Introduction to

Python
 Overview

 History
 Installing & Running Python
 Names & Assignment
 Sequences types: Lists, Tuples, and
Strings
 Mutability
 Brief History of Python
 Invented in the Netherlands, early 90s
by Guido van Rossum
 Named after Monty Python
 Open sourced from the beginning
 Considered a scripting language, but is
much more
 Scalable, object oriented and functional
from the beginning
 Used by Google from the beginning
 Increasingly popular
 Python’s Benevolent Dictator For Life

“Python is an experiment in
how much freedom program-
mers need. Too much
freedom and nobody can read
another's code; too little and
expressive-ness is
endangered.”
- Guido van Rossum
http://docs.python.org/
The Python tutorial is good!
Running
Python
 The Python Interpreter
 Typical Python implementations offer
both an interpreter and compiler
 Interactive interface to Python with a
read-eval-print loop
[finin@linux2 ~]$ python
Python 2.4.3 (#1, Jan 14 2008, 18:32:40)
[GCC 4.1.2 20070626 (Red Hat 4.1.2-14)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> def square(x):
... return x * x
...
>>> map(square, [1, 2, 3, 4])
[1, 4, 9, 16]
>>>
 Installing
 Python is pre-installed on most Unix systems, including
Linux and MAC OS X
 The pre-installed version may not be the most recent one
(2.6.2 and 3.1.1 as of Sept 09)
 Download from http://python.org/download/
 Python comes with a large library of standard modules
 There are several options for an IDE
• IDLE – works well with Windows
• Emacs with python-mode or your favorite text editor
• Eclipse with Pydev (http://pydev.sourceforge.net/)
• Shell
• jupyter notebook (nice to try)
IDLE Development Environment
 IDLE is an Integrated DeveLopment Environ-
ment for Python, typically used on Windows
 Multi-window text editor with syntax
highlighting, auto-completion, smart indent
and other.
 Python shell with syntax highlighting.
 Integrated debugger
with stepping, persis-
tent breakpoints,
and call stack visi-
bility
 Python Scripts
 When you call a python program from the
command line the interpreter evaluates each
expression in the file
 Familiar mechanisms are used to provide
command line arguments and/or redirect
input and output
 Python also has mechanisms to allow a
python program to act both as a script and as
a module to be imported and used by another
python program
 Simple functions: ex.py
671> python
Python 3.5.6 …
>>> import ex
>>> ex.fact1(6)
1296
>>> ex.fact2(200)
78865786736479050355236321393218507…000000L
>>> ex.fact1
<function fact1 at 0x902470>
>>> fact1
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'fact1' is not defined
>>>
The Basics
 A Code Sample (in IDLE)
x = 34 - 23 # A comment.
y = “Hello” # Another one.
z = 3.45
if z == 3.45 or y == “Hello”:
x=x+1
y = y + “ World” # String concat.
print (x)
print (y)
 Enough to Understand the Code
 Indentation matters to code meaning
• Block structure indicated by indentation
 First assignment to a variable creates it
• Variable types don’t need to be declared.
• Python figures out the variable types on its own.
 Assignment is = and comparison is ==
 For numbers + - * / % are as expected
• Special use of + for string concatenation and % for
string formatting (as in C’s printf)
 Logical operators are words (and, or,
not) not symbols
 The basic printing command is print
 Basic Datatypes
 Integers (default for numbers)
z = 5 / 2 # Answer 2, integer division
 Floats
x = 3.456
 Strings
• Can use “” or ‘’ to specify with “abc” == ‘abc’
• Unmatched can occur within the string: “matt’s”
• Use triple double-quotes for multi-line strings or
strings than contain both ‘ and “ inside of them:
“““a‘b“c”””
 Whitespace
Whitespace is meaningful in Python: especially
indentation and placement of newlines
Use a newline to end a line of code
Use \ when must go to next line prematurely
No braces {} to mark blocks of code, use
consistent indentation instead
• First line with less indentation is outside of the block
• First line with more indentation starts a nested block
Colons start of a new block in many constructs,
e.g. function definitions, then clauses
 Comments
 Start comments with #, rest of line is ignored
 Can include a “documentation string” as the
first line of a new function or class you define
 Development environments, debugger, and
other tools use it: it’s good style to include one
def fact(n):
“““fact(n) assumes n is a positive
integer and returns facorial of n.”””
assert(n>0)
return 1 if n==1 else n*fact(n-1)
 Assignment
 Binding a variable in Python means setting a name to
hold a reference to some object
• Assignment creates references, not copies
 Names in Python do not have an intrinsic type,
objects have types
• Python determines the type of the reference automatically
based on what data is assigned to it
 You create a name the first time it appears on the left
side of an assignment expression:
x=3
 A reference is deleted via garbage collection after
any names bound to it have passed out of scope
 Python uses reference semantics (more later)
 Naming Rules
 Names are case sensitive and cannot start
with a number. They can contain letters,
numbers, and underscores.
bob Bob _bob _2_bob_ bob_2 BoB
 There are some reserved words:
and, assert, break, class, continue,
def, del, elif, else, except, exec,
finally, for, from, global, if,
import, in, is, lambda, not, or,
pass, print, raise, return, try,
while
 Naming conventions
The Python community has these recommend-
ed naming conventions
joined_lower for functions, methods and,
attributes
joined_lower or ALL_CAPS for constants
StudlyCaps for classes
camelCase only to conform to pre-existing
conventions
Attributes: interface, _internal, __private
 Assignment
 You can assign to multiple names at the
same time
>>> x, y = 2, 3
>>> x
2
>>> y
3
This makes it easy to swap values
>>> x, y = y, x
 Assignments can be chained
>>> a = b = x = 2
Accessing Non-Existent Name
Accessing a name before it’s been properly
created (by placing it on the left side of an
assignment), raises an error
>>> y

Traceback (most recent call last):

File "<pyshell#16>", line 1, in -toplevel-
y
NameError: name ‘y' is not defined
>>> y = 3
>>> y
3
Sequence types:
Tuples, Lists, and
Strings
 Sequence Types
1. Tuple: (‘john’, 32)
 A simple immutable ordered sequence of
items
 Items can be of mixed types, including
collection types
2. Strings: “John Smith”
• Immutable
• Conceptually very much like a tuple
3. List: [1, 2, ‘john’, (‘up’, ‘down’)]
 Mutable ordered sequence of items of
mixed types
 Similar Syntax
 All three sequence types (tuples,
strings, and lists) share much of the
same syntax and functionality.
 Key difference:
• Tuples and strings are immutable
• Lists are mutable
 The operations shown in this section
can be applied to all sequence types
• most examples will just show the
operation performed on one
 Sequence Types 1

 Define tuples using parentheses and commas

>>> tu = (23, ‘abc’, 4.56, (2,3), ‘def’)
 Define lists are using square brackets and
commas
>>> li = [“abc”, 34, 4.34, 23]
 Define strings using quotes (“, ‘, or “““).
>>> st = “Hello World”
>>> st = ‘Hello World’
>>> st = “““This is a multi-line
string that uses triple quotes.”””
 Sequence Types 2
 Access individual members of a tuple, list, or
string using square bracket “array” notation
 Note that all are 0 based…
>>> tu = (23, ‘abc’, 4.56, (2,3), ‘def’)
>>> tu[1] # Second item in the tuple.
‘abc’
>>> li = [“abc”, 34, 4.34, 23]
>>> li[1] # Second item in the list.
34
>>> st = “Hello World”
>>> st[1] # Second character in string.
‘e’
 Positive and negative indices

>>> t = (23, ‘abc’, 4.56, (2,3), ‘def’)

Positive index: count from the left, starting with 0
>>> t[1]
‘abc’
Negative index: count from right, starting with –1
>>> t[-3]
4.56
 Slicing: return copy of a subset

>>> t = (23, ‘abc’, 4.56, (2,3), ‘def’)

Return a copy of the container with a subset of

the original members. Start copying at the first
index, and stop copying before second.
>>> t[1:4]
(‘abc’, 4.56, (2,3))
Negative indices count from end
>>> t[1:-1]
(‘abc’, 4.56, (2,3))
 Slicing: return copy of a =subset

>>> t = (23, ‘abc’, 4.56, (2,3), ‘def’)

Omit first index to make copy starting from
beginning of the container
>>> t[:2]
(23, ‘abc’)
Omit second index to make copy starting at first
index and going to end
>>> t[2:]
(4.56, (2,3), ‘def’)
 Copying the Whole Sequence

 [ : ] makes a copy of an entire sequence

>>> t[:]
(23, ‘abc’, 4.56, (2,3), ‘def’)
 Note the difference between these two lines
for mutable sequences
>>> l2 = l1 # Both refer to 1 ref,
# changing one affects both
>>> l2 = l1[:] # Independent copies, two
refs
 The ‘in’ Operator
 Boolean test whether a value is inside a container:
>>> t = [1, 2, 4, 5]
>>> 3 in t
False
>>> 4 in t
True
>>> 4 not in t
False
 For strings, tests for substrings
>>> a = 'abcde'
>>> 'c' in a
True
>>> 'cd' in a
True
>>> 'ac' in a
False
 Be careful: the in keyword is also used in the syntax
of for loops and list comprehensions
 The + Operator
The + operator produces a new tuple, list, or
string whose value is the concatenation of its
arguments.

>>> (1, 2, 3) + (4, 5, 6)

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

>>> [1, 2, 3] + [4, 5, 6]

[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

>>> “Hello” + “ ” + “World”

‘Hello World’
 The * Operator
 The * operator produces a new tuple, list, or
string that “repeats” the original content.
>>> (1, 2, 3) * 3
(1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3)

>>> [1, 2, 3] * 3
[1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3]

>>> “Hello” * 3
‘HelloHelloHello’
 Mutability:
Tuples vs. Lists
 Lists are mutable

>>> li = [‘abc’, 23, 4.34, 23]

>>> li[1] = 45
>>> li
[‘abc’, 45, 4.34, 23]
 We can change lists in place.
 Name li still points to the same memory
reference when we’re done.
 Tuples are immutable
>>> t = (23, ‘abc’, 4.56, (2,3), ‘def’)
>>> t[2] = 3.14
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<pyshell#75>", line 1, in -toplevel-
tu[2] = 3.14
TypeError: object doesn't support item assignment

You can’t change a tuple.

You can make a fresh tuple and assign its
reference to a previously used name.
>>> t = (23, ‘abc’, 3.14, (2,3), ‘def’)
The immutability of tuples means they’re faster
than lists.
 Operations on Lists Only

>>> li = [1, 11, 3, 4, 5]

>>> li.append(‘a’) # Note the method

syntax
>>> li
[1, 11, 3, 4, 5, ‘a’]

>>> li.insert(2, ‘i’)

>>>li
[1, 11, ‘i’, 3, 4, 5, ‘a’]
 The extend method vs +
 + creates a fresh list with a new memory ref
 extend operates on list li in place.
>>> li.extend([9, 8, 7])
>>> li
[1, 2, ‘i’, 3, 4, 5, ‘a’, 9, 8, 7]

 Potentially confusing:
• extend takes a list as an argument.
• append takes a singleton as an argument.
>>> li.append([10, 11, 12])
>>> li
[1, 2, ‘i’, 3, 4, 5, ‘a’, 9, 8, 7, [10,
11, 12]]
 Operations on Lists Only
Lists have many methods, including index, count,
remove, reverse, sort
>>> li = [‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’, ‘b’]
>>> li.index(‘b’) # index of 1st occurrence
1
>>> li.count(‘b’) # number of occurrences
2
>>> li.remove(‘b’) # remove 1st occurrence
>>> li
[‘a’, ‘c’, ‘b’]
 Operations on Lists Only
>>> li = [5, 2, 6, 8]

>>> li.reverse() # reverse the list *in place*

>>> li
[8, 6, 2, 5]

>>> li.sort() # sort the list *in place*

>>> li
[2, 5, 6, 8]

>>> li.sort(some_function)
# sort in place using user-defined comparison
 Tuple details
 The comma is the tuple creation operator, not parens
>>> 1,
(1,)

 Python shows parens for clarity (best practice)

>>> (1,)
(1,)

 Don't forget the comma!

>>> (1)
1

 Trailing comma only required for singletons others

 Empty tuples have a special syntactic form
>>> ()
()
>>> tuple()
()
 Summary: Tuples vs. Lists
 Lists slower but more powerful than tuples
• Lists can be modified, and they have lots of
handy operations and mehtods
• Tuples are immutable and have fewer
features
 To convert between tuples and lists use the
list() and tuple() functions:
li = list(tu)
tu = tuple(li)