What is Python?

Python is a popular programming language. It was created by Guido van

Rossum, and released in 1991.

It is used for:

 web development (server-side),

 software development,
 mathematics,
 system scripting.

What can Python do?

 Python can be used on a server to create web applications.
 Python can be used alongside software to create workflows.
 Python can connect to database systems. It can also read and modify
files.
 Python can be used to handle big data and perform complex
mathematics.
 Python can be used for rapid prototyping, or for production-ready
software development.

Why Python?
 Python works on different platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, Raspberry
Pi, etc).
 Python has a simple syntax similar to the English language.
 Python has syntax that allows developers to write programs with fewer
lines than some other programming languages.
 Python runs on an interpreter system, meaning that code can be
executed as soon as it is written. This means that prototyping can be
very quick.
 Python can be treated in a procedural way, an object-oriented way or a
functional way.

Python Syntax compared to other programming

languages
 Python was designed for readability, and has some similarities to the
English language with influence from mathematics.
 Python uses new lines to complete a command, as opposed to other
programming languages which often use semicolons or parentheses.
 Python relies on indentation, using whitespace, to define scope; such
as the scope of loops, functions and classes. Other programming
languages often use curly-brackets for this purpose.
Example
print("Hello, World!")

output
Hello,world!
Python Quickstart
Python is an interpreted programming language, this means that as a
developer you write Python (.py) files in a text editor and then put those files
into the python interpreter to be executed.

The way to run a python file is like this on the command line:

C:\Users\Your Name>python helloworld.py

Where "helloworld.py" is the name of your python file.

Let's write our first Python file, called helloworld.py, which can be done in any
text editor.

helloworld.py
print("Hello, World!")

Simple as that. Save your file. Open your command line, navigate to the
directory where you saved your file, and run:

C:\Users\Your Name>python helloworld.py

The output should read:

Hello, World!

Python Version
To check the Python version of the editor, you can find it by importing
the sys module:
Example
Check the Python version of the editor:

import sys

print(sys.version)
output

The Python Command Line

To test a short amount of code in python sometimes it is quickest and easiest
not to write the code in a file. This is made possible because Python can be
run as a command line itself.

Type the following on the Windows, Mac or Linux command line:

C:\Users\Your Name>python
Or, if the "python" command did not work, you can try "py":
C:\Users\Your Name>py

From there you can write any python, including our hello world example from
earlier in the tutorial:

C:\Users\Your Name>python
Python 3.6.4 (v3.6.4:d48eceb, Dec 19 2017, 06:04:45) [MSC v.1900
32 bit (Intel)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more
information.
>>> print("Hello, World!")

Which will write "Hello, World!" in the command line:

C:\Users\Your Name>python
Python 3.6.4 (v3.6.4:d48eceb, Dec 19 2017, 06:04:45) [MSC v.1900
32 bit (Intel)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more
information.
>>> print("Hello, World!")
Hello, World!

Whenever you are done in the python command line, you can simply type the
following to quit the python command line interface:
exit()

Python Variables
In Python, variables are created when you assign a value to it:

Example
Variables in Python:

x = 5
y = "Hello, World!"

output

Comments
Python has commenting capability for the purpose of in-code documentation.

Comments start with a #, and Python will render the rest of the line as a
comment:

Example
Comments in Python:

#This is a comment.
print("Hello, World!")

Multiline Comments
Python does not really have a syntax for multiline comments.

To add a multiline comment you could insert a # for each line:

Example
#This is a comment
#written in
#more than just one line
print("Hello, World!")

Or, not quite as intended, you can use a multiline string.

Since Python will ignore string literals that are not assigned to a variable, you
can add a multiline string (triple quotes) in your code, and place your
comment inside it:

Example
"""
This is a comment
written in
more than just one line
"""
print("Hello, World!")

Creating Variables
Python has no command for declaring a variable.

A variable is created the moment you first assign a value to it.

Example
x = 4 # x is of type int
x = "Sally" # x is now of type str
print(x)

Casting
If you want to specify the data type of a variable, this can be done with
casting.

Example
x = str(3) # x will be '3'
y = int(3) # y will be 3
z = float(3) # z will be 3.0
Get the Type
You can get the data type of a variable with the type() function.

Example
x = 5
y = "John"
print(type(x))
print(type(y))

Case-Sensitive
Variable names are case-sensitive.

Example
This will create two variables:

a = 4
A = "Sally"
#A will not overwrite a

Output Variables
The Python print() function is often used to output variables.

Example
x = "Python is awesome"
print(x)
Global Variables
Variables that are created outside of a function (as in all of the examples
above) are known as global variables.

Global variables can be used by everyone, both inside of functions and

outside.

Example
x = "awesome"

def myfunc():
print("Python is " + x)

myfunc()