faculty of arts

Scripting languages
Lecture 2: Values, variables, strings, and lists

Tim Van de Cruys

Wednesday 2 October 2024

 Python as a calculator

• Computers are very good at number-crunching

• Operators (specially reserved symbols) represent mathematical
computations:
Addition 3 + 2
Subtraction 5 - 1
Multiplication 4 * 5
Division 20 / 2
Exponentiation 10 ** 2
Modulus 100 % 8
Floor division 4 // 3
• The values the operator is applied to are called operands

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 Python as a calculator

One or more operators can be used to form an expression

In: 1 + 2 * 3
Out: 7
In: (1 + 2) * 3
Out: 9

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 Python as a calculator

One or more operators can be used to form an expression

In: 1 + 2 * 3
Out: 7
In: (1 + 2) * 3
Out: 9

Note:
• Python follows the precedence rules of mathematics
(exponentiation before multiplication/division before
addition/subtraction)
• Parentheses can be used to specify a different order

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 Numeric data types

• Values have a type

• Different types for numeric values:
Integers (whole numbers): 1, 2, 3, …, -1, -2, -3
Floating point numbers: 2.5, 1.3333, …

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 Numeric data types

• Values have a type

• Different types for numeric values:
Integers (whole numbers): 1, 2, 3, …, -1, -2, -3
Floating point numbers: 2.5, 1.3333, …
In: 5 / 2
Out: 2.5
In: type(5 / 2)
Out: float
In: type(5 // 2)
Out: int

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 Variables

• A variable is a name that refers to a value

• A variable can be used to store the result of an expression so
that it can be re-used
• A variable is created/updated using the equal sign (‘=’)
In: a = 5 / 2
In: a
Out: 2.5

• Name of the variable:

• can be arbitrarily long
• can contain both letters and numbers, but cannot start with a
number
• may also contain underscore character
• is case-sensitive

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 Terminology

Constant e.g., 2, 5, 1.5, …

Expression A sequence of operands (constants) and operators
• 2 + 5
• 1 + 2 + 3
• etc.
Variable a container that holds a value, can be used in place of
constants; e.g., a, b, books, …

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 Using variables

We can use a variable in expressions instead of a constant:

In: a + 0.5
Out: 3.0

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 Using variables

We can use a variable in expressions instead of a constant:

In: a + 0.5
Out: 3.0

A program is executed line-by-line, and variables can be overwritten:

In: a = 2
In: a
Out: 2
In: a = 3
In: a
Out: 3

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 Updating variables

A common operation is to increase the value of a variable:

In: a = 2
In: a = a + 1
Out: 3

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 Updating variables

A common operation is to increase the value of a variable:

In: a = 2
In: a = a + 1
Out: 3

There is a shorthand for this operation:

In: a = 2
In: a += 1
Out: 3

Also -=, *=, etc.

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 An example: Reading Proust

How many months does it take me to read all seven volumes of

Marcel Proust’s novel À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost
Time)?
• Number of words in La Recherche: 1,267,069
• Time spent reading per day: 1 hour
• Number of words per minute: 238
How to calculate the total reading time in months?

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 Solution

In: words_per_day = 60 * 238

In: reading_time_days = 1267069 / words_per_day
In: reading_time_months = reading_time_days / (365 / 12)
In: reading_time_months
Out: 2.9152124758961637

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 Text

Values can also be text instead of numbers:

author = 'Marcel Proust'
movie = "Breakfast at Tiffany's"
lyrics = """When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be"""

• A string (str, short for string of characters) is the type used for
text
• Single quotes, double quotes, or three quotation marks for
different usages

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 Types

• We have seen numbers (int, float) and text (str)

• These are examples of types
• A type is a class of values recognized by the language
• In Python, a value always has a type (a variable can be any type)
• The type determines what operations are valid

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 Different behavior for types

In: 3 + 3 In: '3' + '3'

Out: 6 Out: '33'

These are numbers, so we can do These are strings, so they are

arithmetic treated as text

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 Invalid operations for types

In: 3 + '3'
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +: 'int' and 'str'

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 Converting numbers to text and back

In: number = 42
In: text = str(number)
In: text
Out: '42'

In: int(text)
Out: 42

• str(number) and int(text) are examples of using a function

• A function is a piece of code that can be invoked by name
• It may take input (arguments)
• It may produce output (return value)
• The notation f(x) means that the function f is applied to the
value x

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 Summary

• Values and types:

Numbers: int, float
Text: str
• Expressions: 1 + 2 * 3 - (4 + 5)
• Variables: a = 2
• Functions: str(2), int('2')

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 Comments

• Large piece of code can be difficult to read

• It helps to explain what you’re doing
• Explanations are called comments
• Comments start with hash (#)
• Everything behind the # is ignored by the Python interpreter

c = (f - 32) * (5/9)

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 Comments

• Large piece of code can be difficult to read

• It helps to explain what you’re doing
• Explanations are called comments
• Comments start with hash (#)
• Everything behind the # is ignored by the Python interpreter

temp_c = (temp_f - 32) * (5/9) #convert fahrenheit to celsius

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 Example: computing readability

• Automated readability index

• A formula to estimate the difficulty of a text

total words total characters

0.50( ) + 4.71( ) − 21.43
total sentences total words

• Result: a grade level, e.g.

• 1 = kindergarten, age 5
• 14 = college student, age 18

Smith & Senter (1968). Automated readability index.

https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/667273.pdf

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 Solution: from formula to code

w = 500
s = 25
c = 3200

result = 0.5 * (w / s) + 4.71 * (c / w) - 21.43

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 Solution: from formula to code

w = 500
s = 25
c = 3200

result = 0.5 * (w / s) + 4.71 * (c / w) - 21.43

• This is fairly difficult to understand

• Good code has
• Clear variable names
• Steps that are easy to follow

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 Solution: improved version

total_words = 500
total_sentences = 25
total_characters = 3200

words_per_sent = total_words / total_sentences

chars_per_word = total_characters / total_words

result = 0.5 * words_per_sent + 4.71 * chars_per_word - 21.43

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 Strings

In: text = 'This is a string of characters.'

In: type(text)
Out: str

• A string (str, short for string of characters) is the type used for
text
• Reminder: single quotes ('), double quotes ("), or three double
quotation marks (" " ") for different usages

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 Indexing: extracting one element

In: name = 'Marcel'

In: name[0]
Out: 'M'
In: name[-1]
Out: 'l'

• a[n] gets the n’th character

of a
• Counting starts at zero
• negative indices start from
the end
• -1 for last character
• -2 second to last
• etc.

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 Slicing: extracting a range of elements

In: name = 'Marcel'

In: name[1:3]
Out: 'ar'
In: name[:2]
Out: 'Ma'
In: name[1:]
Out: 'arcel'

• a[n:m] extracts characters n to m

• Counting starts at zero
• Result is up to but not including character m
(half-open interval)
• if n or m is left out, beginning or end is used

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 Indexing and slicing

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 Length

Get the number of characters in a string:

In: name = 'Marcel'
In: len(name)
Out: 6

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 Functions
We have seen a number of functions:
• int()
• print()
• len()

• Reminder:
• A function is a piece of code that can be invoked by name
• It may take input (arguments): len(name)
• It may produce a result: len(name) or an effect:
print('hello', name)
• The notation f(x) means that the function f is applied to the
value x

• The functions above are builtin functions: they are defined by

default by the Python interpreter
• You can also define your own functions (more on that later)
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 Format strings

In: x = 1
In: y = 2
In: z = x + y

How to combine text and variables in a message?

In: print('The sum of ' + str(x) + ' and ' + str(y) + ' is ' + str(z) +
The sum of 1 and 2 is 3.
In: print('The sum of', x, 'and', y, 'is', z, '.')
The sum of 1 and 2 is 3 .

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 Format strings

In: x = 1
In: y = 2
In: z = x + y

How to combine text and variables in a message?

In: print('The sum of ' + str(x) + ' and ' + str(y) + ' is ' + str(z) +
The sum of 1 and 2 is 3.
In: print('The sum of', x, 'and', y, 'is', z, '.')
The sum of 1 and 2 is 3 .

Or using a formatted string:

In: print(f'The sum of {x} and {y} is {z}.')
The sum of 1 and 2 is 3.

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 Sequences

• A string is a kind of sequence consisting of characters

• A sequence contains elements in a particular order
• Basic operations on sequences:
length: len(seq)
indexing: seq[index]
slicing: seq[start:end]
concatenation: seq1 + seq2
repetition: seq * num

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 Lists

• Lists are sequences that may contain any kind of value as items

In: numbers = [0, 1, 2]

In: names = ['John', 'Mary']

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 List indexing

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 Changing items
In: names = ['John', 'Mary']
In: names[1] = 'Alice'
In: names
Out: ['John', 'Alice']

• But: characters in a string cannot be changed

• Necessary to create a new string

In: name = 'Maria'

In: name[0] = 'D'
TypeError: 'str' object does not support item assignment

• Why? Lists are mutable, strings are immutable

• immutable objects do not allow modification after creation

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 Immutable vs. mutable

Immutable • Sometimes we want to ensure objects cannot be

changed
• Immutable objects are quicker to access
Mutable • Size and content of objects can be changed
• More efficient if we need to change/update the
contents

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 Objects and their methods

• In Python, every value is an object

• An object encapsulates data and code for dealing with that data
• A function that belongs to and operates on an object is called a
method

Regular function: function(argument)

Method of object: obj.function(argument)

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 Adding items

• We can add an item to the end of an existing list:

In: names = ['John', 'Mary']
In: names.append('Alice')
In: names
Out: ['John', 'Mary', 'Alice']

• We can combine two lists into a new list:

In: friends = ['John', 'Mary']
In: enemies = ['Alice', 'Bob']
In: friends + enemies
Out: ['John', 'Mary', 'Alice', 'Bob']

• Note: append mutates the list, + only creates a new list

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 Removing items
• remove(elem) looks for the first occurrence of elem and removes
it from the list
In: names = ['John', 'Mary']
In: names.remove('John')
In: names
Out: ['Mary']

• .pop(value) removes the item at position value and returns it

• .pop() (without argument) removes the last items and returns it
In: names = ['John', 'Mary', 'Alice', 'Bob', 'Max']
In: names.pop(3) # removes 4th item
Out: 'Bob'
In: names.pop() # removes last item
Out: 'Max'
In: names
Out: ['John', 'Mary', 'Alice']

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 Removing items (2)

• We can also use slicing to keep a part of a list

In: names = ['John', 'Mary', 'Alice', 'Bob']
In: friends = names[:2]
In: friends
Out: ['John', 'Mary']

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 Sorting

In: letters = ['b', 'd', 'a', 'c']

In: letters
Out: ['b', 'd', 'a', 'c']
In: sorted(letters)
Out: ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']
In: letters
Out: ['b', 'd', 'a', 'c']
In: letters.sort()
In: letters
Out: ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']

• The function sorted() leaves the original list unchanged and

returns the sorted result
• The method .sort() modifies the list itself, and does not return
anything

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 Nested lists: lists inside of lists

In: ages = [['John', 34], ['Mary', 19], ['Max', 62]]

• How to access elements?

In: name_and_age = ages[0]
In: name_and_age
Out: ['John', 34]
In: name_and_age[1]
Out: 34

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 Nested lists: lists inside of lists

In: ages = [['John', 34], ['Mary', 19], ['Max', 62]]

• How to access elements?

In: name_and_age = ages[0]
In: name_and_age
Out: ['John', 34]
In: name_and_age[1]
Out: 34
In: ages[0][1]
Out: 34

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 Nested lists: lists inside of lists

In: ages = [['John', 34], ['Mary', 19], ['Max', 62]]

• How to access elements?

In: name_and_age = ages[0]
In: name_and_age
Out: ['John', 34]
In: name_and_age[1]
Out: 34
In: ages[0][1]
Out: 34

• If we know there will be a fixed sequence of items, can assign

them directly:
In: name, rank = name_and_rank

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 Summary: strings vs lists

Both strings and lists are sequences:

• Items in a fixed order
• Has a length
• Can extract items or slices

Two important differences:

1 lists are more general than strings
• Strings always consist of characters
• Lists can consist of any data types / objects
2 Lists are mutable and strings are immutable

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 Practical session / reading

• First practical session

• Notebook is self-explanatory: self-study with exercises
• Help will be available during practical session slot (today,
4pm-6pm, VHI 02.26)
• Questions can be asked during practical session or online
• Read chapters 3 & 4 of Python for Everybody

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