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-orientated way or a
functional way.

Good to know
• The most recent major version of Python is Python 3. However, Python 2,
although not being updated with anything other than security updates, is
still quite popular.
 • 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.

Comments:
# This is a single line comment

’’’ This is a multi

Line comment’’’

Print:
print (“Hello world!”)

print (“Hello world # how are you”) # here is ignored because it is used as a
string

print (10 * ‘Shyam’)

print (“shyam’s laptop”)

print(‘shyam\’s “laptop” ’)
print(‘c:\docs\naive’)

print(r‘c:\docs\naive’) #r means raw string

Math:
print ("Hens", 25 + 30 / 6)

print ("Roosters", 100 - 25 * 3 % 4) % = modulo. “X divided by Y with J

remaining.” For example, “100 divided by 16 with 4 remaining.” The result of %
is the J part, or the remaining part.

print (3 + 2 + 1 - 5 + 4 % 2 - 1 / 4 + 6)
print ("Is it true that 3 + 2 < 5 - 7?")

print (3 + 2 < 5 - 7)
print ("What is 3 + 2?", 3 + 2)

print ("What is 5 - 7?", 5 - 7)

print ("Is it greater?", 5 > - 2)

print ("Is it greater or equal?", 5 >= - 2)

print ("Is it less or equal?", 5 <= -2)

PEMDAS, which stands for Parentheses Exponents Multiplication Division

Addition Subtraction. That’s the order Python follows as well.

How to round a floating point number?

You can use the round() function like this: round(1.7333).

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

Python Casting
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 rounding down to the previous whole number), 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

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

Strings:

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

y = str(2) # y will be '2'
z = str(3.0) # z will be '3.0'

Variables and 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.

cars = 100
space_in_a_car = 4.0

drivers = 30

passengers = 90

cars_not_driven = cars -drivers

cars_driven = drivers

carpool_capacity = cars_driven * space_in_a_car

average_passengers_per_car = passengers / cars_driven

print ("There are", cars, "cars available.")

print ("There are only", drivers, "drivers available.")
print ("There will be", cars_not_driven, "empty cars today.")
print ("We can transport", carpool_capacity, "people today.")

print ("We have", passengers, "to carpool today.")

print ("We need to put about", average_passengers_per_car, "in each car.")

x=6
y=5

x + 10

_+y #_ represents output of previous number

More variables and printing:

What does %s, %r, and %d do?

They are “formatters.” They tell Python to take the variable on the right and
put it in to replace the %s with its value.

%s - String (or any object with a string representation, like numbers)

%d - Integers

%f - Floating point numbers

%.<number of digits>f - Floating point numbers with a fixed amount of digits to

the right of the dot.

%x/%X - Integers in hex representation (lowercase/uppercase)

%r - is the Python “representation” for the object, a string which, if presented

to a Python interpreter should be parsed as a literal or as an instantiation of a
new object of that time and with the same value.

my_name = 'Zed A. Shaw'

my_age = 35 # not a lie

my_height = 74 # inches
my_weight = 180 # lbs
my_eyes = 'Blue'
my_teeth = 'White'

my_hair = 'Brown'
print ("Let's talk about %s." % my_name)
print ("Let's talk about %s.", my_name)

print ("He's %d inches tall." % my_height)

print ("He's %d pounds heavy." % my_weight)

print ("Actually that's not too heavy.")

print ("He's got %s eyes and %s hair." % (my_eyes, my_hair))

print ("His teeth are usually %s depending on the coffee." % my_teeth)

# this line is tricky, try to get it exactly right

print ("If I add %d, %d, and %d I get %d." % (

my_age, my_height, my_weight, my_age + my_height + my_weight))

What is the difference between %r and %s?

We use %r for debugging, since it displays the “raw” data of the variable, but
we use %s and others for displaying to users.

What’s the point of %s and %d when you can just use %r?

The %r is best for debugging, and the other formats are for actually displaying
variables to users.

The %s specifier converts the object using str() and %r converts it using repr()
(representation).
For some objects such as integers, they yield the same result, but repr() is
special in that (for types where this is possible) it conventionally returns a result
that is valid Python syntax, which could be used to unambiguously recreate the
object it represents.
Here's an example, using a date:

>>> import datetime

>>> d = datetime.date.today()
>>> str(d)
'2011-05-14'
>>> repr(d)
'datetime.date(2011, 5, 14)'

Use the %r for debugging, since it displays the "raw" data of the variable, but
the others are used for displaying to users.

That's how %r formatting works; it prints it the way you wrote it (or close to it).
It's the "raw" format for debugging. Here \n used to display to users doesn't
work. %r shows the representation if the raw data of the variable.

months = "\nJan\nFeb\nMar\nApr\nMay\nJun\nJul\nAug"

print "Here are the months: %r" % months

Output:

Here are the months: '\nJan\nFeb\nMar\nApr\nMay\nJun\nJul\nAug'

Strings and text:

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

'hello' is the same as "hello".

Strings can be output to screen using the print function. For

example: print("hello").

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])

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

b = "Hello, World!"
print(b[2:5])

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

a = " Hello, World! "

print(a.strip()) # returns "Hello, World!"

a = "Hello, World!"
print(len(a))

The lower() method returns the string in lower case:

a = "Hello, World!"
print(a.lower())

The upper() method returns the string in upper case:

a = "Hello, World!"
print(a.upper())

The replace() method replaces a string with another string:

a = "Hello, World!"
print(a.replace("H", "J"))

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

a = "Hello, World!"
print(a.split(",")) # returns ['Hello', ' World!']
x = "There are %d types of people." % 10

binary = "binary"
do_not = "don't"
y = "Those who know %s and those who %s." % (binary, do_not)

print (x)
print (y)

print ("I said: %r." % x)

print ("I also said: '%s'." % y)

hilarious = False

joke_evaluation = "Isn't that joke so funny?! %r"

print (joke_evaluation % hilarious)

w = "This is the left side of..."

e = "a string with a right side."

print (w + e)

More printing:

formatter = "%r %r %r %r"

print (formatter % (1, 2, 3, 4))

print (formatter % ("one", "two", "three", "four"))

print (formatter % (True, False, False, True))
print (formatter % (formatter, formatter, formatter, formatter))

print (formatter % (
"I had this thing.",

"That you could type up right.",

"But it didn't sing.",

"So I said goodnight."))
Why do I have to put quotes around “one” but not around True or
False?

That’s because Python recognizes True and False as keywords representing the
concept of true and false. If you put quotes around them, then they are turned
into strings and won’t work right

I tried putting Chinese (or some other non- ASCII characters) into
these strings, but %r prints out weird symbols.

Use %s to print that instead and it’ll work.

Why does %r sometimes print things with single- quotes when I wrote
them with double- quotes?

Python is going to print the strings in the most efficient way it can, not replicate
exactly the way you wrote them. This is perfectly fi ne since %r is used for
debugging and inspection, so it’s not necessary that it be pretty
More printing:

days = "Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun"

months = "Jan\nFeb\nMar\nApr\nMay\nJun\nJul\nAug"

print( "Here are the days: ", days)

print( "Here are the months: ", months)

print( """
There's something going on here.

With the three double- quotes.

We'll be able to type as much as we like.

Even 4 lines if we want, or 5, or 6.

""")

Why do the \n newlines not work when I use %r?

That’s how %r formatting works; it prints it the way you wrote it (or close to
it). It’s the “raw” format for debugging.

Why do I get an error when I put spaces between the three double-
quotes?
You have to type them like """ and not " " ", meaning with no spaces between
each one.

Escape sequences:

This use of the \ (backslash) character is a way we can put difficult- to- type
characters into a string.

There are plenty of these “escape sequences” available for different characters
you might want to

put in, but there’s a special one, the double backslash, which is just two of them
\. These two

characters will print just one backslash.

Another important escape sequence is to escape a single- quote ' or double-

quote ". Imagine you have a string that uses double- quotes and you want to
put a double- quote in for the output.

If you do this "I "understand" joe." then Python will get confused since it will
think the " around "understand" actually ends the string. You need a way to tell
Python that the " inside the string isn’t a real double- quote.

To solve this problem, you escape double- quotes and single- quotes so Python
knows what to include in the string. Here’s an example:

"I am 6'2\" tall." # escape double- quote inside string

'I am 6\'2" tall.' # escape single- quote inside string

The second way is by using triple- quotes, which is just """ and works like a
string, but you also can put as many lines of text as you want until you type """
again.

tabby_cat = "\tI'm tabbed in."

persian_cat = "I'm split\n on a line."

backslash_cat = "I'm \\ a \\ cat."

fat_cat = """
I'll do a list:
\t* Cat food

\t* Fishies
\t* Catnip\n\t* Grass
"""

print (tabby_cat)
print (persian_cat)
print (backslash_cat)

print (fat_cat)

This is the list of all the escape sequences Python supports. You may not use
many of these, but

memorize their format and what they do anyway. Also try them out in some
strings to see if you

can make them work.

Escape What it does.

\\ Backslash (\)

\' Single- quote (')

\" Double- quote (")

\a ASCII bell (BEL)

\b ASCII backspace (BS)

\f ASCII form feed (FF)

\n ASCII linefeed (LF)

\N{name} Character named name in the Unicode database

(Unicode only)

\r ASCII carriage return (CR)

\t ASCII horizontal tab (TAB)

\uxxxx Character with 16- bit hex value xxxx (Unicode only)

\Uxxxxxxxx Character with 32- bit hex value xxxxxxxx (Unicode only)
\v ASCII vertical tab (VT)

\ooo Character with octal value oo

\xhh Character with hex value hh
What happens when we execute following code:

while True:
for i in ["/","- ","|","\\","|"]:
print ("%s\r" % i,)

When I write // or /n it doesn’t work.

That’s because you are using a forward- slash / and not a backslash \. They are
different characters that do very different things.

When I use a %r format none of the escape sequences work.

That’s because %r is printing out the raw representation of what you typed,
which is going to include the original escape sequences. Use %s instead. Always
remember this: %r is for debugging; %s is for displaying.

Taking input from user

print ("How old are you?")

age = input()

print ("How tall are you?")

height = input()

print ("How much do you weigh?")

weight = input()

print ("So, you're %r old, %r tall and %r heavy." % (age, height, weight) )

We can also take input to prompt user like:

age = input("How old are you? ")

height = input("How tall are you? ")

weight = input("How much do you weigh? ")

print ("So, you're %r old, %r tall and %r heavy." % (age, height, weight))
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 and unindexed. No duplicate
members.
• Dictionary is a collection which is unordered, changeable and indexed.
No duplicate members.

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.

List
A list is a collection which is ordered and changeable. In Python lists are written
with square brackets.

Example
Create a List:

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

print(thislist)

Access Items
You access the list items by referring to the index number:

Example
Print the second item of the list:

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

print(thislist[1])
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)

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)

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")
List Length
To determine how many items a list has, use the len() method:

Example
Print the number of items in the list:

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

print(len(thislist))

Add 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)

To add an item at the specified index, use the insert() method:

Example
Insert an item as the second position:

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

thislist.insert(1, "orange")
print(thislist)

Remove Item
There are several methods to remove items from a list:
Example
The remove() method removes the specified item:

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

thislist.remove("banana")
print(thislist)

Example
The pop() method removes the specified index, (or the last item if index is not
specified):

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

thislist.pop()
print(thislist)

Example
The del keyword removes the specified index:

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

del thislist[0]
print(thislist)

Example
The del keyword can also delete the list completely:

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

del thislist

Example
The clear() method empties the list:

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

thislist.clear()
print(thislist)
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)

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)

The list() Constructor

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

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

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

brackets
print(thislist)
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

Tuple
A tuple is a collection which is ordered and unchangeable. In Python tuples are
written with round brackets.

Example
Create a Tuple:

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

print(thistuple)

Access Tuple Items

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

Example
Return the item in position 1:

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

print(thistuple[1])
Change Tuple Values
Once a tuple is created, you cannot change its values. Tuples
are unchangeable.

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)

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")

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

Example
Print the number of items in the tuple:

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

print(len(thistuple))

Add Items
Once a tuple is created, you cannot add items to it. Tuples are unchangeable.

Example
You cannot add items to a tuple:

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

thistuple[3] = "orange" # This will raise an error
print(thistuple)

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

Tuples are unchangeable, so you cannot remove items from it, but 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

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)

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

Set
A set is a collection which is unordered and unindexed. In Python sets are
written with curly brackets.

Example
Create a Set:

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

print(thisset)

Note: Sets are unordered, so the items will appear in a random order.
Access Items
You cannot access items in a set by referring to an index, since sets are
unordered the items has no index.

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 inkeyword.

Example
Loop through the set, and print the values:

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

for x in thisset:
print(x)

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

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

print("banana" in thisset)

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

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

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

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

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

thisset.add("orange")

print(thisset)

Example
Add multiple items to a set, using the update() method:

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

thisset.update(["orange", "mango", "grapes"])

print(thisset)

Get the Length of a Set

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

Example
Get the number of items in a set:

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

print(len(thisset))

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)

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)

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

Example
The clear() method empties the set:

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

thisset.clear()

print(thisset)

Example
The del keyword will delete the set completely:

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

del thisset

print(thisset)

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)

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

Dictionary
A dictionary is a collection which is unordered, changeable and indexed. In
Python dictionaries are written with curly brackets, and they have keys and
values.
Example
Create and print a dictionary:

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

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:

x = thisdict["model"]

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")

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

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 valuesas well.

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

for x in thisdict:
print(x)

Example
Print all values in the dictionary, one by one:

for x in thisdict:
print(thisdict[x])

Example
You can also use the values() function to return values of a dictionary:

for x in thisdict.values():
print(x)

Example
Loop through both keys and values, by using the items() function:
for x, y in thisdict.items():
print(x, y)

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")

Dictionary Length
To determine how many items (key-value pairs) a dictionary has, use
the len() method.

Example
Print the number of items in the dictionary:

print(len(thisdict))

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)

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)

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)

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

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

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.

Example
The clear() keyword empties the dictionary:

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

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)

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

Example
Make a copy of a dictionary with the dict() method:

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

The dict() Constructor

It is also possible to use the dict() constructor to make a new dictionary:

Example
thisdict = dict(brand="Ford", model="Mustang", year=1964)
# note that keywords are not string literals
# note the use of equals rather than colon for the assignment
print(thisdict)
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 values

get() Returns the value of the specified key

items() Returns a list containing the 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

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")

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, using whitespace, 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

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")

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")

In this example a is greater to b, so the first condition is not true, also

the elif condition is not true, so we go to the elsecondition 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")

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")

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:

print("A") if a > b else print("B")

You can also have multiple else statements on the same line:

Example
One line if else statement, with 3 conditions:

print("A") if a > b else print("=") if a == b else print("B")

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:

if a > b and c > a:

print("Both conditions are True")

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:

if a > b or a > c:
print("At least one of the conditions is True")
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

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

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)

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)

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)

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

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
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)

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)

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)

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)

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!")

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)

Python Functions
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()
Parameters
Information can be passed to functions as parameter.

Parameters are specified after the function name, inside the parentheses. You
can add as many parameters as you want, just separate them with a comma.

The following example has a function with one parameter (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")

Default Parameter Value

The following example shows how to use a default parameter value.

If we call the function without parameter, 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")
Passing a List as a Parameter
You can send any data types of parameter 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 a parameter, 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)

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))

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)

Python Lambda

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
A lambda function that adds 10 to the number passed in as an argument, and
print the result:

x = lambda a : a + 10
print(x(5))

Lambda functions can take any number of arguments:

Example
A lambda function that multiplies argument a with argument b and print the
result:

x = lambda a, b : a * b
print(x(5, 6))

Example
A lambda function that sums argument a, b, and c and print the result:

x = lambda a, b, c : a + b + c
print(x(5, 6, 2))

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))

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))

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))

Use lambda functions when an anonymous function is required for a short

period of time.
Arrays
Arrays are used to store multiple values in one single variable:

Example
Create an array containing car names:

cars = ["Ford", "Volvo", "BMW"]

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.

They can be useful when we have to manipulate only a specific data type
values.

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]
Example
Modify the value of the first array item:

cars[0] = "Toyota"

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)

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)

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")

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)

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")

Note: The 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

Other way to use Arrays

from array import *

Vals = array(‘i’, [3,4,5,6,9])

print(Vals)

Operations on Array:

1. array (data type, value list): - This function is used to create an array
with data type and value list specified in its arguments. Some of the data types
are mentioned in the table below.

TYPE CODE C TYPE PYTHON TYPE MINIMUM SIZE IN BYTES

‘b’ signed char int 1

‘B’ unsigned char int 1

‘u’ Py_UNICODE unicode character 2

‘h’ signed short int 2

‘H’ unsigned short int 2

‘i’ signed int int 2

‘I’ unsigned int int 2

‘l’ signed long int 4

 TYPE CODE C TYPE PYTHON TYPE MINIMUM SIZE IN BYTES

‘L’ unsigned long int 4

‘q’ signed long int 8

‘Q’ unsigned long int 8

‘f’ Float float 4

‘d’ Double float 8

2. append() :- This function is used to add the value mentioned in its

arguments at the end of the array.

3. insert(i,x): - This function is used to add the value at the

position specified in its argument.

4. pop(): - This function removes the element at the position mentioned in

its argument, and returns it.

5. remove(): - This function is used to remove the first occurrence of the

value mentioned in its arguments.

6. index() :- This function returns the index of the first occurrence of value
mentioned in arguments.

7. reverse() :- This function reverses the array.

8. Copying an array

from array import *

vals = array (‘i’, [3,4,5,6,9])

newArrr = array (vals.typecode, (a for a in vals) )

for e in newArr:

print(e)
Suppose we want to get the square of original numbers of vals

from array import *

vals = array (‘i’, [3,4,5,6,9])
newArrr = array (vals.typecode, (a*a for a in vals) )

for e in newArr:
print(e)

Ex: Array values from user

from array import *

arr = array ('i', [])

n = int (input ("Enter the length of the array"))

for i in range(n):

x = int (input ("Enter next value"))

arr.append (x)

print(arr)

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

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)

Dunder or magic methods in Python

Dunder or magic methods in Python are the methods having two prefix and
suffix underscores in the method name. Dunder here means “Double Under
(Underscores)”. These are commonly used for operator overloading. Few
examples for magic methods are: __init__, __add__, __len__, __repr__ etc.
The __init__ method for initialization is invoked without any call, when an
instance of a class is created, like constructors in certain other programming
languages such as C++, Java, C#, PHP etc. These methods are the reason we
can add two strings with ‘+’ operator without any explicit typecasting.
Here’s a simple implementation :
# declare our own string class

class String:

# magic method to initiate object

def __init__(self, string):

self.string = string

# Driver Code

if __name__ == '__main__':

# object creation

string1 = String('Hello')

# print object location

print(string1)

Output :
<__main__.String object at 0x7fe992215390>

The above snippet of code prints only the memory address of the string object.
Let’s add a __repr__ method to represent our object.

# declare our own string class

class String:

# magic method to initiate object

def __init__(self, string):
self.string = string
 # print our string object

def __repr__(self):
return 'Object: {}'.format(self.string)

# Driver Code
if __name__ == '__main__':

# object creation

string1 = String('Hello')

# print object location

print(string1)

Output :
Object: Hello

If we try to add a string to it :

# declare our own string class

class String:

# magic method to initiate object

def __init__(self, string):

self.string = string

# print our string object

def __repr__(self):
return 'Object: {}'.format(self.string)
# Driver Code
if __name__ == '__main__':

# object creation
string1 = String('Hello')

# concatenate String object and a string

print(string1 +' world')

Output :
TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +: 'String' and 'str'

Now add __add__ method to String class :

# declare our own string class

class String:

# magic method to initiate object

def __init__(self, string):

self.string = string

# print our string object

def __repr__(self):

return 'Object: {}'.format(self.string)

def __add__(self, other):

return self.string + other

# Driver Code
if __name__ == '__main__':

# object creation
string1 = String('Hello')

# concatenate String object and a string

print(string1 +' Geeks')

Output :
Hello Geeks

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)

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 belongs
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()

Note: The self parameter is a reference to the current instance of the class,
and is used to access variables that belongs 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()

Modify Object Properties

You can modify properties on objects like this:

Example
Set the age of p1 to 40:

p1.age = 40

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

Delete Objects
You can delete objects by using the del keyword:

Example
Delete the p1 object:

del p1

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

When naming a class, we use capital letters in the starting and we don’t use
underscore like when we name variables. We use camel casing when defining
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()

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()

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)

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.

Add Properties
Example
Add a property called graduationyear to the Student class:

class Student(Person):
def __init__(self, fname, lname):
 Person.__init__(self, fname, lname)
self.graduationyear = 2019

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):
Person.__init__(self, fname, lname)
self.graduationyear = year

x = Student("Mike", "Olsen", 2019)

Add Methods
Example
Add a method called welcome to the Student class:

class Student(Person):
def __init__(self, fname, lname, year):
Person.__init__(self, fname, lname)
self.graduationyear = year

def welcome(self):
print("Welcome", self.firstname, self.lastname, "to the class of",
self.graduationyear)

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.
Python Decorators

Now, what are decorators really? They “decorate” or “wrap” another function
and let you execute code before and after the wrapped function runs.

Decorators allow you to define reusable building blocks that can change or
extend the behavior of other functions. And they let you do that without
permanently modifying the wrapped function itself. The function’s behavior
changes only when it’s decorated.

Now what does the implementation of a simple decorator look like? In basic
terms, a decorator is a callable that takes a callable as input and returns
another callable.

The following function has that property and could be considered the simplest
decorator one could possibly write:

def null_decorator(func):

return func

As you can see, null_decorator is a callable (it’s a function), it takes another

callable as its input, and it returns the same input callable without modifying it.
Let’s use it to decorate (or wrap) another function:

def greet():

return 'Hello!'

greet = null_decorator(greet)

>>> greet()

'Hello!'
In this example I’ve defined a greet function and then immediately decorated it
by running it through the null_decorator function. I know this doesn’t look very
useful yet (I mean we specifically designed the null decorator to be useless,
right?) but in a moment it’ll clarify how Python’s decorator syntax works.
Instead of explicitly calling null_decorator on greet and then reassigning
the greet variable, you can use Python’s @ syntax for decorating a function in
one step:
@null_decorator

def greet():

return 'Hello!'

>>> greet()

'Hello!'

Putting an @null_decorator line in front of the function definition is the same as

defining the function first and then running through the decorator. Using
the @syntax is just syntactic sugar, and a shortcut for this commonly used
pattern.
Note that using the @ syntax decorates the function immediately at definition
time. This makes it difficult to access the undecorated original without brittle
hacks. Therefore, you might choose to decorate some functions manually in
order to retain the ability to call the undecorated function as well.

Decorators Can Modify Behavior

Now that you’re a little more familiar with the decorator syntax, let’s write
another decorator that actually does something and modifies the behavior of
the decorated function.

Here’s a slightly more complex decorator which converts the result of the
decorated function to uppercase letters:

def uppercase(func):

def wrapper():

original_result = func()
 modified_result = original_result.upper()

return modified_result

return wrapper

Instead of simply returning the input function like the null decorator did,
this uppercase decorator defines a new function on the fly (a closure) and uses
it to wrap the input function in order to modify its behavior at call time.
The wrapper closure has access to the undecorated input function and it is free
to execute additional code before and after calling the input function.
(Technically, it doesn’t even need to call the input function at all.)
Note how up until now the decorated function has never been executed.
Actually, calling the input function at this point wouldn’t make any sense—you’ll
want the decorator to be able to modify the behavior of its input function when
it gets called eventually.

Time to see the uppercase decorator in action. What happens if you decorate
the original greet function with it?
@uppercase

def greet():

return 'Hello!'

>>> greet()

'HELLO!'

I hope this was the result you expected. Let’s take a closer look at what just
happened here. Unlike null_decorator, our uppercase decorator returns
a different function object when it decorates a function:
>>> greet

<function greet at 0x10e9f0950>

>>> null_decorator(greet)
<function greet at 0x10e9f0950>

>>> uppercase(greet)

<function uppercase.<locals>.wrapper at 0x10da02f28>

And as you saw earlier, it needs to do that in order to modify the behavior of
the decorated function when it finally gets called. The uppercase decorator is a
function itself. And the only way to influence the “future behavior” of an input
function it decorates is to replace (or wrap) the input function with a closure.
That’s why uppercase defines and returns another function (the closure) that
can then be called at a later time, run the original input function, and modify its
result.
Decorators modify the behavior of a callable through a wrapper so you don’t
have to permanently modify the original. The callable isn’t permanently
modified—its behavior changes only when decorated.

This let’s you “tack on” reusable building blocks, like logging and other
instrumentation, to existing functions and classes. It’s what makes decorators
such a powerful feature in Python that’s frequently used in the standard library
and in third-party packages.

Applying Multiple Decorators to a Single Function

Perhaps not surprisingly, you can apply more than one decorator to a function.
This accumulates their effects and it’s what makes decorators so helpful as
reusable building blocks.

Here’s an example. The following two decorators wrap the output string of the
decorated function in HTML tags. By looking at how the tags are nested you can
see which order Python uses to apply multiple decorators:

def strong(func):

def wrapper():

return '<strong>' + func() + '</strong>'

return wrapper
def emphasis(func):

def wrapper():

return '<em>' + func() + '</em>'

return wrapper

Now let’s take these two decorators and apply them to our greet function at the
same time. You can use the regular @ syntax for that and just “stack” multiple
decorators on top of a single function:
@strong

@emphasis

def greet():

return 'Hello!'

What output do you expect to see if you run the decorated function? Will
the @emphasis decorator add its <em> tag first or does @strong have
precedence? Here’s what happens when you call the decorated function:
>>> greet()

'<strong><em>Hello!</em></strong>'

This clearly shows in what order the decorators were applied: from bottom to
top. First, the input function was wrapped by the @emphasis decorator, and
then the resulting (decorated) function got wrapped again by
the @strong decorator.
To help me remember this bottom to top order I like to call this
behavior decorator stacking. You start building the stack at the bottom and then
keep adding new blocks on top to work your way upwards.

If you break down the above example and avoid the @ syntax to apply the
decorators, the chain of decorator function calls looks like this:
decorated_greet = strong(emphasis(greet))
Again, you can see here that the emphasis decorator is applied first and then
the resulting wrapped function is wrapped again by the strong decorator.
This also means that deep levels of decorator stacking will have an effect on
performance eventually because they keep adding nested function calls. Usually
this won’t be a problem in practice, but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re
working on performance intensive code.

Decorating Functions That Accept Arguments

All examples so far only decorated a simple nullary greet function that didn’t
take any arguments whatsoever. So the decorators you saw here up until now
didn’t have to deal with forwarding arguments to the input function.
If you try to apply one of these decorators to a function that takes arguments it
will not work correctly. How do you decorate a function that takes arbitrary
arguments?

This is where Python’s *args and **kwargs feature for dealing with variable
numbers of arguments comes in handy.

*args

The special syntax *args in function definitions in python is used to pass a

variable number of arguments to a function. It is used to pass a non-
keyworded, variable-length argument list.
• The syntax is to use the symbol * to take in a variable number of
arguments; by convention, it is often used with the word args.
• What *args allows you to do is take in more arguments than the number of
formal arguments that you previously defined. With *args, any number of
extra arguments can be tacked on to your current formal parameters
(including zero extra arguments).
• For example : we want to make a multiply function that takes any number
of arguments and able to multiply them all together. It can be done using
*args.
• Using the *, the variable that we associate with the * becomes an iterable
meaning you can do things like iterate over it, run some higher order
functions such as map and filter, etc.

# Python program to illustrate

# *args for variable number of arguments
def myFun(*argv):
for arg in argv:
print (arg)

myFun('Hello', 'Fraands', 'chai', 'pi lo')

# Python program to illustrate

# *args with first extra argument

def myFun(arg1, *argv):

print ("First argument :", arg1)

for arg in argv:

print("Next argument through *argv :", arg)

myFun('Hello', 'Fraands', 'chai', 'pi lo')

**kwargs

The special syntax **kwargs in function definitions in python is used to pass a

keyworded, variable-length argument list. We use the name kwargs with the
double star. The reason is because the double star allows us to pass through
keyword arguments (and any number of them).
• A keyword argument is where you provide a name to the variable as you
pass it into the function.
• One can think of the kwargs as being a dictionary that maps each keyword
to the value that we pass alongside it. That is why when we iterate over
the kwargs there doesn’t seem to be any order in which they were printed
out.

# Python program to illustrate

# *kargs for variable number of keyword arguments

def myFun(**kwargs):
for key, value in kwargs.items():
print ("%s == %s" %(key, value))

# Driver code
myFun(first ='I', mid ='like', last='tea')
 # Python program to illustrate **kargs for

# variable number of keyword arguments with

# one extra argument.

def myFun(arg1, **kwargs):

for key, value in kwargs.items():

print ("%s == %s" %(key, value))

# Driver code

myFun("I", first ='like', mid ='tea', last='very much lol')

The following proxy decorator takes advantage of *args and **kwargs:

def proxy(func):

def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):

return func(*args, **kwargs)

return wrapper

There are two notable things going on with this decorator:

• It uses the * and ** operators in the wrapper closure definition to collect all
positional and keyword arguments and stores them in variables
(args and kwargs).
• The wrapper closure then forwards the collected arguments to the original input
function using the * and ** “argument unpacking” operators.
(It’s a bit unfortunate that the meaning of the star and double-star operators is
overloaded and changes depending on the context they’re used in. But I hope
you get the idea.)
Let’s expand the technique laid out by the proxy decorator into a more useful
practical example. Here’s a trace decorator that logs function arguments and
results during execution time:
def trace(func):

def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):

print(f'TRACE: calling {func.__name__}() '

f'with {args}, {kwargs}')

original_result = func(*args, **kwargs)

print(f'TRACE: {func.__name__}() '

f'returned {original_result!r}')

return original_result

return wrapper

Decorating a function with trace and then calling it will print the arguments
passed to the decorated function and its return value. This is still somewhat of a
toy example—but in a pinch it makes a great debugging aid:
@trace

def say(name, line):

return f'{name}: {line}'

>>> say('Jane', 'Hello, World')

'TRACE: calling say() with ("Jane", "Hello, World"), {}'

'TRACE: say() returned "Jane: Hello, World"'

'Jane: Hello, World'

Speaking of debugging—there are some things you should keep in mind when
debugging decorators:

How to Write “Debuggable” Decorators

When you use a decorator, really what you’re doing is replacing one function
with another. One downside of this process is that it “hides” some of the
metadata attached to the original (undecorated) function.

For example, the original function name, its docstring, and parameter list are
hidden by the wrapper closure:

def greet():

"""Return a friendly greeting."""

return 'Hello!'

decorated_greet = uppercase(greet)

If you try to access any of that function metadata, you’ll see the wrapper
closure’s metadata instead:

>>> greet.__name__

'greet'

>>> greet.__doc__

'Return a friendly greeting.'

>>> decorated_greet.__name__

'wrapper'

>>> decorated_greet.__doc__

None
This makes debugging and working with the Python interpreter awkward and
challenging. Thankfully there’s a quick fix for this: the functools.wraps decorator
included in Python’s standard library.
You can use functools.wraps in your own decorators to copy over the lost
metadata from the undecorated function to the decorator closure. Here’s an
example:
import functools

def uppercase(func):

@functools.wraps(func)

def wrapper():

return func().upper()

return wrapper

Applying functools.wraps to the wrapper closure returned by the decorator

carries over the docstring and other metadata of the input function:
@uppercase

def greet():

"""Return a friendly greeting."""

return 'Hello!'

>>> greet.__name__

'greet'

>>> greet.__doc__

'Return a friendly greeting.'

As a best practice I’d recommend that you use functools.wraps in all of the
decorators you write yourself. It doesn’t take much time and it will save you
(and others) debugging headaches down the road.

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))
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))

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)
Example
Iterate the characters of a string:

mystr = "banana"

for x in mystr:
print(x)

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 we know that all classes have a function called __init__(), which allows you
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))

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)

What are generators in Python?

There is a lot of overhead in building an iterator in Python; we have to
implement a class with __iter__() and __next__() method, keep track of
internal states, raise StopIteration when there was no values to be returned etc.

This is both lengthy and counter intuitive. Generator comes into rescue in such
situations.

Python generators are a simple way of creating iterators. All the overhead we
mentioned above are automatically handled by generators in Python.

Simply speaking, a generator is a function that returns an object (iterator)

which we can iterate over (one value at a time).
 How to create a generator in Python?

It is fairly simple to create a generator in Python. It is as easy as defining a

normal function with yield statement instead of a return statement.

If a function contains at least one yield statement (it may contain

other yield or return statements), it becomes a generator function.
Both yield and return will return some value from a function.
The difference is that, while a return statement terminates a function
entirely, yield statement pauses the function saving all its states and later
continues from there on successive calls.

Differences between Generator function and a Normal function

Here is how a generator function differs from a normal function.

• Generator function contains one or more yield statement.
• When called, it returns an object (iterator) but does not start execution
immediately.
• Methods like __iter__() and __next__() are implemented automatically. So we
can iterate through the items using next().
• Once the function yields, the function is paused and the control is transferred to
the caller.
• Local variables and their states are remembered between successive calls.
• Finally, when the function terminates, StopIteration is raised automatically on
further calls.

# A simple generator function

def my_gen():
n = 1
print('This is printed first')
# Generator function contains yield statements
yield n

n += 1
print('This is printed second')
yield n

n += 1
print('This is printed at last')
yield n

a = my_gen()
next(a)
Filter(), Map(), Reduce()
Suppose we have a code like this:

def is_even(n):

return n%2 == 0

nums = [2,3,4,5,6,7,8]

evens = list(filter(is_even, nums))

print(evens)

Here, we can see that the function is_even is only used once. So instead of
making a whole function, we can use lambda function in this case.

nums = [2,3,4,5,6,7,8]

evens = list(filter (lambda n: n%2==0, nums)) #filter(function,

sequence)

print(evens)

Now what if you want to double all the values in the list. We do –
nums = [2,3,4,5,6,7,8]

evens = list (filter (lambda n : n%2==0, nums))

doubles = list (map (lambda n : n *2, evens))

print(doubles)

Now what if you want to reduce all the values in the list to a single
value

from functools import reduce

nums = [2,3,4,5,6,7,8]

evens = list (filter (lambda n : n%2==0, nums))

doubles = list (map (lambda n : n *2, evens))

add = reduce (lambda a,b : a+b, doubles)

print(add)

Multithreading in Python

1. Multiprogramming – A computer running more than one program at a

time (like running Excel and Firefox simultaneously).
2. Multiprocessing – A computer using more than one CPU at a time.
3. Multitasking – Tasks sharing a common resource (like 1 CPU).
4. Multithreading is an extension of multitasking.

Just like multiprocessing, multithreading is a way of achieving multitasking. In

multithreading, the concept of threads is used.
Thread

In computing, a process is an instance of a computer program that is being

executed. Any process has 3 basic components:
• An executable program.
• The associated data needed by the program (variables, work space,
buffers, etc.)
• The execution context of the program (State of process)

A thread is an entity within a process that can be scheduled for execution.

Also, it is the smallest unit of processing that can be performed in an OS.

In simple words, a thread is a sequence of such instructions within a program

that can be executed independently of other code. For simplicity, you can
assume that a thread is simply a subset of a process.

A thread contains all this information in a Thread Control Block (TCB):

• Thread Identifier: Unique id (TID) is assigned to every new thread

• Stack pointer: Points to thread’s stack in the process. Stack contains the
local variables under thread’s scope.
• Program counter: a register which stores the address of the instruction
currently being executed by thread.
• Thread state: can be running, ready, waiting, start or done.
• Thread’s register set: registers assigned to thread for computations.
• Parent process Pointer: A pointer to the Process control block (PCB) of
the process that the thread lives on.

Multithreading

Multiple threads can exist within one process where:

• Each thread contains its own register set and local variables (stored in
stack).
• All thread of a process shares global variables (stored in heap) and
the program code.

In a simple, single-core CPU, it is achieved using frequent switching between

threads. This is termed as context switching. In context switching, the state
of a thread is saved and state of another thread is loaded whenever any
interrupt (due to I/O or manually set) takes place. Context switching takes
place so frequently that all the threads appear to be running parallelly (this is
termed as multitasking).
Example code:

from time import sleep

from threading import *

class Hello(Thread):
def run(self):
for i in range(5):
print('Hello')
sleep(1)

class Hi(Thread):
def run(self):
for i in range(5):
print('Hi')
sleep(1)

t1 = Hello()
t2 = Hi()

t1.start()
sleep(0.2)
t2.start()

t1.join()
t2.join()

print('Bye')

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")

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)

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)

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)

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)

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"])

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"]

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)

Date Output
When we execute the code from the example above the result will be:

2019-06-10 00:31:46.866411

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"))

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)

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"))

A reference of all the legal format codes:

Directive Description Example

%a Weekday, short version Wed

%A Weekday, full version Wednesday

%w Weekday as a number 0-6, 0 is 3

Sunday

%d Day of month 01-31 31

%b Month name, short version Dec

%B Month name, full version December

%m Month as a number 01-12 12

%y Year, short version, without century 18

%Y Year, full version 2018

%H Hour 00-23 17

%I Hour 00-12 05

%p AM/PM PM

%M Minute 00-59 41

%S Second 00-59 08

%f Microsecond 000000-999999 548513

%z UTC offset +0100

 %Z Timezone CST

%j Day number of year 001-366 365

%U Week number of year, Sunday as the 52

first day of week, 00-53

%W Week number of year, Monday as the 52

first day of week, 00-53

%c Local version of date and time Mon Dec 31

17:41:00 2018

%x Local version of date 12/31/18

%X Local version of time 17:41:00

%% A % character %

Python JSON

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"])

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)

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))

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))

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)

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=(". ", " = "))

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)

Python RegEx
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)

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

[] A set of characters "[a-m]"

\ Signals a special sequence (can also be used to "\d"

escape special characters)

. Any character (except newline character) "he..o"

^ Starts with "^hello"

 $ Ends with "world$"

* Zero or more occurrences "aix*"

+ One or more occurrences "aix+"

{} Exactly the specified number of occurrences "al{2}"

| Either or "falls|stays"

() Capture and group

Example of meta characters:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"

#Find all lower case characters alphabetically between "a" and "m":

x = re.findall("[a-m]", str)

print(x)
Example 2:

import re

str = "hello world"

#Check if the string starts with 'hello':

x = re.findall("^hello", str)

if (x):

print("Yes, the string starts with 'hello'")

else:

print("No match")

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

\A Returns a match if the specified characters are at "\AThe"

the beginning of the string

\b Returns a match where the specified characters are r"\bain"

at the beginning or at the end of a word r"ain\b"
\B Returns a match where the specified characters are r"\Bain"
present, but NOT at the beginning (or at the end) of r"ain\B"
a word

\d Returns a match where the string contains digits "\d"

(numbers from 0-9)

\D Returns a match where the string DOES NOT "\D"

contain digits

\s Returns a match where the string contains a white "\s"

space character

\S Returns a match where the string DOES NOT "\S"

contain a white space character

\w Returns a match where the string contains any word "\w"

characters (characters from a to Z, digits from 0-9,
and the underscore _ character)

\W Returns a match where the string DOES NOT "\W"

contain any word characters

\Z Returns a match if the specified characters are at "Spain\Z"

the end of the string
Example of special sequences:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"

#Check if the string starts with "The":

x = re.findall("\AThe", str)

print(x)

if (x):

print("Yes, there is a match!")

else:

print("No match")

Example 2:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"

#Return a match at every NON white-space character:

x = re.findall("\S", str)

print(x)

if (x):

print("Yes, there is at least one match!")

else:

print("No match")
Sets
A set is a set of characters inside a pair of square brackets [] with a special
meaning:

Set Description

[arn] Returns a match where one of the specified characters (a, r,

or n) are present

[a-n] Returns a match for any lower case character, alphabetically

between a and n

[^arn] Returns a match for any character EXCEPT a, r, and n

[0123] Returns a match where any of the specified digits (0, 1, 2, or 3)

are present

[0-9] Returns a match for any digit between 0 and 9

[0-5][0-9] Returns a match for any two-digit numbers from 00 and 59

[a-zA-Z] Returns a match for any character alphabetically

between a and z, lower case OR upper case
 [+] In sets, +, *, ., |, (), $,{} has no special meaning,
so [+] means: return a match for any + character in the string

Sets example:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"

#Check if the string has any a, r, or n characters:

x = re.findall("[arn]", str)

print(x)

if (x):

print("Yes, there is at least one match!")

else:

print("No match")

Example 2:

import re

str = "8 times before 11:45 AM"

#Check if the string has any two-digit numbers, from 00 to 59:

x = re.findall("[0-5][0-9]", str)

print(x)

if (x):

print("Yes, there is at least one match!")

else:

print("No match")

The findall() Function

The findall() function returns a list containing all matches.

Example
Print a list of all matches:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.findall("ai", str)
print(x)

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

str = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.findall("Portugal", str)
print(x)

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

str = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.search("\s", str)

print("The first white-space character is located in position:", x.start())

If no matches are found, the value None is returned:

Example
Make a search that returns no match:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.search("Portugal", str)
print(x)

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

str = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.split("\s", str)
print(x)

You can control the number of occurrences by specifying

the maxsplit parameter:
Example
Split the string only at the first occurrence:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.split("\s", str, 1)
print(x)

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

str = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.sub("\s", "9", str)
print(x)

You can control the number of replacements by specifying the count parameter:

Example
Replace the first 2 occurrences:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.sub("\s", "9", str, 2)
print(x)

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

str = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.search("ai", str)
print(x) #this will print an object

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

str = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.search(r"\bS\w+", str)
print(x.span())

Example
Print the string passed into the function:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.search(r"\bS\w+", str)
print(x.string)

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

str = "The rain in Spain"

x = re.search(r"\bS\w+", str)
print(x.group())

Note: If there is no match, the value None will be returned, instead of the
Match Object.

Python PIP
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))

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

Python Try Except

The try block lets you test a block of code for errors.

The except block lets you handle the error.

The finally block lets you execute code, regardless of the result of the try-
and except blocks.

Exception Handling
When an error occurs, or exception as we call it, Python will normally stop and
generate an error message.

These exceptions can be handled using the try statement:

Example
The try block will generate an exception, because x is not defined:

try:
print(x)
except:
print("An exception occurred")
Since the try block raises an error, the except block will be executed.

Without the try block, the program will crash and raise an error:

Example
This statement will raise an error, because x is not defined:

print(x)

Many Exceptions
You can define as many exception blocks as you want, e.g. if you want to
execute a special block of code for a special kind of error:

Example
Print one message if the try block raises a NameError and another for other
errors:

try:
print(x)
except NameError:
print("Variable x is not defined")
except:
print("Something else went wrong")

If we execute the following code,

age = int( input (‘Age : ’) )

print(age)

It prints exit code 0 when input is numerical value. Exit code 0 means the
program executed successfully. But if we put anything other than numbers as
input it will give us an exit code of 1 and will show ValueError.

To execute the program successfully, we have try and except statements:

try:
age = int( input (‘Age : ’) )
print(age)
except ValueError:
print(‘Invalid value’)

If we put anything other than numbers in the following code, the program will
execute successfully with exit code 0 and will print invalid value statement. We
do this because we don’t want our entire program to crash just because user
entered something other than numbers.

Multiple except constructs:

try:
age = int( input (‘Age : ’) )
income = 40000
risk = income / age
print(age)
except ZeroDivisionError:
print(“Age cannot be zero”)
except ValueError:
print(‘Invalid value’)

Else
You can use the else keyword to define a block of code to be executed if no
errors were raised:

Example
In this example, the try block does not generate any error:

try:
print("Hello")
except:
print("Something went wrong")
else:
print("Nothing went wrong")

Finally
The finally block, if specified, will be executed regardless if the try block
raises an error or not.

Example
try:
print(x)
except:
print("Something went wrong")
finally:
print("The 'try except' is finished")

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

Example
Try to open and write to a file that is not writable:

try:
f = open("demofile.txt")
f.write("Lorum Ipsum")
except:
print("Something went wrong when writing to the file")
finally:
f.close()

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