Book Image

Python Fundamentals

By : Ryan Marvin, Mark Nganga, Amos Omondi
Book Image

Python Fundamentals

By: Ryan Marvin, Mark Nganga, Amos Omondi

Overview of this book

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. 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. 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.

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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

Loops

In Python, looks (just as in any other language) are a way to execute a specific block of code several times. In particular, loops are used to iterate or loop over what we call iterables.

For the purposes of this chapter, we can define an iterable as follows:

  • Anything that can be looped over (that is, you can loop over a string or a file)

  • Anything that can appear on the right-hand side of a for loop, for example, for x in iterable

A few examples of common iterables include the following:

  • Strings

  • Lists

  • Dictionaries

  • Files

You can think of an iterable as a collection of homogeneous things that have been grouped together to form a large collective. The individuals in the group have the same properties, and when they are combined, they form something new.

Consider the example of cars in a car yard. We can consider the car yard as the collection or iterable and the individual cars as the constituent members of the car yard. If you were shopping for a car, you would probably have a couple of qualities...

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