Book Image

The Python Workshop

By : Olivier Pons, Andrew Bird, Dr. Lau Cher Han, Mario Corchero Jiménez, Graham Lee, Corey Wade
Book Image

The Python Workshop

By: Olivier Pons, Andrew Bird, Dr. Lau Cher Han, Mario Corchero Jiménez, Graham Lee, Corey Wade

Overview of this book

Have you always wanted to learn Python, but never quite known how to start? More applications than we realize are being developed using Python because it is easy to learn, read, and write. You can now start learning the language quickly and effectively with the help of this interactive tutorial. The Python Workshop starts by showing you how to correctly apply Python syntax to write simple programs, and how to use appropriate Python structures to store and retrieve data. You'll see how to handle files, deal with errors, and use classes and methods to write concise, reusable, and efficient code. As you advance, you'll understand how to use the standard library, debug code to troubleshoot problems, and write unit tests to validate application behavior. You'll gain insights into using the pandas and NumPy libraries for analyzing data, and the graphical libraries of Matplotlib and Seaborn to create impactful data visualizations. By focusing on entry-level data science, you'll build your practical Python skills in a way that mirrors real-world development. Finally, you'll discover the key steps in building and using simple machine learning algorithms. By the end of this Python book, you'll have the knowledge, skills and confidence to creatively tackle your own ambitious projects with Python.

Related Content you might be interested in

Current Title:

Small book image
The Python Workshop
Olivier Pons | Andrew Bird | Dr. Lau Cher Han | Mario Corchero Jiménez | Graham Lee | Corey Wade
Nov, 2019 | 608 pages
Small book image
Hands-On Gradient Boosting with XGBoost and scikit-learn
Corey Wade
Oct, 2020 | 310 pages
Small book image
Python Fundamentals
Ryan Marvin | Mark Nganga | Amos Omondi
Oct, 2018 | 324 pages
Small book image
Data Wrangling with Python
Shubhadeep Roychowdhury | Tirthajyoti Sarkar
Feb, 2019 | 452 pages
Table of Contents (13 chapters)
Preface
Preface
About the Course
Free Chapter
1
1. Vital Python – Math, Strings, Conditionals, and Loops
1. Vital Python – Math, Strings, Conditionals, and Loops
Introduction
Vital Python
Numbers: Operations, Types, and Variables
Python as a Calculator
Strings: Concatenation, Methods, and input()
String Interpolation
String Indexing and Slicing
Slicing
Booleans and Conditionals
Loops
Summary
2
2. Python Structures
2. Python Structures
Introduction
The Power of Lists
Matrix Operations
List Methods
Dictionary Keys and Values
Dictionary Methods
Tuples
A Survey of Sets
Choosing Types
Summary
3
3. Executing Python – Programs, Algorithms, and Functions
3. Executing Python – Programs, Algorithms, and Functions
Introduction
Python Scripts and Modules
Python Algorithms
Basic Functions
Iterative Functions
Recursive Functions
Dynamic Programming
Helper Functions
Variable Scope
Lambda Functions
Summary
4
4. Extending Python, Files, Errors, and Graphs
4. Extending Python, Files, Errors, and Graphs
Introduction
Reading Files
Writing Files
Preparing for Debugging (Defensive Code)
Plotting Techniques
The Don'ts of Plotting Graphs
Summary
5
5. Constructing Python – Classes and Methods
5. Constructing Python – Classes and Methods
Introduction
Classes and Objects
Defining Classes
The __init__ method
Methods
Properties
Inheritance
Summary
6
6. The Standard Library
6. The Standard Library
Introduction
The Importance of the Standard Library
Dates and Times
Interacting with the OS
Using the subprocess Module
Logging
Collections
Functools
Summary
7
7. Becoming Pythonic
7. Becoming Pythonic
Introduction
Using List Comprehensions
Set and Dictionary Comprehensions
Default Dictionary
Iterators
Itertools
Generators
Regular Expressions
Summary
8
8. Software Development
8. Software Development
Introduction
Debugging
Automated Testing
Creating a PIP Package
Creating Documentation the Easy Way
Source Management
Summary
9
9. Practical Python – Advanced Topics
9. Practical Python – Advanced Topics
Introduction
Developing Collaboratively
Dependency Management
Deploying Code into Production
Multiprocessing
Parsing Command-Line Arguments in Scripts
Performance and Profiling
Profiling
Summary
10
10. Data Analytics with pandas and NumPy
10. Data Analytics with pandas and NumPy
Introduction
NumPy and Basic Stats
Matrices
The pandas Library
Data
Null Values
Visual Analysis
Summary
11
11. Machine Learning
11. Machine Learning
Introduction
Introduction to Linear Regression
Cross-Validation
Regularization: Ridge and Lasso
K-Nearest Neighbors, Decision Trees, and Random Forests
Classification Models
Boosting Methods
Summary
Appendix
Appendix
1. Vital Python – Math, Strings, Conditionals, and Loops
2. Python Structures
3. Executing Python – Programs, Algorithms, Functions
4. Extending Python, Files, Errors, and Graphs
5. Constructing Python – Classes and Methods
6. The Standard Library
7. Becoming Pythonic
8. Software Development
9. Practical Python – Advanced Topics
10. Data Analytics with pandas and NumPy
11. Machine Learning

Recursive Functions

When a function calls itself, it is known as a Recursive Function. This is like for loops. However, sometimes it allows you to write more elegant and terse functions than can be achieved with a loop.

You can imagine that a function that calls itself might end up in an infinite loop; it is true that you can write a recursive function that will keep running indefinitely:

def print_the_next_number(start):
        print(start + 1)
        return print_the_next_number(start + 1)
print_the_next_number(5)

You should get the following output:

6
7
8
9
10
11

Note

The output mentioned above is truncated.

If you run this code in a Python shell, it will continue printing integers until you interrupt the interpreter (Ctrl + C). Take a look at the preceding code and ensure you understand why it behaves in this manner. The function executes the following steps:

  • The function...
Previous Section
End of Section 7
Next Section