3/30/2020 Introduction to Programming: Learn Python: Syntax Reference Guide | Codecademy

Cheatsheets / Introduction to Programming

Learn Python: Syntax

Comments
A comment is a piece of text within a program that is not executed. It can be
used to provide additional information to aid in understanding the code.

The # character is used to start a comment and it continues until the end of
the line.

# Comment on a single line

user = "JDoe" # Comment after code

Arithmetic Operations
Python supports different types of arithmetic operations that can be
performed on literal numbers, variables, or some combination. The primary
arithmetic operators are:

● + for addition
● - for subtraction
● * for multiplication
● / for division
● % for modulus (returns the remainder)
● ** for exponentiation

# Arithmetic operations

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result = 10 + 30
result = 40 - 10
result = 50 * 5
result = 16 / 4
result = 25 % 2
result = 5 ** 3

Plus-Equals Operator +=

The plus-equals operator += provides a convenient way to add a value to an

existing variable and assign the new value back to the same variable. In the
case where the variable and the value are strings, this operator performs
string concatenation instead of addition.

The operation is performed in-place, meaning that any other variable which
points to the variable being updated will also be updated.

# Plus-Equal Operator

counter = 0
counter += 10

# This is equivalent to

counter = 0
counter = counter + 10

# The operator will also perform string concatenation

message = "Part 1 of message "

message += "Part 2 of message"

Variables
A variable is used to store data that will be used by the program. This data
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can be a number, a string, a Boolean, a list or some other data type. Every
variable has a name which can consist of letters, numbers, and the underscore
character _ .

The equal sign = is used to assign a value to a variable. After the initial
assignment is made, the value of a variable can be updated to new values as
needed.

# These are all valid variable names and assignment

user_name = "@sonnynomnom"
user_id = 100
verified = False

# A variable's value can be changed after assignment

points = 100
points = 120

Modulo Operator %

A modulo calculation returns the remainder of a division between the first and
second number. For example:

● The result of the expression 4 % 2 would result in the value 0, because 4

is evenly divisible by 2 leaving no remainder.
● The result of the expression 7 % 3 would return 1, because 7 is not
evenly divisible by 3, leaving a remainder of 1.

# Modulo operations

zero = 8 % 4

nonzero = 12 % 5

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Integers
An integer is a number that can be written without a fractional part (no
decimal). An integer can be a positive number, a negative number or the
number 0 so long as there is no decimal portion.

The number 0 represents an integer value but the same number written as
0.0 would represent a floating point number.

# Example integer numbers

chairs = 4
tables = 1
broken_chairs = -2
sofas = 0

# Non-integer numbers

lights = 2.5
left_overs = 0.0

String Concatenation
Python supports the joining (concatenation) of strings together using the +
operator. The + operator is also used for mathematical addition operations. If
the parameters passed to the + operator are strings, then concatenation will
be performed. If the parameter passed to + have different types, then Python
will report an error condition. Multiple variables or literal strings can be joined
together using the + operator. The concatenation process does not add any
whitespace between the strings that are joined.

# String concatenation

first = "Hello "

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second = "World"

result = first + second

long_result = first + second + "!"

Errors
The Python interpreter will report errors present in your code. For most error
cases, the interpreter will display the line of code where the error was
detected and place a caret character ^ under the portion of the code where
the error was detected.

if False ISNOTEQUAL True:

^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

ZeroDivisionError
A ZeroDivisionError is reported by the Python interpreter when it detects a
division operation is being performed and the denominator (bottom number)
is 0. In mathematics, dividing a number by zero has no defined value, so
Python treats this as an error condition and will report a ZeroDivisionError and
display the line of code where the division occurred. This can also happen if a
variable is used as the denominator and its value has been set to or changed
to 0.

numerator = 100
denominator = 0
bad_results = numerator / denominator

ZeroDivisionError: division by zero

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Strings
A string is a sequence of characters (letters, numbers, whitespace or
punctuation) enclosed by quotation marks. It can be enclosed using either the
double quotation mark " or the single quotation mark ' .

If a string has to be broken into multiple lines, the backslash character \ can
be used to indicate that the string continues on the next line.

user = "User Full Name"

game = 'Monopoly'

longer = "This string is broken up \

over multiple lines"

SyntaxError
A SyntaxError is reported by the Python interpreter when some portion of the
code is incorrect. This can include misspelled keywords, missing or too many
brackets or parenthesis, incorrect operators, missing or too many quotation
marks, or other conditions.

age = 7 + 5 = 4

File "<stdin>", line 1

SyntaxError: can't assign to operator

NameError
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A NameError is reported by the Python interpreter when it detects a variable

that is unknown. This can occur when a variable is used before it has been
assigned a value or if a variable name is spelled differently than the point at
which it was defined. The Python interpreter will display the line of code
where the NameError was detected and indicate which name it found that
was not defined.

misspelled_variable_name

NameError: name 'misspelled_variable_name' is not defined

Floating Point Numbers

Python variables can be assigned different types of data. One supported data
type is the floating point number. A floating point number is a value that
contains a decimal portion. It can be used to represent numbers that have
fractional quantities. For example, a = 3/5 can not be represented as an
integer, so the variable a is assigned a floating point value of 0.6 .

# Floating point numbers

pi = 3.14159
meal_cost = 12.99
tip_percent = 0.20

print() Function
The print() function is used to output text, numbers, or other printable
information to the console.

It takes one or more arguments and will output each of the arguments to the
console separated by a space. If no arguments are provided, the print()
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function will output a blank line.

print("Hello World!")

print(100)

pi = 3.14159
print(pi)

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