What conventions do I use in this book?
This book uses version 3.9 of Python or later. Most of the features are available in earlier versions of Python 3, but we do not show nor further mention the now-unsupported Python 2.
Executable Python code and its produced results are shown in a monospace font and
are marked off in the text in the following way:
2**50
1125899906842624
The second expression shown is indented and is the result of running the code.
Code can also span several lines as in this example where we create and display a set of numbers that contains no duplicates:
print({1, 2, 3, 2, 4,
1, 5, 3, 6, 7,
1, 3, 8, 2})
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}
For long function, method, and class definitions, I number the lines so I can refer to them more easily in the text. The numbers are not part of the Python input, and you should not enter them if you type in the code.
def display_string(the_string, put_in_uppercase=False):
if put_in_uppercase:
print(the_string.upper())
else:
print(the_string)When I refer to Python function, method, and property names in text, they appear like this:
print, __add__, and
left. Example Python type and class names in the text are
int, Fraction, and Guitar. Python module and package names appear like math, os.path, and qiskit.
This book has exercises throughout the text. Work them out as you encounter them before proceeding.
Exercise 0.1
Is this a sample exercise?
The exercises are numbered within chapters.
Exercise 0.2
Is this another sample exercise?
Due to some typographical restrictions, square roots in mathematical expressions within sentences may not have lines over them. For example, an expression like √(x + y) in a sentence is the same as
when it appears within a standalone centered formula.
Occasionally, you may see something like [DWQ] or [DWQ, Section 3.5]. This is a reference to a book, article, or web content. The References section provides details about the works cited.
Dancing with Qubits covers the mathematics for and of quantum computing in great detail. That book is not a prerequisite to this, but I point you to sections in Qubits that pertain to any related material here for your convenience. For example:
I cover real numbers, including floating-point numbers, in section 3.5 of Dancing with Qubits section 3.5. [DWQ]