 ]
[ 0.14962979 1.01396046]
[ 1.2219378 -0.0289703 ]
[ 0.5685001 1.01396046]
[ 0.3046118 1.27469315]
[ 0.51404696 -0.0289703 ]
[ 0.51404696 1.01396046]
[ 0.72348212 -0.28970299]
[ 0.8281997 1.01396046]
[ 1.81254495 1.01396046]
[ 0.96642691 -0.0289703 ]
[ 1.72877089 1.01396046]
[ 1.30990057 1.27469315]
[ 1.90050772 1.01396046]
[-0.23991961 -0.0289703 ]
[ 0.40932938 -0.0289703 ]
[ 0.47215993 -0.0289703 ]
[ 0.4302729 2.31762392]]

Run example »

Predict CO2 Values

The task in the Multiple Regression chapter was to predict the CO2 emission from a car
when you only knew its weight and volume.

When the data set is scaled, you will have to use the scale when you predict values:

Example
Predict the CO2 emission from a 1.3 liter car that weighs 2300 kilograms:

import pandas
from sklearn import linear_model
from sklearn.preprocessing import StandardScaler
scale = StandardScaler()

df = pandas.read_csv("cars2.csv")

X = df[['Weight', 'Volume']]
y = df['CO2']

scaledX = scale.fit_transform(X)

regr = linear_model.LinearRegression()
regr.fit(scaledX, y)
scaled = scale.transform([[2300, 1.3]])

predictedCO2 = regr.predict([scaled[0]])
print(predictedCO2)

Result:
[107.2087328]

Run example »

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Machine Learning - Train/Test

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Evaluate Your Model

In Machine Learning we create models to predict the outcome of certain events, like in
the previous chapter where we predicted the CO2 emission of a car when we knew the
weight and engine size.

To measure if the model is good enough, we can use a method called Train/Test.

What is Train/Test
Train/Test is a method to measure the accuracy of your model.

It is called Train/Test because you split the the data set into two sets: a training set and
a testing set.

80% for training, and 20% for testing.

You train the model using the training set.

You test the model using the testing set.

Train the model means create the model.

Test the model means test the accuracy of the model.

Start With a Data Set
Start with a data set you want to test.

Our data set illustrates 100 customers in a shop, and their shopping habits.

Example
import numpy
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
numpy.random.seed(2)

x = numpy.random.normal(3, 1, 100)
y = numpy.random.normal(150, 40, 100) / x

plt.scatter(x, y)
plt.show()

Result:
The x axis represents the number of minutes before making a purchase.

The y axis represents the amount of money spent on the purchase.

Run example »
Split Into Train/Test
The training set should be a random selection of 80% of the original data.

The testing set should be the remaining 20%.

train_x = x[:80]
train_y = y[:80]

test_x = x[80:]
test_y = y[80:]

Display the Training Set

Display the same scatter plot with the training set:

Example
plt.scatter(train_x, train_y)
plt.show()

Result:
It looks like the original data set, so it seems to be a fair selection:
Run example »

Display the Testing Set

To make sure the testing set is not completely different, we will take a look at the testing
set as well.

Example
plt.scatter(test_x, test_y)
plt.show()

Result:
The testing set also looks like the original data set:
Run example »

Fit the Data Set

What does the data set look like? In my opinion I think the best fit would be a polynomial
regression, so let us draw a line of polynomial regression.

To draw a line through the data points, we use the plot() method of the matplotlib
module:

Example
Draw a polynomial regression line through the data points:

import numpy
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
numpy.random.seed(2)

x = numpy.random.normal(3, 1, 100)
y = numpy.random.normal(150, 40, 100) / x

train_x = x[:80]
train_y = y[:80]
test_x = x[80:]
test_y = y[80:]

mymodel = numpy.poly1d(numpy.polyfit(train_x, train_y, 4))

myline = numpy.linspace(0, 6, 100)

plt.scatter(train_x, train_y)
plt.plot(myline, mymodel(myline))
plt.show()

Result:

Run example »

The result can back my suggestion of the data set fitting a polynomial regression, even
though it would give us some weird results if we try to predict values outside of the data
set. Example: the line indicates that a customer spending 6 minutes in the shop would
make a purchase worth 200. That is probably a sign of overfitting.

But what about the R-squared score? The R-squared score is a good indicator of how well
my data set is fitting the model.

R2
Remember R2, also known as R-squared?

It measures the relationship between the x axis and the y axis, and the value ranges
from 0 to 1, where 0 means no relationship, and 1 means totally related.

The sklearn module has a method called r2_score() that will help us find this
relationship.

In this case we would like to measure the relationship between the minutes a customer
stays in the shop and how much money they spend.

Example
How well does my training data fit in a polynomial regression?

import numpy
from sklearn.metrics import r2_score
numpy.random.seed(2)

x = numpy.random.normal(3, 1, 100)
y = numpy.random.normal(150, 40, 100) / x

train_x = x[:80]
train_y = y[:80]

test_x = x[80:]
test_y = y[80:]

mymodel = numpy.poly1d(numpy.polyfit(train_x, train_y, 4))

r2 = r2_score(train_y, mymodel(train_x))

print(r2)
Try it Yourself »

Note: The result 0.799 shows that there is a OK relationship.

Bring in the Testing Set

Now we have made a model that is OK, at least when it comes to training data.

Now we want to test the model with the testing data as well, to see if gives us the same
result.

Example
Let us find the R2 score when using testing data:

import numpy
from sklearn.metrics import r2_score
numpy.random.seed(2)

x = numpy.random.normal(3, 1, 100)
y = numpy.random.normal(150, 40, 100) / x

train_x = x[:80]
train_y = y[:80]

test_x = x[80:]
test_y = y[80:]

mymodel = numpy.poly1d(numpy.polyfit(train_x, train_y, 4))

r2 = r2_score(test_y, mymodel(test_x))

print(r2)
Try it Yourself »

Note: The result 0.809 shows that the model fits the testing set as well, and we are
confident that we can use the model to predict future values.

Predict Values
Now that we have established that our model is OK, we can start predicting new values.

Example
How much money will a buying customer spend, if she or he stays in the shop for 5
minutes?

print(mymodel(5))
Run example »

The example predicted the customer to spend 22.88 dollars, as seems to correspond to
the diagram:
❮ PreviousNext ❯
Machine Learning - Decision Tree
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Decision Tree
In this chapter we will show you how to make a "Decision Tree". A Decision Tree is a Flow
Chart, and can help you make decisions based on previous experience.

In the example, a person will try to decide if he/she should go to a comedy show or not.
Luckily our example person has registered every time there was a comedy show in town,
and registered some information about the comedian, and also registered if he/she went
or not.

Age Experience Rank Nationality Go

36 10 9 UK NO

42 12 4 USA NO

23 4 6 N NO

52 4 4 USA NO

43 21 8 USA YES

44 14 5 UK NO

66 3 7 N YES

35 14 9 UK YES

52 13 7 N YES

35 5 9 N YES

24 3 5 USA NO
 18 3 7 UK YES

45 9 9 UK YES

Now, based on this data set, Python can create a decision tree that can be used to decide
if any new shows are worth attending to.

How Does it Work?

First, import the modules you need, and read the dataset with pandas:

Example
Read and print the data set:

import pandas
from sklearn import tree
import pydotplus
from sklearn.tree import DecisionTreeClassifier
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.image as pltimg

df = pandas.read_csv("shows.csv")

print(df)

Run example »

To make a decision tree, all data has to be numerical.

We have to convert the non numerical columns 'Nationality' and 'Go' into numerical
values.

Pandas has a map() method that takes a dictionary with information on how to convert
the values.

{'UK': 0, 'USA': 1, 'N': 2}

Means convert the values 'UK' to 0, 'USA' to 1, and 'N' to 2.

Example
Change string values into numerical values:

d = {'UK': 0, 'USA': 1, 'N': 2}

df['Nationality'] = df['Nationality'].map(d)
d = {'YES': 1, 'NO': 0}
df['Go'] = df['Go'].map(d)

print(df)

Run example »

Then we have to separate the feature columns from the target column.

The feature columns are the columns that we try to predict from, and the target column
is the column with the values we try to predict.

Example
X is the feature columns, y is the target column:

features = ['Age', 'Experience', 'Rank', 'Nationality']

X = df[features]
y = df['Go']

print(X)
print(y)

Run example »

Now we can create the actual decision tree, fit it with our details, and save a .png file on
the computer:

Example
Create a Decision Tree, save it as an image, and show the image:

dtree = DecisionTreeClassifier()
dtree = dtree.fit(X, y)
data = tree.export_graphviz(dtree, out_file=None, feature_names=features)
graph = pydotplus.graph_from_dot_data(data)
graph.write_png('mydecisiontree.png')

img=pltimg.imread('mydecisiontree.png')
imgplot = plt.imshow(img)
plt.show()

Run example »

Result Explained
The decision tree uses your earlier decisions to calculate the odds for you to wanting to
go see a comedian or not.

Let us read the different aspects of the decision tree:

Rank
Rank <= 6.5 means that every comedian with a rank of 6.5 or lower will follow
the True arrow (to the left), and the rest will follow the False arrow (to the right).

gini = 0.497 refers to the quality of the split, and is always a number between 0.0 and
0.5, where 0.0 would mean all of the samples got the same result, and 0.5 would mean
that the split is done exactly in the middle.

samples = 13 means that there are 13 comedians left at this point in the decision, which
is all of them since this is the first step.

value = [6, 7] means that of these 13 comedians, 6 will get a "NO", and 7 will get a
"GO".

Gini
There are many ways to split the samples, we use the GINI method in this tutorial.

The Gini method uses this formula:

Gini = 1 - (x/n)2 - (y/n)2

Where x is the number of positive answers("GO"), n is the number of samples, and y is

the number of negative answers ("NO"), which gives us this calculation:

1 - (7 / 13)2 - (6 / 13)2 = 0.497

The next step contains two boxes, one box for the comedians with a 'Rank' of 6.5 or
lower, and one box with the rest.

True - 5 Comedians End Here:

gini = 0.0 means all of the samples got the same result.

samples = 5 means that there are 5 comedians left in this branch (5 comedian with a
Rank of 6.5 or lower).

value = [5, 0] means that 5 will get a "NO" and 0 will get a "GO".

False - 8 Comedians Continue:

Nationality
Nationality <= 0.5 means that the comedians with a nationality value of less than 0.5
will follow the arrow to the left (which means everyone from the UK, ), and the rest will
follow the arrow to the right.

gini = 0.219 means that about 22% of the samples would go in one direction.

samples = 8 means that there are 8 comedians left in this branch (8 comedian with a
Rank higher than 6.5).

value = [1, 7] means that of these 8 comedians, 1 will get a "NO" and 7 will get a
"GO".
True - 4 Comedians Continue:
Age
Age <= 35.5 means that comedians at the age of 35.5 or younger will follow the arrow to
the left, and the rest will follow the arrow to the right.

gini = 0.375 means that about 37,5% of the samples would go in one direction.

samples = 4 means that there are 4 comedians left in this branch (4 comedians from the
UK).

value = [1, 3] means that of these 4 comedians, 1 will get a "NO" and 3 will get a
"GO".

False - 4 Comedians End Here:

gini = 0.0 means all of the samples got the same result.

samples = 4 means that there are 4 comedians left in this branch (4 comedians not from
the UK).

value = [0, 4] means that of these 4 comedians, 0 will get a "NO" and 4 will get a
"GO".
True - 2 Comedians End Here:
gini = 0.0 means all of the samples got the same result.

samples = 2 means that there are 2 comedians left in this branch (2 comedians at the
age 35.5 or younger).

value = [0, 2] means that of these 2 comedians, 0 will get a "NO" and 2 will get a
"GO".

False - 2 Comedians Continue:

Experience
Experience <= 9.5 means that comedians with 9.5 years of experience, or less, will
follow the arrow to the left, and the rest will follow the arrow to the right.

gini = 0.5 means that 50% of the samples would go in one direction.

samples = 2 means that there are 2 comedians left in this branch (2 comedians older
than 35.5).

value = [1, 1] means that of these 2 comedians, 1 will get a "NO" and 1 will get a
"GO".
True - 1 Comedian Ends Here:
gini = 0.0 means all of the samples got the same result.

samples = 1 means that there is 1 comedian left in this branch (1 comedian with 9.5
years of experience or less).

value = [0, 1] means that 0 will get a "NO" and 1 will get a "GO".

False - 1 Comedian Ends Here:

gini = 0.0 means all of the samples got the same result.

samples = 1 means that there is 1 comedians left in this branch (1 comedian with more
than 9.5 years of experience).

value = [1, 0] means that 1 will get a "NO" and 0 will get a "GO".

Predict Values
We can use the Decision Tree to predict new values.

Example: Should I go see a show starring a 40 years old American comedian, with 10
years of experience, and a comedy ranking of 7?

Example
Use predict() method to predict new values:

print(dtree.predict([[40, 10, 7, 1]]))

Run example »

Example
What would the answer be if the comedy rank was 6?
print(dtree.predict([[40, 10, 6, 1]]))

Run example »

Different Results
You will see that the Decision Tree gives you different results if you run it enough times,
even if you feed it with the same data.

That is because the Decision Tree does not give us a 100% certain answer. It is based on
the probability of an outcome, and the answer will vary.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Machine Learning - Confusion

Matrix
❮ PreviousNext ❯

On this page, W3schools.com collaborates with NYC Data Science Academy, to deliver
digital training content to our students.

What is a confusion matrix?

It is a table that is used in classification problems to assess where errors in the model
were made.

The rows represent the actual classes the outcomes should have been. While the columns
represent the predictions we have made. Using this table it is easy to see which
predictions are wrong.

Creating a Confusion Matrix

Confusion matrixes can be created by predictions made from a logistic regression.
For now we will generate actual and predicted values by utilizing NumPy:

import numpy

Next we will need to generate the numbers for "actual" and "predicted" values.

actual = numpy.random.binomial(1, 0.9, size = 1000)

predicted = numpy.random.binomial(1, 0.9, size = 1000)

In order to create the confusion matrix we need to import metrics from the sklearn
module.

from sklearn import metrics

Once metrics is imported we can use the confusion matrix function on our actual and
predicted values.

confusion_matrix = metrics.confusion_matrix(actual, predicted)

To create a more interpretable visual display we need to convert the table into a
confusion matrix display.

cm_display = metrics.ConfusionMatrixDisplay(confusion_matrix =
confusion_matrix, display_labels = [False, True])

Vizualizing the display requires that we import pyplot from matplotlib.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

Finally to display the plot we can use the functions plot() and show() from pyplot.

cm_display.plot()
plt.show()

See the whole example in action:

Example
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy
from sklearn import metrics

actual = numpy.random.binomial(1,.9,size = 1000)

predicted = numpy.random.binomial(1,.9,size = 1000)

confusion_matrix = metrics.confusion_matrix(actual, predicted)

cm_display = metrics.ConfusionMatrixDisplay(confusion_matrix =
confusion_matrix, display_labels = [False, True])

cm_display.plot()
plt.show()

Result
Run example »

Results Explained
The Confusion Matrix created has four different quadrants:

True Negative (Top-Left Quadrant)

False Positive (Top-Right Quadrant)
False Negative (Bottom-Left Quadrant)
True Positive (Bottom-Right Quadrant)

True means that the values were accurately predicted, False means that there was an
error or wrong prediction.

Now that we have made a Confusion Matrix, we can calculate different measures to
quantify the quality of the model. First, lets look at Accuracy.
Created Metrics
The matrix provides us with many useful metrics that help us to evaluate out
classification model.

The different measures include: Accuracy, Precision, Sensitivity (Recall), Specificity, and
the F-score, explained below.

Accuracy
Accuracy measures how often the model is correct.

How to Calculate
(True Positive + True Negative) / Total Predictions

Example
Accuracy = metrics.accuracy_score(actual, predicted)
Run example »
Precision
Of the positives predicted, what percentage is truly positive?

How to Calculate
True Positive / (True Positive + False Positive)

Precision does not evaluate the correctly predicted negative cases:

Example
Precision = metrics.precision_score(actual, predicted)
Run example »

Sensitivity (Recall)
Of all the positive cases, what percentage are predicted positive?

Sensitivity (sometimes called Recall) measures how good the model is at predicting
positives.

This means it looks at true positives and false negatives (which are positives that have
been incorrectly predicted as negative).

How to Calculate
True Positive / (True Positive + False Negative)

Sensitivity is good at understanding how well the model predicts something is positive:

Example
Sensitivity_recall = metrics.recall_score(actual, predicted)
Run example »

Specificity
How well the model is at prediciting negative results?

Specificity is similar to sensitivity, but looks at it from the persepctive of negative results.

How to Calculate
True Negative / (True Negative + False Positive)

Since it is just the opposite of Recall, we use the recall_score function, taking the
opposite position label:

Example
Specificity = metrics.recall_score(actual, predicted, pos_label=0)
Run example »

F-score
F-score is the "harmonic mean" of precision and sensitivity.

It considers both false positive and false negative cases and is good for imbalanced
datasets.

How to Calculate
2 * ((Precision * Sensitivity) / (Precision + Sensitivity))

This score does not take into consideration the True Negative values:

Example
F1_score = metrics.f1_score(actual, predicted)
Run example »

All calulations in one:

Example
#metrics
print({"Accuracy":Accuracy,"Precision":Precision,"Sensitivity_recall":Sensitivity_
recall,"Specificity":Specificity,"F1_score":F1_score})
Run example »

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Machine Learning - Hierarchical
Clustering
❮ PreviousNext ❯

On this page, W3schools.com collaborates with NYC Data Science Academy, to deliver
digital training content to our students.

Hierarchical Clustering
Hierarchical clustering is an unsupervised learning method for clustering data points. The
algorithm builds clusters by measuring the dissimilarities between data. Unsupervised
learning means that a model does not have to be trained, and we do not need a "target"
variable. This method can be used on any data to visualize and interpret the relationship
between individual data points.

Here we will use hierarchical clustering to group data points and visualize the clusters
using both a dendrogram and scatter plot.

How does it work?

We will use Agglomerative Clustering, a type of hierarchical clustering that follows a
bottom up approach. We begin by treating each data point as its own cluster. Then, we
join clusters together that have the shortest distance between them to create larger
clusters. This step is repeated until one large cluster is formed containing all of the data
points.

Hierarchical clustering requires us to decide on both a distance and linkage method. We

will use euclidean distance and the Ward linkage method, which attempts to minimize the
variance between clusters.

Example
Start by visualizing some data points:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = [4, 5, 10, 4, 3, 11, 14 , 6, 10, 12]

y = [21, 19, 24, 17, 16, 25, 24, 22, 21, 21]
plt.scatter(x, y)
plt.show()

Result

Run example »
Now we compute the ward linkage using euclidean distance, and visualize it using a
dendrogram:

Example
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from scipy.cluster.hierarchy import dendrogram, linkage

x = [4, 5, 10, 4, 3, 11, 14 , 6, 10, 12]

y = [21, 19, 24, 17, 16, 25, 24, 22, 21, 21]

data = list(zip(x, y))

linkage_data = linkage(data, method='ward', metric='euclidean')

dendrogram(linkage_data)

plt.show()

Result
Run example »
Here, we do the same thing with Python's scikit-learn library. Then, visualize on a 2-
dimensional plot:

Example
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from sklearn.cluster import AgglomerativeClustering

x = [4, 5, 10, 4, 3, 11, 14 , 6, 10, 12]

y = [21, 19, 24, 17, 16, 25, 24, 22, 21, 21]

data = list(zip(x, y))

hierarchical_cluster = AgglomerativeClustering(n_clusters=2,
affinity='euclidean', linkage='ward')
labels = hierarchical_cluster.fit_predict(data)

plt.scatter(x, y, c=labels)
plt.show()

Result
Run example »

Example Explained
Import the modules you need.

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from scipy.cluster.hierarchy import dendrogram, linkage
from sklearn.cluster import AgglomerativeClustering

You can learn about the Matplotlib module in our "Matplotlib Tutorial.

You can learn about the SciPy module in our SciPy Tutorial.

NumPy is a library for working with arrays and matricies in Python, you can learn about
the NumPy module in our NumPy Tutorial.

scikit-learn is a popular library for machine learning.

Create arrays that resemble two variables in a dataset. Note that while we only two
variables here, this method will work with any number of variables:

x = [4, 5, 10, 4, 3, 11, 14 , 6, 10, 12]

y = [21, 19, 24, 17, 16, 25, 24, 22, 21, 21]

Turn the data into a set of points:

data = list(zip(x, y))
print(data)

Result:

[(4, 21), (5, 19), (10, 24), (4, 17), (3, 16), (11, 25), (14, 24), (6, 22),
(10, 21), (12, 21)]

Compute the linkage between all of the different points. Here we use a simple euclidean
distance measure and Ward's linkage, which seeks to minimize the variance between
clusters.

linkage_data = linkage(data, method='ward', metric='euclidean')

Finally, plot the results in a dendrogram. This plot will show us the hierarchy of clusters
from the bottom (individual points) to the top (a single cluster consisting of all data
points).

plt.show() lets us visualize the dendrogram instead of just the raw linkage data.

dendrogram(linkage_data)
plt.show()

Result:

The scikit-learn library allows us to use hierarchichal clustering in a different manner.

First, we initialize the AgglomerativeClustering class with 2 clusters, using the same
euclidean distance and Ward linkage.
hierarchical_cluster = AgglomerativeClustering(n_clusters=2,
affinity='euclidean', linkage='ward')

The .fit_predict method can be called on our data to compute the clusters using the
defined parameters across our chosen number of clusters.

labels = hierarchical_cluster.fit_predict(data) print(labels)

Result:

[0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1]

Finally, if we plot the same data and color the points using the labels assigned to each
index by the hierarchical clustering method, we can see the cluster each point was
assigned to:

plt.scatter(x, y, c=labels)
plt.show()

Result:

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Machine Learning - Logistic
Regression
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Logistic Regression
Logistic regression aims to solve classification problems. It does this by predicting
categorical outcomes, unlike linear regression that predicts a continuous outcome.

In the simplest case there are two outcomes, which is called binomial, an example of
which is predicting if a tumor is malignant or benign. Other cases have more than two
outcomes to classify, in this case it is called multinomial. A common example for
multinomial logistic regression would be predicting the class of an iris flower between 3
different species.

Here we will be using basic logistic regression to predict a binomial variable. This means
it has only two possible outcomes.

How does it work?

In Python we have modules that will do the work for us. Start by importing the NumPy
module.

import numpy

Store the independent variables in X.

Store the dependent variable in y.

Below is a sample dataset:

#X represents the size of a tumor in centimeters.

X =
numpy.array([3.78, 2.44, 2.09, 0.14, 1.72, 1.65, 4.92, 4.37, 4.96, 4.52, 3.
69, 5.88]).reshape(-1,1)

#Note: X has to be reshaped into a column from a row for the

LogisticRegression() function to work.
#y represents whether or not the tumor is cancerous (0 for "No", 1 for
"Yes").
y = numpy.array([0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1])

We will use a method from the sklearn module, so we will have to import that module as
well:

from sklearn import linear_model

From the sklearn module we will use the LogisticRegression() method to create a logistic
regression object.

This object has a method called fit() that takes the independent and dependent values
as parameters and fills the regression object with data that describes the relationship:

logr = linear_model.LogisticRegression()
logr.fit(X,y)

Now we have a logistic regression object that is ready to whether a tumor is cancerous
based on the tumor size:

#predict if tumor is cancerous where the size is 3.46mm:

predicted = logr.predict(numpy.array([3.46]).reshape(-1,1))

Example
See the whole example in action:

import numpy
from sklearn import linear_model

#Reshaped for Logistic function.

X =
numpy.array([3.78, 2.44, 2.09, 0.14, 1.72, 1.65, 4.92, 4.37, 4.96, 4.52, 3.69, 5.8
8]).reshape(-1,1)
y = numpy.array([0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1])

logr = linear_model.LogisticRegression()
logr.fit(X,y)

#predict if tumor is cancerous where the size is 3.46mm:

predicted = logr.predict(numpy.array([3.46]).reshape(-1,1))
print(predicted)

Result
[0]

Run example »

We have predicted that a tumor with a size of 3.46mm will not be cancerous.
Coefficient
In logistic regression the coefficient is the expected change in log-odds of having the
outcome per unit change in X.

This does not have the most intuitive understanding so let's use it to create something
that makes more sense, odds.

Example
See the whole example in action:

import numpy
from sklearn import linear_model

#Reshaped for Logistic function.

X =
numpy.array([3.78, 2.44, 2.09, 0.14, 1.72, 1.65, 4.92, 4.37, 4.96, 4.52, 3.69, 5.8
8]).reshape(-1,1)
y = numpy.array([0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1])

logr = linear_model.LogisticRegression()
logr.fit(X,y)

log_odds = logr.coef_
odds = numpy.exp(log_odds)

print(odds)

Result
[4.03541657]

Run example »

This tells us that as the size of a tumor increases by 1mm the odds of it being a tumor
increases by 4x.

Probability
The coefficient and intercept values can be used to find the probability that each tumor is
cancerous.

Create a function that uses the model's coefficient and intercept values to return a new
value. This new value represents probability that the given observation is a tumor:

def logit2prob(logr,x):
log_odds = logr.coef_ * x + logr.intercept_
odds = numpy.exp(log_odds)
probability = odds / (1 + odds)
return(probability)

Function Explained
To find the log-odds for each observation, we must first create a formula that looks
similar to the one from linear regression, extracting the coefficient and the intercept.

log_odds = logr.coef_ * x + logr.intercept_

To then convert the log-odds to odds we must exponentiate the log-odds.

odds = numpy.exp(log_odds)

Now that we have the odds, we can convert it to probability by dividing it by 1 plus the
odds.

probability = odds / (1 + odds)

Let us now use the function with what we have learned to find out the probability that
each tumor is cancerous.

Example
See the whole example in action:
import numpy
from sklearn import linear_model

X =
numpy.array([3.78, 2.44, 2.09, 0.14, 1.72, 1.65, 4.92, 4.37, 4.96, 4.52, 3.69, 5.8
8]).reshape(-1,1)
y = numpy.array([0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1])

logr = linear_model.LogisticRegression()
logr.fit(X,y)

def logit2prob(logr, X):

log_odds = logr.coef_ * X + logr.intercept_
odds = numpy.exp(log_odds)
probability = odds / (1 + odds)
return(probability)

print(logit2prob(logr, X))

Result
[[0.60749955]
[0.19268876]
[0.12775886]
[0.00955221]
[0.08038616]
[0.07345637]
[0.88362743]
[0.77901378]
[0.88924409]
[0.81293497]
[0.57719129]
[0.96664243]]

Run example »

Results Explained
3.78 0.61 The probability that a tumor with the size 3.78cm is cancerous is 61%.

2.44 0.19 The probability that a tumor with the size 2.44cm is cancerous is 19%.

2.09 0.13 The probability that a tumor with the size 2.09cm is cancerous is 13%.

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Machine Learning - Grid Search
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digital training content to our students.

Grid Search
The majority of machine learning models contain parameters that can be adjusted to vary
how the model learns. For example, the logistic regression model, from sklearn, has a
parameter C that controls regularization,which affects the complexity of the model.

How do we pick the best value for C? The best value is dependent on the data used to
train the model.

How does it work?

One method is to try out different values and then pick the value that gives the best
score. This technique is known as a grid search. If we had to select the values for two or
more parameters, we would evaluate all combinations of the sets of values thus forming
a grid of values.

Before we get into the example it is good to know what the parameter we are changing
does. Higher values of C tell the model, the training data resembles real world
information, place a greater weight on the training data. While lower values of C do the
opposite.

Using Default Parameters

First let's see what kind of results we can generate without a grid search using only the
base parameters.

To get started we must first load in the dataset we will be working with.

from sklearn import datasets

iris = datasets.load_iris()
Next in order to create the model we must have a set of independent variables X and a
dependant variable y.

X = iris['data']
y = iris['target']

Now we will load the logistic model for classifying the iris flowers.

from sklearn.linear_model import LogisticRegression

Creating the model, setting max_iter to a higher value to ensure that the model finds a
result.

Keep in mind the default value for C in a logistic regression model is 1, we will compare
this later.

In the example below, we look at the iris data set and try to train a model with varying
values for C in logistic regression.

logit = LogisticRegression(max_iter = 10000)

After we create the model, we must fit the model to the data.

print(logit.fit(X,y))

To evaluate the model we run the score method.

print(logit.score(X,y))

Example
from sklearn import datasets
from sklearn.linear_model import LogisticRegression

iris = datasets.load_iris()

X = iris['data']
y = iris['target']

logit = LogisticRegression(max_iter = 10000)

print(logit.fit(X,y))

print(logit.score(X,y))
Run example »

With the default setting of C = 1, we achieved a score of 0.973.

Let's see if we can do any better by implementing a grid search with difference values of
0.973.
Implementing Grid Search
We will follow the same steps of before except this time we will set a range of values
for C.

Knowing which values to set for the searched parameters will take a combination of
domain knowledge and practice.

Since the default value for C is 1, we will set a range of values surrounding it.

C = [0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, 2]

Next we will create a for loop to change out the values of C and evaluate the model with
each change.

First we will create an empty list to store the score within.

scores = []

To change the values of C we must loop over the range of values and update the
parameter each time.

for choice in C:
logit.set_params(C=choice)
logit.fit(X, y)
scores.append(logit.score(X, y))

With the scores stored in a list, we can evaluate what the best choice of C is.

print(scores)

Example
from sklearn import datasets
from sklearn.linear_model import LogisticRegression

iris = datasets.load_iris()

X = iris['data']
y = iris['target']

logit = LogisticRegression(max_iter = 10000)

C = [0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, 2]

scores = []

for choice in C:
logit.set_params(C=choice)
logit.fit(X, y)
 scores.append(logit.score(X, y))

print(scores)
Run example »

Results Explained
We can see that the lower values of C performed worse than the base parameter of 1.
However, as we increased the value of C to 1.75 the model experienced increased
accuracy.

It seems that increasing C beyond this amount does not help increase model accuracy.

Note on Best Practices

We scored our logistic regression model by using the same data that was used to train it.
If the model corresponds too closely to that data, it may not be great at predicting
unseen data. This statistical error is known as over fitting.

To avoid being misled by the scores on the training data, we can put aside a portion of
our data and use it specifically for the purpose of testing the model. Refer to the lecture
on train/test splitting to avoid being misled and overfitting.

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Preprocessing - Categorical Data

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Categorical Data
When your data has categories represented by strings, it will be difficult to use them to
train machine learning models which often only accepts numeric data.
Instead of ignoring the categorical data and excluding the information from our model,
you can tranform the data so it can be used in your models.

Take a look at the table below, it is the same data set that we used in the multiple
regression chapter.

Example
import pandas as pd

cars = pd.read_csv('data.csv')
print(cars.to_string())

Result
Car Model Volume Weight CO2
0 Toyoty Aygo 1000 790 99
1 Mitsubishi Space Star 1200 1160 95
2 Skoda Citigo 1000 929 95
3 Fiat 500 900 865 90
4 Mini Cooper 1500 1140 105
5 VW Up! 1000 929 105
6 Skoda Fabia 1400 1109 90
7 Mercedes A-Class 1500 1365 92
8 Ford Fiesta 1500 1112 98
9 Audi A1 1600 1150 99
10 Hyundai I20 1100 980 99
11 Suzuki Swift 1300 990 101
12 Ford Fiesta 1000 1112 99
13 Honda Civic 1600 1252 94
14 Hundai I30 1600 1326 97
15 Opel Astra 1600 1330 97
16 BMW 1 1600 1365 99
17 Mazda 3 2200 1280 104
18 Skoda Rapid 1600 1119 104
19 Ford Focus 2000 1328 105
20 Ford Mondeo 1600 1584 94
21 Opel Insignia 2000 1428 99
22 Mercedes C-Class 2100 1365 99
23 Skoda Octavia 1600 1415 99
24 Volvo S60 2000 1415 99
25 Mercedes CLA 1500 1465 102
26 Audi A4 2000 1490 104
27 Audi A6 2000 1725 114
28 Volvo V70 1600 1523 109
29 BMW 5 2000 1705 114
30 Mercedes E-Class 2100 1605 115
31 Volvo XC70 2000 1746 117
32 Ford B-Max 1600 1235 104
33 BMW 216 1600 1390 108
34 Opel Zafira 1600 1405 109
35 Mercedes SLK 2500 1395 120

Run example »
In the multiple regression chapter, we tried to predict the CO2 emitted based on the
volume of the engine and the weight of the car but we excluded information about the
car brand and model.

The information about the car brand or the car model might help us make a better
prediction of the CO2 emitted.

One Hot Encoding

We cannot make use of the Car or Model column in our data since they are not numeric.
A linear relationship between a categorical variable, Car or Model, and a numeric variable,
CO2, cannot be determined.

To fix this issue, we must have a numeric representation of the categorical variable. One
way to do this is to have a column representing each group in the category.

For each column, the values will be 1 or 0 where 1 represents the inclusion of the group
and 0 represents the exclusion. This transformation is called one hot encoding.
You do not have to do this manually, the Python Pandas module has a function that
called get_dummies() which does one hot encoding.

Learn about the Pandas module in our Pandas Tutorial.

Example
One Hot Encode the Car column:

import pandas as pd

cars = pd.read_csv('data.csv')
ohe_cars = pd.get_dummies(cars[['Car']])

print(ohe_cars.to_string())

Result
Car_Audi Car_BMW Car_Fiat Car_Ford Car_Honda Car_Hundai
Car_Hyundai Car_Mazda Car_Mercedes Car_Mini Car_Mitsubishi Car_Opel
Car_Skoda Car_Suzuki Car_Toyoty Car_VW Car_Volvo
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0
1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0
2 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 0
3 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
4 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
5 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0
6 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 0
7 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
8 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
9 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
10 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
11 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0
 12 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
13 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
14 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
15 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0
16 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
17 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
18 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 0
19 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
20 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
21 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0
22 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
23 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 0
24 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 1
25 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
26 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
27 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
28 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 1
29 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
30 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
 31 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 1
32 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
33 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
34 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0
35 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0

Run example »

Results
A column was created for every car brand in the Car column.

Predict CO2
We can use this additional information alongside the volume and weight to predict CO2

To combine the information, we can use the concat() function from pandas.

First we will need to import a couple modules.

We will start with importing the Pandas.

import pandas

The pandas module allows us to read csv files and manipulate DataFrame objects:

cars = pandas.read_csv("data.csv")

It also allows us to create the dummy variables:

ohe_cars = pandas.get_dummies(cars[['Car']])

Then we must select the independent variables (X) and add the dummy variables
columnwise.

Also store the dependent variable in y.

X = pandas.concat([cars[['Volume', 'Weight']], ohe_cars], axis=1)

y = cars['CO2']

We also need to import a method from sklearn to create a linear model

Learn about linear regression.

from sklearn import linear_model

Now we can fit the data to a linear regression:

regr = linear_model.LinearRegression()
regr.fit(X,y)

Finally we can predict the CO2 emissions based on the car's weight, volume, and
manufacturer.

##predict the CO2 emission of a Volvo where the weight is 2300kg, and the
volume is 1300cm3:
predictedCO2 =
regr.predict([[2300, 1300,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0]])

Example
import pandas
from sklearn import linear_model

cars = pandas.read_csv("data.csv")
ohe_cars = pandas.get_dummies(cars[['Car']])

X = pandas.concat([cars[['Volume', 'Weight']], ohe_cars], axis=1)

y = cars['CO2']

regr = linear_model.LinearRegression()
regr.fit(X,y)

##predict the CO2 emission of a Volvo where the weight is 2300kg, and the volume
is 1300cm3:
predictedCO2 = regr.predict([[2300, 1300,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0]])

print(predictedCO2)

Result
[122.45153299]

Run example »

We now have a coefficient for the volume, the weight, and each car brand in the data set

Dummifying
It is not necessary to create one column for each group in your category. The information
can be retained using 1 column less than the number of groups you have.

For example, you have a column representing colors and in that column, you have two
colors, red and blue.
Example
import pandas as pd

colors = pd.DataFrame({'color': ['blue', 'red']})

print(colors)

Result
color
0 blue
1 red

Run example »

You can create 1 column called red where 1 represents red and 0 represents not red,
which means it is blue.

To do this, we can use the same function that we used for one hot encoding,
get_dummies, and then drop one of the columns. There is an argument, drop_first, which
allows us to exclude the first column from the resulting table.

Example
import pandas as pd

colors = pd.DataFrame({'color': ['blue', 'red']})

dummies = pd.get_dummies(colors, drop_first=True)

print(dummies)

Result
color_red
0 0
1 1

Run example »

What if you have more than 2 groups? How can the multiple groups be represented by 1
less column?

Let's say we have three colors this time, red, blue and green. When we get_dummies
while dropping the first column, we get the following table.

Example
import pandas as pd

colors = pd.DataFrame({'color': ['blue', 'red', 'green']})

dummies = pd.get_dummies(colors, drop_first=True)
dummies['color'] = colors['color']

print(dummies)
Result
color_green color_red color
0 0 0 blue
1 0 1 red
2 1 0 green

Run example »

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Machine Learning - K-means

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K-means
K-means is an unsupervised learning method for clustering data points. The algorithm
iteratively divides data points into K clusters by minimizing the variance in each cluster.

Here, we will show you how to estimate the best value for K using the elbow method,
then use K-means clustering to group the data points into clusters.

How does it work?

First, each data point is randomly assigned to one of the K clusters. Then, we compute
the centroid (functionally the center) of each cluster, and reassign each data point to the
cluster with the closest centroid. We repeat this process until the cluster assignments for
each data point are no longer changing.

K-means clustering requires us to select K, the number of clusters we want to group the
data into. The elbow method lets us graph the inertia (a distance-based metric) and
visualize the point at which it starts decreasing linearly. This point is referred to as the
"eblow" and is a good estimate for the best value for K based on our data.
Example
Start by visualizing some data points:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = [4, 5, 10, 4, 3, 11, 14 , 6, 10, 12]

y = [21, 19, 24, 17, 16, 25, 24, 22, 21, 21]

plt.scatter(x, y)
plt.show()

Result

Run example »

Learn more about NYCDSA

Now we utilize the elbow method to visualize the intertia for different values of K:

Example
from sklearn.cluster import KMeans

data = list(zip(x, y))

inertias = []

for i in range(1,11):
kmeans = KMeans(n_clusters=i)
kmeans.fit(data)
inertias.append(kmeans.inertia_)

plt.plot(range(1,11), inertias, marker='o')

plt.title('Elbow method')
plt.xlabel('Number of clusters')
plt.ylabel('Inertia')
plt.show()

Result

Run example »

The elbow method shows that 2 is a good value for K, so we retrain and visualize the
result:

Example
kmeans = KMeans(n_clusters=2)
kmeans.fit(data)
plt.scatter(x, y, c=kmeans.labels_)
plt.show()

Result

Run example »

Example Explained
Import the modules you need.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

from sklearn.cluster import KMeans

You can learn about the Matplotlib module in our "Matplotlib Tutorial.

scikit-learn is a popular library for machine learning.

Create arrays that resemble two variables in a dataset. Note that while we only use two
variables here, this method will work with any number of variables:

x = [4, 5, 10, 4, 3, 11, 14 , 6, 10, 12]

y = [21, 19, 24, 17, 16, 25, 24, 22, 21, 21]

Turn the data into a set of points:

data = list(zip(x, y))
print(data)

Result:

[(4, 21), (5, 19), (10, 24), (4, 17), (3, 16), (11, 25), (14, 24), (6, 22),
(10, 21), (12, 21)]

In order to find the best value for K, we need to run K-means across our data for a range
of possible values. We only have 10 data points, so the maximum number of clusters is
10. So for each value K in range(1,11), we train a K-means model and plot the intertia at
that number of clusters:

inertias = []

for i in range(1,11):
kmeans = KMeans(n_clusters=i)
kmeans.fit(data)
inertias.append(kmeans.inertia_)

plt.plot(range(1,11), inertias, marker='o')

plt.title('Elbow method')
plt.xlabel('Number of clusters')
plt.ylabel('Inertia')
plt.show()

Result:
We can see that the "elbow" on the graph above (where the interia becomes more linear)
is at K=2. We can then fit our K-means algorithm one more time and plot the different
clusters assigned to the data:

kmeans = KMeans(n_clusters=2)
kmeans.fit(data)

plt.scatter(x, y, c=kmeans.labels_)
plt.show()

Result:

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Machine Learning - Bootstrap
Aggregation (Bagging)
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digital training content to our students.

Bagging
Methods such as Decision Trees, can be prone to overfitting on the training set which can
lead to wrong predictions on new data.

Bootstrap Aggregation (bagging) is a ensembling method that attempts to resolve

overfitting for classification or regression problems. Bagging aims to improve the
accuracy and performance of machine learning algorithms. It does this by taking random
subsets of an original dataset, with replacement, and fits either a classifier (for
classification) or regressor (for regression) to each subset. The predictions for each
subset are then aggregated through majority vote for classification or averaging for
regression, increasing prediction accuracy.

Evaluating a Base Classifier

To see how bagging can improve model performance, we must start by evaluating how
the base classifier performs on the dataset. If you do not know what decision trees are
review the lesson on decision trees before moving forward, as bagging is an continuation
of the concept.

We will be looking to identify different classes of wines found in Sklearn's wine dataset.

Let's start by importing the necessary modules.

from sklearn import datasets

from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split
from sklearn.metrics import accuracy_score
from sklearn.tree import DecisionTreeClassifier

Next we need to load in the data and store it into X (input features) and y (target). The
parameter as_frame is set equal to True so we do not lose the feature names when
loading the data. (sklearn version older than 0.23 must skip the as_frame argument as it is
not supported)
data = datasets.load_wine(as_frame = True)

X = data.data
y = data.target

In order to properly evaluate our model on unseen data, we need to split X and y into
train and test sets. For information on splitting data, see the Train/Test lesson.

X_train, X_test, y_train, y_test = train_test_split(X, y, test_size = 0.25,

random_state = 22)

With our data prepared, we can now instantiate a base classifier and fit it to the training
data.

dtree = DecisionTreeClassifier(random_state = 22)

dtree.fit(X_train,y_train)

Result:

DecisionTreeClassifier(random_state=22)

We can now predict the class of wine the unseen test set and evaluate the model
performance.

y_pred = dtree.predict(X_test)

print("Train data accuracy:",accuracy_score(y_true = y_train, y_pred =

dtree.predict(X_train)))
print("Test data accuracy:",accuracy_score(y_true = y_test, y_pred =
y_pred))

Result:

Train data accuracy: 1.0

Test data accuracy: 0.8222222222222222

Example
Import the necessary data and evaluate base classifier performance.

from sklearn import datasets

from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split
from sklearn.metrics import accuracy_score
from sklearn.tree import DecisionTreeClassifier

data = datasets.load_wine(as_frame = True)

X = data.data
y = data.target

X_train, X_test, y_train, y_test = train_test_split(X, y, test_size = 0.25,

random_state = 22)

dtree = DecisionTreeClassifier(random_state = 22)

dtree.fit(X_train,y_train)
y_pred = dtree.predict(X_test)

print("Train data accuracy:",accuracy_score(y_true = y_train, y_pred =

dtree.predict(X_train)))
print("Test data accuracy:",accuracy_score(y_true = y_test, y_pred = y_pred))
Run example »

The base classifier performs reasonably well on the dataset achieving 82% accuracy on
the test dataset with the current parameters (Different results may occur if you do not
have the random_state parameter set).

Now that we have a baseline accuracy for the test dataset, we can see how the Bagging
Classifier out performs a single Decision Tree Classifier.

Learn more about NYCDSA

Creating a Bagging Classifier

For bagging we need to set the parameter n_estimators, this is the number of base
classifiers that our model is going to aggregate together.

For this sample dataset the number of estimators is relatively low, it is often the case
that much larger ranges are explored. Hyperparameter tuning is usually done with a grid
search, but for now we will use a select set of values for the number of estimators.

We start by importing the necessary model.

from sklearn.ensemble import BaggingClassifier

Now lets create a range of values that represent the number of estimators we want to
use in each ensemble.

estimator_range = [2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16]

To see how the Bagging Classifier performs with differing values of n_estimators we need
a way to iterate over the range of values and store the results from each ensemble. To do
this we will create a for loop, storing the models and scores in separate lists for later
vizualizations.

Note: The default parameter for the base classifier in BaggingClassifier is

the DicisionTreeClassifier therefore we do not need to set it when instantiating the
bagging model.

models = []
scores = []

for n_estimators in estimator_range:

 # Create bagging classifier
clf = BaggingClassifier(n_estimators = n_estimators, random_state = 22)

# Fit the model

clf.fit(X_train, y_train)

# Append the model and score to their respective list

models.append(clf)
scores.append(accuracy_score(y_true = y_test, y_pred =
clf.predict(X_test)))

With the models and scores stored, we can now visualize the improvement in model
performance.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Generate the plot of scores against number of estimators

plt.figure(figsize=(9,6))
plt.plot(estimator_range, scores)

# Adjust labels and font (to make visable)

plt.xlabel("n_estimators", fontsize = 18)
plt.ylabel("score", fontsize = 18)
plt.tick_params(labelsize = 16)

# Visualize plot
plt.show()
Example
Import the necessary data and evaluate the BaggingClassifier performance.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

from sklearn import datasets
from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split
from sklearn.metrics import accuracy_score
from sklearn.ensemble import BaggingClassifier

data = datasets.load_wine(as_frame = True)

X = data.data
y = data.target

X_train, X_test, y_train, y_test = train_test_split(X, y, test_size = 0.25,

random_state = 22)

estimator_range = [2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16]

models = []
scores = []
for n_estimators in estimator_range:

# Create bagging classifier

clf = BaggingClassifier(n_estimators = n_estimators, random_state = 22)

# Fit the model

clf.fit(X_train, y_train)

# Append the model and score to their respective list

models.append(clf)
scores.append(accuracy_score(y_true = y_test, y_pred = clf.predict(X_test)))

# Generate the plot of scores against number of estimators

plt.figure(figsize=(9,6))
plt.plot(estimator_range, scores)

# Adjust labels and font (to make visable)

plt.xlabel("n_estimators", fontsize = 18)
plt.ylabel("score", fontsize = 18)
plt.tick_params(labelsize = 16)

# Visualize plot
plt.show()

Result
Run example »

Results Explained
By iterating through different values for the number of estimators we can see an increase
in model performance from 82.2% to 95.5%. After 14 estimators the accuracy begins to
drop, again if you set a different random_state the values you see will vary. That is why it is
best practice to use cross validation to ensure stable results.

In this case, we see a 13.3% increase in accuracy when it comes to identifying the type
of the wine.

Another Form of Evaluation

As bootstrapping chooses random subsets of observations to create classifiers, there are
observations that are left out in the selection process. These "out-of-bag" observations
can then be used to evaluate the model, similarly to that of a test set. Keep in mind, that
out-of-bag estimation can overestimate error in binary classification problems and should
only be used as a compliment to other metrics.

We saw in the last exercise that 12 estimators yielded the highest accuracy, so we will
use that to create our model. This time setting the parameter oob_score to true to evaluate
the model with out-of-bag score.

Example
Create a model with out-of-bag metric.

from sklearn import datasets

from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split
from sklearn.ensemble import BaggingClassifier

data = datasets.load_wine(as_frame = True)

X = data.data
y = data.target

X_train, X_test, y_train, y_test = train_test_split(X, y, test_size = 0.25,

random_state = 22)

oob_model = BaggingClassifier(n_estimators = 12, oob_score = True,random_state

= 22)

oob_model.fit(X_train, y_train)

print(oob_model.oob_score_)
Run example »

Since the samples used in OOB and the test set are different, and the dataset is relatively
small, there is a difference in the accuracy. It is rare that they would be exactly the
same, again OOB should be used quick means for estimating error, but is not the only
evaluation metric.

Generating Decision Trees from Bagging

Classifier
As was seen in the Decision Tree lesson, it is possible to graph the decision tree the
model created. It is also possible to see the individual decision trees that went into the
aggregated classifier. This helps us to gain a more intuitive understanding on how the
bagging model arrives at its predictions.

Note: This is only functional with smaller datasets, where the trees are relatively shallow
and narrow making them easy to visualize.
We will need to import plot_tree function from sklearn.tree. The different trees can be
graphed by changing the estimator you wish to visualize.

Example
Generate Decision Trees from Bagging Classifier

from sklearn import datasets

from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split
from sklearn.ensemble import BaggingClassifier
from sklearn.tree import plot_tree

X = data.data
y = data.target

X_train, X_test, y_train, y_test = train_test_split(X, y, test_size = 0.25,

random_state = 22)

clf = BaggingClassifier(n_estimators = 12, oob_score = True,random_state = 22)

clf.fit(X_train, y_train)

plt.figure(figsize=(30, 20))

plot_tree(clf.estimators_[0], feature_names = X.columns)

Result
Run example »

Here we can see just the first decision tree that was used to vote on the final prediction.
Again, by changing the index of the classifier you can see each of the trees that have
been aggregated.

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Machine Learning - Cross

Validation
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digital training content to our students.

Cross Validation
When adjusting models we are aiming to increase overall model performance on unseen
data. Hyperparameter tuning can lead to much better performance on test sets. However,
optimizing parameters to the test set can lead information leakage causing the model to
preform worse on unseen data. To correct for this we can perform cross validation.

To better understand CV, we will be performing different methods on the iris dataset. Let
us first load in and separate the data.

from sklearn import datasets

X, y = datasets.load_iris(return_X_y=True)

There are many methods to cross validation, we will start by looking at k-fold cross
validation.

K-Fold
The training data used in the model is split, into k number of smaller sets, to be used to
validate the model. The model is then trained on k-1 folds of training set. The remaining
fold is then used as a validation set to evaluate the model.

As we will be trying to classify different species of iris flowers we will need to import a
classifier model, for this exercise we will be using a DecisionTreeClassifier. We will also
need to import CV modules from sklearn.

from sklearn.tree import DecisionTreeClassifier

from sklearn.model_selection import KFold, cross_val_score

With the data loaded we can now create and fit a model for evaluation.

clf = DecisionTreeClassifier(random_state=42)

Now let's evaluate our model and see how it performs on each k-fold.

k_folds = KFold(n_splits = 5)

scores = cross_val_score(clf, X, y, cv = k_folds)

It is also good pratice to see how CV performed overall by averaging the scores for all
folds.

Example
Run k-fold CV:

from sklearn import datasets

from sklearn.tree import DecisionTreeClassifier
from sklearn.model_selection import KFold, cross_val_score

X, y = datasets.load_iris(return_X_y=True)

clf = DecisionTreeClassifier(random_state=42)

k_folds = KFold(n_splits = 5)

scores = cross_val_score(clf, X, y, cv = k_folds)

print("Cross Validation Scores: ", scores)

print("Average CV Score: ", scores.mean())
print("Number of CV Scores used in Average: ", len(scores))
Run example »
Stratified K-Fold
In cases where classes are imbalanced we need a way to account for the imbalance in
both the train and validation sets. To do so we can stratify the target classes, meaning
that both sets will have an equal proportion of all classes.

Example
from sklearn import datasets
from sklearn.tree import DecisionTreeClassifier
from sklearn.model_selection import StratifiedKFold, cross_val_score

X, y = datasets.load_iris(return_X_y=True)

clf = DecisionTreeClassifier(random_state=42)

sk_folds = StratifiedKFold(n_splits = 5)

scores = cross_val_score(clf, X, y, cv = sk_folds)

print("Cross Validation Scores: ", scores)

print("Average CV Score: ", scores.mean())
print("Number of CV Scores used in Average: ", len(scores))
Run example »

While the number of folds is the same, the average CV increases from the basic k-fold
when making sure there is stratified classes.
Leave-One-Out (LOO)
Instead of selecting the number of splits in the training data set like k-fold LeaveOneOut,
utilize 1 observation to validate and n-1 observations to train. This method is an
exaustive technique.

Example
Run LOO CV:

from sklearn import datasets

from sklearn.tree import DecisionTreeClassifier
from sklearn.model_selection import LeaveOneOut, cross_val_score

X, y = datasets.load_iris(return_X_y=True)

clf = DecisionTreeClassifier(random_state=42)

loo = LeaveOneOut()

scores = cross_val_score(clf, X, y, cv = loo)

print("Cross Validation Scores: ", scores)

print("Average CV Score: ", scores.mean())
print("Number of CV Scores used in Average: ", len(scores))
Run example »

We can observe that the number of cross validation scores performed is equal to the
number of observations in the dataset. In this case there are 150 observations in the iris
dataset.

The average CV score is 94%.

Leave-P-Out (LPO)
Leave-P-Out is simply a nuanced diffence to the Leave-One-Out idea, in that we can
select the number of p to use in our validation set.

Example
Run LPO CV:

from sklearn import datasets

from sklearn.tree import DecisionTreeClassifier
from sklearn.model_selection import LeavePOut, cross_val_score

X, y = datasets.load_iris(return_X_y=True)

clf = DecisionTreeClassifier(random_state=42)
lpo = LeavePOut(p=2)

scores = cross_val_score(clf, X, y, cv = lpo)

print("Cross Validation Scores: ", scores)

print("Average CV Score: ", scores.mean())
print("Number of CV Scores used in Average: ", len(scores))
Run example »

As we can see this is an exhaustive method we many more scores being calculated than
Leave-One-Out, even with a p = 2, yet it achieves roughly the same average CV score.

Shuffle Split
Unlike KFold, ShuffleSplit leaves out a percentage of the data, not to be used in the train
or validation sets. To do so we must decide what the train and test sizes are, as well as
the number of splits.

Example
Run Shuffle Split CV:

from sklearn import datasets

from sklearn.tree import DecisionTreeClassifier
from sklearn.model_selection import ShuffleSplit, cross_val_score

X, y = datasets.load_iris(return_X_y=True)

clf = DecisionTreeClassifier(random_state=42)

ss = ShuffleSplit(train_size=0.6, test_size=0.3, n_splits = 5)

scores = cross_val_score(clf, X, y, cv = ss)

print("Cross Validation Scores: ", scores)

print("Average CV Score: ", scores.mean())
print("Number of CV Scores used in Average: ", len(scores))
Run example »

Ending Notes
These are just a few of the CV methods that can be applied to models. There are many
more cross validation classes, with most models having their own class. Check out
sklearns cross validation for more CV options.
 ❮ PreviousNext ❯

Machine Learning - AUC - ROC

Curve
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digital training content to our students.

AUC - ROC Curve

In classification, there are many different evaluation metrics. The most popular
is accuracy, which measures how often the model is correct. This is a great metric
because it is easy to understand and getting the most correct guesses is often desired.
There are some cases where you might consider using another evaluation metric.

Another common metric is AUC, area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC)
curve. The Reciever operating characteristic curve plots the true positive (TP) rate versus
the false positive (FP) rate at different classification thresholds. The thresholds are
different probability cutoffs that separate the two classes in binary classification. It uses
probability to tell us how well a model separates the classes.

Imbalanced Data
Suppose we have an imbalanced data set where the majority of our data is of one value.
We can obtain high accuracy for the model by predicting the majority class.

Example
import numpy as np
from sklearn.metrics import accuracy_score, confusion_matrix, roc_auc_score,
roc_curve

n = 10000
ratio = .95
n_0 = int((1-ratio) * n)
n_1 = int(ratio * n)
y = np.array([0] * n_0 + [1] * n_1)
# below are the probabilities obtained from a hypothetical model that always
predicts the majority class
# probability of predicting class 1 is going to be 100%
y_proba = np.array([1]*n)
y_pred = y_proba > .5

print(f'accuracy score: {accuracy_score(y, y_pred)}')

cf_mat = confusion_matrix(y, y_pred)
print('Confusion matrix')
print(cf_mat)
print(f'class 0 accuracy: {cf_mat[0][0]/n_0}')
print(f'class 1 accuracy: {cf_mat[1][1]/n_1}')
Run example »

Although we obtain a very high accuracy, the model provided no information about the
data so it's not useful. We accurately predict class 1 100% of the time while inaccurately
predict class 0 0% of the time. At the expense of accuracy, it might be better to have a
model that can somewhat separate the two classes.
Example
# below are the probabilities obtained from a hypothetical model that doesn't
always predict the mode
y_proba_2 = np.array(
np.random.uniform(0, .7, n_0).tolist() +
np.random.uniform(.3, 1, n_1).tolist()
)
y_pred_2 = y_proba_2 > .5

print(f'accuracy score: {accuracy_score(y, y_pred_2)}')

cf_mat = confusion_matrix(y, y_pred_2)
print('Confusion matrix')
print(cf_mat)
print(f'class 0 accuracy: {cf_mat[0][0]/n_0}')
print(f'class 1 accuracy: {cf_mat[1][1]/n_1}')
Run example »

For the second set of predictions, we do not have as high of an accuracy score as the first
but the accuracy for each class is more balanced. Using accuracy as an evaluation metric
we would rate the first model higher than the second even though it doesn't tell us
anything about the data.

In cases like this, using another evaluation metric like AUC would be preferred.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

def plot_roc_curve(true_y, y_prob):

"""
plots the roc curve based of the probabilities
"""

fpr, tpr, thresholds = roc_curve(true_y, y_prob)

plt.plot(fpr, tpr)
plt.xlabel('False Positive Rate')
plt.ylabel('True Positive Rate')

Example
Model 1:

plot_roc_curve(y, y_proba)
print(f'model 1 AUC score: {roc_auc_score(y, y_proba)}')

Result
model 1 AUC score: 0.5

Run example »

Example
Model 2:

plot_roc_curve(y, y_proba_2)
print(f'model 2 AUC score: {roc_auc_score(y, y_proba_2)}')

Result
model 2 AUC score: 0.8270551578947367

Run example »

An AUC score of around .5 would mean that the model is unable to make a distinction
between the two classes and the curve would look like a line with a slope of 1. An AUC
score closer to 1 means that the model has the ability to separate the two classes and
the curve would come closer to the top left corner of the graph.

Probabilities
Because AUC is a metric that utilizes probabilities of the class predictions, we can be
more confident in a model that has a higher AUC score than one with a lower score even
if they have similar accuracies.

In the data below, we have two sets of probabilites from hypothetical models. The first
has probabilities that are not as "confident" when predicting the two classes (the
probabilities are close to .5). The second has probabilities that are more "confident" when
predicting the two classes (the probabilities are close to the extremes of 0 or 1).

Example
import numpy as np

n = 10000
y = np.array([0] * n + [1] * n)
#
y_prob_1 = np.array(
np.random.uniform(.25, .5, n//2).tolist() +
np.random.uniform(.3, .7, n).tolist() +
np.random.uniform(.5, .75, n//2).tolist()
)
y_prob_2 = np.array(
np.random.uniform(0, .4, n//2).tolist() +
np.random.uniform(.3, .7, n).tolist() +
np.random.uniform(.6, 1, n//2).tolist()
)

print(f'model 1 accuracy score: {accuracy_score(y, y_prob_1>.5)}')

print(f'model 2 accuracy score: {accuracy_score(y, y_prob_2>.5)}')

print(f'model 1 AUC score: {roc_auc_score(y, y_prob_1)}')

print(f'model 2 AUC score: {roc_auc_score(y, y_prob_2)}')
Run example »

Example
Plot model 1:

plot_roc_curve(y, y_prob_1)

Result
Run example »

Example
Plot model 2:

fpr, tpr, thresholds = roc_curve(y, y_prob_2)

plt.plot(fpr, tpr)

Result

Run example »

Even though the accuracies for the two models are similar, the model with the higher
AUC score will be more reliable because it takes into account the predicted probability. It
is more likely to give you higher accuracy when predicting future data.

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Machine Learning - K-nearest
neighbors (KNN)
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digital training content to our students.

KNN
KNN is a simple, supervised machine learning (ML) algorithm that can be used for
classification or regression tasks - and is also frequently used in missing value
imputation. It is based on the idea that the observations closest to a given data point are
the most "similar" observations in a data set, and we can therefore classify unforeseen
points based on the values of the closest existing points. By choosing K, the user can
select the number of nearby observations to use in the algorithm.

Here, we will show you how to implement the KNN algorithm for classification, and show
how different values of K affect the results.

How does it work?

K is the number of nearest neighbors to use. For classification, a majority vote is used to
determined which class a new observation should fall into. Larger values of K are often
more robust to outliers and produce more stable decision boundaries than very small
values (K=3 would be better than K=1, which might produce undesirable results.

Example
Start by visualizing some data points:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = [4, 5, 10, 4, 3, 11, 14 , 8, 10, 12]

y = [21, 19, 24, 17, 16, 25, 24, 22, 21, 21]
classes = [0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1]

plt.scatter(x, y, c=classes)
plt.show()
Result

Run example »
Now we fit the KNN algorithm with K=1:

from sklearn.neighbors import KNeighborsClassifier

data = list(zip(x, y))

knn = KNeighborsClassifier(n_neighbors=1)

knn.fit(data, classes)

And use it to classify a new data point:

Example
new_x = 8
new_y = 21
new_point = [(new_x, new_y)]

prediction = knn.predict(new_point)

plt.scatter(x + [new_x], y + [new_y], c=classes + [prediction[0]])

plt.text(x=new_x-1.7, y=new_y-0.7, s=f"new point, class: {prediction[0]}")
plt.show()

Result
Run example »

Now we do the same thing, but with a higher K value which changes the prediction:

Example
knn = KNeighborsClassifier(n_neighbors=5)

knn.fit(data, classes)

prediction = knn.predict(new_point)

plt.scatter(x + [new_x], y + [new_y], c=classes + [prediction[0]])

plt.text(x=new_x-1.7, y=new_y-0.7, s=f"new point, class: {prediction[0]}")
plt.show()

Result
Run example »

Example Explained
Import the modules you need.

You can learn about the Matplotlib module in our "Matplotlib Tutorial.

scikit-learn is a popular library for machine learning in Python.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

from sklearn.neighbors import KNeighborsClassifier

Create arrays that resemble variables in a dataset. We have two input features (x and y)
and then a target class (class). The input features that are pre-labeled with our target
class will be used to predict the class of new data. Note that while we only use two input
features here, this method will work with any number of variables:

x = [4, 5, 10, 4, 3, 11, 14 , 8, 10, 12]

y = [21, 19, 24, 17, 16, 25, 24, 22, 21, 21]
classes = [0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1]

Turn the input features into a set of points:

data = list(zip(x, y))

print(data)
Result:
[(4, 21), (5, 19), (10, 24), (4, 17), (3, 16), (11, 25), (14, 24), (8, 22),
(10, 21), (12, 21)]

Using the input features and target class, we fit a KNN model on the model using 1
nearest neighbor:

knn = KNeighborsClassifier(n_neighbors=1)
knn.fit(data, classes)

Then, we can use the same KNN object to predict the class of new, unforeseen data
points. First we create new x and y features, and then call knn.predict() on the new
data point to get a class of 0 or 1:

new_x = 8
new_y = 21
new_point = [(new_x, new_y)]
prediction = knn.predict(new_point)
print(prediction)

Result:
[0]

When we plot all the data along with the new point and class, we can see it's been
labeled blue with the 1 class. The text annotation is just to highlight the location of the
new point:

plt.scatter(x + [new_x], y + [new_y], c=classes + [prediction[0]])

plt.text(x=new_x-1.7, y=new_y-0.7, s=f"new point, class: {prediction[0]}")
plt.show()

Result:
However, when we changes the number of neighbors to 5, the number of points used to
classify our new point changes. As a result, so does the classification of the new point:

knn = KNeighborsClassifier(n_neighbors=5)
knn.fit(data, classes)
prediction = knn.predict(new_point)
print(prediction)

Result:
[1]

When we plot the class of the new point along with the older points, we note that the
color has changed based on the associated class label:

plt.scatter(x + [new_x], y + [new_y], c=classes + [prediction[0]])

plt.text(x=new_x-1.7, y=new_y-0.7, s=f"new point, class: {prediction[0]}")
plt.show()

Result:
❮ PreviousNext ❯
Python MySQL
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python can be used in database applications.

One of the most popular databases is MySQL.

MySQL Database
To be able to experiment with the code examples in this tutorial, you should have MySQL
installed on your computer.

You can download a free MySQL database at https://www.mysql.com/downloads/.

Install MySQL Driver

Python needs a MySQL driver to access the MySQL database.

In this tutorial we will use the driver "MySQL Connector".

We recommend that you use PIP to install "MySQL Connector".

PIP is most likely already installed in your Python environment.

Navigate your command line to the location of PIP, and type the following:

Download and install "MySQL Connector":

C:\Users\Your Name\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\Scripts>python -m pip

install mysql-connector-python

Now you have downloaded and installed a MySQL driver.

Test MySQL Connector

To test if the installation was successful, or if you already have "MySQL Connector"
installed, create a Python page with the following content:
demo_mysql_test.py:

import mysql.connector
Run example »

If the above code was executed with no errors, "MySQL Connector" is installed and ready
to be used.

Create Connection
Start by creating a connection to the database.

Use the username and password from your MySQL database:

demo_mysql_connection.py:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword"
)

print(mydb)
Run example »

Now you can start querying the database using SQL statements.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python MySQL Create Database

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Creating a Database
To create a database in MySQL, use the "CREATE DATABASE" statement:
Example
create a database named "mydatabase":

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

mycursor.execute("CREATE DATABASE mydatabase")

Run example »

If the above code was executed with no errors, you have successfully created a database.

Check if Database Exists

You can check if a database exist by listing all databases in your system by using the
"SHOW DATABASES" statement:

Example
Return a list of your system's databases:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

mycursor.execute("SHOW DATABASES")

for x in mycursor:
print(x)
Run example »

Or you can try to access the database when making the connection:

Example
Try connecting to the database "mydatabase":
import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)
Run example »

If the database does not exist, you will get an error.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python MySQL Create Table

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Creating a Table
To create a table in MySQL, use the "CREATE TABLE" statement.

Make sure you define the name of the database when you create the connection

Example
Create a table named "customers":

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

mycursor.execute("CREATE TABLE customers (name VARCHAR(255), address

VARCHAR(255))")

Run example »
If the above code was executed with no errors, you have now successfully created a
table.

Check if Table Exists

You can check if a table exist by listing all tables in your database with the "SHOW
TABLES" statement:

Example
Return a list of your system's databases:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

mycursor.execute("SHOW TABLES")

for x in mycursor:
print(x)
Run example »

Primary Key
When creating a table, you should also create a column with a unique key for each
record.

This can be done by defining a PRIMARY KEY.

We use the statement "INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY" which will insert a unique
number for each record. Starting at 1, and increased by one for each record.

Example
Create primary key when creating the table:
import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

mycursor.execute("CREATE TABLE customers (id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY, name

VARCHAR(255), address VARCHAR(255))")
Run example »

If the table already exists, use the ALTER TABLE keyword:

Example
Create primary key on an existing table:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

mycursor.execute("ALTER TABLE customers ADD COLUMN id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY

KEY")
Run example »
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python MySQL Insert Into Table

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Insert Into Table

To fill a table in MySQL, use the "INSERT INTO" statement.

Example
Insert a record in the "customers" table:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

sql = "INSERT INTO customers (name, address) VALUES (%s, %s)"

val = ("John", "Highway 21")
mycursor.execute(sql, val)

mydb.commit()

print(mycursor.rowcount, "record inserted.")

Run example »

Important!: Notice the statement: mydb.commit(). It is required to make the changes,

otherwise no changes are made to the table.

Insert Multiple Rows

To insert multiple rows into a table, use the executemany() method.

The second parameter of the executemany() method is a list of tuples, containing the
data you want to insert:

Example
Fill the "customers" table with data:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

sql = "INSERT INTO customers (name, address) VALUES (%s, %s)"

val = [
('Peter', 'Lowstreet 4'),
('Amy', 'Apple st 652'),
 ('Hannah', 'Mountain 21'),
('Michael', 'Valley 345'),
('Sandy', 'Ocean blvd 2'),
('Betty', 'Green Grass 1'),
('Richard', 'Sky st 331'),
('Susan', 'One way 98'),
('Vicky', 'Yellow Garden 2'),
('Ben', 'Park Lane 38'),
('William', 'Central st 954'),
('Chuck', 'Main Road 989'),
('Viola', 'Sideway 1633')
]

mycursor.executemany(sql, val)

mydb.commit()

print(mycursor.rowcount, "was inserted.")

Run example »

Get Inserted ID
You can get the id of the row you just inserted by asking the cursor object.

Note: If you insert more than one row, the id of the last inserted row is returned.

Example
Insert one row, and return the ID:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

sql = "INSERT INTO customers (name, address) VALUES (%s, %s)"

val = ("Michelle", "Blue Village")
mycursor.execute(sql, val)

mydb.commit()

print("1 record inserted, ID:", mycursor.lastrowid)

Run example »

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python MySQL Select From

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Select From a Table

To select from a table in MySQL, use the "SELECT" statement:

Example
Select all records from the "customers" table, and display the result:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

mycursor.execute("SELECT * FROM customers")

myresult = mycursor.fetchall()

for x in myresult:
print(x)

Run example »

Note: We use the fetchall() method, which fetches all rows from the last executed
statement.

Selecting Columns
To select only some of the columns in a table, use the "SELECT" statement followed by
the column name(s):

Example
Select only the name and address columns:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

mycursor.execute("SELECT name, address FROM customers")

myresult = mycursor.fetchall()

for x in myresult:
print(x)
Run example »

Using the fetchone() Method

If you are only interested in one row, you can use the fetchone() method.

The fetchone() method will return the first row of the result:

Example
Fetch only one row:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

mycursor.execute("SELECT * FROM customers")

myresult = mycursor.fetchone()

print(myresult)
Run example »

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python MySQL Where

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Select With a Filter

When selecting records from a table, you can filter the selection by using the "WHERE"
statement:

Example
Select record(s) where the address is "Park Lane 38": result:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

sql = "SELECT * FROM customers WHERE address ='Park Lane 38'"

mycursor.execute(sql)

myresult = mycursor.fetchall()

for x in myresult:
print(x)

Run example »
Wildcard Characters
You can also select the records that starts, includes, or ends with a given letter or phrase.

Use the % to represent wildcard characters:

Example
Select records where the address contains the word "way":

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

sql = "SELECT * FROM customers WHERE address LIKE '%way%'"

mycursor.execute(sql)

myresult = mycursor.fetchall()

for x in myresult:
print(x)
Run example »

Prevent SQL Injection

When query values are provided by the user, you should escape the values.

This is to prevent SQL injections, which is a common web hacking technique to destroy or
misuse your database.

The mysql.connector module has methods to escape query values:

Example
Escape query values by using the placholder %s method:
import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

sql = "SELECT * FROM customers WHERE address = %s"

adr = ("Yellow Garden 2", )

mycursor.execute(sql, adr)

myresult = mycursor.fetchall()

for x in myresult:
print(x)
Run example »

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python MySQL Order By

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Sort the Result

Use the ORDER BY statement to sort the result in ascending or descending order.

The ORDER BY keyword sorts the result ascending by default. To sort the result in
descending order, use the DESC keyword.

Example
Sort the result alphabetically by name: result:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
 database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

sql = "SELECT * FROM customers ORDER BY name"

mycursor.execute(sql)

myresult = mycursor.fetchall()

for x in myresult:
print(x)

Run example »

ORDER BY DESC
Use the DESC keyword to sort the result in a descending order.

Example
Sort the result reverse alphabetically by name:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

sql = "SELECT * FROM customers ORDER BY name DESC"

mycursor.execute(sql)

myresult = mycursor.fetchall()

for x in myresult:
print(x)
Run example »

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Python MySQL Delete From By
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Delete Record
You can delete records from an existing table by using the "DELETE FROM" statement:

Example
Delete any record where the address is "Mountain 21":

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

sql = "DELETE FROM customers WHERE address = 'Mountain 21'"

mycursor.execute(sql)

mydb.commit()

print(mycursor.rowcount, "record(s) deleted")

Run example »

Important!: Notice the statement: mydb.commit(). It is required to make the changes,

otherwise no changes are made to the table.

Notice the WHERE clause in the DELETE syntax: The WHERE clause specifies which
record(s) that should be deleted. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be
deleted!

Prevent SQL Injection

It is considered a good practice to escape the values of any query, also in delete
statements.

This is to prevent SQL injections, which is a common web hacking technique to destroy or
misuse your database.

The mysql.connector module uses the placeholder %s to escape values in the delete
statement:

Example
Escape values by using the placeholder %s method:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

sql = "DELETE FROM customers WHERE address = %s"

adr = ("Yellow Garden 2", )

mycursor.execute(sql, adr)

mydb.commit()

print(mycursor.rowcount, "record(s) deleted")

Run example »

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python MySQL Drop Table

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Delete a Table
You can delete an existing table by using the "DROP TABLE" statement:
Example
Delete the table "customers":

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

sql = "DROP TABLE customers"

mycursor.execute(sql)
Run example »

Drop Only if Exist

If the table you want to delete is already deleted, or for any other reason does not exist,
you can use the IF EXISTS keyword to avoid getting an error.

Example
Delete the table "customers" if it exists:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

sql = "DROP TABLE IF EXISTS customers"

mycursor.execute(sql)
Run example »

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Python MySQL Update Table
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Update Table
You can update existing records in a table by using the "UPDATE" statement:

Example
Overwrite the address column from "Valley 345" to "Canyon 123":

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

sql = "UPDATE customers SET address = 'Canyon 123' WHERE address = 'Valley 345'"

mycursor.execute(sql)

mydb.commit()

print(mycursor.rowcount, "record(s) affected")

Run example »

Important!: Notice the statement: mydb.commit(). It is required to make the changes, otherwise no changes
are made to the table.

Notice the WHERE clause in the UPDATE syntax: The WHERE clause specifies which record or records that
should be updated. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be updated!

Prevent SQL Injection

It is considered a good practice to escape the values of any query, also in update statements.
This is to prevent SQL injections, which is a common web hacking technique to destroy or misuse your database.

The mysql.connector module uses the placeholder %s to escape values in the delete statement:

Example
Escape values by using the placeholder %s method:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

sql = "UPDATE customers SET address = %s WHERE address = %s"

val = ("Valley 345", "Canyon 123")

mycursor.execute(sql, val)

mydb.commit()

print(mycursor.rowcount, "record(s) affected")

Run example »

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python MySQL Limit

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Limit the Result

You can limit the number of records returned from the query, by using the "LIMIT"
statement:
Example
Select the 5 first records in the "customers" table:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

mycursor.execute("SELECT * FROM customers LIMIT 5")

myresult = mycursor.fetchall()

for x in myresult:
print(x)
Run example »

Start From Another Position

If you want to return five records, starting from the third record, you can use the
"OFFSET" keyword:

Example
Start from position 3, and return 5 records:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

mycursor.execute("SELECT * FROM customers LIMIT 5 OFFSET 2")

myresult = mycursor.fetchall()

for x in myresult:
print(x)
Run example »
 ❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python MySQL Join

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Join Two or More Tables

You can combine rows from two or more tables, based on a related column between
them, by using a JOIN statement.

Consider you have a "users" table and a "products" table:

users
{ id: 1, name: 'John', fav: 154},
{ id: 2, name: 'Peter', fav: 154},
{ id: 3, name: 'Amy', fav: 155},
{ id: 4, name: 'Hannah', fav:},
{ id: 5, name: 'Michael', fav:}

products
{ id: 154, name: 'Chocolate Heaven' },
{ id: 155, name: 'Tasty Lemons' },
{ id: 156, name: 'Vanilla Dreams' }

These two tables can be combined by using users' fav field and products' id field.

Example
Join users and products to see the name of the users favorite product:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
host="localhost",
user="yourusername",
password="yourpassword",
database="mydatabase"
)

mycursor = mydb.cursor()

sql = "SELECT \
 users.name AS user, \
products.name AS favorite \
FROM users \
INNER JOIN products ON users.fav = products.id"

mycursor.execute(sql)

myresult = mycursor.fetchall()

for x in myresult:
print(x)
Run example »

Note: You can use JOIN instead of INNER JOIN. They will both give you the same result.

LEFT JOIN
In the example above, Hannah, and Michael were excluded from the result, that is
because INNER JOIN only shows the records where there is a match.

If you want to show all users, even if they do not have a favorite product, use the LEFT
JOIN statement:

Example
Select all users and their favorite product:

sql = "SELECT \
users.name AS user, \
products.name AS favorite \
FROM users \
LEFT JOIN products ON users.fav = products.id"
Run example »

RIGHT JOIN
If you want to return all products, and the users who have them as their favorite, even if
no user have them as their favorite, use the RIGHT JOIN statement:

Example
Select all products, and the user(s) who have them as their favorite:
sql = "SELECT \
users.name AS user, \
products.name AS favorite \
FROM users \
RIGHT JOIN products ON users.fav = products.id"
Run example »

Note: Hannah and Michael, who have no favorite product, are not included in the result.

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Python MongoDB
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python can be used in database applications.

One of the most popular NoSQL database is MongoDB.

MongoDB
MongoDB stores data in JSON-like documents, which makes the database very flexible
and scalable.

To be able to experiment with the code examples in this tutorial, you will need access to
a MongoDB database.

You can download a free MongoDB database at https://www.mongodb.com.

Or get started right away with a MongoDB cloud service

at https://www.mongodb.com/cloud/atlas.

PyMongo
Python needs a MongoDB driver to access the MongoDB database.

In this tutorial we will use the MongoDB driver "PyMongo".

We recommend that you use PIP to install "PyMongo".

PIP is most likely already installed in your Python environment.

Navigate your command line to the location of PIP, and type the following:

Download and install "PyMongo":

C:\Users\Your Name\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\Scripts>python -m pip

install pymongo

Now you have downloaded and installed a mongoDB driver.

Test PyMongo
To test if the installation was successful, or if you already have "pymongo" installed,
create a Python page with the following content:

demo_mongodb_test.py:

import pymongo
Run example »

If the above code was executed with no errors, "pymongo" is installed and ready to be
used.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python MongoDB Create Database

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Creating a Database
To create a database in MongoDB, start by creating a MongoClient object, then specify a
connection URL with the correct ip address and the name of the database you want to
create.

MongoDB will create the database if it does not exist, and make a connection to it.

Example
Create a database called "mydatabase":

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")

mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]

Run example »

Important: In MongoDB, a database is not created until it gets content!

MongoDB waits until you have created a collection (table), with at least one document
(record) before it actually creates the database (and collection).

Check if Database Exists

Remember: In MongoDB, a database is not created until it gets content, so if this is your
first time creating a database, you should complete the next two chapters (create
collection and create document) before you check if the database exists!

You can check if a database exist by listing all databases in you system:

Example
Return a list of your system's databases:

print(myclient.list_database_names())

Run example »

Or you can check a specific database by name:

Example
Check if "mydatabase" exists:

dblist = myclient.list_database_names()
if "mydatabase" in dblist:
print("The database exists.")

Run example »

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python MongoDB Create

Collection
❮ PreviousNext ❯

A collection in MongoDB is the same as a table in SQL databases.

Creating a Collection
To create a collection in MongoDB, use database object and specify the name of the
collection you want to create.

MongoDB will create the collection if it does not exist.

Example
Create a collection called "customers":

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]

mycol = mydb["customers"]

Run example »

Important: In MongoDB, a collection is not created until it gets content!

MongoDB waits until you have inserted a document before it actually creates the
collection.

Check if Collection Exists

Remember: In MongoDB, a collection is not created until it gets content, so if this is
your first time creating a collection, you should complete the next chapter (create
document) before you check if the collection exists!

You can check if a collection exist in a database by listing all collections:

Example
Return a list of all collections in your database:

print(mydb.list_collection_names())

Run example »

Or you can check a specific collection by name:

Example
Check if the "customers" collection exists:

collist = mydb.list_collection_names()
if "customers" in collist:
 print("The collection exists.")

Run example »

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python MongoDB Insert Document

❮ PreviousNext ❯

A document in MongoDB is the same as a record in SQL databases.

Insert Into Collection

To insert a record, or document as it is called in MongoDB, into a collection, we use
the insert_one() method.

The first parameter of the insert_one() method is a dictionary containing the name(s) and
value(s) of each field in the document you want to insert.

Example
Insert a record in the "customers" collection:

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

mydict = { "name": "John", "address": "Highway 37" }

x = mycol.insert_one(mydict)

Run example »

Return the _id Field

The insert_one() method returns a InsertOneResult object, which has a
property, inserted_id, that holds the id of the inserted document.
Example
Insert another record in the "customers" collection, and return the value of the _id field:

mydict = { "name": "Peter", "address": "Lowstreet 27" }

x = mycol.insert_one(mydict)

print(x.inserted_id)
Run example »

If you do not specify an _id field, then MongoDB will add one for you and assign a unique
id for each document.

In the example above no _id field was specified, so MongoDB assigned a unique _id for
the record (document).

Insert Multiple Documents

To insert multiple documents into a collection in MongoDB, we use
the insert_many() method.

The first parameter of the insert_many() method is a list containing dictionaries with the
data you want to insert:

Example
import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

mylist = [
{ "name": "Amy", "address": "Apple st 652"},
{ "name": "Hannah", "address": "Mountain 21"},
{ "name": "Michael", "address": "Valley 345"},
{ "name": "Sandy", "address": "Ocean blvd 2"},
{ "name": "Betty", "address": "Green Grass 1"},
{ "name": "Richard", "address": "Sky st 331"},
{ "name": "Susan", "address": "One way 98"},
{ "name": "Vicky", "address": "Yellow Garden 2"},
{ "name": "Ben", "address": "Park Lane 38"},
{ "name": "William", "address": "Central st 954"},
{ "name": "Chuck", "address": "Main Road 989"},
{ "name": "Viola", "address": "Sideway 1633"}
]
x = mycol.insert_many(mylist)

#print list of the _id values of the inserted documents:

print(x.inserted_ids)
Run example »

The insert_many() method returns a InsertManyResult object, which has a

property, inserted_ids, that holds the ids of the inserted documents.

Insert Multiple Documents, with Specified IDs

If you do not want MongoDB to assign unique ids for you document, you can specify the
_id field when you insert the document(s).

Remember that the values has to be unique. Two documents cannot have the same _id.

Example
import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

mylist = [
{ "_id": 1, "name": "John", "address": "Highway 37"},
{ "_id": 2, "name": "Peter", "address": "Lowstreet 27"},
{ "_id": 3, "name": "Amy", "address": "Apple st 652"},
{ "_id": 4, "name": "Hannah", "address": "Mountain 21"},
{ "_id": 5, "name": "Michael", "address": "Valley 345"},
{ "_id": 6, "name": "Sandy", "address": "Ocean blvd 2"},
{ "_id": 7, "name": "Betty", "address": "Green Grass 1"},
{ "_id": 8, "name": "Richard", "address": "Sky st 331"},
{ "_id": 9, "name": "Susan", "address": "One way 98"},
{ "_id": 10, "name": "Vicky", "address": "Yellow Garden 2"},
{ "_id": 11, "name": "Ben", "address": "Park Lane 38"},
{ "_id": 12, "name": "William", "address": "Central st 954"},
{ "_id": 13, "name": "Chuck", "address": "Main Road 989"},
{ "_id": 14, "name": "Viola", "address": "Sideway 1633"}
]

x = mycol.insert_many(mylist)

#print list of the _id values of the inserted documents:

print(x.inserted_ids)
Run example »
 ❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python MongoDB Find

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In MongoDB we use the find and findOne methods to find data in a collection.

Just like the SELECT statement is used to find data in a table in a MySQL database.

Find One
To select data from a collection in MongoDB, we can use the find_one() method.

The find_one() method returns the first occurrence in the selection.

Example
Find the first document in the customers collection:

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

x = mycol.find_one()

print(x)
Run example »

Find All
To select data from a table in MongoDB, we can also use the find() method.

The find() method returns all occurrences in the selection.

The first parameter of the find() method is a query object. In this example we use an
empty query object, which selects all documents in the collection.

No parameters in the find() method gives you the same result as SELECT * in MySQL.

Example
Return all documents in the "customers" collection, and print each document:

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

for x in mycol.find():
print(x)
Run example »

Return Only Some Fields

The second parameter of the find() method is an object describing which fields to include
in the result.

This parameter is optional, and if omitted, all fields will be included in the result.

Example
Return only the names and addresses, not the _ids:

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

for x in mycol.find({},{ "_id": 0, "name": 1, "address": 1 }):

print(x)
Run example »

You are not allowed to specify both 0 and 1 values in the same object (except if one of
the fields is the _id field). If you specify a field with the value 0, all other fields get the
value 1, and vice versa:

Example
This example will exclude "address" from the result:

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]
for x in mycol.find({},{ "address": 0 }):
print(x)
Run example »

Example
You get an error if you specify both 0 and 1 values in the same object (except if one of
the fields is the _id field):

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

for x in mycol.find({},{ "name": 1, "address": 0 }):

print(x)

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Python MongoDB Query

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Filter the Result

When finding documents in a collection, you can filter the result by using a query object.

The first argument of the find() method is a query object, and is used to limit the search.

Example
Find document(s) with the address "Park Lane 38":

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

myquery = { "address": "Park Lane 38" }

mydoc = mycol.find(myquery)
for x in mydoc:
print(x)
Run example »

Advanced Query
To make advanced queries you can use modifiers as values in the query object.

E.g. to find the documents where the "address" field starts with the letter "S" or higher
(alphabetically), use the greater than modifier: {"$gt": "S"}:

Example
Find documents where the address starts with the letter "S" or higher:

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

myquery = { "address": { "$gt": "S" } }

mydoc = mycol.find(myquery)

for x in mydoc:
print(x)
Run example »

Filter With Regular Expressions

You can also use regular expressions as a modifier.

Regular expressions can only be used to query strings.

To find only the documents where the "address" field starts with the letter "S", use the
regular expression {"$regex": "^S"}:

Example
Find documents where the address starts with the letter "S":

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

myquery = { "address": { "$regex": "^S" } }

mydoc = mycol.find(myquery)

for x in mydoc:
print(x)
Run example »

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Python MongoDB Sort

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Sort the Result

Use the sort() method to sort the result in ascending or descending order.

The sort() method takes one parameter for "fieldname" and one parameter for "direction"
(ascending is the default direction).

Example
Sort the result alphabetically by name:

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

mydoc = mycol.find().sort("name")

for x in mydoc:
print(x)
Run example »
Sort Descending
Use the value -1 as the second parameter to sort descending.

sort("name", 1) #ascending
sort("name", -1) #descending

Example
Sort the result reverse alphabetically by name:

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

mydoc = mycol.find().sort("name", -1)

for x in mydoc:
print(x)
Run example »

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Python MongoDB Delete

Document
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Delete Document
To delete one document, we use the delete_one() method.

The first parameter of the delete_one() method is a query object defining which document
to delete.

Note: If the query finds more than one document, only the first occurrence is deleted.
Example
Delete the document with the address "Mountain 21":

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

myquery = { "address": "Mountain 21" }

mycol.delete_one(myquery)
Run example »

Delete Many Documents

To delete more than one document, use the delete_many() method.

The first parameter of the delete_many() method is a query object defining which
documents to delete.

Example
Delete all documents were the address starts with the letter S:

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

myquery = { "address": {"$regex": "^S"} }

x = mycol.delete_many(myquery)

print(x.deleted_count, " documents deleted.")

Run example »

Delete All Documents in a Collection

To delete all documents in a collection, pass an empty query object to
the delete_many() method:

Example
Delete all documents in the "customers" collection:
import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

x = mycol.delete_many({})

print(x.deleted_count, " documents deleted.")

Run example »

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Python MongoDB Drop Collection

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Delete Collection
You can delete a table, or collection as it is called in MongoDB, by using
the drop() method.

Example
Delete the "customers" collection:

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

mycol.drop()
Run example »

The drop() method returns true if the collection was dropped successfully, and false if the
collection does not exist.

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Python MongoDB Update
❮ PreviousNext ❯

Update Collection
You can update a record, or document as it is called in MongoDB, by using the update_one() method.

The first parameter of the update_one() method is a query object defining which document to update.

Note: If the query finds more than one record, only the first occurrence is updated.

The second parameter is an object defining the new values of the document.

Example
Change the address from "Valley 345" to "Canyon 123":

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

myquery = { "address": "Valley 345" }

newvalues = { "$set": { "address": "Canyon 123" } }

mycol.update_one(myquery, newvalues)

#print "customers" after the update:

for x in mycol.find():
print(x)
Run example »

Update Many
To update all documents that meets the criteria of the query, use the update_many() method.

Example
Update all documents where the address starts with the letter "S":

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

myquery = { "address": { "$regex": "^S" } }

newvalues = { "$set": { "name": "Minnie" } }

x = mycol.update_many(myquery, newvalues)

print(x.modified_count, "documents updated.")

Run example »

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python MongoDB Limit

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Limit the Result

To limit the result in MongoDB, we use the limit() method.

The limit() method takes one parameter, a number defining how many documents to
return.

Consider you have a "customers" collection:

Customers
{'_id': 1, 'name': 'John', 'address': 'Highway37'}
{'_id': 2, 'name': 'Peter', 'address': 'Lowstreet 27'}
{'_id': 3, 'name': 'Amy', 'address': 'Apple st 652'}
{'_id': 4, 'name': 'Hannah', 'address': 'Mountain 21'}
{'_id': 5, 'name': 'Michael', 'address': 'Valley 345'}
{'_id': 6, 'name': 'Sandy', 'address': 'Ocean blvd 2'}
{'_id': 7, 'name': 'Betty', 'address': 'Green Grass 1'}
{'_id': 8, 'name': 'Richard', 'address': 'Sky st 331'}
{'_id': 9, 'name': 'Susan', 'address': 'One way 98'}
{'_id': 10, 'name': 'Vicky', 'address': 'Yellow Garden 2'}
{'_id': 11, 'name': 'Ben', 'address': 'Park Lane 38'}
{'_id': 12, 'name': 'William', 'address': 'Central st 954'}
{'_id': 13, 'name': 'Chuck', 'address': 'Main Road 989'}
{'_id': 14, 'name': 'Viola', 'address': 'Sideway 1633'}
Example
Limit the result to only return 5 documents:

import pymongo

myclient = pymongo.MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
mydb = myclient["mydatabase"]
mycol = mydb["customers"]

myresult = mycol.find().limit(5)

#print the result:

for x in myresult:
print(x)
Run example »

❮ PreviousNext ❯
Python Reference
❮ PreviousNext ❯

This section contains a Python reference documentation.

Python Reference
Built-in Functions
String Methods
List Methods
Dictionary Methods
Tuple Methods
Set Methods
File Methods
Keywords
Exceptions
Glossary

Module Reference
Random Module
Requests Module
Math Module
CMath Module

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Python Built in Functions

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Python has a set of built-in functions.

Function Description

abs() Returns the absolute value of a number

all() Returns True if all items in an iterable object are

true

any() Returns True if any item in an iterable object is true

ascii() Returns a readable version of an object. Replaces

none-ascii characters with escape character

bin() Returns the binary version of a number

bool() Returns the boolean value of the specified object

bytearray() Returns an array of bytes

bytes() Returns a bytes object

callable() Returns True if the specified object is callable,

otherwise False

chr() Returns a character from the specified Unicode

code.

classmethod() Converts a method into a class method

compile() Returns the specified source as an object, ready to
be executed

complex() Returns a complex number

delattr() Deletes the specified attribute (property or method)

from the specified object

dict() Returns a dictionary (Array)

dir() Returns a list of the specified object's properties

and methods

divmod() Returns the quotient and the remainder when

argument1 is divided by argument2

enumerate() Takes a collection (e.g. a tuple) and returns it as an

enumerate object

eval() Evaluates and executes an expression

exec() Executes the specified code (or object)

filter() Use a filter function to exclude items in an iterable

object

float() Returns a floating point number

format() Formats a specified value

frozenset() Returns a frozenset object

getattr() Returns the value of the specified attribute

(property or method)

globals() Returns the current global symbol table as a

dictionary

hasattr() Returns True if the specified object has the

specified attribute (property/method)

hash() Returns the hash value of a specified object

help() Executes the built-in help system

hex() Converts a number into a hexadecimal value

id() Returns the id of an object

input() Allowing user input

int() Returns an integer number

isinstance() Returns True if a specified object is an instance of a

specified object

issubclass() Returns True if a specified class is a subclass of a

specified object
iter() Returns an iterator object

len() Returns the length of an object

list() Returns a list

locals() Returns an updated dictionary of the current local

symbol table

map() Returns the specified iterator with the specified

function applied to each item

max() Returns the largest item in an iterable

memoryview() Returns a memory view object

min() Returns the smallest item in an iterable

next() Returns the next item in an iterable

object() Returns a new object

oct() Converts a number into an octal

open() Opens a file and returns a file object

ord() Convert an integer representing the Unicode of the
specified character

pow() Returns the value of x to the power of y

print() Prints to the standard output device

property() Gets, sets, deletes a property

range() Returns a sequence of numbers, starting from 0

and increments by 1 (by default)

repr() Returns a readable version of an object

reversed() Returns a reversed iterator

round() Rounds a numbers

set() Returns a new set object

setattr() Sets an attribute (property/method) of an object

slice() Returns a slice object

sorted() Returns a sorted list

staticmethod() Converts a method into a static method

 str() Returns a string object

sum() Sums the items of an iterator

super() Returns an object that represents the parent class

tuple() Returns a tuple

type() Returns the type of an object

vars() Returns the __dict__ property of an object

zip() Returns an iterator, from two or more iterators

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Python String Methods

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Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on strings.

Note: All string methods returns new values. They do not change the original string.

Method Description
capitalize() Converts the first character to upper case

casefold() Converts string into lower case

center() Returns a centered string

count() Returns the number of times a specified value

occurs in a string

encode() Returns an encoded version of the string

endswith() Returns true if the string ends with the specified

value

expandtabs() Sets the tab size of the string

find() Searches the string for a specified value and returns

the position of where it was found

format() Formats specified values in a string

format_map() Formats specified values in a string

index() Searches the string for a specified value and returns

the position of where it was found

isalnum() Returns True if all characters in the string are

alphanumeric
isalpha() Returns True if all characters in the string are in the
alphabet

isascii() Returns True if all characters in the string are ascii

characters

isdecimal() Returns True if all characters in the string are

decimals

isdigit() Returns True if all characters in the string are digits

isidentifier() Returns True if the string is an identifier

islower() Returns True if all characters in the string are lower

case

isnumeric() Returns True if all characters in the string are

numeric

isprintable() Returns True if all characters in the string are

printable

isspace() Returns True if all characters in the string are

whitespaces

istitle() Returns True if the string follows the rules of a title

isupper() Returns True if all characters in the string are upper

case
join() Converts the elements of an iterable into a string

ljust() Returns a left justified version of the string

lower() Converts a string into lower case

lstrip() Returns a left trim version of the string

maketrans() Returns a translation table to be used in translations

partition() Returns a tuple where the string is parted into three

parts

replace() Returns a string where a specified value is replaced

with a specified value

rfind() Searches the string for a specified value and returns

the last position of where it was found

rindex() Searches the string for a specified value and returns

the last position of where it was found

rjust() Returns a right justified version of the string

rpartition() Returns a tuple where the string is parted into three

parts

rsplit() Splits the string at the specified separator, and

returns a list
 rstrip() Returns a right trim version of the string

split() Splits the string at the specified separator, and

returns a list

splitlines() Splits the string at line breaks and returns a list

startswith() Returns true if the string starts with the specified

value

strip() Returns a trimmed version of the string

swapcase() Swaps cases, lower case becomes upper case and

vice versa

title() Converts the first character of each word to upper

case

translate() Returns a translated string

upper() Converts a string into upper case

zfill() Fills the string with a specified number of 0 values

at the beginning

Note: All string methods returns new values. They do not change the original string.

Learn more about strings in our Python Strings Tutorial.

 ❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python List/Array Methods

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Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on lists/arrays.

Method Description

append() Adds an element at the end of the list

clear() Removes all the elements from the list

copy() Returns a copy of the list

count() Returns the number of elements with the specified value

extend() Add the elements of a list (or any iterable), to the end of
the current list

index() Returns the index of the first element with the specified
value

insert() Adds an element at the specified position

pop() Removes the element at the specified position

 remove() Removes the first item with the specified value

reverse() Reverses the order of the list

sort() Sorts the list

Note: Python does not have built-in support for Arrays, but Python Lists can be used
instead.

Learn more about lists in our Python Lists Tutorial.

Learn more about arrays in our Python Arrays Tutorial.

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Python Dictionary Methods

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Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on dictionaries.

Method Description

clear() Removes all the elements from the dictionary

copy() Returns a copy of the dictionary

fromkeys() Returns a dictionary with the specified keys and value

 get() Returns the value of the specified key

items() Returns a list containing a tuple for each key value

pair

keys() Returns a list containing the dictionary's keys

pop() Removes the element with the specified key

popitem() Removes the last inserted key-value pair

setdefault() Returns the value of the specified key. If the key does
not exist: insert the key, with the specified value

update() Updates the dictionary with the specified key-value

pairs

values() Returns a list of all the values in the dictionary

Learn more about dictionaries in our Python Dictionaries Tutorial.

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Python Tuple Methods
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Python has two built-in methods that you can use on tuples.

Method Description

count() Returns the number of times a specified value occurs

in a tuple

index() Searches the tuple for a specified value and returns the
position of where it was found

Learn more about tuples in our Python Tuples Tutorial.

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Python Set Methods

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Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on sets.

Method Description

add() Adds an element to the set

clear() Removes all the elements from the set

copy() Returns a copy of the set

difference() Returns a set containing the difference between

two or more sets

difference_update() Removes the items in this set that are also

included in another, specified set

discard() Remove the specified item

intersection() Returns a set, that is the intersection of two or

more sets

intersection_update() Removes the items in this set that are not present
in other, specified set(s)

isdisjoint() Returns whether two sets have a intersection or

not

issubset() Returns whether another set contains this set or

not

issuperset() Returns whether this set contains another set or

not

pop() Removes an element from the set

remove() Removes the specified element

 symmetric_difference() Returns a set with the symmetric differences of
two sets

symmetric_difference_update() inserts the symmetric differences from this set

and another

union() Return a set containing the union of sets

update() Update the set with another set, or any other

iterable

Learn more about sets in our Python Sets Tutorial.

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python File Methods

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Python has a set of methods available for the file object.

Method Description

close() Closes the file

detach() Returns the separated raw stream from the buffer

fileno() Returns a number that represents the stream, from the
operating system's perspective

flush() Flushes the internal buffer

isatty() Returns whether the file stream is interactive or not

read() Returns the file content

readable() Returns whether the file stream can be read or not

readline() Returns one line from the file

readlines() Returns a list of lines from the file

seek() Change the file position

seekable() Returns whether the file allows us to change the file

position

tell() Returns the current file position

truncate() Resizes the file to a specified size

writable() Returns whether the file can be written to or not

write() Writes the specified string to the file

 writelines() Writes a list of strings to the file

Learn more about the file object in our Python File Handling Tutorial.

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Python Keywords
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Python has a set of keywords that are reserved words that cannot be used as variable
names, function names, or any other identifiers:

Keyword Description

and A logical operator

as To create an alias

assert For debugging

break To break out of a loop

class To define a class

continue To continue to the next iteration of a loop

def To define a function

del To delete an object

elif Used in conditional statements, same as else if

else Used in conditional statements

except Used with exceptions, what to do when an

exception occurs

False Boolean value, result of comparison operations

finally Used with exceptions, a block of code that will be

executed no matter if there is an exception or not

for To create a for loop

from To import specific parts of a module

global To declare a global variable

if To make a conditional statement

import To import a module

in To check if a value is present in a list, tuple, etc.

is To test if two variables are equal

lambda To create an anonymous function

None Represents a null value

nonlocal To declare a non-local variable

not A logical operator

or A logical operator

pass A null statement, a statement that will do nothing

raise To raise an exception

return To exit a function and return a value

True Boolean value, result of comparison operations

try To make a try...except statement

while To create a while loop

 with Used to simplify exception handling

yield To end a function, returns a generator

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Python Built-in Exceptions

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Built-in Exceptions
The table below shows built-in exceptions that are usually raised in Python:

Exception Description

ArithmeticError Raised when an error occurs in numeric

calculations

AssertionError Raised when an assert statement fails

AttributeError Raised when attribute reference or

assignment fails

Exception Base class for all exceptions

EOFError Raised when the input() method hits an

"end of file" condition (EOF)

FloatingPointError Raised when a floating point calculation fails

GeneratorExit Raised when a generator is closed (with the

close() method)

ImportError Raised when an imported module does not

exist

IndentationError Raised when indendation is not correct

IndexError Raised when an index of a sequence does
not exist

KeyError Raised when a key does not exist in a

dictionary

KeyboardInterrupt Raised when the user presses Ctrl+c, Ctrl+z

or Delete

LookupError Raised when errors raised cant be found

MemoryError Raised when a program runs out of memory

NameError Raised when a variable does not exist

NotImplementedError Raised when an abstract method requires an

inherited class to override the method

OSError Raised when a system related operation

causes an error

OverflowError Raised when the result of a numeric

calculation is too large

ReferenceError Raised when a weak reference object does

not exist

RuntimeError Raised when an error occurs that do not

belong to any specific expections

StopIteration Raised when the next() method of an

iterator has no further values

SyntaxError Raised when a syntax error occurs

TabError Raised when indentation consists of tabs or

spaces

SystemError Raised when a system error occurs

SystemExit Raised when the sys.exit() function is called

TypeError Raised when two different types are

combined

UnboundLocalError Raised when a local variable is referenced

before assignment

UnicodeError Raised when a unicode problem occurs

UnicodeEncodeError Raised when a unicode encoding problem

occurs

UnicodeDecodeError Raised when a unicode decoding problem

occurs
 UnicodeTranslateError Raised when a unicode translation problem
occurs

ValueError Raised when there is a wrong value in a

specified data type

ZeroDivisionError Raised when the second operator in a

division is zero

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Python Glossary
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This is a list of all the features explained in the Python Tutorial.

Feature Description

Indentation Indentation refers to the spaces

at the beginning of a code line

Comments Comments are code lines that

will not be executed

Multi Line Comments How to insert comments on

multiple lines

Creating Variables Variables are containers for

storing data values

Variable Names How to name your variables

Assign Values to Multiple Variables How to assign values to
multiple variables

Output Variables Use the print statement to

output variables

String Concatenation How to combine strings

Global Variables Global variables are variables

that belongs to the global scope

Built-In Data Types Python has a set of built-in data

types

Getting Data Type How to get the data type of an

object

Setting Data Type How to set the data type of an

object

Numbers There are three numeric types

in Python

Int The integer number type

Float The floating number type

Complex The complex number type

Type Conversion How to convert from one
number type to another

Random Number How to create a random

number

Specify a Variable Type How to specify a certain data

type for a variable

String Literals How to create string literals

Assigning a String to a Variable How to assign a string value to

a variable

Multiline Strings How to create a multi line string

Strings are Arrays Strings in Python are arrays of

bytes representing Unicode
characters

Slicing a String How to slice a string

Negative Indexing on a String How to use negative indexing

when accessing a string

String Length How to get the length of a

string

Check In String How to check if a string

contains a specified phrase
Format String How to combine two strings

Escape Characters How to use escape characters

Boolean Values True or False

Evaluate Booleans Evaluate a value or statement

and return either True or False

Return Boolean Value Functions that return a Boolean

value

Operators Use operator to perform

operations in Python

Arithmetic Operators Arithmetic operator are used to

perform common mathematical
operations

Assignment Operators Assignment operators are use

to assign values to variables

Comparison Operators Comparison operators are used

to compare two values

Logical Operators Logical operators are used to

combine conditional statements

Identity Operators Identity operators are used to

see if two objects are in fact the
same object
Membership Operators Membership operators are used
to test is a sequence is present
in an object

Bitwise Operators Bitwise operators are used to

compare (binary) numbers

Lists A list is an ordered, and

changeable, collection

Access List Items How to access items in a list

Change List Item How to change the value of a

list item

Loop Through List Items How to loop through the items

in a list

List Comprehension How use a list comprehensive

Check if List Item Exists How to check if a specified item

is present in a list

List Length How to determine the length of

a list

Add List Items How to add items to a list

Remove List Items How to remove list items

Copy a List How to copy a list

Join Two Lists How to join two lists

Tuple A tuple is an ordered, and

unchangeable, collection

Access Tuple Items How to access items in a tuple

Change Tuple Item How to change the value of a

tuple item

Loop List Items How to loop through the items

in a tuple

Check if Tuple Item Exists How to check if a specified item

is present in a tuple

Tuple Length How to determine the length of

a tuple

Tuple With One Item How to create a tuple with only

one item

Remove Tuple Items How to remove tuple items

Join Two Tuples How to join two tuples

Set A set is an unordered, and
unchangeable, collection

Access Set Items How to access items in a set

Add Set Items How to add items to a set

Loop Set Items How to loop through the items

in a set

Check if Set Item Exists How to check if a item exists

Set Length How to determine the length of

a set

Remove Set Items How to remove set items

Join Two Sets How to join two sets

Dictionary A dictionary is an unordered,

and changeable, collection

Access Dictionary Items How to access items in a

dictionary

Change Dictionary Item How to change the value of a

dictionary item
Loop Dictionary Items How to loop through the items
in a tuple

Check if Dictionary Item Exists How to check if a specified item

is present in a dictionary

Dictionary Length How to determine the length of

a dictionary

Add Dictionary Item How to add an item to a

dictionary

Remove Dictionary Items How to remove dictionary items

Copy Dictionary How to copy a dictionary

Nested Dictionaries A dictionary within a dictionary

If Statement How to write an if statement

If Indentation If statemnts in Python relies on

indentation (whitespace at the
beginning of a line)

Elif elif is the same as "else if" in

other programming languages

Else How to write an if...else

statement
Shorthand If How to write an if statement in
one line

Shorthand If Else How to write an if...else

statement in one line

If AND Use the and keyword to

combine if statements

If OR Use the or keyword to combine

if statements

Nested If How to write an if statement

inside an if statement

The pass Keyword in If Use the pass keyword inside

empty if statements

While How to write a while loop

While Break How to break a while loop

While Continue How to stop the current

iteration and continue wit the
next

While Else How to use an else statement in

a while loop

For How to write a for loop

Loop Through a String How to loop through a string

For Break How to break a for loop

For Continue How to stop the current

iteration and continue wit the
next

Looping Through a rangee How to loop through a range of

values

For Else How to use an else statement in

a for loop

Nested Loops How to write a loop inside a

loop

For pass Use the pass keyword inside

empty for loops

Function How to create a function in

Python

Call a Function How to call a function in Python

Function Arguments How to use arguments in a

function

*args To deal with an unknown

number of arguments in a
 function, use the * symbol
before the parameter name

Keyword Arguments How to use keyword arguments

in a function

**kwargs To deal with an unknown

number of keyword arguments
in a function, use the * symbol
before the parameter name

Default Parameter Value How to use a default parameter

value

Passing a List as an Argument How to pass a list as an

argument

Function Return Value How to return a value from a

function

The pass Statement i Functions Use the pass statement in

empty functions

Function Recursion Functions that can call itself is

called recursive functions

Lambda Function How to create anonymous

functions in Python

Why Use Lambda Functions Learn when to use a lambda

function or not
Array Lists can be used as Arrays

What is an Array Arrays are variables that can

hold more than one value

Access Arrays How to access array items

Array Length How to get the length of an

array

Looping Array Elements How to loop through array

elements

Add Array Element How to add elements from an

array

Remove Array Element How to remove elements from

an array

Array Methods Python has a set of Array/Lists

methods

Class A class is like an object

constructor

Create Class How to create a class

The Class __init__() Function The __init__() function is

executed when the class is
initiated
Object Methods Methods in objects are
functions that belongs to the
object

self The self parameter refers to the

current instance of the class

Modify Object Properties How to modify properties of an

object

Delete Object Properties How to modify properties of an

object

Delete Object How to delete an object

Class pass Statement Use the pass statement in

empty classes

Create Parent Class How to create a parent class

Create Child Class How to create a child class

Create the __init__() Function How to create the __init__()

function

super Function The super() function make the

child class inherit the parent
class

Add Class Properties How to add a property to a

class
Add Class Methods How to add a method to a class

Iterators An iterator is an object that

contains a countable number of
values

Iterator vs Iterable What is the difference between

an iterator and an iterable

Loop Through an Iterator How to loop through the

elements of an iterator

Create an Iterator How to create an iterator

StopIteration How to stop an iterator

Global Scope When does a variable belong to

the global scope?

Global Keyword The global keyword makes the

variable global

Create a Module How to create a module

Variables in Modules How to use variables in a

module

Renaming a Module How to rename a module

Built-in Modules How to import built-in modules

Using the dir() Function List all variable names and

function names in a module

Import From Module How to import only parts from a

module

Datetime Module How to work with dates in

Python

Date Output How to output a date

Create a Date Object How to create a date object

The strftime Method How to format a date object

into a readable string

Date Format Codes The datetime module has a set

of legal format codes

JSON How to work with JSON in

Python

Parse JSON How to parse JSON code in

Python

Convert into JSON How to convert a Python object

in to JSON
Format JSON How to format JSON output
with indentations and line
breaks

Sort JSON How to sort JSON

RegEx Module How to import the regex

module

RegEx Functions The re module has a set of

functions

Metacharacters in RegEx Metacharacters are characters

with a special meaning

RegEx Special Sequences A backslash followed by a a

character has a special meaning

RegEx Sets A set is a set of characters

inside a pair of square brackets
with a special meaning

RegEx Match Object The Match Object is an object

containing information about
the search and the result

Install PIP How to install PIP

PIP Packages How to download and install a

package with PIP
 PIP Remove Package How to remove a package with
PIP

Error Handling How to handle errors in Python

Handle Many Exceptions How to handle more than one

exception

Try Else How to use the else keyword in

a try statement

Try Finally How to use the finally keyword

in a try statement

raise How to raise an exception in

Python

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Python Random Module

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Python has a built-in module that you can use to make random numbers.

The random module has a set of methods:

Method Description
seed() Initialize the random number generator

getstate() Returns the current internal state of the random number

generator

setstate() Restores the internal state of the random number generator

getrandbits() Returns a number representing the random bits

randrange() Returns a random number between the given range

randint() Returns a random number between the given range

choice() Returns a random element from the given sequence

choices() Returns a list with a random selection from the given sequence

shuffle() Takes a sequence and returns the sequence in a random order

sample() Returns a given sample of a sequence

random() Returns a random float number between 0 and 1

uniform() Returns a random float number between two given parameters

triangular() Returns a random float number between two given parameters,

you can also set a mode parameter to specify the midpoint
between the two other parameters
betavariate() Returns a random float number between 0 and 1 based on the
Beta distribution (used in statistics)

expovariate() Returns a random float number based on the Exponential

distribution (used in statistics)

gammavariate() Returns a random float number based on the Gamma

distribution (used in statistics)

gauss() Returns a random float number based on the Gaussian

distribution (used in probability theories)

lognormvariate() Returns a random float number based on a log-normal

distribution (used in probability theories)

normalvariate() Returns a random float number based on the normal

distribution (used in probability theories)

vonmisesvariate() Returns a random float number based on the von Mises

distribution (used in directional statistics)

paretovariate() Returns a random float number based on the Pareto

distribution (used in probability theories)

weibullvariate() Returns a random float number based on the Weibull

distribution (used in statistics)

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Python Requests Module
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Example
Make a request to a web page, and print the response text:

import requests

x = requests.get('https://w3schools.com/python/demopage.htm')

print(x.text)

Run Example »

Definition and Usage

The requests module allows you to send HTTP requests using Python.

The HTTP request returns a Response Object with all the response data (content,
encoding, status, etc).

Download and Install the Requests Module

Navigate your command line to the location of PIP, and type the following:

C:\Users\Your Name\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\Scripts>pip install

requests

Syntax
requests.methodname(params)

Methods
Method Description

delete(url, args) Sends a DELETE request to the

specified url

get(url, params, args) Sends a GET request to the

specified url

head(url, args) Sends a HEAD request to the

specified url

patch(url, data, args) Sends a PATCH request to the

specified url

post(url, data, json, args) Sends a POST request to the

specified url

put(url, data, args) Sends a PUT request to the

specified url

request(method, url, args) Sends a request of the specified

method to the specified url

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Python statistics Module
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Python statistics Module

Python has a built-in module that you can use to calculate mathematical statistics of
numeric data.

The statistics module was new in Python 3.4.

Statistics Methods
Method Description

statistics.harmonic_mean() Calculates the harmonic mean (central

location) of the given data

statistics.mean() Calculates the mean (average) of the

given data

statistics.median() Calculates the median (middle value)

of the given data

statistics.median_grouped() Calculates the median of grouped

continuous data

statistics.median_high() Calculates the high median of the

given data

statistics.median_low() Calculates the low median of the given

data

statistics.mode() Calculates the mode (central

tendency) of the given numeric or
nominal data

statistics.pstdev() Calculates the standard deviation from

an entire population

statistics.stdev() Calculates the standard deviation from

a sample of data

statistics.pvariance() Calculates the variance of an entire

population
 statistics.variance() Calculates the variance from a sample
of data

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Python math Module

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Python math Module

Python has a built-in module that you can use for mathematical tasks.

The math module has a set of methods and constants.

Math Methods
Method Description

math.acos() Returns the arc cosine of a number

math.acosh() Returns the inverse hyperbolic cosine of a

number

math.asin() Returns the arc sine of a number

math.asinh() Returns the inverse hyperbolic sine of a number

math.atan() Returns the arc tangent of a number in radians

math.atan2() Returns the arc tangent of y/x in radians

math.atanh() Returns the inverse hyperbolic tangent of a

number

math.ceil() Rounds a number up to the nearest integer

math.comb() Returns the number of ways to choose k items

from n items without repetition and order

math.copysign() Returns a float consisting of the value of the

first parameter and the sign of the second
parameter
math.cos() Returns the cosine of a number

math.cosh() Returns the hyperbolic cosine of a number

math.degrees() Converts an angle from radians to degrees

math.dist() Returns the Euclidean distance between two

points (p and q), where p and q are the
coordinates of that point

math.erf() Returns the error function of a number

math.erfc() Returns the complementary error function of a

number

math.exp() Returns E raised to the power of x

math.expm1() Returns Ex - 1

math.fabs() Returns the absolute value of a number

math.factorial() Returns the factorial of a number

math.floor() Rounds a number down to the nearest integer

math.fmod() Returns the remainder of x/y

math.frexp() Returns the mantissa and the exponent, of a

specified number

math.fsum() Returns the sum of all items in any iterable

(tuples, arrays, lists, etc.)

math.gamma() Returns the gamma function at x

math.gcd() Returns the greatest common divisor of two

integers

math.hypot() Returns the Euclidean norm

math.isclose() Checks whether two values are close to each

other, or not

math.isfinite() Checks whether a number is finite or not

math.isinf() Checks whether a number is infinite or not

math.isnan() Checks whether a value is NaN (not a number)

or not

math.isqrt() Rounds a square root number downwards to the

nearest integer

math.ldexp() Returns the inverse of math.frexp() which is x *

(2**i) of the given numbers x and i

math.lgamma() Returns the log gamma value of x

 math.log() Returns the natural logarithm of a number, or
the logarithm of number to base

math.log10() Returns the base-10 logarithm of x

math.log1p() Returns the natural logarithm of 1+x

math.log2() Returns the base-2 logarithm of x

math.perm() Returns the number of ways to choose k items

from n items with order and without repetition

math.pow() Returns the value of x to the power of y

math.prod() Returns the product of all the elements in an

iterable

math.radians() Converts a degree value into radians

math.remainder() Returns the closest value that can make

numerator completely divisible by the
denominator

math.sin() Returns the sine of a number

math.sinh() Returns the hyperbolic sine of a number

math.sqrt() Returns the square root of a number

math.tan() Returns the tangent of a number

math.tanh() Returns the hyperbolic tangent of a number

math.trunc() Returns the truncated integer parts of a number

Math Constants
Constant Description

math.e Returns Euler's number (2.7182...)

math.inf Returns a floating-point positive infinity

math.nan Returns a floating-point NaN (Not a Number)

value

math.pi Returns PI (3.1415...)

math.tau Returns tau (6.2831...)

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Python cmath Module
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Python cmath Module

Python has a built-in module that you can use for mathematical tasks for complex
numbers.

The methods in this module accepts int, float, and complex numbers. It even accepts
Python objects that has a __complex__() or __float__() method.

The methods in this module almost always return a complex number. If the return value
can be expressed as a real number, the return value has an imaginary part of 0.

The cmath module has a set of methods and constants.

cMath Methods
Method Description

cmath.acos(x) Returns the arc cosine value of x

cmath.acosh(x) Returns the hyperbolic arc cosine of x

cmath.asin(x) Returns the arc sine of x

cmath.asinh(x) Returns the hyperbolic arc sine of x

cmath.atan(x) Returns the arc tangent value of x

cmath.atanh(x) Returns the hyperbolic arctangent value of x

cmath.cos(x) Returns the cosine of x

cmath.cosh(x) Returns the hyperbolic cosine of x

cmath.exp(x) Returns the value of Ex, where E is Euler's

number (approximately 2.718281...), and x is
the number passed to it

cmath.isclose() Checks whether two values are close, or not

cmath.isfinite(x) Checks whether x is a finite number

cmath.isinf(x) Check whether x is a positive or negative infinty

 cmath.isnan(x) Checks whether x is NaN (not a number)

cmath.log(x[, Returns the logarithm of x to the base

base])

cmath.log10(x) Returns the base-10 logarithm of x

cmath.phase() Return the phase of a complex number

cmath.polar() Convert a complex number to polar coordinates

cmath.rect() Convert polar coordinates to rectangular form

cmath.sin(x) Returns the sine of x

cmath.sinh(x) Returns the hyperbolic sine of x

cmath.sqrt(x) Returns the square root of x

cmath.tan(x) Returns the tangent of x

cmath.tanh(x) Returns the hyperbolic tangent of x

cMath Constants
Constant Description

cmath.e Returns Euler's number (2.7182...)

cmath.inf Returns a floating-point positive infinity value

cmath.infj Returns a complex infinity value

cmath.nan Returns floating-point NaN (Not a Number)

value

cmath.nanj Returns coplext NaN (Not a Number) value

cmath.pi Returns PI (3.1415...)

cmath.tau Returns tau (6.2831...)

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How to Remove Duplicates From a
Python List
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Learn how to remove duplicates from a List in Python.

Example
Remove any duplicates from a List:

mylist = ["a", "b", "a", "c", "c"]

mylist = list(dict.fromkeys(mylist))
print(mylist)
Try it Yourself »

Example Explained
First we have a List that contains duplicates:

A List with Duplicates

mylist = ["a", "b", "a", "c", "c"]
mylist = list(dict.fromkeys(mylist))
print(mylist)

Create a dictionary, using the List items as keys. This will automatically remove any
duplicates because dictionaries cannot have duplicate keys.

Create a Dictionary
mylist = ["a", "b", "a", "c", "c"]
mylist = list( dict.fromkeys(mylist) )
print(mylist)

Then, convert the dictionary back into a list:

Convert Into a List

mylist = ["a", "b", "a", "c", "c"]
mylist = list( dict.fromkeys(mylist) )
print(mylist)

Now we have a List without any duplicates, and it has the same order as the original List.
Print the List to demonstrate the result

Print the List

mylist = ["a", "b", "a", "c", "c"]
mylist = list(dict.fromkeys(mylist))
print(mylist)

Create a Function
If you like to have a function where you can send your lists, and get them back without
duplicates, you can create a function and insert the code from the example above.

Example
def my_function(x):
return list(dict.fromkeys(x))

mylist = my_function(["a", "b", "a", "c", "c"])

print(mylist)
Try it Yourself »

Example Explained
Create a function that takes a List as an argument.

Create a Function
def my_function(x):
return list(dict.fromkeys(x))

mylist = my_function(["a", "b", "a", "c", "c"])

print(mylist)

Create a dictionary, using this List items as keys.

Create a Dictionary
def my_function(x):
return list( dict.fromkeys(x) )

mylist = my_function(["a", "b", "a", "c", "c"])

print(mylist)
Convert the dictionary into a list.

Convert Into a List

def my_function(x):
return list( dict.fromkeys(x) )

mylist = my_function(["a", "b", "a", "c", "c"])

print(mylist)

Return the list

Return List
def my_function(x):
return list(dict.fromkeys(x))

mylist = my_function(["a", "b", "a", "c", "c"])

print(mylist)

Call the function, with a list as a parameter:

Call the Function

def my_function(x):
return list(dict.fromkeys(x))

mylist = my_function(["a", "b", "a", "c", "c"])

print(mylist)

Print the result:

Print the Result

def my_function(x):
return list(dict.fromkeys(x))

mylist = my_function(["a", "b", "a", "c", "c"])

print(mylist)

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How to Reverse a String in Python
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Learn how to reverse a String in Python.

There is no built-in function to reverse a String in Python.

The fastest (and easiest?) way is to use a slice that steps backwards, -1.

Example
Reverse the string "Hello World":

txt = "Hello World"[::-1]

print(txt)
Try it Yourself »

Example Explained
We have a string, "Hello World", which we want to reverse:

The String to Reverse

txt = "Hello World" [::-1]
print(txt)

Create a slice that starts at the end of the string, and moves backwards.

In this particular example, the slice statement [::-1] means start at the end of the string
and end at position 0, move with the step -1, negative one, which means one step
backwards.

Slice the String

txt = "Hello World" [::-1]
print(txt)

Now we have a string txt that reads "Hello World" backwards.

Print the String to demonstrate the result

Print the List

txt = "Hello World"[::-1]
print(txt)

Create a Function
If you like to have a function where you can send your strings, and return them
backwards, you can create a function and insert the code from the example above.

Example
def my_function(x):
return x[::-1]

mytxt = my_function("I wonder how this text looks like backwards")

print(mytxt)
Try it Yourself »

Example Explained
Create a function that takes a String as an argument.

Create a Function
def my_function(x):
return x[::-1]

mytxt = my_function("I wonder how this text looks like backwards")

print(mytxt)

Slice the string starting at the end of the string and move backwards.

Slice the String

def my_function(x):
return x [::-1]

mytxt = my_function("I wonder how this text looks like backwards")

print(mytxt)

Return the backward String

Return the String

def my_function(x):
return x[::-1]

mytxt = my_function("I wonder how this text looks like backwards")

print(mytxt )

Call the function, with a string as a parameter:

Call the Function

def my_function(x):
return x[::-1]

mytxt = my_function("I wonder how this text looks like backwards")

print(mytxt)

Print the result:

Print the Result

def my_function(x):
return x[::-1]

mytxt = my_function("I wonder how this text looks like backwards")

print(mytxt)

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How to Add Two Numbers in

Python
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Learn how to add two numbers in Python.

Use the + operator to add two numbers:

Example
x = 5
y = 10
print(x + y)
Try it Yourself »

Add Two Numbers with User Input

In this example, the user must input two numbers. Then we print the sum by calculating
(adding) the two numbers:

Example
x = input("Type a number: ")
y = input("Type another number: ")

sum = int(x) + int(y)

print("The sum is: ", sum)

Try it Yourself »

❮ PreviousNext ❯

Python Examples
Goto this link
https://www.w3schools.com/python/python_examples.asp

list of programs available in this link are