Lecture 08: Variables

18ESC108A Elements of Computer Science and Engineering

B. Tech. 2018

Course Leader(s):
Prabhakar A.
Roopa G.
Jishmi Jos Choondal
Pujitha V.
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Faculty of Engineering and Technology
Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences

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 Objectives

• At the end of this lecture, student will be able to

– understand how to use variables in Python

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 Topics

• Keywords
• Identifiers
• Variables

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 Keywords
• Keywords (Reserved Words) are special words that are understood by the Python
interpreter

• A list of the reserved words in Python is given below

• Keywords cannot be used as variable names

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 Identifiers
• An identifier is a name given to a program element
• Examples of identifiers are variable names, class names and function names

Rules for Naming Identifiers

 The permissible characters are alphabets (lower or upper case), digits and
underscore
 First character must be an underscore, a lower case letter or an upper case letter
 An identifier cannot have the same name as a keyword

• Python is case-sensitive
– FOO is different from foo
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 Identifiers - Examples
• CAN
 contain a number from 2nd position h2o
 be of mixed cases Xsquared
 contain or begin with an underscore _height_

• CANNOT
 start with a number 2i
 contain any arithmetic operators r*s+t
 contain any other punctuation marks #@x%£!!a
 be a keyword continue
 contain a space my var
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 Variables

• A variable is a name that refers to a value (actually that refers to an object)

• The values of variables can be changed whenever required

>>> x=10 # x is created here
>>> x=20 # the value of x changes here

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 No Need of Variable Declaration
• No need to declare the variables like other languages such as C,C++ and Java
• Python is a dynamically typed language as there is no advance declaration
associating an identifier with a particular data type

• Consider the following three assignments

>>> message = 'And now for something completely different'
>>> n = 17

• The message refers to a str object with value " And now for…. “
• The n refers to a integer object with value 17

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 Updating Variables
• One of the most common forms of assignment is an update, where the new value of
the variable depends on the old
• Consider the statement
>>> x = x+1 # get the current value of x, add one, and then update x with the
new value

• Updating a variable by adding 1 is called an increment; subtracting 1 is called a

decrement

• Before updating a variable, initialize it, usually with a simple assignment

>>> x = 0 # initialisation
>>> x = x+1 # increment
>>> x = x-1 # decrement 9
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 Assignment Statement in Python
• Consider the assignment statement
>>> temperature = 98.6 # establishes temperature as an identifier, and then
associates it with the object expressed on the right-
hand side of the equal sign; in this case a floating-
point object with value 98.6

• The identifier temperature refers to an object instance of the float class having
value 98.6

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 Aliasing

• A programmer can establish an alias by assigning a second identifier to an existing

object

• Continuing with the earlier example, consider the subsequent assignment

>>> original = temperature

• Once an alias has been established, either name can be used to access the
underlying object

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 Aliasing contd.

• Continuing with the concrete example, consider the command:

>>> temperature = temperature + 5.0 # The execution of this command begins with
the evaluation of the expression on the right-
hand side of the ‘=‘ operator

• The temperature identifier has been assigned a new value, while original continues
to refer to the previously existing value

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 Type of an Item Referred to by a Variable

• Python have a built-in method called type () to figure out the data item referred to
by a variable

• The Syntax
type(object)

>>> type('Hello, World!')

<type 'str'>
>>> number = 10
>>> type(number)
<type ‘int’>
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 Exchange the Contents of Two Variables

• Algorithm to exchange the contents of two variables named var1 and var2

Initial configuration
var1 -------------> object with type int and value 100
var2 --------------> object with type int and value 200

Target configuration
var1 -------------> object with type int and value 200
var2 ------------> object with type int and value 100

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 Exchange the Contents of Two Variables contd.

1. >>> var1,var2 = (100,200)

2. >>> var1=var2
3. >>> var2=var1
4. >>> print(var1,var2)

• After step2 is interpreted: var1 -------------> object with type int and value 200;
(object with type int and value 100 is garbage now as no name refers to it
1. After step3 is interpreted: var2 --------------> object with type int and value 200;
(var1 and var2 point to the same object and hence are aliases)

• The algorithm is incorrect as it fails to achieve the target or expected configuration

• Question: What has gone wrong and how to rectify the solution or algorithm?
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 Exchange the Contents of Two Variables contd.

1. >>> var1,var2=(100,200)
2. >>> temp=var1
3. >>> var1=var2
4. >>> var2=temp
5. >>> print(var1,var2)

• After step2 is interpreted: temp ------------ > object with type int and value 100
• After step3 is interpreted: var1 -------------> object with type int and value 200 and
variable temp still refers to object of type int and value 100
• After step4 is interpreted: var2 --------------> object with type int and value 100;

• The algorithm is correct as it achieves the target or expected configuration

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 Summary
• Keywords (Reserved Words) are special words that are understood by the Python
interpreter
• An identifier is a name given to a program element such as variable names, class
names and function names
• A variable is a name that refers to a value
• An assignment statement creates new variables and gives them values
• Multiple variables can hold references to the same object
• A programmer can establish an alias by assigning a second identifier to an existing
object

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