Python Complete Practical Tutorial: From Basics to

Professional API Usage

This comprehensive tutorial will take you from Python basics to professional API usage with
detailed explanations for each concept and code line.

Table of Contents
1. Python Basics

2. Control Structures

3. Functions
4. Working with Files

5. Object-Oriented Programming
6. Working with APIs

7. Professional API Usage

1. Python Basics

Variables and Data Types

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# Integer variable
age = 25 # Declaring an integer variable to store age
# Explanation: 'age' is a variable name, '=' is assignment operator, '25' is the integer
value

# Float variable
temperature = 98.6 # Storing a decimal number
# Explanation: Floating-point numbers contain decimal points

# String variable
name = "Alice" # Text data enclosed in quotes
# Explanation: Strings can use single or double quotes

# Boolean variable
is_student = True # Can be True or False
# Explanation: Booleans represent binary true/false values

# Printing variables
print("Name:", name, "Age:", age) # Output multiple values
# Explanation: print() displays output to console, commas separate items
Basic Operations

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# Arithmetic operations
a = 10
b = 3

sum = a + b # Addition
difference = a - b # Subtraction
product = a * b # Multiplication
quotient = a / b # Division (returns float)
floor_division = a // b # Integer division
remainder = a % b # Modulus (remainder)
power = a ** b # Exponentiation (a to the power of b)

print("Sum:", sum) # Output: Sum: 13

# Explanation: Each operation performs basic math and stores result

2. Control Structures

If-Else Statements

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# Basic if-else
temperature = 30

if temperature > 25: # Condition to check

print("It's hot outside") # Executed if condition is True
# Explanation: Indented block runs when condition is met
elif temperature > 15: # Else-if condition
print("It's warm outside")
else: # Default case
print("It's cold outside")

Loops

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# For loop
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"] # List of fruits

for fruit in fruits: # Iterate through each item

print(fruit) # Print current fruit
# Explanation: 'fruit' takes each value in 'fruits' sequentially

# While loop
count = 0 # Initialize counter
 while count < 5: # Condition to check
print("Count:", count)
count += 1 # Increment count (same as count = count + 1)
# Explanation: Loop continues until condition becomes False

3. Functions

Basic Functions

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# Function definition
def greet(name): # 'def' starts function definition, 'name' is parameter
"""This function greets the person passed as parameter""" # Docstring
print("Hello, " + name + "!") # Function body

# Function call
greet("Alice") # Output: Hello, Alice!
# Explanation: Calls the function with "Alice" as argument

# Function with return value

def square(number):
"""Returns the square of a number"""
return number * number # Returns computed value

result = square(4) # Stores returned value (16)

print(result)

4. Working with Files

Reading and Writing Files

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# Writing to a file
with open('example.txt', 'w') as file: # 'w' for write mode
file.write("Hello, World!\n") # Write text to file
file.write("This is a second line.")
# Explanation: 'with' ensures proper file closing after block

# Reading from a file

with open('example.txt', 'r') as file: # 'r' for read mode
content = file.read() # Read entire file content
print(content)

# Reading line by line

with open('example.txt', 'r') as file:
 for line in file: # Iterate through lines
print("Line:", line.strip()) # strip() removes whitespace

5. Object-Oriented Programming

Classes and Objects

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# Class definition
class Dog: # Class names conventionally use CamelCase
"""A simple Dog class"""

def __init__(self, name, age): # Constructor method

"""Initialize name and age attributes"""
self.name = name # Instance variable
self.age = age # Instance variable

def bark(self): # Method

"""Make the dog bark"""
print(self.name + " says Woof!")

# Creating objects
my_dog = Dog("Rex", 3) # Create Dog instance
print(my_dog.name) # Access attribute: Output: Rex
my_dog.bark() # Call method: Output: Rex says Woof!

6. Working with APIs

Making HTTP Requests

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import requests # Import the requests library

# Basic GET request

response = requests.get('https://api.github.com') # Send GET request
# Explanation: requests.get() sends HTTP GET request to URL

print("Status Code:", response.status_code) # HTTP status code

print("Response Content:", response.text) # Response body as text
print("JSON Response:", response.json()) # Parse JSON response

API with Parameters

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 # API request with parameters
params = {'q': 'python'} # Query parameters
response = requests.get('https://api.github.com/search/repositories', params=params)

# Check if request was successful

if response.status_code == 200: # HTTP 200 means OK
data = response.json() # Parse JSON response
print("Total repositories found:", data['total_count'])
# Explanation: Access JSON data like a dictionary
for repo in data['items'][:3]: # First 3 results
print(repo['name'], "-", repo['html_url'])
else:
print("Error:", response.status_code)

7. Professional API Usage

API Authentication

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import requests
from requests.auth import HTTPBasicAuth

# Basic Authentication
response = requests.get(
'https://api.github.com/user',
auth=HTTPBasicAuth('username', 'password') # Not recommended for production
)

# Better: Use environment variables or config files

import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

load_dotenv() # Load environment variables from .env file

GITHUB_TOKEN = os.getenv('GITHUB_TOKEN') # Get token from environment

headers = {
'Authorization': f'token {GITHUB_TOKEN}', # Token-based auth
'Accept': 'application/vnd.github.v3+json' # Specify API version
}

response = requests.get('https://api.github.com/user', headers=headers)

print(response.json())

Handling API Responses Professionally

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 def get_github_user(username):
"""Fetch GitHub user data with proper error handling"""
url = f'https://api.github.com/users/{username}'
headers = {'Accept': 'application/vnd.github.v3+json'}

try:
response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
response.raise_for_status() # Raises exception for 4XX/5XX errors

return response.json() # Return parsed JSON on success

except requests.exceptions.HTTPError as errh:

print("HTTP Error:", errh)
except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError as errc:
print("Connection Error:", errc)
except requests.exceptions.Timeout as errt:
print("Timeout Error:", errt)
except requests.exceptions.RequestException as err:
print("Something went wrong:", err)

return None # Return None if request failed

# Usage
user_data = get_github_user('octocat')
if user_data:
print(f"Name: {user_data['name']}")
print(f"Bio: {user_data['bio']}")
print(f"Public repos: {user_data['public_repos']}")

Working with Paginated API Responses

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def get_all_repos(username):
"""Fetch all repositories for a user, handling pagination"""
repos = []
page = 1
per_page = 100 # Max allowed by GitHub API

while True:
url = f'https://api.github.com/users/{username}/repos'
params = {
'page': page,
'per_page': per_page,
'sort': 'updated'
}

response = requests.get(url, params=params)

response.raise_for_status()
 current_page_repos = response.json()
if not current_page_repos: # No more repos
break

repos.extend(current_page_repos)
page += 1

# Check if we got fewer than requested (last page)

if len(current_page_repos) < per_page:
break

return repos

# Usage
repositories = get_all_repos('torvalds')
print(f"Total repositories: {len(repositories)}")
for repo in repositories[:5]: # Print first 5
print(repo['name'])

Rate Limiting and Retry Logic

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import time
from requests.adapters import HTTPAdapter
from urllib3.util.retry import Retry

def setup_session():
"""Configure session with retry strategy"""
session = requests.Session()

# Configure retry strategy

retry_strategy = Retry(
total=3, # Total retries
backoff_factor=1, # Delay between retries (1, 2, 4 seconds)
status_forcelist=[429, 500, 502, 503, 504] # Status codes to retry
)

adapter = HTTPAdapter(max_retries=retry_strategy)
session.mount("https://", adapter)
session.mount("http://", adapter)

return session

def make_api_call(url):
"""Make API call with rate limiting and retry"""
session = setup_session()

try:
response = session.get(url)
 # Check rate limits (GitHub example)
if 'X-RateLimit-Remaining' in response.headers:
remaining = int(response.headers['X-RateLimit-Remaining'])
if remaining < 10: # Getting close to limit
reset_time = int(response.headers['X-RateLimit-Reset'])
sleep_time = max(reset_time - time.time(), 0)
print(f"Approaching rate limit. Sleeping for {sleep_time} seconds")
time.sleep(sleep_time)

response.raise_for_status()
return response.json()

except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
print(f"Request failed: {e}")
return None

# Usage
data = make_api_call('https://api.github.com/rate_limit')
if data:
print("Rate limit info:", data['resources']['core'])

This comprehensive tutorial covers Python from the very basics to professional API usage patterns.
Each section builds on the previous one, with detailed explanations for every line of code. To
continue your learning:

1. Practice each concept with your own variations

2. Explore more complex API integrations

3. Learn about async API calls with aiohttp

4. Study API documentation for services you want to use

5. Build projects that combine multiple concepts

Would you like me to expand on any particular section or provide additional examples?