Book Image

Python Fundamentals

By : Ryan Marvin, Mark Ng’ang’a, Amos Omondi
Book Image

Python Fundamentals

By: Ryan Marvin, Mark Ng’ang’a, Amos Omondi

Overview of this book

<p>After a brief history of Python and key differences between Python 2 and Python 3, you'll understand how Python has been used in applications such as YouTube and Google App Engine. As you work with the language, you'll learn about control statements, delve into controlling program flow and gradually work on more structured programs via functions.</p> <p>As you settle into the Python ecosystem, you'll learn about data structures and study ways to correctly store and represent information. By working through specific examples, you'll learn how Python implements object-oriented programming (OOP) concepts of abstraction, encapsulation of data, inheritance, and polymorphism. You'll be given an overview of how imports, modules, and packages work in Python, how you can handle errors to prevent apps from crashing, as well as file manipulation.</p> <p>By the end of this book, you'll have built up an impressive portfolio of projects and armed yourself with the skills you need to tackle Python projects in the real world.</p>

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Table of Contents (12 chapters)
Python Fundamentals
Python Fundamentals
Preface
Preface
Free Chapter
1
Introducing Python
Introducing Python
Introduction
Working with the Python Interactive Shell
Writing and Running Simple Scripts
Python Syntax
Variables
User Input, Comments, and Indentations
Summary
2
Data Types
Data Types
Introduction
Numerical Data
Strings
Lists
Booleans
Summary
3
Control Statements
Control Statements
Introduction
Control Statements
The if Statement
The while Statement
while Versus if
Loops
The for Loop
The range Function
Nesting Loops
Breaking Out of Loops
Summary
4
Functions
Functions
Introduction
Built-In Functions
User-Defined Functions
Function Arguments
Anonymous Functions
Summary
5
Lists and Tuples
Lists and Tuples
Introduction
List Syntax
List Methods
List Comprehensions
Tuple Syntax
Accessing Tuple Elements
Accessing Tuple Elements
Tuple Methods
Summary
6
Dictionaries and Sets
Dictionaries and Sets
Introduction
Working with Dictionaries
Additional Dictionary Attributes
Ordered Dictionaries
The Basics of Sets
Set Operations
Frozen Sets
Summary
7
Object-Oriented Programming
Object-Oriented Programming
Introduction
A First Look at OOP
OOP in Python
Methods in a Class
Class Versus Instance Attributes
Class Versus Instance Methods
Class Inheritance
Multiple Inheritance
Summary
8
Modules, Packages, and File Operations
Modules, Packages, and File Operations
Introduction
Defining Modules
Imports and Import Statements
Modules and Packages
File Operations
The file Object
Reading and Writing to Files
Handling Structured Data
Summary
9
Error Handling
Error Handling
Introduction
Built-In Exceptions
Handling Errors and Exceptions
Custom Exceptions
Summary
Appendix A
Appendix A
Chapter 1: Introducing Python
Chapter 2: Data Types
Chapter 3: Control Statements
Chapter 4: Functions
Chapter 5: Lists and Tuples
Chapter 6: Dictionaries and Sets
Chapter 7: Object-Oriented Programming
Chapter 8: Modules, Packages, and File Operations
Chapter 9: Error Handling

Breaking Out of Loops

When running loops, sometimes, we might want to interrupt or intervene in the execution of the loops before it runs its full course due to an external factor. For instance, when writing a function looping though a list of numbers, you may want to break when a defined condition external to the program flow is met. We will demonstrate this further.

Python provides us with three statements that can be used to achieve this:

  • break

  • continue

  • pass

The break Statement

The break statement allows you to exit a loop based on an external trigger. This means that you can exit the loop based on a condition external to the loop. This statement is usually used in conjunction with a conditional if statement.

The following is an example program that shows the break statement in action:

# Loop over all numbers from 1 to 10
for number in range(1,11):
  # If the number is 4, exit the loop
  if number == 4:
    break

  # Calculate the product of number and 2
  product = number * 2
  # Print out...
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