Quiz Puzzle

Eight queens puzzle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A standard recursive solution

The Python functions below can generate all solutions for an n-queens problem, using a recursive breadth-first
search combined with the hard-coded insights that :
● no two pieces can share the same row

● any solution for n queens on an n×m board must contain a solution for n−1 queens on an (n−1)×m board
● proceeding in this way will always keep the queens in order, and generate each solution only once.
# Return a list of solutions to the n-queens problem on an

# n-by-width board. A solved board is expressed as a list of
# column positions for queens, indexed by row.
# Rows and columns are indexed from zero.
def n_queens(n, width):
if n == 0:
return [[]] # one solution, the empty list
else:
return add_queen(n-1, width, n_queens(n-1, width))
# Try all ways of adding a queen to a column of row new_row, returning

# a list of solutions. previous_solutions must be a list of new_row-queens
# solutions.
def add_queen(new_row, width, previous_solutions):
solutions = []
for sol in previous_solutions:
# Try to place a queen on each column on row new_row.
for new_col in range(width):
# print 'trying', new_col, 'on row', new_row
if safe_queen(new_row, new_col, sol):
# No interference, so add this solution to the list.
solutions.append(sol + [new_col])
return solutions
# Is it safe to add a queen to sol at (new_row, new_col)? Return

# true if so. sol must be a solution to the new_row-queens problem.
def safe_queen(new_row, new_col, sol):
# Check against each piece on each of the new_row existing rows.
for row in range(new_row):
if (sol[row] == new_col or # same column clash
sol[row] + row == new_col + new_row or # diagonal clash
sol[row] - row == new_col - new_row): # other diagonal
return 0
return 1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_queens_puzzle (1 of 2)3/9/2006 10:56:54 AM

Eight queens puzzle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
for sol in n_queens(8, 8):

print sol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_queens_puzzle (2 of 2)3/9/2006 10:56:54 AM

Python programming language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Your continued donations keep Wikipedia running!
Python programming language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Paradigm: multi-paradigm
Appeared in: 1990
Designed by: Guido van Rossum
Developer: Python Software Foundation
Latest release version: 2.4.2
Latest release date: September 28, 2005
Typing discipline: strong, dynamic ("duck")
Major implementations: CPython, Jython, IronPython, PyPy
Dialects: --
Influenced by: ABC, Perl, Lisp, Smalltalk, Tcl
Influenced: Ruby, Boo
Operating system: Cross-platform
License: Python Software Foundation License
Website: www.python.org
Python is an interpreted programming language created by Guido van Rossum in 1990. Python is fully
dynamically typed and uses automatic memory management; it is thus similar to Perl, Ruby, Scheme,
Smalltalk, and Tcl. Python is developed as an open source project, managed by the non-profit Python Software
Foundation. Python 2.4.2 was released on September 28, 2005.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_programming_language (1 of 20)3/9/2006 10:57:48 AM

Contents
[hide]
● 1 Philosophy
● 2 History
❍ 2.1 The future
● 3 Usage
● 4 Syntax
❍ 4.1 Indentation
❍ 4.2 Data structures
■ 4.2.1 Base types
■ 4.2.2 Collection types
■ 4.2.3 Object system
❍ 4.3 Operators
■ 4.3.1 Comparison operators
■ 4.3.2 Logical operators
❍ 4.4 Functional programming
■ 4.4.1 First-class functions
■ 4.4.2 Closures
■ 4.4.3 Generators
■ 4.4.4 Generator expressions
❍ 4.5 Objects
❍ 4.6 Exceptions
❍ 4.7 Comments and docstrings
● 5 Resources
❍ 5.1 Implementations
❍ 5.2 Standard library
● 6 Supported platforms
● 7 Neologisms
● 8 See also
● 9 References
● 10 External links
❍ 10.1 Books
❍ 10.2 Journals
❍ 10.3 Resources
❍ 10.4 Non-English resources
❍ 10.5 Python 3000

Philosophy [edit]
Python is a multi-paradigm language. This means that, rather than forcing coders to adopt one particular style
of coding, it permits several. Object orientation, structured programming, functional programming, aspect-
oriented programming, and more recently, design by contract are all supported. Python is dynamically type-
checked and uses garbage collection for memory management. An important feature of Python is dynamic
name resolution, which binds method and variable names during program execution.
While offering choice in coding methodology, Python's designers reject exuberant syntax, such as in Perl, in
favor of a sparser, less cluttered one. As with Perl, Python's developers expressly promote a particular "culture"
or ideology based on what they want the language to be, favoring language forms they see as "beautiful",
"explicit" and "simple". For the most part, Perl and Python users differ in their interpretation of these terms and
how they are best implemented (see TIMTOWTDI and PythonPhilosophy).
Another important goal of the Python developers is making Python fun to use. This is reflected in the origin of
the name (after the television series Monty Python's Flying Circus), in the common practice of using Monty
Python references in example code, and in an occasionally playful approach to tutorials and reference materials.
Python is sometimes referred to as a "scripting language". In practice, it is used as a dynamic programming

language for both application development and occasional scripting. Python has been used to develop many
large software projects such as the Zope application server and the Mnet and BitTorrent file sharing systems. It
is also extensively used by Google. [1]
Another important goal of the language is ease of extensibility. New built-in modules are easily written in C or
C++. Python can also be used as an extension language for existing modules and applications that need a
programmable interface.
Though the design of Python is somewhat hostile to functional programming and the Lisp tradition, there are
significant parallels between the philosophy of Python and that of minimalist Lisp-family languages such as
Scheme. Many past Lisp programmers have found Python appealing for this reason.
History [edit]
Python was created in the early 1990s by Guido van Rossum at CWI in the Netherlands as a successor of the
ABC programming language. Guido is Python's principal author, although it includes many contributions from
others. Guido's continuing central role in deciding the direction of Python is jokingly acknowledged by
referring to him as its Benevolent Dictator for Life (BDFL).
The last version released from CWI was Python 1.2. In 1995, Guido continued his work on Python at the
Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI) in Reston, Virginia where he released several versions of
the software. Python 1.6 was the last of the versions released by CNRI. In 2000, Guido and the Python core

development team moved to BeOpen.com to form the BeOpen PythonLabs team. Python 2.0 was the first and
only release from BeOpen.com.
Python had been available under a free software license, but the license was incompatible with the GNU
General Public License (GPL). Following the release of Python 1.6, and after Guido van Rossum left CNRI to
work with commercial software developers, it became clear that the ability to use Python with software
available under the GPL was very desirable. CNRI and the Free Software Foundation (FSF) interacted to
develop enabling wording changes to the Python license which would make Python's license GPL-compatible.
That year, Guido was awarded the FSF Award for the Advancement of Free Software.
Python 1.6.1 is essentially the same as Python 1.6, with a few minor bug fixes, and with the new GPL-
compatible license. Python 2.1 also includes this new license and is a derivative work of Python 1.6.1, as well
as of Python 2.0. Current versions of the license are called the Python Software Foundation License.
After Python 2.0 was released by BeOpen.com, Guido van Rossum and the other PythonLabs developers
joined Digital Creations. All intellectual property added from this point on, starting with Python 2.1 and its
alpha and beta releases, is owned by the Python Software Foundation (PSF), a non-profit organization modeled
after the Apache Software Foundation.
The future [edit]
Python developers have an ongoing discussion of a future "Python 3000" that will break backwards
compatibility with the 2.x series in order to repair perceived flaws in the language. The guiding principle is to
"reduce feature duplication by removing old ways of doing things". There is no definite schedule for Python
3000, but a PEP (Python Enhancement Proposal) that details planned changes exists. [2]
Among other changes, Python 3000 plans to:
● move map, filter and reduce out of the built-in namespace (the rationale being that map and filter are
expressed more clearly as list comprehensions, and reduce more clearly as an accumulation loop)
● add support for optional type declarations
● unify the str/unicode types, and introduce a separate mutable bytes type
● convert built-ins to returning iterators (instead of lists), where appropriate
● remove backwards-compatibily features like classic classes, classic division, string exceptions, implicit
relative imports
Usage [edit]
Main article: Python software
The Python programming language is actively used in industry and academia for a wide variety of purposes.
[edit]

Syntax
Python was designed to be a highly readable language. It has a simple visual layout, uses English keywords
frequently where other languages use punctuation, and has notably fewer syntactic constructions than many
structured languages such as C, Perl, or Pascal.
For instance, Python has only two structured loop forms:
1. for item in iterator:, which loops over elements of a list or iterator

2. while expression:, which loops as long as a boolean expression is true.
It thus forgoes the more complex, C-style for (initialize; end condition; increment)
syntax (common in many popular languages) And it does not have any of the common alternative loop
syntaxes such as do...while, repeat until, etc. though of course equivalents can be expressed.
Likewise, it has only if...elif...else for branching -- no switch or labeled goto (goto was implemented
as a joke for 1 April 2004, in an add-on module).
Indentation [edit]
One unusual aspect of Python's syntax is its use of whitespace to delimit program blocks (the off-side rule).
Sometimes termed "the whitespace thing", it is one aspect of Python syntax that many programmers otherwise
unfamiliar with Python have heard of, since it is nearly unique among currently widespread languages.
In so-called "free-format" languages, that use the block structure ultimately derived from ALGOL, blocks of
code are set off with braces ({ }) or keywords. In all these languages, however, programmers conventionally
indent the code within a block, to set it off visually from the surrounding code.
Python, instead, borrows a feature from the lesser-known language ABC—instead of punctuation or keywords,
it uses this indentation itself to indicate the run of a block. A brief example will make this clear. Here are C and
Python recursive functions which do the same thing—computing the factorial of an integer:
Factorial function in C:
int factorial(int x)
{
if (x == 0) {
return 1;
}
else {
return x * factorial(x-1);
}
}

Factorial function in Python:
def factorial(x):
if x == 0:
return 1
else:
return x * factorial(x-1)
Some programmers used to ALGOL-style languages, in which whitespace is semantically empty, find this
confusing or even offensive. A few have drawn unflattering comparison to the column-oriented style used on
punched-card Fortran systems. When ALGOL was new, it was a major development to have "free-form"
languages in which only symbols mattered and not their position on the line.
To Python programmers, however, "the whitespace thing" is simply the enforcement of a convention that
programmers in ALGOL-style languages already follow anyway. They also point out that the free-form syntax
has the disadvantage that, since indentation is ignored, good indentation cannot be enforced. Thus, incorrectly
indented code may be misleading, since a human reader and a compiler could interpret it differently. Here is an
example:
Misleading indentation in C:
for (i = 0; i < 20; ++i)

a();
b();
c();
This code is intended to call functions a(), b(), and c() 20 times—and at first glance, that's what it appears to
do. However, the interpreted code block is just {a();}. The code calls a() 20 times, and then calls b() and c()
one time each. This sort of mistake can be very hard to spot when reading code. In Python, if the indentation
looks correct, it is correct.
The whitespace thing has minor disadvantages. Both space characters and tab characters are currently accepted
as forms of indentation. Since they are not visually distinguishable (in many tools), mixing spaces and tabs can
create bugs that are particularly difficult to find (a perennial suggestion among Python users has been removing
tabs as block markers—except, of course, among those Python users who propound removing spaces instead).
Because whitespace is syntactically significant, it is not always possible for a program to automatically correct
the indentation on Python code as can be done with C or Lisp code. Moreover, formatting routines which
remove whitespace—for instance, many Internet forums—can completely destroy the syntax of a Python
program, whereas a program in a bracketed language would merely become more difficult to read.
Data structures [edit]
Since Python is a dynamically typed language, Python values, not variables, carry type. This has implications

for many aspects of the way the language functions.
All variables in Python hold references to objects, and these references are passed to functions by value; a
function cannot change the value a variable references in its calling function. Some people (including Guido
van Rossum himself) have called this parameter-passing scheme "Call by object reference."
Among dynamically typed languages, Python is moderately type-checked. Implicit conversion is defined for
numeric types, so one may validly multiply a complex number by a long integer (for instance) without explicit
casting. However, there is no implicit conversion between (e.g.) numbers and strings; a string is an invalid
argument to a mathematical function expecting a number.
Base types [edit]
Python has a broad range of basic data types. Alongside conventional integer and floating point arithmetic, it
transparently supports arbitrary-precision arithmetic and complex numbers.
It supports the usual panoply of string operations, with one caveat: strings in Python are immutable objects.
This means that any string operation, such as a substitution of characters, that in other programming languages
might alter a string will instead return a new string in Python. While this at first sight appears to be a limitation,
it in fact allows programmers to write code that is much more readable, maintainable and efficient, as they
never have to worry about unwanted or unexpected modifications to strings by other parts of the program.
Collection types [edit]
One of the very useful aspects of Python is the concept of collection (or container) types. In general a
collection is an object that contains other objects in a way that is easily referenced or indexed. Collections come
in two basic forms: sequences and mappings.
The ordered sequential types are lists (dynamic arrays), tuples, and strings. All sequences are indexed
positionally (0 through length − 1) and all but strings can contain any type of object, including multiple types in
the same sequence. Both strings and tuples are immutable, making them perfect candidates for dictionary keys
(see below). Lists, on the other hand, are mutable; elements can be inserted, deleted, modified, appended, or
sorted in-place.
On the other side of the collections coin are mappings, which are unordered types implemented in the form of
dictionaries which "map" a set of immutable keys, to corresponding elements much like a mathematical
function. The keys in a dictionary must be of an immutable Python type such as an integer or a string. For
example, one could define a dictionary having a string "foo" mapped to the integer 42 or vice versa. This is
done under the covers via a hash function which makes for faster lookup times, but is also the culprit for a
dictionary's lack of order and is the reason mutable objects (i.e. other dictionaries or lists) cannot be used as
keys. Dictionaries are also central to the internals of the language as they reside at the core of all Python objects
and classes: the mapping between variable names (strings) and the values which the names reference is stored
as a dictionary (see Object system). Since these dictionaries are directly accessible (via an object's __dict__
attribute), meta-programming is a surprisingly straightforward and natural process in Python.

A set collection type was added to the core language in version 2.4. A set is an unindexed, unordered collection
that contains no duplicates, and implements set theoretic operations such as union, intersection, difference,
symmetric difference, and subset testing. There are two types of sets: set and frozenset, the only
difference being that set is mutable and frozenset is immutable. Elements in a set must be hashable and
immutable. Thus, for example, a frozenset can be an element of a regular set whereas the opposite is not
true.
Python also provides extensive collection manipulating abilities such as built in containment checking and a
generic iteration protocol.
Object system [edit]
In Python, everything is an object, even classes. Classes, as objects, have a class, which is known as their
metaclass. Python also supports multiple inheritance and mixins (see also MixinsForPython).
The language supports extensive introspection of types and classes. Types can be read and compared— types
are instances of type. The attributes of an object can be extracted as a dictionary.
Operators can be overloaded in Python by defining special member functions—for instance, defining
__add__ on a class permits one to use the + operator on members of that class.
Operators [edit]
Comparison operators [edit]
The basic comparison operators such as ==, <, >=, and so forth, are used on all manner of values. Numbers,
strings, sequences, and mappings can all be compared. Although disparate types (such as a str and a int) are
defined to have a consistent relative ordering, this is considered a historical design quirk, and will no longer be
allowed in Python 3000.
Chained comparison expressions such as a < b < c have roughly the meaning that they have in
mathematics, rather than the unusual meaning found in C and similar languages. The terms are evaluated and
compared in order. The operation is short circuit, meaning that evaluation stops as soon as the expression is
proven false: if a < b is false, c is never evaluated.
For expressions without side effects, a < b < c is equivalent to a < b and b < c. However, there is a
substantial difference when the expressions have side effects. a < f(x) < b will evaluate f(x) exactly
once, whereas a < f(x) and f(x) < b may evaluate it once or twice.
Logical operators [edit]
Python 2.2 and earlier does not have an explicit boolean type. In all versions of Python, boolean operators treat

zero values or empty values such as "", 0, None, 0.0, [], and {} as false, while in general treating non-
empty, non-zero values as true. In Python 2.2.1 the boolean constants True and False were added to the
language (subclassed from 1 and 0). Thus, the binary comparison operators such as == and >, return either
True or False. The lazily evaluated boolean operations, and and or, return the value of the last evaluated
subexpression, in order to preserve backwards compatibility. For example, as of Python 2.2.1 the expression
(2 == 2) evaluates to True, the expression (4 and 5) evaluates to 5, and the expression (4 or 5)
evaluates to 4.
Functional programming [edit]
As mentioned above, another strength of Python is the availability of a functional programming style. As may
be expected, this makes working with lists and other collections much more straightforward. One such
construction is the list comprehension, as seen here in calculating the first five powers of two:
numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
powers_of_two = [2**n for n in numbers]
The Quicksort algorithm can be expressed elegantly using list comprehensions:
def qsort(L):
if L == []: return []
pivot = L[0]
return qsort([x for x in L[1:] if x < pivot]) + [pivot] + \
qsort([y for y in L[1:] if y >= pivot])
Although execution of this naïve form of Quicksort is less space-efficient than forms which alter the sequence
in-place, it is often cited as an example of the expressive power of list comprehensions.
First-class functions [edit]
In Python, functions are first-class objects that can be created and passed around dynamically.
Python's lambda construct can be used to create anonymous functions within expressions. Lambdas are
however limited to containing expressions; statements can only be used in named functions created with the
def statement. (However, any type of control flow can in principle be implemented within lambda expressions
[3] by short-circuiting the and and or operators.)
Closures [edit]
Python has had support for lexical closures since version 2.2. Python's syntax, though, sometimes leads
programmers of other languages to think that closures are not supported. Since names are bound locally, the
trick to creating a closure is using a mutable container within enclosing scope. Many Python tutorials explain
this usage, but it is an atypical style in Python programs.

Generators [edit]
Introduced in Python 2.2 as an optional feature and finalized in version 2.3, generators are Python's mechanism
for lazy evaluation of a function that would otherwise return a space-prohibitive or computationally intensive
list.
This is an example to lazily generate the prime numbers:
import sys
def generate_primes(max=sys.maxint):
primes = []
n = 2
while n < max:
composite = False
for p in primes:
if not n % p:
composite = True
break
elif p**2 > n:
break
if not composite:
primes.append(n)
yield n
n += 1
To use this function simply call, e.g.:
for i in generate_primes(): # iterate over ALL primes

if i > 100: break
print i
The definition of a generator appears identical to that of a function, except the keyword yield is used in place
of return. However, a generator is an object with persistent state, which can repeatedly enter and leave the
same dynamic extent. A generator call can then be used in place of a list, or other structure whose elements will
be iterated over. Whenever the for-loop in the example requires the next item, the generator is called, and
yields the next item.
Generator expressions [edit]
Introduced in Python 2.4, generator expressions are the lazy evaluation equivalent of list comprehensions.
Using the prime number generator provided in the above section, we might define a lazy, but not quite infinite
collection.
from itertools import islice

first_million_primes = (i for i in generate_primes() if i < 1000000)

two_thousandth_prime = list(islice(first_million_primes,2001))[2000]
Most of the memory and time needed to generate this many primes will not be used until the needed element is
actually accessed. Unfortunately, you cannot perform simple indexing and slicing of generators, but must use
the itertools modules or "roll your own" loops. In contrast, a list comprehension is functionally equivalent, but
is greedy in performing all the work:
first_million_primes = [i for i in generate_primes(2000000) if i < 1000000]

two_thousandth_prime = first_million_primes[2000]
The list comprehension will immediately create a large list (with 78498 items, in the example, but transiently
creating a list of primes under two million), even if most elements are never accessed. The generator
comprehension is more parsimonious.
Further information: List comprehension
Objects [edit]
Python's support for object oriented programming paradigm is vast. It supports polymorphism, not only within
a class hierarchy but also by duck typing. Any object can be used for any type, and it will work so long as it has
the proper methods and attributes. And everything in Python is an object, including classes, functions, numbers
and modules. Python also has support for metaclasses, an advanced tool for enhancing classes' functionality.
Naturally, inheritance, including multiple inheritance, is supported. It has limited support for private variables
using name mangling. See the "Classes" section of the tutorial for details. Many Python users don't feel the
need for private variables, though. The slogan "We're all consenting adults here" is used to describe this
attitude. Some consider information hiding to be unpythonic, in that it suggests that the class in question
contains unaesthetic or ill-planned internals.
From the tutorial: As is true for modules, classes in Python do not put an absolute barrier between definition
and user, but rather rely on the politeness of the user not to "break into the definition."
OOP doctrines such as the use of accessor methods to read data members are not enforced in Python. Just as
Python offers functional-programming constructs but does not attempt to demand referential transparency, it
offers (and extensively uses!) its object system but does not demand OOP behavior. Moreover, it is always
possible to redefine the class using properties so that when a certain variable is set or retrieved in calling code,
it really invokes a function call, so that foo.x = y might really invoke foo.set_x(y). This nullifies the
practical advantage of accessor functions, and it remains OOP because the property 'x' becomes a legitimate
part of the object's interface: it need not reflect an implementation detail.
In version 2.2 of Python, "new-style" classes were introduced. With new-style classes, objects and types were
unified, allowing the subclassing of types. Even new types entirely can be defined, complete with custom
behavior for infix operators. This allows for many radical things to be done syntactically within Python. A new

multiple inheritance model was adopted with new-style classes, making a much more logical order of
inheritance. The new method __getattribute__ was also defined for unconditional handling of attribute
access.
For a useful introduction to the principles of object oriented programming, read Introduction to OOP with
Python.
Exceptions [edit]
Python supports (and extensively uses) exception handling as a means of testing for error conditions and other
"exceptional" events in a program. Indeed, it is even possible to trap the exception caused by a syntax error.
Python style calls for the use of exceptions whenever an error condition might arise. Indeed, rather than testing
for access to a file or resource before actually using it, it is conventional in Python to just go ahead and try to
use it, catching the exception if access is rejected.
Exceptions can also be used as a more general means of non-local transfer of control, even when an error is not
at issue. For instance, the Mailman mailing list software, written in Python, uses exceptions to jump out of
deeply-nested message-handling logic when a decision has been made to reject a message or hold it for
moderator approval.
Exceptions are often, especially in threaded situations, used as an alternative to the if-block. A commonly-
invoked motto is EAFP, or "It is Easier to Ask for Forgiveness than to ask for Permission." In this first code
sample, there is an explicit checks for the attribute (i.e., "asks permission"):
if hasattr(foo, 'bar'):
baz = foo.bar
else:
handle_error()
This second sample follows the EAFP paradigm:
try:
baz = foo.bar
except AttributeError:
handle_error()
These two code samples have the same effect, although there will be performance differences. When foo has
the attribute bar, the EAFP sample will run faster. When foo does not have the attribute bar (the
"exceptional" case), the EAFP sample will run significantly slower. The Python programmer usually writes for
code readability first, then uses Python's code profiling tools for performance analysis to determine if further
optimization is required. In most cases, the EAFP paradigm results in faster and more readable code.

Comments and docstrings [edit]
Python has two ways to annotate Python code. One is by using comments to indicate what some part of the
code does.
def getline():
return sys.stdin.readline() # Get one line and return it
Comments begin with the hash character ("#") and are terminated by the end of line. Python does not support
comments that span more than one line. The other way is to use docstrings (documentation string), that is a
string that is located alone without assignment as the first line within a module, class, method or function. Such
strings can be delimited with " or ' for single line strings, or may span multiple lines if delimited with either
""" or ''' which is Python's notation for specifying multi-line strings. However, the style guide for the
language specifies that triple double quotes (""") are preferred for both single and multi-line docstrings.
Single line docstring:
def getline():
"""Get one line from stdin and return it."""
return sys.stdin.readline()
Multi-line docstring:
def getline():
"""Get one line
from stdin
and return it."""
return sys.stdin.readline()
Docstrings can be as large as the programmer wants and contain line breaks (if multi-line strings are used). In
contrast with comments, docstrings are themselves Python objects and are part of the interpreted code that
Python runs. That means that a running program can retrieve its own docstrings and manipulate that
information. But the normal usage is to give other programmers information about how to invoke the object
being documented in the docstring.
There are tools available that can extract the docstrings to generate an API documentation from the code.
Docstring documentation can also be accessed from the interpreter with the help() function, or from the shell
with the pydoc command.
The doctest standard module uses interactions copied from Python shell sessions into docstrings, to create tests.
Resources [edit]

Implementations [edit]
The standard Python interpreter also supports an interactive mode in which it acts as a kind of shell:
expressions can be entered one at a time, and the result of their evaluation is seen immediately. This is a boon
for those learning the language and experienced developers alike: snippets of code can be tested in interactive
mode before integrating them into a proper program.
Python also includes a unit testing framework for creating exhaustive test suites. While static typing
aficionados see this as a replacement for a static type-checking system, Python programmers largely do not
share this view.
Standard Python does not support continuations, and according to Guido van Rossum, never will. However,
better support for coroutine-like functionality is planned, by extending Python's generators [4].
Standard library [edit]
Python comes with "batteries included"
Python has a large standard library, which makes it well suited to many tasks. This comes from a so-called
"batteries included" philosophy for Python modules. The modules of the standard library can be augmented
with custom modules written in either C or Python. The standard library is particularly well tailored to writing
Internet-facing applications, with a large number of standard formats and protocols (such as MIME and HTTP)
supported. Modules for creating graphical user interfaces, connecting to relational databases, arithmetic with
arbitrarily precise decimals, and manipulating regular expressions are also included.
The standard library is one of Python's greatest strengths. The bulk of it is cross-platform compatible, meaning
that even heavily leveraged Python programs can often run on Unix, Windows, Macintosh, and other platforms
without change.
It is currently being debated whether or not third-party but open source Python modules such as Twisted,
NumPy, or wxPython should be included in the standard library, in accordance with the batteries included
philosophy.
Supported platforms [edit]

The most popular (and therefore best maintained) platforms Python runs on are Linux, BSD, Mac OS X,
Microsoft Windows and Java (this JVM version is a separate implementation). Other supported platforms
include:
Unix-like Desktop OS's Special and Mainframe and

embedded other
● AIX ● Amiga
operating ● AROS ● Java virtual ● AS/400
system ● BeOS machine ● OS/390
● BSD ● Mac OS 9 ● Palm OS [5] ● Plan 9
● FreeBSD ● Mac OS X ● PlayStation 2 ● VMS
● NetBSD ● Microsoft ● PlayStation ● z/OS
● Linux Windows Portable
● OpenBSD ● OS/2 ● Psion
● SPARC ● RISC OS ● QNX
Solaris (formerly ● Sharp Zaurus
● Other Acorn) ● Symbian OS
Unixes, e.g. [6]
Irix ● Windows
CE/Pocket
PC
● Xbox (Used
in XBMC)
● VxWorks
Most of the third-party libraries for Python (and even some first-party ones) are only available on Windows,
Linux, BSD, and Mac OS X.
Python was originally developed as a scripting language for the Amoeba operating system capable of making
system calls; however, that version is no longer maintained.
Neologisms [edit]
A few neologisms have come into common use within the Python community. One of the most common is
"pythonic", which can have a wide range of meanings related to program style. To say that a piece of code is
pythonic is to say that it uses Python idioms well; that it is natural or shows fluency in the language. Likewise,
to say of an interface or language feature that it is pythonic is to say that it works well with Python idioms; that
its use meshes well with the rest of the language.
In contrast, a mark of unpythonic code is that it attempts to "write C++ (or Lisp, or Perl) code in Python"—
that is, provides a rough transcription rather than an idiomatic translation of forms from another language.

The prefix Py- can be used to show that something is related to Python. Examples of the use of this prefix in
names of Python applications or libraries include Pygame, a binding of SDL to Python (commonly used to
create games), PyUI, a GUI encoded entirely in Python, and PySol, a series of solitaire card games
programmed in Python.
Users and admirers of Python—most especially those considered knowledgeable or experienced—are often
referred to as Pythonists, Pythonistas, and Pythoneers.
See also [edit]
● Perl programming language

● Ruby programming language
References [edit]
● The Python Language Reference Manual by Guido van Rossum and Fred L. Drake, Jr. (ISBN 0-
9541617-8-5)
● How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python is an introduction to function-based
programming constructs using Python - free download available or hardcopy may be purchased. (ISBN
0971677506)
● Text Processing in Python by David Mertz is an intermediate Python book, available both online for
free and for money from Addison-Wesley. (ISBN 0321112547)
● Learning to Program by Alan Gauld is a beginner's book on Python. This is free on the web, but can
also be bought. Published by Addison-Wesley. (ISBN 0201709384)
● Python Pocket Reference, Third Edition by Mark Lutz. Updated to cover Python 2.4. Python Pocket
Reference, 3rd Edition is the perfect on-the-job reference, from O'Reilly Media. (ISBN 0596009402)
External links [edit]
Wikibooks Programming has more about this subject:

Python
● Python.org — Official project home.

❍ Python Tutorial written by Guido van Rossum
❍ Python Wiki
❍ Python Performance Tips — Tips and tricks to help you improve the performance of python
programs.
❍ Python documentation — includes several tutorials and reference documents.
❍ Python Cheese Shop — Repository of Python software, formerly known as Python Package
Index (PyPI).

Books [edit]
● A Byte of Python is a beginner's book on Python.

● Dive into Python demonstrates clever and useful Python paradigms for readers who know how to
program already. It is available online, or hardcopy may be purchased.
● Non-Programmers Tutorial For Python by Josh Cogliati is a beginner's book on Python.
● Free downloads of Python books
● Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Second Edition is an introductory book that uses game
programming as its evolving example.
● Python Annotated Archives by Martin C. Brown
Journals [edit]
● Py, "The Python Online Technical Journal".
Resources [edit]
● Open Directory: Python — Many Python resources.

● Python FAQTs
● Python Projects and Modules lots of useful code, as well as several articles on Python Programming.
● The Architecture of Python discusses Python internals.
● A-Python-A-Day – Mailing list with daily examples of Python use. Home page has links to many past
tips. Examples given in Python and Perl to help Perl programmers learn Python.
● Samples to extend and embed Python with C/C++
● Python Bibliotheca — Features video: "Introducing Python" with "A Python Love Story", also books,
practice problems, workshops, communities, poetry, all are open content.
● Learn Python in 10 minutes is a short tutorial/cheatsheet for learning Python if you're already a
programmer.
● Charming Python — Series of articles on Python topics by David Mertz.
● Norm Matloff's Quick Python Tutorials — UC Davis Professor Norm Matloff's published Python web
resources for his students and Python explorers.
● Python Learning Foundation. — Computer Programming for Everybody.
● Python411 Podcast Series — The python411 podcasts are created to help people learn Python and learn
about Python
● Useless Python - A repository of Python code, mostly semi-serious or throwaway code that has lived
longer than expected.
Non-English resources [edit]
● List of non-english resources at python.org

● AfPY - French Python User Group

● Python Wiki in Portuguese

● Python Wiki in German
Python 3000 [edit]
● The fate of reduce() in Python 3000
Major programming languages (more) (edit)

Industrial: ABAP | Ada | AWK | Assembly | ColdFusion | C | C++ | C# | COBOL | Delphi | Fortran | Java |
JavaScript | Lisp | Managed C++ | Objective-C | Pascal | Perl | PHP | SQL | Python | RPG | Ruby | Smalltalk | Tcl |
Visual Basic | VB.NET | Visual FoxPro
Academic: APL/J | Haskell | Logo | ML | Prolog | Other: ALGOL | BASIC | Clipper | Forth | Modula-2/
Scheme Modula-3 | MUMPS | PL/I | Simula
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_programming_language"
Categories: Dynamically-typed programming languages | Free software | Object-oriented programming

languages | Python programming language | Scripting languages
Views
● Article
● Discussion
● Edit this page
● History
Personal tools
● Sign in / create account
Navigation
● Main Page
● Community Portal
● Current events
● Recent changes
● Random article
● Help
● Contact Wikipedia

● Donations
Search
Go Search
Toolbox
● What links here

● Related changes
● Upload file
● Special pages
● Printable version
● Permanent link
● Cite this article
In other languages
● •••••••
● •••••••••
● Català
● •esky
● Dansk
● Deutsch
● Esperanto
● Español
● Eesti
● •••••
● Suomi
● Français
● Galego
● •••••
● Magyar
● Italiano
● •••
● •••
● Lietuvi•
● Nederlands
● Norsk (bokmål)
● Polski
● Português

● •••••••
● Sloven•ina
● Slovenš•ina
● •••••• / Srpski
● Svenska
● •••
● Türkçe
● ••••••••••
● Ti•ng Vi•t
● ••
● This page was last modified 15:33, 8 March 2006.

● All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights for
details).
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
● Privacy policy
● About Wikipedia
● Disclaimers

Recursive - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Recursive
See:
● Recursion
● Recursively enumerable language
● Recursively enumerable set
● Recursive filter
● Recursive function
● Recursive set
● Primitive recursive function
This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. If an internal link referred
you to this page, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recursive"
Category: Disambiguation
Views
● Article
● Discussion
● Edit this page
● History
Personal tools
Navigation
● Main Page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recursive (1 of 2)3/9/2006 10:57:49 AM

Recursive - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
● Current events
● Recent changes
● Random article
● Help
● Donations
Search
Go Search
Toolbox
● What links here

● Related changes
● Upload file
● Special pages
● Permanent link
● This page was last modified 22:51, 20 December 2005.

● All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights
for details).
● Privacy policy
● About Wikipedia
● Disclaimers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recursive (2 of 2)3/9/2006 10:57:49 AM

Breadth-first search - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Breadth-first search

Breadth-first search
In computer science, breadth-first search
(BFS) is a tree search algorithm used for
traversing or searching a tree, tree structure, or
graph. The algorithm begins at the root node and
explores all the neighboring nodes. Then for
each of those nearest nodes, it explores their
unexplored neighbor nodes, and so on, until it
finds the goal.
Contents
[hide]
Order in which the nodes are expanded
General Data
● 1 How it works
● 2 Algorithm (informal) Class: Search Algorithm
● 3 Algorithm (formal) Data Structure: Graph
● 4 Features Time Complexity: O( | V | + | E | )
❍ 4.1 Space Complexity
Space Complexity: O( | V | + | E | )
❍ 4.2 Time Complexity
Optimal: no
❍ 4.3 Completeness
Complete: yes
❍ 4.4 Optimality
● 5 Applications of BFS
❍ 5.1 Finding connected
Components
❍ 5.2 Test for bipartiteness
● 6 See also
● 7 References
● 8 External links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breadth-first_search (1 of 6)3/9/2006 10:58:23 AM

How it works [edit]
Formally, BFS is an uninformed search method that aims to expand and Tree search algorithms
examine all nodes of a graph systematically in search of a solution. In
Search
other words, it exhaustively searches the entire graph without considering
the goal until it finds it. It does not use a heuristic.
● A*
● Best-first search
From the standpoint of the algorithm, all child nodes obtained by ● Bidirectional search
expanding a node are added to a FIFO queue. In typical implementations, ● Breadth-first
nodes that have not yet been examined for their neighbors are placed in search
some container (such as a queue or linked list) called "open" and then ● Depth-first search
once examined are placed in the container "closed". ● Depth-limited search
● Floyd-Warshall
Algorithm (informal) [edit] algorithm

● Iterative deepening
1. Put the starting node (the root node) in the queue. depth-first search
2. Pull a node from the beginning of the queue and examine it. ● Uniform-cost search
❍ If the searched element is found in this node, quit the
search and return a result.

❍ Otherwise push all the (so-far-unexamined) successors of
Tree traversal
this node into the end of the queue, if there are any.
3. If the queue is empty, every node on the graph has been examined -- quit the search and return
"not found".
4. repeat from step 2.
Algorithm (formal) [edit]
function breadthFirstSearch (Start, Goal) {

enqueue(Queue,Start)
while notEmpty(Queue) {
Node := dequeue(Queue)
if Node = Goal {
return Node // the code below does not get executed
}
for each Child in Expand(Node) {
if notVisited(Child) {
setVisited(Child)
enqueue(Queue, Child)
}
}

}
}
Features [edit]
Space Complexity [edit]
Since all nodes discovered so far have to be saved, the space complexity of breadth-first search is O(|V|
+ |E|) where |V| is the number of nodes and |E| the number of edges in the graph. Note: another way of
saying this is that it is O(B ^ M) where B is the maximum branching factor and M is the maximum path
length of the tree. This immense demand for space is the reason why breadth-first search is impractical
for larger problems.
Time Complexity [edit]
Since in the worst case breadth-first search has to consider all paths to all possible nodes the time
complexity of breadth-first search is O(|V| + |E|) where |V| is the number of nodes and |E| the number of
edges in the graph.
Completeness [edit]
Breadth-first search is complete. This means that if there is a solution breadth-first search will find it
regardless of the kind of graph. However, if the graph is infinite and there is no solution breadth-first
search will diverge.
Optimality [edit]
In general breadth-first search is not optimal since it always returns the result with the fewest edges
between the start node and the goal node. If the graph is a weighted graph and therefore has costs
associated with each step a goal next to the start does not have to be the cheapest goal available. This
problem is solved by improving breadth-first search to uniform-cost search which considers the path
costs. Nevertheless, if the graph is not weighted, and therefore all step costs are equal, breadth-first
search will find the nearest and the best solution.
Applications of BFS [edit]
Breadth-first search can be used to solve many problems in graph theory, for example:
● Finding all connected components in a graph.

● Finding all nodes within one connected component

● Finding the shortest path between two nodes u and v (unweighted nodes)
● Testing a graph for bipartiteness
Finding connected Components [edit]
The set of nodes reached by a BFS are the largest connected component containing the start node.
Test for bipartiteness [edit]
If there are edges joining nodes in the same BFS layer, then the graph must contain an odd length cycle
and be non-bipartite.
See also [edit]
● Apriori algorithm
● Depth-first search
References [edit]
● Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest, and Clifford Stein. Introduction to
Algorithms, Second Edition. MIT Press and McGraw-Hill, 2001. ISBN 0262032937. Section
22.2: Breadth-first search, pp.531–539.
External links [edit]
● Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures: breadth-first search

● C++ Boost Graph Library: Breadth-First Search
● Depth First and Breadth First Search: Explanation and Code
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breadth-first_search"
Categories: Trees (structure) | Search algorithms
Views
● Article
● Discussion
● Edit this page

● History
Personal tools
Navigation
● Main Page
● Current events
● Recent changes
● Random article
● Help
● Donations
Search
Go Search
Toolbox
● What links here

● Related changes
● Upload file
● Special pages
● Permanent link
In other languages
● Deutsch
● Español
● Français
● •••••
● Lietuvi•
● •••

● Polski
● Português
● This page was last modified 00:54, 7 March 2006.

● All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights
for details).
● Privacy policy
● About Wikipedia
● Disclaimers

Quiz Puzzle

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Quiz Puzzle

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Quiz Puzzle

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

What is the eight queens puzzle?

What is the eight queens puzzle?

What is Python programming language?

What is Python programming language?

Eight queens puzzle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A standard recursive solution

● no two pieces can share the same row

# Return a list of solutions to the n-queens problem on an

# Try all ways of adding a queen to a column of row new_row, returning

# Is it safe to add a queen to sol at (new_row, new_col)? Return

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_queens_puzzle (1 of 2)3/9/2006 10:56:54 AM

for sol in n_queens(8, 8):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_queens_puzzle (2 of 2)3/9/2006 10:56:54 AM

Your continued donations keep Wikipedia running!

Python programming language

Jump to: navigation, search

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_programming_language (1 of 20)3/9/2006 10:57:48 AM

❍ 4.2 Data structures

■ 4.2.1 Base types

■ 4.2.2 Collection types

■ 4.2.3 Object system

■ 4.3.1 Comparison operators

■ 4.3.2 Logical operators

❍ 4.4 Functional programming

■ 4.4.1 First-class functions

■ 4.4.4 Generator expressions

❍ 4.7 Comments and docstrings

❍ 5.2 Standard library

❍ 10.4 Non-English resources

❍ 10.5 Python 3000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_programming_language (2 of 20)3/9/2006 10:57:48 AM

Python is sometimes referred to as a "scripting language". In practice, it is used as a dynamic programming

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_programming_language (3 of 20)3/9/2006 10:57:48 AM

The future [edit]

Among other changes, Python 3000 plans to:

Main article: Python software

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_programming_language (4 of 20)3/9/2006 10:57:48 AM

For instance, Python has only two structured loop forms:

1. for item in iterator:, which loops over elements of a list or iterator

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_programming_language (5 of 20)3/9/2006 10:57:48 AM

Factorial function in Python:

for (i = 0; i < 20; ++i)

Data structures [edit]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_programming_language (6 of 20)3/9/2006 10:57:48 AM

for many aspects of the way the language functions.

Base types [edit]

Collection types [edit]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_programming_language (7 of 20)3/9/2006 10:57:48 AM

Object system [edit]

Comparison operators [edit]

Logical operators [edit]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_programming_language (8 of 20)3/9/2006 10:57:48 AM

Functional programming [edit]

The Quicksort algorithm can be expressed elegantly using list comprehensions:

First-class functions [edit]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_programming_language (9 of 20)3/9/2006 10:57:48 AM

This is an example to lazily generate the prime numbers:

To use this function simply call, e.g.:

for i in generate_primes(): # iterate over ALL primes