A Byte of Python PDF

1/4/2015
AByteofPython
AByteofPython
SwaroopCH
[email protected]
http://www.swaroopch.com/notes/python/
1/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
TableofContents
1.Welcome
2.Dedication
3.Preface
4.Introduction
5.Installation
6.FirstSteps
7.Basics
8.OperatorsandExpressions
9.ControlFlow
10.Functions
11.Modules
12.DataStructures
13.ProblemSolving
14.ObjectOrientedProgramming
15.InputandOutput
16.Exceptions
17.StandardLibrary
18.More
19.Appendix:FLOSS
20.Appendix:Colophon
21.Appendix:HistoryLesson
22.Appendix:RevisionHistory
23.Translations
24.TranslationHowto
2/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
"AByteofPython"isafreebookonprogrammingusingthePythonlanguage.It
servesasatutorialorguidetothePythonlanguageforabeginneraudience.Ifallyou
knowaboutcomputersishowtosavetextfiles,thenthisisthebookforyou.
3/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
1.Welcome
1.1.WhoreadsAByteofPython?
Herearewhatpeoplearesayingaboutthebook:
ThisisthebestbeginnerstutorialIveeverseen!Thankyouforyoureffort.
Thebestthingifoundwas"AByte ofPython",whichissimplyabrilliantbookfor
WaltMichalik
a beginner. Its well written, the concepts are well explained with self evident
examples.
JoshuaRobin
Excellentgentleintroductiontoprogramming#Pythonforbeginners
Bestnewbieguidetopython
starttolovepythonwitheverysinglepageread
perfect beginners guide for python, will give u key to unlock magical world of
ShanRajasekaran (https://twitter.com/ShanRajasekaran/status/268910645842423809)
NicksonKaigi (https://twitter.com/nickaigi/status/175508815729541120)
HerbertFeutl (https://twitter.com/HerbertFeutl/status/11901471389913088)
python
Dilip (https://twitter.com/Dili_mathilakam/status/220033783066411008)
I should be doing my actual "work" but just found "A Byte of Python". A great
guidewithgreatexamples.
BiologistJohn (https://twitter.com/BiologistJohn/statuses/194726001803132928)
Recently started reading a Byte of python.Awesome work. And that too for free.
Highlyrecommendedforaspiringpythonistas.
Mangesh (https://twitter.com/mangeshnanoti/status/225680668867321857)
4/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
A Byte of Python, written by Swaroop. (this is the book Im currently reading).

Probably the best to start with, and probably the best in the world for every
newbieorevenamoreexperienceduser.
Apostolos (http://apas.gr/2010/04/27/learningpython/)
EnjoyingReading#ByteOfPythonby@swaroopchbestbookever
Thank you so much for writing A Byte Of Python. I just started learning how to
YuvrajSharma (https://twitter.com/YuvrajPoudyal/status/448050415356346368)
code two days ago and Im already building some simple games. Your guide has
beenadreamandIjustwantedtoletyouknowhowvaluableithasbeen.
Franklin
Im from Dayanandasagar College of Engineering (7th sem, CSE). Firstly i want

to say that your book "The byte of python" is too good a book for a beginner in
python like me.The concepts are so well explained with simple examples that
helpedmetoeasilylearnpython.Thankyousomuch.
Madhura
I am a 18 year old IT student studying at University in Ireland. I would like to

express my gratitude to you for writing your book "A Byte of Python", I already
hadknowledgeof 3programminglangaguesC,Java andJavascript,andPython
was byfar theeasiest langagueI haveever learned,and thatwas mainlybecause
your book was fantastic and made learning python very simple and interesting. It
isone ofthe bestwrittenand easyto followprogrammingbooks Ihave everread.
Congratulationsandkeepupthegreatwork.
Matt
Hi, Imfrom DominicanRepublic. Myname isPavel, recentlyI readyour bookA

Byte of Pythonand I consider it excellent!! :). I learnt much from all the
examples.Yourbookisofgreathelpfornewbieslikeme
PavelSimo
5/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
I am a student from China, Now ,I have read you book A byte of Python, Oh its
beautiful. The bookis very simple but canhelp all the first learnners.You know I
am interesting in Java and cloud computing many times, i have to coding
programm for the server, so i think python is a good choice, finish your book, i
think its not only a good choice its must use the Python. My English is not very
well, the email to you, i just wanna thank you! Best Wishes for you and your
family.
RoyLau
I recently finished reading Byte of Python, and I thought I really ought to thank
you. I was very sad to reach the final pages as I now have to go back to dull,
tedious oreilly or etc. manuals for learning about python. Anyway, I really
appreciateyourbook.
SamuelYoung
Dear Swaroop, I am taking a class from an instructor that has no interest in

teaching. We are using Learning Python, second edition, by OReilly. It is not a
text for beginner without any programming knowledge, and an instructor that
shouldbeworking inanotherfield.Thankyouverymuch foryourbook,withoutit
I would be clueless about Python and programming. Thanks a million, you are
able tobreak themessage downto a level that beginnerscan understand and not
everyonecan.
JosephDuarte
I love your book! It is the greatest Python tutorial ever, and a very useful
reference.Brilliant,atruemasterpiece!Keepupthegoodwork!
ChrisAndrSommerseth
6/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
First of all, I want to say thanks to you for this greate book. I think it is a good
bookforthosewhoarelookingforabeginnerstutorialforPython.
It is abouttwo or there yearsago, I think, when Ifirst heard of thisbook.At that
time, I am not able to read some book in English yet, so I got a chinese
translation,whichtookmeintothegateofPythonprogramming.
Recently, I reread this book. This time, of course, the english version. I couldnt
believe that I can read the whole book without my dictionary at hand. Of course,
itallduestoyourefforttomakethisbookaneasytounderstandone.
myd7349 (https://github.com/swaroopch/byte_of_python/pull/13)
Im just emailing you to thank you for writing Byte of Python online. I had been
attempting Python for a few months prior to stumbling across your book, and
althoughImadelimitedsuccesswithpyGame,Inevercompletedaprogram.
Thanksto yoursimplificationofthe categories,Pythonactuallyseems areachable
goal. It seems like I have finally learned the foundations and I can continue into
myrealgoal,gamedevelopment.
Onceagain, thanksVERYmuch forplacingsucha structuredandhelpful guideto

basic programming on the web. It shoved me into and out of OOP with an
understandingwheretwotextbookshadfailed.
MattGallivan
7/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
I would like to thank you for your book A Byte of Pythonwhich i myself find the
best way to learn python. I am a 15 year old i live in egypt my name isAhmed.
Pythonwas mysecond programminglanguagei learnvisualbasic 6at schoolbut
didnt enjoy it, however i really enjoyed learning python. I made the addressbook
program and i was sucessful. i will try to start make more programs and read
python programs (if you could tell me source that would be helpful). I will also
start on learning java and if you can tell me where to find a tutorial as good as
yoursforjavathatwouldhelpmealot.Thanx.
AhmedMohammed
A wonderful resource for beginners wanting to learn more about Python is the
110page PDF tutorialAByte of Python by Swaroop C H.It is wellwritten, easy
tofollow,andmaybethebestintroductiontoPythonprogrammingavailable.
DrewAmes (http://www.linux.com/feature/126522)
Yesterday I got through most of Byte of Python on my Nokia N800 and its the
easiest and most concise introduction to Python I have yet encountered. Highly
recommendedasastartingpointforlearningPython.
JasonDelport (http://paxmodept.com/telesto/blogitem.htm?id=627)
Byte of Vim and Python by @swaroopch is by far the best works in technical
writingtome.Excellentreads#FeelGoodFactor
Surendran (http://twitter.com/suren/status/12840485454)
"Byteofpython"bestonebyfarman
(inresponse tothequestion"Can anyonesuggestagood, inexpensiveresourcefor
learningthebasicsofPython?")
JustinLoveTrue (http://www.facebook.com/pythonlang/posts/406873916788)
TheBookByteofpythonwasveryhelpful..Thanksbigtime:)
Chinmay (https://twitter.com/a_chinmay/status/258822633741762560)
8/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Always been a fan of A Byte of Python made for both new and experienced
programmers.
PatrickHarrington (http://stackoverflow.com/a/457785/4869)
I started learning python few days ago from your book..thanks for such a nice
book. it is so well written, you made my life easy..so you found a new fan of
yours..thatsme:)tonsofthanks.
GadadhariBheem (https://twitter.com/Pagal_e_azam/statuses/242865885256232960)
Before I started to learn Python, Ive acquired basic programming skills in

Assembly, C,C++, C# and Java.The very reason Iwanted to learn Pythonis its
popular (people are talking about it) and powerful (reality). This book written by
Mr. Swaroop is a very good guide for both brandnew programmers and new
pythonprogrammers.Took10halfdaystogothroughit.GreatHelp!
FangBiyi(PhDCandidateECE,MichiganStateUniversity)
Thankyoueversomuchforthisbook!!
This book cleared up many questions I had about certain aspects of Python such
asobjectorientedprogramming.
I do not feel like an expert at OO but I know this book helped me on a first step
ortwo.
I havenow writtenseveral pythonprograms thatactually doreal thingsfor meas
a system administrator. They are all procedural oriented but they are small by
mostpeoplesstandards.
Again,thanksforthisbook.Thankyouforhavingitontheweb.
Bob
9/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Ijust wanttothankyou forwritingthefirst bookonprogrammingIve everreally

read.Python isnow myfirst language,andI canjust imagineall thepossibilities.
Sothank youforgiving methetools tocreatethings Ineverwould haveimagined
Icoulddobefore.
TheWalrus
I wantedto thank you forwriting A ByteOf Python(2 & 3 Versions). It has been
invaluabletomylearningexperienceinPython&Programmingingeneral.
Needlesstosay,I amabeginnerintheprogrammingworld,a coupleofmonthsof
selfstudy uptothis point.Ihad beenusingyoutube tutorials&some otheronline
tutorials including other free books. I decided to dig into your book yesterday, &
Ive learned more on the first few pages than any other book or tutorial. A few
thingsIhadbeenconfusedabout,were clearedrightupwithaGREATexample&
explanation.Cantwaittoread(andlearn)more!!
Thank you so much for not only writing the book, but for putting it under the
creative commons license (free). Thank goodness there are unselfish people like
yououttheretohelp&teachtherestofus.
Chris
10/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
I wrote you back in 2011 and I was just getting into Python and wanted to thank
you for your tutorial "A Byte of Python". Without it, I would have fallen by the
wayside. Since then I have gone on to program a number of functions in my
organization with this language with yet more on the horizon. I would not call
myselfanadvanced programmerbyanystretchbutI noticetheoccasionalrequest
forassistance nowfrom otherssinceI startedusing it.I discovered,while reading
"Byte" why Ihad ceased studying C andC[]+ and it was becausethe book given
to me started out with an example containing an augmented assignment. Of
course, there was no explanation for this arrangement of operators and I fell on
my head trying tomake sense of what was onthe written page. As I recallit was
a most frustrating exercise which I eventuallyabandoned. Doesn't mean C or C+
is impossible to learn, or even that I am stupid, but it does mean that the
documentation I worked my way through did not define the symbols and words
whichis anessentialpart ofanyinstruction. Justascomputers willnotbe ableto
understanda computerword orcomputersymbol thatisoutside thesyntax forthe
language being used, a student new to any field will not grasp his subject if he
encounters words or symbols for which there are no definitions. You get a "blue
screen" as it werein either case. The solution is simple, though:find the word or
symbolandget theproperdefinitionor symbolandloand behold,thecomputeror
studentcan proceed.Your bookwas sowell puttogether that Ifound verylittle in
it I couldnt grasp. So, thank you. I encourage you to continue to include full
definitions ofterms. The documentation with Python isgood, once you know, (the
examples are its strength from what I see) but in many cases it seems that you
have to know in order to understand the documentation which to my mind is not
what should be. Third party tutorials express the need for clarification of the
documentation and their success largely depends on the words that are used to
describethe terminology.Ihave recommendedyour bookto manyothers. Somein
Australia, some in the Caribbean and yet others in the US. It fills a niche no
othersdo.Ihopeyouaredoingwellandwishyouallthesuccessinthefuture.
Nick
11/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
hey, this is ankush(19). I was facing agreat difficulty to start with python. I tried
a lot of books but all were bulkier and not target oriented and then i found this
lovelyone, whichmademelove pythoninnotime. Thanksalotfor this"beautiful
pieceofbook".
Ankush
I would like to thank you for your excellent guide on Python. I am a molecular
biologist (with little programming background) and for my work I need to handle
big datasets of DNA sequences and to analyse microscope images. For both
things, programming in python has been useful, if not essential to complete and
publisha6yearsproject.
That such aguide is freely available is aclear sign that the forces ofevil are not
yetrulingtheworld!:)
Luca
Since this is going to be the first language you learn, you should use A Byte of
Python.It reallygives aproper introductioninto programmingin Pythonand itis
paced well enough for the average beginner. The most important thing from then
onwillbeactuallystartingtopracticemakingyourownlittleprograms.
"{Unregistered}"
(http://www.overclock.net/t/1177951/wanttolearnprogrammingwheredoistart#post_15837176)
Just to say a loud and happy thank you very muchfor publishing "A Byte of
Python" and "A Byte of Vim". Those books were very useful to me four or five
years ago when I starting learning programming. Right now Im developing a
project that was a dream for a long, long time and just want to say thank you.
Keepwalking.Youareasourceofmotivation.Allthebest.
Jocimar
Finished reading A byte of Python in 3 days. It is thoroughly interesting. Not a

single page was boring. I want to understand the Orca screen reader code. Your
bookhashopefullyequippedmeforit.
12/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Dattatray
Hi, 'A byte of python' is really a good reading for python beginners. So, again,
NICEWORK!
im a 4 years experienced Java&C developer from China. Recently, i want to do
someworkonzimwikinoteprojectwhichusespygtktoimplement.
i read your book in 6 days, and i can read and write python code examples now.
thx foryour contribution. plzkeep your enthusiasm tomake this worldbetter, this
isjustalittleencouragefromChina.YourreaderLee
LEE
I am Isen from Taiwan, who is a graduating PhD student in Electrical

Engineering Department ofNational Taiwan University. I would liketo thank you
foryour greatbook. Ithink itis notonlyjust easyto readbut alsocomprehensive
and complete for a new comer of Python. The reason I read your book is that I
am starting to work on the GNU Radio framework. Your book let me catch most
ofimportantcoreideasandskillofPythonwithaminimumtime.
I also sawthat you do notmind that readers sendyou a thank notein your book.
SoIreallylikeyourbookandappreciateit.Thanks.
IsenIChunChao
ThebookisevenusedbyNASA!ItisbeingusedintheirJetPropulsionLaboratory
(http://dsnra.jpl.nasa.gov/software/Python/byteofpython/output/byteofpython_html/)withtheirDeepSpace
Networkproject.
1.2.AcademicCourses
Thisbookis/wasbeingusedasinstructionalmaterialinvariouseducationalinstitutions:
'PrinciplesofProgrammingLanguages'courseat'VrijeUniversiteit,Amsterdam'
(http://www.few.vu.nl/~nsilvis/PPL/2007/index.html)
'BasicConceptsofComputing'courseat'UniversityofCalifornia,Davis'
(http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/courses/exp_course_desc/10.html)
13/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
'ProgrammingWithPython'courseat'HarvardUniversity'
(http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~preshman/python_winter.html)
'IntroductiontoProgramming'courseat'UniversityofLeeds' (http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/acom1900/)
'IntroductiontoApplicationProgramming'courseat'BostonUniversity'
(http://www.cs.bu.edu/courses/cs108/materials.html)
'InformationTechnologySkillsforMeteorology'courseat'UniversityofOklahoma'
(http://gentry.metr.ou.edu/byteofpython/)
'Geoprocessing'courseat'MichiganStateUniversity' (http://www.msu.edu/~ashton/classes/825/index.html)
'MultiAgentSemanticWebSystems'courseatthe'UniversityofEdinburgh'
(http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/ewan/masws/)
'IntroductiontoComputerScienceandProgramming'at'MITOpenCourseWare'
(http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electricalengineeringandcomputerscience/600scintroductiontocomputerscience
andprogrammingspring2011/references/)
'BasicprogrammingattheFacultyofSocialSciences,UniversityofLjubljana,Slovenia'Ale
ibernasays"I(andmypredecessor)havebeenusingyourbookasthemainliteratureforthis
course"
1.3.License
ThisbookislicensedunderaCreativeCommonsAttributionShareAlike4.0InternationalLicense
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bysa/4.0/).
Thismeans:
YouarefreetoSharei.e.tocopy,distributeandtransmitthisbook
YouarefreetoRemixi.e.tomakechangestothisbook(especiallytranslations)
Youarefreetouseitforcommercialpurposes
Pleasenote:
Pleasedonotsellelectronicorprintedcopiesofthebookunlessyouhaveclearlyandprominently
mentionedinthedescriptionthatthesecopiesarenotfromtheoriginalauthorofthisbook.
Attributionmustbeshownintheintroductorydescriptionandfrontpageofthedocumentbylinking
backtohttp://swaroopch.com/notes/pythonandclearlyindicatingthattheoriginaltextcanbefetched
fromthislocation.
14/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Allthecode/scriptsprovidedinthisbookislicensedunderthe3clauseBSDLicense
(http://www.opensource.org/licenses/bsdlicense.php)unlessotherwisenoted.
1.4.ReadNow
Youcanreadthebookonlineathttp://swaroopch.com/notes/python
1.5.BuyTheBook
Aprintedhardcopyofthebookcanbepurchasedathttp://swaroopch.com/buybookforyouroffline
readingpleasure,andtosupportthecontinueddevelopmentandimprovementofthisbook.
1.6.Download
PDF (http://files.swaroopch.com/python/byte_of_python.pdf)(fordesktopreading,etc.)
EPUB (http://files.swaroopch.com/python/byte_of_python.epub)(foriPhone/iPad,ebookreaders,etc.)
Mobi(forKindle) (http://files.swaroopch.com/python/byte_of_python.mobi)
GitHub (https://github.com/swaroopch/byte_of_python)(forrawtext,translating,etc.)
Ifyouwishtosupportthecontinueddevelopmentofthisbook,pleaseconsiderbuyingahardcopy
(http://swaroopch.com/buybook).
1.7.Readthebookinyournativelanguage
Ifyouareinterestedinreadingorcontributingtranslationsofthisbooktootherhumanlanguages,please
seeTranslations.
15/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
2.Dedication
ToKalyanVarma (http://www.kalyanvarma.net/)andmanyotherseniorsatPESIT (http://www.pes.edu/)who
introducedustoGNU/Linuxandtheworldofopensource.
TothememoryofAtulChitnis (http://www.nextbigwhat.com/atulchitnisobituary297/),afriendandguidewho
shallbemissedgreatly.
TothepioneerswhomadetheInternethappen (http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/index.html).Thisbookwas
firstwrittenin2003.Itstillremainspopular,thankstothenatureofsharingknowledgeontheInternetas
envisionedbythepioneers.
16/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
3.Preface
Pythonisprobablyoneofthefewprogramminglanguageswhichisbothsimpleandpowerful.Thisis
goodforbeginnersaswellasforexperts,andmoreimportantly,isfuntoprogramwith.Thisbookaims
tohelpyoulearnthiswonderfullanguageandshowhowtogetthingsdonequicklyandpainlesslyin
effect'TheAntivenomtoyourprogrammingproblems'.
3.1.WhoThisBookIsFor
ThisbookservesasaguideortutorialtothePythonprogramminglanguage.Itismainlytargetedat
newbies.Itisusefulforexperiencedprogrammersaswell.
Theaimisthatifallyouknowaboutcomputersishowtosavetextfiles,thenyoucanlearnPythonfrom
thisbook.Ifyouhavepreviousprogrammingexperience,thenyoucanalsolearnPythonfromthisbook.
Ifyoudohavepreviousprogrammingexperience,youwillbeinterestedinthedifferencesbetween
PythonandyourfavoriteprogramminglanguageIhavehighlightedmanysuchdifferences.Alittle
warningthough,Pythonissoongoingtobecomeyourfavoriteprogramminglanguage!
3.2.OfficialWebsite
Theofficialwebsiteofthebookishttp://swaroopch.com/notes/pythonwhereyoucanreadthewhole
bookonline,downloadthelatestversionsofthebook,buyaprintedhardcopy
(http://swaroopch.com/buybook)andalsosendmefeedback.
3.3.SomethingToThinkAbout
There are two ways of constructing a software design: one way is to make it so
simple that there are obviously no deficiencies the other is to make it so
complicatedthattherearenoobviousdeficiencies.
C.A.R.Hoare
Success in life is a matter not so much of talent and opportunity as of

concentrationandperseverance.
C.W.Wendte
17/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
4.Introduction
Pythonisoneofthoserarelanguageswhichcanclaimtobebothsimpleandpowerful.Youwillfind
yourselfpleasantlysurprisedtoseehoweasyitistoconcentrateonthesolutiontotheproblemrather
thanthesyntaxandstructureofthelanguageyouareprogrammingin.
TheofficialintroductiontoPythonis:
Python isan easy tolearn, powerful programminglanguage. It hasefficient high

level data structures and a simple but effective approach to objectoriented
programming. Pythons elegant syntax and dynamic typing, together with its
interpreted nature, make it an ideal language for scripting and rapid application
developmentinmanyareasonmostplatforms.
Iwilldiscussmostofthesefeaturesinmoredetailinthenextsection.
Storybehindthename
GuidovanRossum,thecreatorofthePythonlanguage,namedthelanguageaftertheBBCshow
"MontyPythonsFlyingCircus".Hedoesntparticularlylikesnakesthatkillanimalsforfoodby
windingtheirlongbodiesaroundthemandcrushingthem.
4.1.FeaturesofPython
Simple
Pythonisasimpleandminimalisticlanguage.ReadingagoodPythonprogramfeelsalmostlike
readingEnglish,althoughverystrictEnglish!ThispseudocodenatureofPythonisoneofitsgreatest
strengths.Itallowsyoutoconcentrateonthesolutiontotheproblemratherthanthelanguageitself.
EasytoLearn
Asyouwillsee,Pythonisextremelyeasytogetstartedwith.Pythonhasanextraordinarilysimple
syntax,asalreadymentioned.
FreeandOpenSource
PythonisanexampleofaFLOSS(Free/LibrandOpenSourceSoftware).Insimpleterms,youcan
freelydistributecopiesofthissoftware,readitssourcecode,makechangestoit,andusepiecesofitin
newfreeprograms.FLOSSisbasedontheconceptofacommunitywhichsharesknowledge.Thisis
18/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
oneofthereasonswhyPythonissogoodithasbeencreatedandisconstantlyimprovedbya
communitywhojustwanttoseeabetterPython.
HighlevelLanguage
WhenyouwriteprogramsinPython,youneverneedtobotheraboutthelowleveldetailssuchas
managingthememoryusedbyyourprogram,etc.
Portable
Duetoitsopensourcenature,Pythonhasbeenportedto(i.e.changedtomakeitworkon)many
platforms.AllyourPythonprogramscanworkonanyoftheseplatformswithoutrequiringany
changesatallifyouarecarefulenoughtoavoidanysystemdependentfeatures.
YoucanusePythononGNU/Linux,Windows,FreeBSD,Macintosh,Solaris,OS/2,Amiga,AROS,
AS/400,BeOS,OS/390,z/OS,PalmOS,QNX,VMS,Psion,AcornRISCOS,VxWorks,PlayStation,
SharpZaurus,WindowsCEandPocketPC!
YoucanevenuseaplatformlikeKivy (http://kivy.org)tocreategamesforyourcomputerandfor
iPhone,iPad,andAndroid.
Interpreted
Thisrequiresabitofexplanation.
AprogramwritteninacompiledlanguagelikeCorC[]+isconvertedfromthesourcelanguagei.e.C
orC+intoalanguagethatisspokenbyyourcomputer(binarycodei.e.0sand1s)usingacompiler
withvariousflagsandoptions.Whenyouruntheprogram,thelinker/loadersoftwarecopiesthe
programfromharddisktomemoryandstartsrunningit.
Python,ontheotherhand,doesnotneedcompilationtobinary.Youjustruntheprogramdirectlyfrom
thesourcecode.Internally,Pythonconvertsthesourcecodeintoanintermediateformcalled
bytecodesandthentranslatesthisintothenativelanguageofyourcomputerandthenrunsit.Allthis,
actually,makesusingPythonmucheasiersinceyoudonthavetoworryaboutcompilingtheprogram,
makingsurethattheproperlibrariesarelinkedandloaded,etc.ThisalsomakesyourPythonprograms
muchmoreportable,sinceyoucanjustcopyyourPythonprogramontoanothercomputeranditjust
works!
ObjectOriented
Pythonsupportsprocedureorientedprogrammingaswellasobjectorientedprogramming.In
procedureorientedlanguages,theprogramisbuiltaroundproceduresorfunctionswhicharenothing
butreusablepiecesofprograms.Inobjectorientedlanguages,theprogramisbuiltaroundobjects
19/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
whichcombinedataandfunctionality.PythonhasaverypowerfulbutsimplisticwayofdoingOOP,
especiallywhencomparedtobiglanguageslikeC++orJava.
Extensible
Ifyouneedacriticalpieceofcodetorunveryfastorwanttohavesomepieceofalgorithmnottobe
open,youcancodethatpartofyourprograminCorC\++andthenuseitfromyourPythonprogram.
Embeddable
YoucanembedPythonwithinyourC/C\++programstogivescriptingcapabilitiesforyourprograms
users.
ExtensiveLibraries
ThePythonStandardLibraryishugeindeed.Itcanhelpyoudovariousthingsinvolvingregular
expressions,documentationgeneration,unittesting,threading,databases,webbrowsers,CGI,FTP,
email,XML,XMLRPC,HTML,WAVfiles,cryptography,GUI(graphicaluserinterfaces),andother
systemdependentstuff.Remember,allthisisalwaysavailablewhereverPythonisinstalled.Thisis
calledtheBatteriesIncludedphilosophyofPython.
Besidesthestandardlibrary,therearevariousotherhighqualitylibrarieswhichyoucanfindatthe
PythonPackageIndex (http://pypi.python.org/pypi).
Summary
Pythonisindeedanexcitingandpowerfullanguage.Ithastherightcombinationofperformanceand
featuresthatmakewritingprogramsinPythonbothfunandeasy.
4.2.Python2versus3
Youcanignorethissectionifyourenotinterestedinthedifferencebetween"Pythonversion2"and
"Pythonversion3".Butpleasedobeawareofwhichversionyouareusing.Thisbookiswrittenfor
Python2.
Rememberthatonceyouhaveproperlyunderstoodandlearntouseoneversion,youcaneasilylearnthe
differencesandusetheotherone.Thehardpartislearningprogrammingandunderstandingthebasicsof
Pythonlanguageitself.Thatisourgoalinthisbook,andonceyouhaveachievedthatgoal,youcan
easilyusePython2orPython3dependingonyoursituation.
FordetailsondifferencesbetweenPython2andPython3,see:
ThefutureofPython2 (http://lwn.net/Articles/547191/)
20/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Python/3pageontheUbuntuwiki (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Python/3)
4.3.WhatProgrammersSay
YoumayfinditinterestingtoreadwhatgreathackerslikeESRhavetosayaboutPython:
1. EricS.Raymondistheauthorof"TheCathedralandtheBazaar"andisalsothepersonwhocoined
thetermOpenSource.HesaysthatPythonhasbecomehisfavoriteprogramminglanguage
(http://www.python.org/about/success/esr/).Thisarticlewastherealinspirationformyfirstbrushwith
Python.
2. BruceEckelistheauthorofthefamous'ThinkinginJava'and'ThinkinginC++'books.Hesaysthat
nolanguagehasmadehimmoreproductivethanPython.HesaysthatPythonisperhapstheonly
languagethatfocusesonmakingthingseasierfortheprogrammer.Readthecompleteinterview
(http://www.artima.com/intv/aboutme.html)formoredetails.
3. PeterNorvigisawellknownLispauthorandDirectorofSearchQualityatGoogle(thankstoGuido
vanRossumforpointingthatout).HesaysthatwritingPythonislikewritinginpseudocode
(https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1803815).HesaysthatPythonhasalwaysbeenanintegralpartof
Google.YoucanactuallyverifythisstatementbylookingattheGoogleJobs
(http://www.google.com/jobs/index.html)pagewhichlistsPythonknowledgeasarequirementfor
softwareengineers.
21/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
5.Installation
Whenwereferto"Python2"inthisbook,wewillbereferringtoanyversionofPythonequaltoor
greaterthanversion2.7 (https://www.python.org/downloads/).
5.1.InstallationonWindows
Visithttps://www.python.org/downloads/anddownloadthelatestversion.Theinstallationisjustlikeany
otherWindowsbasedsoftware.
CAUTION
Whenyouaregiventheoptionofuncheckingany"optional"components,dont
uncheckany.
5.1.1.DOSPrompt
IfyouwanttobeabletousePythonfromtheWindowscommandlinei.e.theDOSprompt,thenyou
needtosetthePATHvariableappropriately.
ForWindows2000,XP,2003,clickonControlPanelSystemAdvancedEnvironment
Variables.ClickonthevariablenamedPATHintheSystemVariablessection,thenselectEditandadd
;C:\Python27 (pleaseverifythatthisfolderexists,itwillbedifferentfornewerversionsofPython)to
theendofwhatisalreadythere.Ofcourse,usetheappropriatedirectoryname.
ForolderversionsofWindows,openthefile C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT andaddtheline
PATH=%PATH%;C:\Python33 andrestartthesystem.ForWindowsNT,usetheAUTOEXEC.NTfile.
ForWindowsVista:
1. ClickStartandchooseControlPanel
2. ClickSystem,ontherightyoullsee"Viewbasicinformationaboutyourcomputer"
3. Ontheleftisalistoftasks,thelastofwhichisAdvancedsystemsettings.Clickthat.
4. TheAdvancedtaboftheSystemPropertiesdialogboxisshown.ClicktheEnvironmentVariables
buttononthebottomright.
5. InthelowerboxtitledSystemVariablesscrolldowntoPathandclicktheEditbutton.
6. Changeyourpathasneedbe.
7. Restartyoursystem.VistadidntpickupthesystempathenvironmentvariablechangeuntilI
restarted.
22/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
ForWindows7and8:
1. RightclickonComputerfromyourdesktopandselectPropertiesorclickStartandchooseControl
PanelSystemandSecuritySystem.ClickonAdvancedsystemsettingsontheleftandthen
clickontheAdvancedtab.AtthebottomclickonEnvironmentVariablesandunderSystem
variables,lookforthePATHvariable,selectandthenpressEdit.
2. GototheendofthelineunderVariablevalueandappend ;C:\Python27 (pleaseverifythatthis
folderexists,itwillbedifferentfornewerversionsofPython)totheendofwhatisalreadythere.Of
course,usetheappropriatefoldername.
3. Ifthevaluewas %SystemRoot%\system32; Itwillnowbecome
%SystemRoot%\system32;C:\Python27
4. ClickOKandyouaredone.Norestartisrequired,howeveryoumayhavetocloseandreopenthe
commandline.
5.1.2.RunningPythonpromptonWindows
ForWindowsusers,youcanruntheinterpreterinthecommandlineifyouhavesetthe PATH variable
appropriately.
ToopentheterminalinWindows,clickthestartbuttonandclickRun.Inthedialogbox,typecmdand
press
enter
key.
Then,typepythonandensuretherearenoerrors.
5.2.InstallationonMacOSX
ForMacOSXusers,Pythonmustbeinstalledalready.
Toverify,opentheterminalbypressing
andpress
enter
Command
Space
keys(toopenSpotlightsearch),typeTerminal
key.Now,runpythonandensuretherearenoerrors.
5.3.InstallationonGNU/Linux
ForGNU/Linuxusers,Pythonmustbeinstalledalready.
Toverify,opentheterminalbyopeningtheTerminalapplicationorbypressing
Alt
F2
andentering
gnometerminal.Ifthatdoesntwork,pleasereferthedocumentationofyourparticularGNU/Linux
distribution.Now,runpythonandensuretherearenoerrors.
YoucanseetheversionofPythononthescreenbyrunning:
23/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
$pythonV
Python2.7.6
$ isthepromptoftheshell.Itwillbedifferentforyoudependingonthesettingsof
NOTE
theoperatingsystemonyourcomputer,henceIwillindicatethepromptbyjustthe $
symbol.
CAUTION
Outputmaybedifferentonyourcomputer,dependingontheversionofPython
softwareinstalledonyourcomputer.
5.4.Summary
Fromnowon,wewillassumethatyouhavePythoninstalledonyoursystem.
Next,wewillwriteourfirstPythonprogram.
24/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
6.FirstSteps
Wewillnowseehowtorunatraditional'HelloWorld'programinPython.Thiswillteachyouhowto
write,saveandrunPythonprograms.
TherearetwowaysofusingPythontorunyourprogramusingtheinteractiveinterpreterpromptor
usingasourcefile.Wewillnowseehowtousebothofthesemethods.
6.1.UsingTheInterpreterPrompt
Opentheterminalinyouroperatingsystem(asdiscussedpreviouslyintheInstallationchapter)andthen
openthePythonpromptbytypingpythonandpressing
enter
key.
OnceyouhavestartedPython,youshouldsee >>> whereyoucanstarttypingstuff.Thisiscalledthe

Pythoninterpreterprompt.
AtthePythoninterpreterprompt,type:
print"HelloWorld"
followedbythe
enter
PYTHON
key.YoushouldseethewordsHelloWorldprintedtothescreen.
Hereisanexampleofwhatyoushouldbeseeing,whenusingaMacOSXcomputer.Thedetailsabout
thePythonsoftwarewilldifferbasedonyourcomputer,butthepartfromtheprompt(i.e.from >>>
onwards)shouldbethesameregardlessoftheoperatingsystem.
$python
Python2.7.6(default,Feb232014,16:08:15)
[GCC4.2.1CompatibleAppleLLVM5.0(clang500.2.79)]ondarwin
Type"help","copyright","credits"or"license"formoreinformation.
>>>print"helloworld"
helloworld
>>>
NoticethatPythongivesyoutheoutputofthelineimmediately!WhatyoujustenteredisasinglePython
statement.Weuseprintto(unsurprisingly)printanyvaluethatyousupplytoit.Here,wearesupplying
thetexthelloworldandthisispromptlyprintedtothescreen.
HowtoQuittheInterpreterPrompt
25/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
IfyouareusingaGNU/LinuxorOSXshell,youcanexittheinterpreterpromptby
NOTE
pressing
ctrl
followedbythe
orenteringexit()(note:remembertoincludetheparentheses,())
enter
key.
IfyouareusingtheWindowscommandprompt,press
enter
ctrl
followedbythe
key.
6.2.ChoosingAnEditor
Wecannottypeoutourprogramattheinterpreterprompteverytimewewanttorunsomething,sowe
havetosavetheminfilesandcanrunourprogramsanynumberoftimes.
TocreateourPythonsourcefiles,weneedaneditorsoftwarewhereyoucantypeandsave.Agood
programmerseditorwillmakeyourlifeeasierinwritingthesourcefiles.Hence,thechoiceofaneditor
iscrucialindeed.Youhavetochooseaneditorasyouwouldchooseacaryouwouldbuy.Agoodeditor
willhelpyouwritePythonprogramseasily,makingyourjourneymorecomfortableandhelpsyoureach
yourdestination(achieveyourgoal)inamuchfasterandsaferway.
OneoftheverybasicrequirementsissyntaxhighlightingwhereallthedifferentpartsofyourPython
programarecolorizedsothatyoucanseeyourprogramandvisualizeitsrunning.
Ifyouhavenoideawheretostart,IwouldrecommendusingPyCharmEducationalEdition
(https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharmeducational/)softwarewhichisavailableonWindows,MacOSXand
GNU/Linux.Detailsinthenextsection.
IfyouareusingWindows,donotuseNotepaditisabadchoicebecauseitdoesnotdosyntax
highlightingandalsoimportantlyitdoesnotsupportindentationofthetextwhichisveryimportantin
ourcaseaswewillseelater.Goodeditorswillautomaticallydothis.
Ifyouareanexperiencedprogrammer,thenyoumustbealreadyusingVim (http://www.vim.org)orEmacs
(http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/).Needlesstosay,thesearetwoofthemostpowerfuleditorsandyou
willbenefitfromusingthemtowriteyourPythonprograms.Ipersonallyusebothformostofmy
programs,andhaveevenwrittenanentirebookonVim (http://swaroopch.com/notes/vim).
IncaseyouarewillingtotakethetimetolearnVimorEmacs,thenIhighlyrecommendthatyoudolearn
touseeitherofthemasitwillbeveryusefulforyouinthelongrun.However,asImentionedbefore,
beginnerscanstartwithPyCharmandfocusthelearningonPythonratherthantheeditoratthismoment.
Toreiterate,pleasechooseapropereditoritcanmakewritingPythonprogramsmorefunandeasy.
26/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
6.3.PyCharm
PyCharmEducationalEdition (https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharmeducational/)isafreeeditorwhichyoucan
useforwritingPythonprograms.
WhenyouopenPyCharm,youllseethis,clickonCreateNewProject:
SelectPurePython:
27/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Changeuntitledtohelloworldasthelocationoftheproject,youshouldseedetailssimilartothis:
ClicktheCreatebutton.
RightclickonthehelloworldinthesidebarandselectNewPythonFile:
28/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
PyCharm>New>PythonFile
Youwillbeaskedtotypethename,typehello:
29/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
PyCharmNewFiledialogbox
Youcannowseeafileopenedforyou:
30/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
PyCharmhello.pyfile
Deletethelinesthatarealreadypresent,andnowtypethefollowing:
print"helloworld"
PYTHON
Nowrightclickonwhatyoutyped(withoutselectingthetext),andclickonRun'hello'.
31/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
PyCharmRun'hello'
Youshouldnowseetheoutput(whatitprints)ofyourprogram:
32/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
PyCharmoutput
Phew!Thatwasquiteafewstepstogetstarted,buthenceforth,everytimeweaskyoutocreateanew
file,remembertojustrightclickonhelloworldontheleftNewPythonFileandcontinuethesame
stepstotypeandrunasshownabove.
YoucanfindmoreinformationaboutPyCharminthePyCharmQuickstart
(https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharmeducational/quickstart/)page.
6.4.Vim
1. InstallVim (http://www.vim.org)
a. MacOSXusersshouldinstallmacvimpackageviaHomeBrew (http://brew.sh/)
33/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
b. Windowsusersshoulddownloadthe"selfinstallingexecutable"from
http://www.vim.org/download.php
c. GNU/LinuxusersshouldgetVimfromtheirdistributionssoftwarerepositories,e.g.Debianand
Ubuntuuserscaninstallthevim (http://packages.ubuntu.com/saucy/vim)package.
2. ReadtheVimasPythonIDE (http://blog.sontek.net/blog/detail/turningvimintoamodernpythonide)article
byJohnMAnderson.
3. Installjedivim (https://github.com/davidhalter/jedivim)pluginforautocompletion.
6.5.Emacs
1. InstallEmacs24 (http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/).
a. MacOSXusersshouldgetEmacsfromhttp://emacsformacosx.com
b. WindowsusersshouldgetEmacsfromhttp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/emacs/windows/
c. GNU/LinuxusersshouldgetEmacsfromtheirdistributionssoftwarerepositories,e.g.Debian
andUbuntuuserscaninstalltheemacs24 (http://packages.ubuntu.com/saucy/emacs24)package.
2. InstallELPY (https://github.com/jorgenschaefer/elpy/wiki).
6.6.UsingASourceFile
Nowletsgetbacktoprogramming.Thereisatraditionthatwheneveryoulearnanewprogramming
language,thefirstprogramthatyouwriteandrunisthe'HelloWorld'programallitdoesisjustsay
'HelloWorld'whenyourunit.AsSimonCozens[1]says,itisthe"traditionalincantationtothe
programminggodstohelpyoulearnthelanguagebetter."
Startyourchoiceofeditor,enterthefollowingprogramandsaveitashello.py.
IfyouareusingPyCharm,wehavealreadydiscussedhowtorunfromasourcefile.
Forothereditors,openanewfilehello.pyandtypethis:
print"helloworld"
PYTHON
Whereshouldyousavethefile?Toanyfolderforwhichyouknowthelocationofthefolder.Ifyoudont
understandwhatthatmeans,createanewfolderandusethatlocationtosaveandrunallyourPython
programs:
/tmp/py onMacOSX
34/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
/tmp/py onGNU/Linux
C:\\py onWindows
Tocreatetheabovefolder(fortheoperatingsystemyouareusing),usethemkdircommandinthe
terminal,forexample,mkdir/tmp/py.
IMPORTANT
Alwaysensurethatyougiveitthefileextensionof.py,forexample,foo.py.
TorunyourPythonprogram:
1. Openaterminalwindow(seethepreviousInstallationchapteronhowtodothat)
2. Changedirectorytowhereyousavedthefile,forexample,cd/tmp/py
3. Runtheprogrambyenteringthecommandpythonhello.py.Theoutputisasshownbelow.
$pythonhello.py
helloworld
35/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Screenshotofrunningprograminterminal
Ifyougottheoutputasshownabove,congratulations!youhavesuccessfullyrunyourfirstPython
program.Youhavesuccessfullycrossedthehardestpartoflearningprogramming,whichis,getting
startedwithyourfirstprogram!
Incaseyougotanerror,pleasetypetheaboveprogramexactlyasshownaboveandruntheprogram
again.NotethatPythoniscasesensitivei.e.printisnotthesameasPrintnotethelowercasepinthe
formerandtheuppercasePinthelatter.Also,ensuretherearenospacesortabsbeforethefirstcharacter
ineachlinewewillseewhythisisimportantlater.
HowItWorks
APythonprogramiscomposedofstatements.Inourfirstprogram,wehaveonlyonestatement.Inthis
statement,wecalltheprintstatementtowhichwesupplythetext"helloworld".
6.7.GettingHelp
36/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
IfyouneedquickinformationaboutanyfunctionorstatementinPython,thenyoucanusethebuiltin
helpfunctionality.Thisisveryusefulespeciallywhenusingtheinterpreterprompt.Forexample,run
help('len') thisdisplaysthehelpforthelenfunctionwhichisusedtocountnumberofitems.
TIP
Pressqtoexitthehelp.
Similarly,youcanobtaininformationaboutalmostanythinginPython.Usehelp()tolearnmoreabout
usinghelpitself!
Incaseyouneedtogethelpforoperatorslikereturn,thenyouneedtoputthoseinsidequotessuchas
help('return') sothatPythondoesntgetconfusedonwhatweretryingtodo.
6.8.Summary
Youshouldnowbeabletowrite,saveandrunPythonprogramsatease.
NowthatyouareaPythonuser,letslearnsomemorePythonconcepts.
37/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
7.Basics
Justprintinghelloworldisnotenough,isit?Youwanttodomorethanthatyouwanttotakesome
input,manipulateitandgetsomethingoutofit.WecanachievethisinPythonusingconstantsand
variables,andwelllearnsomeotherconceptsaswellinthischapter.
7.1.Comments
Commentsareanytexttotherightofthe # symbolandismainlyusefulasnotesforthereaderofthe
program.
Forexample:
print'helloworld'#Notethatprintisastatement
PYTHON
or:
#Notethatprintisastatement
print'helloworld'
PYTHON
Useasmanyusefulcommentsasyoucaninyourprogramto:
explainassumptions
explainimportantdecisions
explainimportantdetails
explainproblemsyouretryingtosolve
explainproblemsyouretryingtoovercomeinyourprogram,etc.
Codetellsyouhow,commentsshouldtellyouwhy
(http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2006/12/codetellsyouhowcommentstellyouwhy.html).
Thisisusefulforreadersofyourprogramsothattheycaneasilyunderstandwhattheprogramisdoing.
Remember,thatpersoncanbeyourselfaftersixmonths!
7.2.LiteralConstants
Anexampleofaliteralconstantisanumberlike 5 , 1.23 ,orastringlike 'Thisisastring' or
"Itsastring!" .
38/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Itiscalledaliteralbecauseitisliteralyouuseitsvalueliterally.Thenumber 2 alwaysrepresentsitself
andnothingelseitisaconstantbecauseitsvaluecannotbechanged.Hence,allthesearereferredtoas
literalconstants.
7.3.Numbers
Numbersaremainlyoftwotypesintegersandfloats.
Anexamplesofanintegeris 2 whichisjustawholenumber.
Examplesoffloatingpointnumbers(orfloatsforshort)are 3.23 and 52.3E4 .TheEnotation
indicatespowersof10.Inthiscase, 52.3E4 means52.3*10^4^.
NOTE
NoteforExperiencedProgrammers
Thereisnoseparatelongtype.Theinttypecanbeanintegerofanysize.
7.4.Strings
Astringisasequenceofcharacters.Stringsarebasicallyjustabunchofwords.
YouwillbeusingstringsinalmosteveryPythonprogramthatyouwrite,sopayattentiontothefollowing
part.
7.4.1.SingleQuote
Youcanspecifystringsusingsinglequotessuchas 'Quotemeonthis' .
Allwhitespacei.e.spacesandtabs,withinthequotes,arepreservedasis.
7.4.2.DoubleQuotes
Stringsindoublequotesworkexactlythesamewayasstringsinsinglequotes.Anexampleis "Whats
yourname?" .
7.4.3.TripleQuotes
Youcanspecifymultilinestringsusingtriplequotes( """ or ''' ).Youcanusesinglequotesand
doublequotesfreelywithinthetriplequotes.Anexampleis:
39/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
'''Thisisamultilinestring.Thisisthefirstline.
Thisisthesecondline.
"What'syourname?,"Iasked.
Hesaid"Bond,JamesBond."
'''
PYTHON
7.4.4.StringsAreImmutable
Thismeansthatonceyouhavecreatedastring,youcannotchangeit.Althoughthismightseemlikea
badthing,itreallyisnt.Wewillseewhythisisnotalimitationinthevariousprogramsthatweseelater
on.
NoteforC/C++Programmers
NOTE
ThereisnoseparatechardatatypeinPython.ThereisnorealneedforitandIamsure
youwontmissit.
NoteforPerl/PHPProgrammers
NOTE
Rememberthatsinglequotedstringsanddoublequotedstringsarethesametheydo
notdifferinanyway.
7.4.5.Theformatmethod
Sometimeswemaywanttoconstructstringsfromotherinformation.Thisiswheretheformat()method
isuseful.
Savethefollowinglinesasafilestr_format.py:
age=20
name='Swaroop'
PYTHON
print'{0}was{1}yearsoldwhenhewrotethisbook'.format(name,age)
print'Whyis{0}playingwiththatpython?'.format(name)
Output:
$pythonstr_format.py
Swaroopwas20yearsoldwhenhewrotethisbook
WhyisSwaroopplayingwiththatpython?
HowItWorks
40/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Astringcanusecertainspecificationsandsubsequently,theformatmethodcanbecalledtosubstitute
thosespecificationswithcorrespondingargumentstotheformatmethod.
Observethefirstusagewhereweuse{0}andthiscorrespondstothevariablenamewhichisthefirst
argumenttotheformatmethod.Similarly,thesecondspecificationis{1}correspondingtoagewhichis
thesecondargumenttotheformatmethod.NotethatPythonstartscountingfrom0whichmeansthat
firstpositionisatindex0,secondpositionisatindex1,andsoon.
Noticethatwecouldhaveachievedthesameusingstringconcatenation:
name+'is'+str(age)+'yearsold'
PYTHON
butthatismuchuglieranderrorprone.Second,theconversiontostringwouldbedoneautomaticallyby
theformatmethodinsteadoftheexplicitconversiontostringsneededinthiscase.Third,whenusingthe
formatmethod,wecanchangethemessagewithouthavingtodealwiththevariablesusedandvice
versa.
Alsonotethatthenumbersareoptional,soyoucouldhavealsowrittenas:
age=20
name='Swaroop'
PYTHON
print'{}was{}yearsoldwhenhewrotethisbook'.format(name,age)
print'Whyis{}playingwiththatpython?'.format(name)
whichwillgivethesameexactoutputasthepreviousprogram.
WhatPythondoesintheformatmethodisthatitsubstituteseachargumentvalueintotheplaceofthe
specification.Therecanbemoredetailedspecificationssuchas:
#decimal(.)precisionof3forfloat'0.333'
print'{0:.3f}'.format(1.0/3)
#fillwithunderscores(_)withthetextcentered
#(^)to11width'___hello___'
print'{0:_^11}'.format('hello')
#keywordbased'SwaroopwroteAByteofPython'
print'{name}wrote{book}'.format(name='Swaroop',
book='AByteofPython')
PYTHON
Output:
41/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
0.333
___hello___
SwaroopwroteAByteofPython
Sincewearediscussingformatting,notethatprintalwaysendswithaninvisible"newline"character(\n)
sothatrepeatedcallstoprintwillallprintonaseparatelineeach.Topreventthisnewlinecharacterfrom
beingprinted,youcanendthestatementwithacomma:
print"a",
print"b",
PYTHON
Outputis:
ab
7.4.6.EscapeSequences
Suppose,youwanttohaveastringwhichcontainsasinglequote( ' ),howwillyouspecifythisstring?
Forexample,thestringis "Whatsyourname?" .Youcannotspecify 'Whatsyourname?'
becausePythonwillbeconfusedastowherethestringstartsandends.So,youwillhavetospecifythat
thissinglequotedoesnotindicatetheendofthestring.Thiscanbedonewiththehelpofwhatiscalled
anescapesequence.Youspecifythesinglequoteas \' :noticethebackslash.Now,youcanspecifythe
stringas 'What'syourname?' .
Anotherwayofspecifyingthisspecificstringwouldbe "Whatsyourname?" i.e.usingdouble
quotes.Similarly,youhavetouseanescapesequenceforusingadoublequoteitselfinadoublequoted
string.Also,youhavetoindicatethebackslashitselfusingtheescapesequence \\ .
Whatifyouwantedtospecifyatwolinestring?Onewayistouseatriplequotedstringasshown
previouslyoryoucanuseanescapesequenceforthenewlinecharacter\ntoindicatethestartofanew
line.Anexampleis:
'Thisisthefirstline\nThisisthesecondline'
PYTHON
Anotherusefulescapesequencetoknowisthetab:\t.TherearemanymoreescapesequencesbutIhave
mentionedonlythemostusefuloneshere.
Onethingtonoteisthatinastring,asinglebackslashattheendofthelineindicatesthatthestringis
continuedinthenextline,butnonewlineisadded.Forexample:
42/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
"Thisisthefirstsentence.\
Thisisthesecondsentence."
PYTHON
isequivalentto
"Thisisthefirstsentence.Thisisthesecondsentence."
PYTHON
7.4.7.RawString
Ifyouneedtospecifysomestringswherenospecialprocessingsuchasescapesequencesarehandled,
thenwhatyouneedistospecifyarawstringbyprefixingrorRtothestring.Anexampleis:
r"Newlinesareindicatedby\n"
PYTHON
NoteforRegularExpressionUsers
NOTE
Alwaysuserawstringswhendealingwithregularexpressions.Otherwise,alotof
backwhackingmayberequired.Forexample,backreferencescanbereferredtoas
'\\1' or r'\1' .
7.5.Variable
Usingjustliteralconstantscansoonbecomeboringweneedsomewayofstoringanyinformationand
manipulatethemaswell.Thisiswherevariablescomeintothepicture.Variablesareexactlywhatthe
nameimpliestheirvaluecanvary,i.e.,youcanstoreanythingusingavariable.Variablesarejustparts
ofyourcomputersmemorywhereyoustoresomeinformation.Unlikeliteralconstants,youneedsome
methodofaccessingthesevariablesandhenceyougivethemnames.
7.6.IdentifierNaming
Variablesareexamplesofidentifiers.Identifiersarenamesgiventoidentifysomething.Therearesome
rulesyouhavetofollowfornamingidentifiers:
Thefirstcharacteroftheidentifiermustbealetterofthealphabet(uppercaseASCIIorlowercase
ASCIIorUnicodecharacter)oranunderscore( _ ).
Therestoftheidentifiernamecanconsistofletters(uppercaseASCIIorlowercaseASCIIorUnicode
character),underscores( _ )ordigits(09).
Identifiernamesarecasesensitive.Forexample, myname and myName arenotthesame.Notethe
lowercase n intheformerandtheuppercase N inthelatter.
43/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Examplesofvalididentifiernamesare i , name_2_3 .Examplesofinvalididentifiernamesare

2things , thisisspacedout , myname and >a1b2_c3 .
7.7.DataTypes
Variablescanholdvaluesofdifferenttypescalleddatatypes.Thebasictypesarenumbersandstrings,
whichwehavealreadydiscussed.Inlaterchapters,wewillseehowtocreateourowntypesusing
classes.
7.8.Object
Remember,Pythonreferstoanythingusedinaprogramasanobject.Thisismeantinthegenericsense.
Insteadofsaying"thesomething"',wesay"theobject".
NoteforObjectOrientedProgrammingusers
NOTE
Pythonisstronglyobjectorientedinthesensethateverythingisanobjectincluding
numbers,stringsandfunctions.
Wewillnowseehowtousevariablesalongwithliteralconstants.Savethefollowingexampleandrun
theprogram.
7.9.HowtowritePythonprograms
Henceforth,thestandardproceduretosaveandrunaPythonprogramisasfollows:
7.10.ForPyCharm
1. OpenPyCharm.
2. Createnewfilewiththefilenamementioned.
3. Typetheprogramcodegivenintheexample.
4. Rightclickandrunthecurrentfile.
Wheneveryouhavetoprovidecommandlinearguments,clickonRunEdit
ConfigurationsandtypetheargumentsintheScriptparameters:sectionandclickthe
OKbutton:
44/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
PyCharmcommandlinearguments
NOTE
7.11.Forothereditors
1. Openyoureditorofchoice.
2. Typetheprogramcodegivenintheexample.
3. Saveitasafilewiththefilenamementioned.
4. Runtheinterpreterwiththecommandpythonprogram.pytoruntheprogram.
7.12.Example:UsingVariablesAndLiteralConstants
Typeandrunthefollowingprogram:
45/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
#Filename:var.py
i=5
printi
i=i+1
printi
PYTHON
s='''Thisisamultilinestring.
Thisisthesecondline.'''
prints
Output:
5
6
Thisisamultilinestring.
Thisisthesecondline.
HowItWorks
Hereshowthisprogramworks.First,weassigntheliteralconstantvalue5tothevariableiusingthe
assignmentoperator( = ).Thislineiscalledastatementbecauseitstatesthatsomethingshouldbedone
andinthiscase,weconnectthevariablenameitothevalue5.Next,weprintthevalueofiusingthe
printstatementwhich,unsurprisingly,justprintsthevalueofthevariabletothescreen.
Thenweadd1tothevaluestorediniandstoreitback.Wethenprintitandexpectedly,wegetthevalue
6.
Similarly,weassigntheliteralstringtothevariablesandthenprintit.
Noteforstaticlanguageprogrammers
NOTE
Variablesareusedbyjustassigningthemavalue.Nodeclarationordatatype
definitionisneeded/used.
7.13.LogicalAndPhysicalLine
Aphysicallineiswhatyouseewhenyouwritetheprogram.AlogicallineiswhatPythonseesasasingle
statement.Pythonimplicitlyassumesthateachphysicallinecorrespondstoalogicalline.
Anexampleofalogicallineisastatementlike print'helloworld' ifthiswasonalinebyitself
(asyouseeitinaneditor),thenthisalsocorrespondstoaphysicalline.
Implicitly,Pythonencouragestheuseofasinglestatementperlinewhichmakescodemorereadable.
46/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Ifyouwanttospecifymorethanonelogicallineonasinglephysicalline,thenyouhavetoexplicitly
specifythisusingasemicolon( ; )whichindicatestheendofalogicalline/statement.Forexample:
i=5
printi
PYTHON
iseffectivelysameas
i=5;
printi;
PYTHON
whichisalsosameas
i=5;printi;
PYTHON
andsameas
i=5;printi
PYTHON
However,Istronglyrecommendthatyousticktowritingamaximumofasinglelogicallineoneach
singlephysicalline.Theideaisthatyoushouldneverusethesemicolon.Infact,Ihaveneverusedor
evenseenasemicoloninaPythonprogram.
Thereisonekindofsituationwherethisconceptisreallyuseful:ifyouhavealonglineofcode,youcan
breakitintomultiplephysicallinesbyusingthebackslash.Thisisreferredtoasexplicitlinejoining:
s='Thisisastring.\
Thiscontinuesthestring.'
prints
PYTHON
Output:
Thisisastring.Thiscontinuesthestring.
Similarly,
47/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
print\
i
PYTHON
isthesameas
printi
PYTHON
Sometimes,thereisanimplicitassumptionwhereyoudontneedtouseabackslash.Thisisthecase
wherethelogicallinehasastartingparentheses,startingsquarebracketsorastartingcurlybracesbutnot
anendingone.Thisiscalledimplicitlinejoining.Youcanseethisinactionwhenwewriteprograms
usinglistsinlaterchapters.
7.14.Indentation
WhitespaceisimportantinPython.Actually,whitespaceatthebeginningofthelineisimportant.
Thisiscalledindentation.Leadingwhitespace(spacesandtabs)atthebeginningofthelogicallineis
usedtodeterminetheindentationlevelofthelogicalline,whichinturnisusedtodeterminethegrouping
ofstatements.
Thismeansthatstatementswhichgotogethermusthavethesameindentation.Eachsuchsetof
statementsiscalledablock.Wewillseeexamplesofhowblocksareimportantinlaterchapters.
Onethingyoushouldrememberisthatwrongindentationcangiverisetoerrors.Forexample:
i=5
#Errorbelow!Noticeasinglespaceatthestartoftheline
print'Valueis',i
print'Irepeat,thevalueis',i
PYTHON
Whenyourunthis,yougetthefollowingerror:
File"whitespace.py",line5
print'Valueis',i
^
IndentationError:unexpectedindent
Noticethatthereisasinglespaceatthebeginningofthesecondline.TheerrorindicatedbyPythontells
usthatthesyntaxoftheprogramisinvalidi.e.theprogramwasnotproperlywritten.Whatthismeansto
youisthatyoucannotarbitrarilystartnewblocksofstatements(exceptforthedefaultmainblockwhich
48/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
youhavebeenusingallalong,ofcourse).Caseswhereyoucanusenewblockswillbedetailedinlater
chapterssuchastheControlFlow.
Howtoindent
Usefourspacesforindentation.ThisistheofficialPythonlanguagerecommendation.Goodeditorswill
automaticallydothisforyou.Makesureyouuseaconsistentnumberofspacesforindentation,otherwise
yourprogramwillshowerrors.
Notetostaticlanguageprogrammers
NOTE
Pythonwillalwaysuseindentationforblocksandwillneverusebraces.Run from
futureimportbraces tolearnmore.
7.15.Summary
Nowthatwehavegonethroughmanynittygrittydetails,wecanmoveontomoreinterestingstuffsuch
ascontrolflowstatements.Besuretobecomecomfortablewithwhatyouhavereadinthischapter.
49/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
8.OperatorsandExpressions
Moststatements(logicallines)thatyouwritewillcontainexpressions.Asimpleexampleofan
expressionis 2+3 .Anexpressioncanbebrokendownintooperatorsandoperands.
Operatorsarefunctionalitythatdosomethingandcanberepresentedbysymbolssuchas + orbyspecial
keywords.Operatorsrequiresomedatatooperateonandsuchdataiscalledoperands.Inthiscase, 2
and 3 aretheoperands.
8.1.Operators
Wewillbrieflytakealookattheoperatorsandtheirusage.
Notethatyoucanevaluatetheexpressionsgivenintheexamplesusingtheinterpreterinteractively.For
example,totesttheexpression 2+3 ,usetheinteractivePythoninterpreterprompt:
>>>2+3
5
>>>3*5
15
>>>
PYTHON
Hereisaquickoverviewoftheavailableoperators:
+ (plus)
Addstwoobjects
3+5 gives 8 . 'a'+'b' gives 'ab' .
(minus)
Givesthesubtractionofonenumberfromtheotherifthefirstoperandisabsentitisassumedtobe
zero.
5.2 givesanegativenumberand 5024 gives 26 .
*(multiply)
Givesthemultiplicationofthetwonumbersorreturnsthestringrepeatedthatmanytimes.
2*3 gives 6 . 'la'*3 gives 'lalala' .
**(power)
50/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Returnsxtothepowerofy
3**4 gives 81 (i.e. 3*3*3*3 )
/ (divide)
Dividexbyy
13/3 gives 4 . 13.0/3 gives 4.333333333333333
% (modulo)
Returnstheremainderofthedivision
13%3 gives 1 . 25.5%2.25 gives 1.5 .
<< (leftshift)
Shiftsthebitsofthenumbertotheleftbythenumberofbitsspecified.(Eachnumberisrepresentedin
memorybybitsorbinarydigitsi.e.0and1)
2<<2 gives 8 . 2 isrepresentedby 10 inbits.
Leftshiftingby2bitsgives 1000 whichrepresentsthedecimal 8 .

>> (rightshift)
Shiftsthebitsofthenumbertotherightbythenumberofbitsspecified.
11>>1 gives 5 .
11 isrepresentedinbitsby 1011 whichwhenrightshiftedby1bitgives 101`whichisthe
decimal`5 .
& (bitwiseAND)
BitwiseANDofthenumbers
5&3 gives 1 .
| (bitwiseOR)
BitwiseORofthenumbers
5|3 gives 7
51/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
^ (bitwiseXOR)
BitwiseXORofthenumbers
5^3 gives 6
~ (bitwiseinvert)
Thebitwiseinversionofxis(x+1)
~5 gives 6 .Moredetailsathttp://stackoverflow.com/a/11810203
< (lessthan)
Returnswhetherxislessthany.Allcomparisonoperatorsreturn True or False .Notethe

capitalizationofthesenames.
5<3 gives False and 3<5 gives True .
Comparisonscanbechainedarbitrarily: 3<5<7 gives True .

> (greaterthan)
Returnswhetherxisgreaterthany
5>3 returns True .Ifbothoperandsarenumbers,theyarefirstconvertedtoacommontype.
Otherwise,italwaysreturns False .
(lessthanorequalto)
Returnswhetherxislessthanorequaltoy
x=3;y=6;xy returns True .
>= (greaterthanorequalto)
Returnswhetherxisgreaterthanorequaltoy
x=4;y=3;x>=3 returns True .
== (equalto)
Comparesiftheobjectsareequal
x=2;y=2;x==y returns True .
x='str';y='stR';x==y returns False .
52/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
x='str';y='str';x==y returns True .

!= (notequalto)
Comparesiftheobjectsarenotequal
x=2;y=3;x!=y returns True .
not (booleanNOT)
Ifxis True ,itreturns False .Ifxis False ,itreturns True .

x=True;notx returns False .
and (booleanAND)
xandy returns False ifxis False ,elseitreturnsevaluationofy
x=False;y=True;xandy returns False sincexisFalse.Inthiscase,Pythonwillnot
evaluateysinceitknowsthatthelefthandsideofthe'and'expressionis False whichimpliesthat

thewholeexpressionwillbe False irrespectiveoftheothervalues.Thisiscalledshortcircuit
evaluation.
or (booleanOR)
Ifxis True ,itreturnsTrue,elseitreturnsevaluationofy

x=True;y=False;xory returns True .Shortcircuitevaluationapplieshereaswell.
8.2.Shortcutformathoperationandassignment
Itiscommontorunamathoperationonavariableandthenassigntheresultoftheoperationbacktothe
variable,hencethereisashortcutforsuchexpressions:
a=2
a=a*3
PYTHON
canbewrittenas:
a=2
a*=3
PYTHON
Noticethat var=varoperationexpression becomes varoperation=expression .

53/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
8.3.EvaluationOrder
Ifyouhadanexpressionsuchas 2+3*4 ,istheadditiondonefirstorthemultiplication?Ourhigh
schoolmathstellsusthatthemultiplicationshouldbedonefirst.Thismeansthatthemultiplication
operatorhashigherprecedencethantheadditionoperator.
ThefollowingtablegivestheprecedencetableforPython,fromthelowestprecedence(leastbinding)to
thehighestprecedence(mostbinding).Thismeansthatinagivenexpression,Pythonwillfirstevaluate
theoperatorsandexpressionslowerinthetablebeforetheoneslistedhigherinthetable.
Thefollowingtable,takenfromthePythonreferencemanual
(http://docs.python.org/3/reference/expressions.html#operatorprecedence),isprovidedforthesakeof
completeness.Itisfarbettertouseparenthesestogroupoperatorsandoperandsappropriatelyinorderto
explicitlyspecifytheprecedence.Thismakestheprogrammorereadable.SeeChangingtheOrderof
Evaluationbelowfordetails.
lambda
LambdaExpression
ifelse
Conditionalexpression
or
BooleanOR
and
BooleanAND
notx
BooleanNOT
in,notin,is,isnot,<,,>,>=,!=,==
Comparisons,includingmembershiptestsandidentitytests
|
BitwiseOR
^
BitwiseXOR
54/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
&
BitwiseAND
<<,>>
Shifts
+,
Additionandsubtraction
*,/,//,%
Multiplication,Division,FloorDivisionandRemainder
+x,x,~x
Positive,Negative,bitwiseNOT
**
Exponentiation
x[index],x[index:index],x(arguments
),x.attribute
Subscription,slicing,call,attributereference
(expressions
),[expressions
],{key:value
},{expressions
}
Bindingortupledisplay,listdisplay,dictionarydisplay,setdisplay
Theoperatorswhichwehavenotalreadycomeacrosswillbeexplainedinlaterchapters.
Operatorswiththesameprecedencearelistedinthesamerowintheabovetable.Forexample, + and
havethesameprecedence.
8.4.ChangingtheOrderOfEvaluation
Tomaketheexpressionsmorereadable,wecanuseparentheses.Forexample, 2+(3*4) isdefinitely
easiertounderstandthan 2+3*4 whichrequiresknowledgeoftheoperatorprecedences.Aswith
everythingelse,theparenthesesshouldbeusedreasonably(donotoverdoit)andshouldnotbe
redundant,asin (2+(3*4)) .
Thereisanadditionaladvantagetousingparenthesesithelpsustochangetheorderofevaluation.For
example,ifyouwantadditiontobeevaluatedbeforemultiplicationinanexpression,thenyoucanwrite
somethinglike (2+3)*4 .
55/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
8.5.Associativity
Operatorsareusuallyassociatedfromlefttoright.Thismeansthatoperatorswiththesameprecedence
areevaluatedinalefttorightmanner.Forexample, 2+3+4 isevaluatedas (2
3)+4 .Someoperatorslikeassignmentoperatorshaverighttoleftassociativityi.e. a=b=c is
treatedas a=(b=c) .
8.6.Expressions
Example(saveasexpression.py):
length=5
breadth=2
PYTHON
area=length*breadth
print'Areais',area
print'Perimeteris',2*(length+breadth)
Output:
$pythonexpression.py
Areais10
Perimeteris14
HowItWorks
Thelengthandbreadthoftherectanglearestoredinvariablesbythesamename.Weusetheseto
calculatetheareaandperimeteroftherectanglewiththehelpofexpressions.Westoretheresultofthe
expression length*breadth inthevariableareaandthenprintitusingtheprintfunction.Inthe
secondcase,wedirectlyusethevalueoftheexpression 2*(length+breadth) intheprint
statement.
Also,noticehowPythonprettyprintstheoutput.Eventhoughwehavenotspecifiedaspacebetween
'Areais' andthevariable area ,Pythonputsitforussothatwegetacleanniceoutputandthe
programismuchmorereadablethisway(sincewedontneedtoworryaboutspacinginthestringswe
useforoutput).ThisisanexampleofhowPythonmakeslifeeasyfortheprogrammer.
8.7.Summary
Wehaveseenhowtouseoperators,operandsandexpressionsthesearethebasicbuildingblocksofany
program.Next,wewillseehowtomakeuseoftheseinourprogramsusingstatements.
56/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
9.ControlFlow
Intheprogramswehaveseentillnow,therehasalwaysbeenaseriesofstatementsfaithfullyexecutedby
Pythoninexacttopdownorder.Whatifyouwantedtochangetheflowofhowitworks?Forexample,
youwanttheprogramtotakesomedecisionsanddodifferentthingsdependingondifferentsituations,
suchasprinting'GoodMorning'or'GoodEvening'dependingonthetimeoftheday?
Asyoumighthaveguessed,thisisachievedusingcontrolflowstatements.Therearethreecontrolflow
statementsinPythonif,forandwhile.
9.1.Theifstatement
Theifstatementisusedtocheckacondition:iftheconditionistrue,werunablockofstatements(called
theifblock),elseweprocessanotherblockofstatements(calledtheelseblock).Theelseclauseis
optional.
Example(saveasif.py):
number=23
guess=int(raw_input('Enteraninteger:'))
PYTHON
ifguess==number:
#Newblockstartshere
print'Congratulations,youguessedit.'
print'(butyoudonotwinanyprizes!)'
#Newblockendshere
elifguess<number:
#Anotherblock
print'No,itisalittlehigherthanthat'
#Youcandowhateveryouwantinablock...
else:
print'No,itisalittlelowerthanthat'
#youmusthaveguessed>numbertoreachhere
print'Done'
#Thislaststatementisalwaysexecuted,
#aftertheifstatementisexecuted.
Output:
57/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
$pythonif.py
Enteraninteger:50
No,itisalittlelowerthanthat
Done
$pythonif.py
Enteraninteger:22
No,itisalittlehigherthanthat
Done
$pythonif.py
Enteraninteger:23
Congratulations,youguessedit.
(butyoudonotwinanyprizes!)
Done
HowItWorks
Inthisprogram,wetakeguessesfromtheuserandcheckifitisthenumberthatwehave.Wesetthe
variablenumbertoanyintegerwewant,say 23 .Then,wetaketheusersguessusingthe
raw_input() function.Functionsarejustreusablepiecesofprograms.Wellreadmoreaboutthemin
thenextchapter.
Wesupplyastringtothebuiltin raw_input functionwhichprintsittothescreenandwaitsforinput
fromtheuser.Onceweentersomethingandpress
enter
key,the raw_input() functionreturnswhat
weentered,asastring.Wethenconvertthisstringtoanintegerusing int andthenstoreitinthe

variable guess .Actually,the int isaclassbutallyouneedtoknowrightnowisthatyoucanuseitto
convertastringtoaninteger(assumingthestringcontainsavalidintegerinthetext).
Next,wecomparetheguessoftheuserwiththenumberwehavechosen.Iftheyareequal,weprinta
successmessage.NoticethatweuseindentationlevelstotellPythonwhichstatementsbelongtowhich
block.ThisiswhyindentationissoimportantinPython.Ihopeyouarestickingtothe"consistent
indentation"rule.Areyou?
Noticehowthe if statementcontainsacolonattheendweareindicatingtoPythonthatablockof
statementsfollows.
Then,wecheckiftheguessislessthanthenumber,andifso,weinformtheuserthattheymustguessa
littlehigherthanthat.Whatwehaveusedhereisthe elif clausewhichactuallycombinestworelated
ifelseifelse statementsintoonecombined ifelifelse statement.Thismakestheprogram
easierandreducestheamountofindentationrequired.
58/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
The elif and else statementsmustalsohaveacolonattheendofthelogicallinefollowedbytheir

correspondingblockofstatements(withproperindentation,ofcourse)
Youcanhaveanother if statementinsidetheifblockofan if statementandsoonthisiscalleda
nested if statement.
Rememberthatthe elif and else partsareoptional.Aminimalvalid if statementis:
ifTrue:
print'Yes,itistrue'
PYTHON
AfterPythonhasfinishedexecutingthecomplete if statementalongwiththeassociated elif and

else clauses,itmovesontothenextstatementintheblockcontainingthe if statement.Inthiscase,it
isthemainblock(whereexecutionoftheprogramstarts),andthenextstatementisthe print'Done'
statement.Afterthis,Pythonseestheendsoftheprogramandsimplyfinishesup.
Eventhoughthisisaverysimpleprogram,Ihavebeenpointingoutalotofthingsthatyoushouldnotice.
Alltheseareprettystraightforward(andsurprisinglysimpleforthoseofyoufromC/C++backgrounds).
Youwillneedtobecomeawareofallthesethingsinitially,butaftersomepracticeyouwillbecome
comfortablewiththem,anditwillallfeel'natural'toyou.
NOTE
Thereisno switch statementinPython.Youcanusean if..elif..else

statementtodothesamething(andinsomecases,useadictionarytodoitquickly)
9.2.ThewhileStatement
The while statementallowsyoutorepeatedlyexecuteablockofstatementsaslongasaconditionis
true.A while statementisanexampleofwhatiscalledaloopingstatement.A while statementcan
haveanoptional else clause.
Example(saveas while.py ):
59/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
number=23
running=True
PYTHON
whilerunning:
guess=int(raw_input('Enteraninteger:'))
ifguess==number:
print'Congratulations,youguessedit.'
#thiscausesthewhilelooptostop
running=False
elifguess<number:
print'No,itisalittlehigherthanthat.'
else:
print'No,itisalittlelowerthanthat.'
else:
print'Thewhileloopisover.'
#Doanythingelseyouwanttodohere
print'Done'
Output:
$pythonwhile.py
Enteraninteger:50
No,itisalittlelowerthanthat.
Enteraninteger:22
No,itisalittlehigherthanthat.
Enteraninteger:23
Congratulations,youguessedit.
Thewhileloopisover.
Done
HowItWorks
Inthisprogram,wearestillplayingtheguessinggame,buttheadvantageisthattheuserisallowedto
keepguessinguntilheguessescorrectlythereisnoneedtorepeatedlyruntheprogramforeachguess,
aswehavedoneintheprevioussection.Thisaptlydemonstratestheuseofthe while statement.
Wemovethe raw_input and if statementstoinsidethe while loopandsetthevariable running
to True beforethewhileloop.First,wecheckifthevariable running is True andthenproceedto
executethecorrespondingwhileblock.Afterthisblockisexecuted,theconditionisagainchecked
whichinthiscaseisthe running variable.Ifitistrue,weexecutethewhileblockagain,elsewe
continuetoexecutetheoptionalelseblockandthencontinuetothenextstatement.
60/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
The else blockisexecutedwhenthe while loopconditionbecomes False thismayevenbethe

firsttimethattheconditionischecked.Ifthereisan else clausefora while loop,itisalways
executedunlessyoubreakoutoftheloopwitha break statement.
The True and False arecalledBooleantypesandyoucanconsiderthemtobeequivalenttothevalue
1 and 0 respectively.
NOTE
Rememberthatyoucanhavean else clauseforthe while loop.
9.3.Theforloop
The for..in statementisanotherloopingstatementwhichiteratesoverasequenceofobjectsi.e.go
througheachiteminasequence.Wewillseemoreaboutsequencesindetailinlaterchapters.Whatyou
needtoknowrightnowisthatasequenceisjustanorderedcollectionofitems.
Example(saveas for.py ):
foriinrange(1,5):
printi
else:
print'Theforloopisover'
PYTHON
Output:
$pythonfor.py
1
2
3
4
Theforloopisover
HowItWorks
Inthisprogram,weareprintingasequenceofnumbers.Wegeneratethissequenceofnumbersusingthe
builtin range function.
Whatwedohereissupplyittwonumbersand range returnsasequenceofnumbersstartingfromthe
firstnumberanduptothesecondnumber.Forexample, range(1,5) givesthesequence [1,2,3,
4] .Bydefault, range takesastepcountof1.Ifwesupplyathirdnumberto range ,thenthat
61/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
becomesthestepcount.Forexample, range(1,5,2) gives [1,3] .Rememberthattherangeextends

uptothesecondnumberi.e.itdoesnotincludethesecondnumber.
Notethat range() generatesasequenceofnumbers,butitwillgenerateonlyonenumberatatime,
whentheforlooprequestsforthenextitem.Ifyouwanttoseethefullsequenceofnumbers
immediately,use list(range()) .Listsareexplainedinthedatastructureschapter.
The for looptheniteratesoverthisrange foriinrange(1,5) isequivalentto foriin[1,2,
3,4] whichislikeassigningeachnumber(orobject)inthesequencetoi,oneatatime,andthen
executingtheblockofstatementsforeachvalueof i .Inthiscase,wejustprintthevalueintheblockof
statements.
Rememberthatthe else partisoptional.Whenincluded,itisalwaysexecutedonceafterthe for loop
isoverunlessabreakstatementisencountered.
Rememberthatthe for..in loopworksforanysequence.Here,wehavealistofnumbersgenerated
bythebuiltin range function,butingeneralwecanuseanykindofsequenceofanykindofobjects!
Wewillexplorethisideaindetailinlaterchapters.
NoteforC/C++/Java/C#Programmers
ThePython for loopisradicallydifferentfromtheC/C++ for loop.C#
programmerswillnotethatthe for loopinPythonissimilartothe foreach loopin
C#.Javaprogrammerswillnotethatthesameissimilarto for(inti:
NOTE
IntArray) inJava1.5.
InC/C,ifyouwanttowrite`for(inti=0i<5i) ,theninPythonyouwrite
just`foriinrange(0,5) .Asyoucansee,the for loopissimpler,more
expressiveandlesserrorproneinPython.
9.4.ThebreakStatement
The break statementisusedtobreakoutofaloopstatementi.e.stoptheexecutionofalooping
statement,eveniftheloopconditionhasnotbecome False orthesequenceofitemshasnotbeen
completelyiteratedover.
Animportantnoteisthatifyoubreakoutofa for or while loop,anycorrespondingloop else
blockisnotexecuted.
Example(saveas break.py ):
62/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
whileTrue:
s=raw_input('Entersomething:')
ifs=='quit':
break
print'Lengthofthestringis',len(s)
print'Done'
PYTHON
Output:
$pythonbreak.py
Entersomething:Programmingisfun
Lengthofthestringis18
Entersomething:Whentheworkisdone
Entersomething:ifyouwannamakeyourworkalsofun:
Entersomething:usePython!
Entersomething:quit
Done
HowItWorks
Inthisprogram,werepeatedlytaketheusersinputandprintthelengthofeachinputeachtime.Weare
providingaspecialconditiontostoptheprogrambycheckingiftheuserinputis 'quit' .Westopthe
programbybreakingoutoftheloopandreachtheendoftheprogram.
Thelengthoftheinputstringcanbefoundoutusingthebuiltin len function.
Rememberthatthe break statementcanbeusedwiththe for loopaswell.
SwaroopsPoeticPython
TheinputIhaveusedhereisaminipoemIhavewritten:
Programmingisfun
Whentheworkisdone
ifyouwannamakeyourworkalsofun:
usePython!
9.5.ThecontinueStatement
63/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
The continue statementisusedtotellPythontoskiptherestofthestatementsinthecurrentloop

blockandtocontinuetothenextiterationoftheloop.
Example(saveas continue.py ):
whileTrue:
s=raw_input('Entersomething:')
ifs=='quit':
break
iflen(s)<3:
print'Toosmall'
continue
print'Inputisofsufficientlength'
#Dootherkindsofprocessinghere...
PYTHON
Output:
$pythoncontinue.py
Entersomething:a
Toosmall
Entersomething:12
Toosmall
Entersomething:abc
Inputisofsufficientlength
Entersomething:quit
HowItWorks
Inthisprogram,weacceptinputfromtheuser,butweprocesstheinputstringonlyifitisatleast3
characterslong.So,weusethebuiltin len functiontogetthelengthandifthelengthislessthan3,we
skiptherestofthestatementsintheblockbyusingthe continue statement.Otherwise,therestofthe
statementsintheloopareexecuted,doinganykindofprocessingwewanttodohere.
Notethatthe continue statementworkswiththe for loopaswell.
9.6.Summary
Wehaveseenhowtousethethreecontrolflowstatements if , while and for alongwiththeir
associated break and continue statements.Thesearesomeofthemostcommonlyusedpartsof
Pythonandhence,becomingcomfortablewiththemisessential.
Next,wewillseehowtocreateandusefunctions.
64/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
10.Functions
Functionsarereusablepiecesofprograms.Theyallowyoutogiveanametoablockofstatements,
allowingyoutorunthatblockusingthespecifiednameanywhereinyourprogramandanynumberof
times.Thisisknownascallingthefunction.Wehavealreadyusedmanybuiltinfunctionssuchas len
and range .
Thefunctionconceptisprobablythemostimportantbuildingblockofanynontrivialsoftware(inany
programminglanguage),sowewillexplorevariousaspectsoffunctionsinthischapter.
Functionsaredefinedusingthe def keyword.Afterthiskeywordcomesanidentifiernameforthe
function,followedbyapairofparentheseswhichmayenclosesomenamesofvariables,andbythefinal
colonthatendstheline.Nextfollowstheblockofstatementsthatarepartofthisfunction.Anexample
willshowthatthisisactuallyverysimple:
Example(saveas function1.py ):
defsay_hello():
#blockbelongingtothefunction
print'helloworld'
#Endoffunction
PYTHON
say_hello()#callthefunction
say_hello()#callthefunctionagain
Output:
$pythonfunction1.py
helloworld
helloworld
HowItWorks
Wedefineafunctioncalled say_hello usingthesyntaxasexplainedabove.Thisfunctiontakesno
parametersandhencetherearenovariablesdeclaredintheparentheses.Parameterstofunctionsarejust
inputtothefunctionsothatwecanpassindifferentvaluestoitandgetbackcorrespondingresults.
Noticethatwecancallthesamefunctiontwicewhichmeanswedonothavetowritethesamecode
again.
10.1.FunctionParameters
65/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Afunctioncantakeparameters,whicharevaluesyousupplytothefunctionsothatthefunctioncando
somethingutilisingthosevalues.Theseparametersarejustlikevariablesexceptthatthevaluesofthese
variablesaredefinedwhenwecallthefunctionandarealreadyassignedvalueswhenthefunctionruns.
Parametersarespecifiedwithinthepairofparenthesesinthefunctiondefinition,separatedbycommas.
Whenwecallthefunction,wesupplythevaluesinthesameway.Notetheterminologyusedthenames
giveninthefunctiondefinitionarecalledparameterswhereasthevaluesyousupplyinthefunctioncall
arecalledarguments.
Example(saveas function_param.py ):
defprint_max(a,b):
ifa>b:
printa,'ismaximum'
elifa==b:
printa,'isequalto',b
else:
printb,'ismaximum'
PYTHON
#directlypassliteralvalues
print_max(3,4)
x=5
y=7
#passvariablesasarguments
print_max(x,y)
Output:
$pythonfunction_param.py
4ismaximum
7ismaximum
HowItWorks
Here,wedefineafunctioncalled print_max thatusestwoparameterscalled a and b .Wefindoutthe
greaternumberusingasimple if..else statementandthenprintthebiggernumber.
Thefirsttimewecallthefunction print_max ,wedirectlysupplythenumbersasarguments.Inthe
secondcase,wecallthefunctionwithvariablesasarguments. print_max(x,y) causesthevalueof
argument x tobeassignedtoparameter a andthevalueofargument y tobeassignedtoparameter b .
TheprintMaxfunctionworksthesamewayinbothcases.
66/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
10.2.LocalVariables
Whenyoudeclarevariablesinsideafunctiondefinition,theyarenotrelatedinanywaytoothervariables
withthesamenamesusedoutsidethefunctioni.e.variablenamesarelocaltothefunction.Thisis
calledthescopeofthevariable.Allvariableshavethescopeoftheblocktheyaredeclaredinstarting
fromthepointofdefinitionofthename.
Example(saveas function_local.py ):
x=50
PYTHON
deffunc(x):
print'xis',x
x=2
print'Changedlocalxto',x
func(x)
print'xisstill',x
Output:
$pythonfunction_local.py
xis50
Changedlocalxto2
xisstill50
HowItWorks
Thefirsttimethatweprintthevalueofthenamexwiththefirstlineinthefunctionsbody,Pythonuses
thevalueoftheparameterdeclaredinthemainblock,abovethefunctiondefinition.
Next,weassignthevalue 2 to x .Thename x islocaltoourfunction.So,whenwechangethevalue
of x inthefunction,the x definedinthemainblockremainsunaffected.
Withthelast print statement,wedisplaythevalueof x asdefinedinthemainblock,thereby
confirmingthatitisactuallyunaffectedbythelocalassignmentwithinthepreviouslycalledfunction.
10.3.Theglobalstatement
Ifyouwanttoassignavaluetoanamedefinedatthetopleveloftheprogram(i.e.notinsideanykindof
scopesuchasfunctionsorclasses),thenyouhavetotellPythonthatthenameisnotlocal,butitis
global.Wedothisusingthe global statement.Itisimpossibletoassignavaluetoavariabledefined
outsideafunctionwithoutthe global statement.
67/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Youcanusethevaluesofsuchvariablesdefinedoutsidethefunction(assumingthereisnovariablewith
thesamenamewithinthefunction).However,thisisnotencouragedandshouldbeavoidedsinceit
becomesuncleartothereaderoftheprogramastowherethatvariablesdefinitionis.Usingthe global
statementmakesitamplyclearthatthevariableisdefinedinanoutermostblock.
Example(saveas function_global.py ):
x=50
PYTHON
deffunc():
globalx
print'xis',x
x=2
print'Changedglobalxto',x
func()
print'Valueofxis',x
Output:
$pythonfunction_global.py
xis50
Changedglobalxto2
Valueofxis2
HowItWorks
The global statementisusedtodeclarethat x isaglobalvariablehence,whenweassignavalueto
x insidethefunction,thatchangeisreflectedwhenweusethevalueof x inthemainblock.
Youcanspecifymorethanoneglobalvariableusingthesame global statemente.g. globalx,y,

z.
10.4.DefaultArgumentValues
Forsomefunctions,youmaywanttomakesomeparametersoptionalandusedefaultvaluesincasethe
userdoesnotwanttoprovidevaluesforthem.Thisisdonewiththehelpofdefaultargumentvalues.You
canspecifydefaultargumentvaluesforparametersbyappendingtotheparameternameinthefunction
definitiontheassignmentoperator( = )followedbythedefaultvalue.
Notethatthedefaultargumentvalueshouldbeaconstant.Moreprecisely,thedefaultargumentvalue
shouldbeimmutablethisisexplainedindetailinlaterchapters.Fornow,justrememberthis.
68/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Example(saveas function_default.py ):
defsay(message,times=1):
printmessage*times
PYTHON
say('Hello')
say('World',5)
Output:
$pythonfunction_default.py
Hello
WorldWorldWorldWorldWorld
HowItWorks
Thefunctionnamed say isusedtoprintastringasmanytimesasspecified.Ifwedontsupplyavalue,
thenbydefault,thestringisprintedjustonce.Weachievethisbyspecifyingadefaultargumentvalueof
1 totheparameter times .
Inthefirstusageof say ,wesupplyonlythestringanditprintsthestringonce.Inthesecondusageof

say ,wesupplyboththestringandanargument 5 statingthatwewanttosaythestringmessage5
times.
Onlythoseparameterswhichareattheendoftheparameterlistcanbegivendefault
argumentvaluesi.e.youcannothaveaparameterwithadefaultargumentvalue
precedingaparameterwithoutadefaultargumentvalueinthefunctionsparameter
CAUTION
list.
Thisisbecausethevaluesareassignedtotheparametersbyposition.For
example, deffunc(a,b=5) isvalid,but deffunc(a=5,b) isnotvalid.
10.5.KeywordArguments
Ifyouhavesomefunctionswithmanyparametersandyouwanttospecifyonlysomeofthem,thenyou
cangivevaluesforsuchparametersbynamingthemthisiscalledkeywordargumentsweusethe
name(keyword)insteadoftheposition(whichwehavebeenusingallalong)tospecifytheargumentsto
thefunction.
69/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Therearetwoadvantagesone,usingthefunctioniseasiersincewedonotneedtoworryabouttheorder
ofthearguments.Two,wecangivevaluestoonlythoseparameterstowhichwewantto,providedthat
theotherparametershavedefaultargumentvalues.
Example(saveas function_keyword.py ):
deffunc(a,b=5,c=10):
print'ais',a,'andbis',b,'andcis',c
PYTHON
func(3,7)
func(25,c=24)
func(c=50,a=100)
Output:
$pythonfunction_keyword.py
ais3andbis7andcis10
ais25andbis5andcis24
ais100andbis5andcis50
HowItWorks
Thefunctionnamed func hasoneparameterwithoutadefaultargumentvalue,followedbytwo
parameterswithdefaultargumentvalues.
Inthefirstusage, func(3,7) ,theparameter a getsthevalue 3 ,theparameter b getsthevalue 7
and c getsthedefaultvalueof 10 .
Inthesecondusage func(25,c=24) ,thevariable a getsthevalueof25duetothepositionofthe
argument.Then,theparameter c getsthevalueof 24 duetonamingi.e.keywordarguments.The
variable b getsthedefaultvalueof 5 .
Inthethirdusage func(c=50,a=100) ,weusekeywordargumentsforallspecifiedvalues.Noticethat
wearespecifyingthevalueforparameter c beforethatfor a eventhough a isdefinedbefore c inthe
functiondefinition.
10.6.VarArgsparameters
Sometimesyoumightwanttodefineafunctionthatcantakeanynumberofparameters,i.e.variable
numberofarguments,thiscanbeachievedbyusingthestars(saveas function_varargs.py ):
70/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
deftotal(initial=5,*numbers,**keywords):
count=initial
fornumberinnumbers:
count+=number
forkeyinkeywords:
count+=keywords[key]
returncount
PYTHON
printtotal(10,1,2,3,vegetables=50,fruits=100)
Output:
$pythonfunction_varargs.py
166
HowItWorks
Whenwedeclareastarredparametersuchas *param ,thenallthepositionalargumentsfromthatpoint
tilltheendarecollectedasatuplecalled'param'.
Similarly,whenwedeclareadoublestarredparametersuchas **param ,thenallthekeyword
argumentsfromthatpointtilltheendarecollectedasadictionarycalled'param'.
Wewillexploretuplesanddictionariesinalaterchapter.
10.7.Thereturnstatement
The return statementisusedtoreturnfromafunctioni.e.breakoutofthefunction.Wecan
optionallyreturnavaluefromthefunctionaswell.
Example(saveas function_return.py ):
defmaximum(x,y):
ifx>y:
returnx
elifx==y:
return'Thenumbersareequal'
else:
returny
PYTHON
printmaximum(2,3)
Output:
71/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
$pythonfunction_return.py
3
HowItWorks
The maximum functionreturnsthemaximumoftheparameters,inthiscasethenumberssuppliedtothe
function.Itusesasimple if..else statementtofindthegreatervalueandthenreturnsthatvalue.
Notethata return statementwithoutavalueisequivalentto returnNone . None isaspecialtypein
Pythonthatrepresentsnothingness.Forexample,itisusedtoindicatethatavariablehasnovalueifithas
avalueof None .
Everyfunctionimplicitlycontainsa returnNone statementattheendunlessyouhavewrittenyour
own return statement.Youcanseethisbyrunning printsome_function() wherethefunction
some_function doesnotusethe return statementsuchas:
defsome_function():
pass
PYTHON
The pass statementisusedinPythontoindicateanemptyblockofstatements.
TIP
Thereisabuiltinfunctioncalled max thatalreadyimplementsthe'findmaximum'

functionality,sousethisbuiltinfunctionwheneverpossible.
10.8.DocStrings
Pythonhasaniftyfeaturecalleddocumentationstrings,usuallyreferredtobyitsshortername
docstrings.DocStringsareanimportanttoolthatyoushouldmakeuseofsinceithelpstodocumentthe
programbetterandmakesiteasiertounderstand.Amazingly,wecanevengetthedocstringbackfrom,
sayafunction,whentheprogramisactuallyrunning!
Example(saveas function_docstring.py ):
72/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
defprint_max(x,y):
'''Printsthemaximumoftwonumbers.
PYTHON
Thetwovaluesmustbeintegers.'''
#converttointegers,ifpossible
x=int(x)
y=int(y)
ifx>y:
printx,'ismaximum'
else:
printy,'ismaximum'
print_max(3,5)
printprint_max.__doc__
Output:
$pythonfunction_docstring.py
5ismaximum
Printsthemaximumoftwonumbers.
Thetwovaluesmustbeintegers.
HowItWorks
Astringonthefirstlogicallineofafunctionisthedocstringforthatfunction.NotethatDocStringsalso
applytomodulesandclasseswhichwewilllearnaboutintherespectivechapters.
Theconventionfollowedforadocstringisamultilinestringwherethefirstlinestartswithacapital
letterandendswithadot.Thenthesecondlineisblankfollowedbyanydetailedexplanationstarting
fromthethirdline.Youarestronglyadvisedtofollowthisconventionforallyourdocstringsforallyour
nontrivialfunctions.
Wecanaccessthedocstringofthe print_max functionusingthe doc (noticethedouble
underscores)attribute(namebelongingto)ofthefunction.JustrememberthatPythontreatseverything
asanobjectandthisincludesfunctions.Welllearnmoreaboutobjectsinthechapteronclasses.
Ifyouhaveused help() inPython,thenyouhavealreadyseentheusageofdocstrings!Whatitdoesis
justfetchthe doc attributeofthatfunctionanddisplaysitinaneatmannerforyou.Youcantryitouton
thefunctionabovejustinclude help(print_max) inyourprogram.Remembertopressthe q keyto
exit help .
73/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Automatedtoolscanretrievethedocumentationfromyourprograminthismanner.Therefore,Istrongly
recommendthatyouusedocstringsforanynontrivialfunctionthatyouwrite.The pydoc command
thatcomeswithyourPythondistributionworkssimilarlyto help() usingdocstrings.
10.9.Summary
Wehaveseensomanyaspectsoffunctionsbutnotethatwestillhaventcoveredallaspectsofthem.
However,wehavealreadycoveredmostofwhatyoulluseregardingPythonfunctionsonaneveryday
basis.
Next,wewillseehowtouseaswellascreatePythonmodules.
74/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
11.Modules
Youhaveseenhowyoucanreusecodeinyourprogrambydefiningfunctionsonce.Whatifyouwanted
toreuseanumberoffunctionsinotherprogramsthatyouwrite?Asyoumighthaveguessed,theanswer
ismodules.
Therearevariousmethodsofwritingmodules,butthesimplestwayistocreateafilewitha .py
extensionthatcontainsfunctionsandvariables.
AnothermethodistowritethemodulesinthenativelanguageinwhichthePythoninterpreteritselfwas
written.Forexample,youcanwritemodulesintheCprogramminglanguage
(http://docs.python.org/2/extending/)andwhencompiled,theycanbeusedfromyourPythoncodewhen
usingthestandardPythoninterpreter.
Amodulecanbeimportedbyanotherprogramtomakeuseofitsfunctionality.Thisishowwecanuse
thePythonstandardlibraryaswell.First,wewillseehowtousethestandardlibrarymodules.
Example(saveas module_using_sys.py ):
importsys
PYTHON
print('Thecommandlineargumentsare:')
foriinsys.argv:
printi
print'\n\nThePYTHONPATHis',sys.path,'\n'
Output:
$pythonmodule_using_sys.pywearearguments
Thecommandlineargumentsare:
module_using_sys.py
we
are
arguments
ThePYTHONPATHis['/tmp/py',
#manyentrieshere,notshownhere
'/Library/Python/2.7/sitepackages',
'/usr/local/lib/python2.7/sitepackages']
HowItWorks
75/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
First,weimportthe sys moduleusingthe import statement.Basically,thistranslatestoustelling

Pythonthatwewanttousethismodule.The sys modulecontainsfunctionalityrelatedtothePython
interpreteranditsenvironmenti.e.thesystem.
WhenPythonexecutesthe importsys statement,itlooksforthe sys module.Inthiscase,itisoneof
thebuiltinmodules,andhencePythonknowswheretofindit.
Ifitwasnotacompiledmodulei.e.amodulewritteninPython,thenthePythoninterpreterwillsearch
foritinthedirectorieslistedinits sys.path variable.Ifthemoduleisfound,thenthestatementsinthe
bodyofthatmodulearerunandthemoduleismadeavailableforyoutouse.Notethattheinitialization
isdoneonlythefirsttimethatweimportamodule.
The argv variableinthe sys moduleisaccessedusingthedottednotationi.e. sys.argv .Itclearly
indicatesthatthisnameispartofthe sys module.Anotheradvantageofthisapproachisthatthename
doesnotclashwithany argv variableusedinyourprogram.
The sys.argv variableisalistofstrings(listsareexplainedindetailinalaterchapter.Specifically,the
sys.argv containsthelistofcommandlineargumentsi.e.theargumentspassedtoyourprogram
usingthecommandline.
IfyouareusinganIDEtowriteandruntheseprograms,lookforawaytospecifycommandline
argumentstotheprograminthemenus.
Here,whenweexecute pythonmodule_using_sys.pywearearguments ,werunthemodule
module_using_sys.py withthe python commandandtheotherthingsthatfollowarearguments
passedtotheprogram.Pythonstoresthecommandlineargumentsinthe sys.argv variableforusto

use.
Remember,thenameofthescriptrunningisalwaysthefirstargumentinthe sys.argv list.So,inthis
casewewillhave 'module_using_sys.py' as sys.argv[0] , 'we' as sys.argv[1] , 'are' as
sys.argv[2] and 'arguments' as sys.argv[3] .NoticethatPythonstartscountingfrom0and
not1.
The sys.path containsthelistofdirectorynameswheremodulesareimportedfrom.Observethatthe
firststringin sys.path isemptythisemptystringindicatesthatthecurrentdirectoryisalsopartofthe
sys.path whichissameasthe PYTHONPATH environmentvariable.Thismeansthatyoucandirectly
importmoduleslocatedinthecurrentdirectory.Otherwise,youwillhavetoplaceyourmoduleinoneof
thedirectorieslistedin sys.path .
76/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Notethatthecurrentdirectoryisthedirectoryfromwhichtheprogramislaunched.Run importos;
printos.getcwd() tofindoutthecurrentdirectoryofyourprogram.
11.1.Bytecompiled.pycfiles
Importingamoduleisarelativelycostlyaffair,soPythondoessometrickstomakeitfaster.Onewayis
tocreatebytecompiledfileswiththeextension .pyc whichisanintermediateformthatPython
transformstheprograminto(remembertheintroductionsectiononhowPythonworks?).This .pyc file
isusefulwhenyouimportthemodulethenexttimefromadifferentprogramitwillbemuchfaster
sinceaportionoftheprocessingrequiredinimportingamoduleisalreadydone.Also,thesebyte
compiledfilesareplatformindependent.
These .pyc filesareusuallycreatedinthesamedirectoryasthecorresponding .py
NOTE
files.IfPythondoesnothavepermissiontowritetofilesinthatdirectory,thenthe
.pyc fileswillnotbecreated.
11.2.Thefromimportstatement
Ifyouwanttodirectlyimportthe argv variableintoyourprogram(toavoidtypingthe sys. everytime
forit),thenyoucanusethe fromsysimportargv statement.
Ingeneral,youshouldavoidusingthisstatementandusethe import statementinsteadsinceyour
programwillavoidnameclashesandwillbemorereadable.
Example:
frommathimportsqrt
print"Squarerootof16is",sqrt(16)
PYTHON
11.3.Amodules name
Everymodulehasanameandstatementsinamodulecanfindoutthenameoftheirmodule.Thisis
handyfortheparticularpurposeoffiguringoutwhetherthemoduleisbeingrunstandaloneorbeing
imported.Asmentionedpreviously,whenamoduleisimportedforthefirsttime,thecodeitcontainsgets
executed.Wecanusethistomakethemodulebehaveindifferentwaysdependingonwhetheritisbeing
usedbyitselforbeingimportedfromanothermodule.Thiscanbeachievedusingthe name attributeof
themodule.
Example(saveas module_using_name.py ):
77/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
if__name__=='__main__':
print'Thisprogramisbeingrunbyitself'
else:
print'Iambeingimportedfromanothermodule'
PYTHON
Output:
$pythonmodule_using_name.py
Thisprogramisbeingrunbyitself
$python
>>>importmodule_using_name
Iambeingimportedfromanothermodule
>>>
HowItWorks
EveryPythonmodulehasits name defined.Ifthisis 'main' ,thatimpliesthatthemoduleisbeingrun
standalonebytheuserandwecantakeappropriateactions.
11.4.MakingYourOwnModules
Creatingyourownmodulesiseasy,youvebeendoingitallalong!ThisisbecauseeveryPython
programisalsoamodule.Youjusthavetomakesureithasa .py extension.Thefollowingexample
shouldmakeitclear.
Example(saveas mymodule.py ):
defsay_hi():
print'Hi,thisismymodulespeaking.'
PYTHON
__version__='0.1'
Theabovewasasamplemodule.Asyoucansee,thereisnothingparticularlyspecialaboutitcompared
toourusualPythonprogram.WewillnextseehowtousethismoduleinourotherPythonprograms.
Rememberthatthemoduleshouldbeplacedeitherinthesamedirectoryastheprogramfromwhichwe
importit,orinoneofthedirectorieslistedin sys.path .
Anothermodule(saveas mymodule_demo.py ):
78/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
importmymodule
PYTHON
mymodule.say_hi()
print'Version',mymodule.__version__
Output:
$pythonmymodule_demo.py
Hi,thisismymodulespeaking.
Version0.1
HowItWorks
Noticethatweusethesamedottednotationtoaccessmembersofthemodule.Pythonmakesgoodreuse
ofthesamenotationtogivethedistinctive'Pythonic'feeltoitsothatwedonthavetokeeplearningnew
waystodothings.
Hereisaversionutilisingthe from..import syntax(saveas mymodule_demo2.py ):
frommymoduleimportsay_hi,__version__
PYTHON
say_hi()
print'Version',__version__
Theoutputof mymodule_demo2.py issameastheoutputof mymodule_demo.py .

Noticethatiftherewasalreadya version namedeclaredinthemodulethatimportsmymodule,there
wouldbeaclash.Thisisalsolikelybecauseitiscommonpracticeforeachmoduletodeclareitsversion
numberusingthisname.Hence,itisalwaysrecommendedtopreferthe import statementeventhough
itmightmakeyourprogramalittlelonger.
Youcouldalsouse:
frommymoduleimport*
PYTHON
Thiswillimportallpublicnamessuchas say_hi butwouldnotimport version becauseitstartswith

doubleunderscores.
WARNING
Rememberthatyoushouldavoidusingimportstar,i.e. frommymoduleimport
*.
79/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
ZenofPython
OneofPythonsguidingprinciplesisthat"ExplicitisbetterthanImplicit".Run importthis in
PythontolearnmoreandseethisStackOverflowdiscussion
(http://stackoverflow.com/questions/228181/zenofpython)whichlistsexamplesforeachofthe
principles.
11.5.Thedirfunction
Youcanusethebuiltin dir functiontolisttheidentifiersthatanobjectdefines.Forexample,fora
module,theidentifiersincludethefunctions,classesandvariablesdefinedinthatmodule.
Whenyousupplyamodulenametothe`dir()`function,itreturnsthelistofthenamesdefinedinthat
module.Whennoargumentisappliedtoit,itreturnsthelistofnamesdefinedinthecurrentmodule.
Example:
$python
>>>importsys
#getnamesofattributesinsysmodule
>>>dir(sys)
['__displayhook__','__doc__',
'argv','builtin_module_names',
'version','version_info']
#onlyfewentriesshownhere
#getnamesofattributesforcurrentmodule
>>>dir()
['__builtins__','__doc__',
'__name__','__package__']
#createanewvariable'a'
>>>a=5
>>>dir()
['__builtins__','__doc__','__name__','__package__','a']
#delete/removeaname
>>>dela
>>>dir()
['__builtins__','__doc__','__name__','__package__']
HowItWorks
80/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
First,weseetheusageof dir ontheimported sys module.Wecanseethehugelistofattributesthatit

contains.
Next,weusethe dir functionwithoutpassingparameterstoit.Bydefault,itreturnsthelistofattributes
forthecurrentmodule.Noticethatthelistofimportedmodulesisalsopartofthislist.
Inordertoobservethe dir inaction,wedefineanewvariable a andassignitavalueandthencheck
dir andweobservethatthereisanadditionalvalueinthelistofthesamename.Weremovethe
variable/attributeofthecurrentmoduleusingthe del statementandthechangeisreflectedagaininthe

outputofthe dir function.
Anoteon del thisstatementisusedtodeleteavariable/nameandafterthestatementhasrun,inthis
case dela ,youcannolongeraccessthevariable a itisasifitneverexistedbeforeatall.
Notethatthe dir() functionworksonanyobject.Forexample,run dir(print) tolearnaboutthe
attributesoftheprintfunction,or dir(str) fortheattributesofthestrclass.
Thereisalsoa vars() (http://docs.python.org/2/library/functions.html#vars)functionwhichcanpotentially
giveyoutheattributesandtheirvalues,butitwillnotworkforallcases.
11.6.Packages
Bynow,youmusthavestartedobservingthehierarchyoforganizingyourprograms.Variablesusuallygo
insidefunctions.Functionsandglobalvariablesusuallygoinsidemodules.Whatifyouwantedto
organizemodules?Thatswherepackagescomeintothepicture.
Packagesarejustfoldersofmoduleswithaspecial init.py filethatindicatestoPythonthatthisfolder
isspecialbecauseitcontainsPythonmodules.
Letssayyouwanttocreateapackagecalled'world'withsubpackages'asia','africa',etc.andthese
subpackagesinturncontainmoduleslike'india','madagascar',etc.
Thisishowyouwouldstructurethefolders:
81/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
<somefolderpresentinthesys.path>/
world/
__init__.py
asia/
__init__.py
india/
__init__.py
foo.py
africa/
__init__.py
madagascar/
__init__.py
bar.py
Packagesarejustaconveniencetohierarchicallyorganizemodules.Youwillseemanyinstancesofthis
inthestandardlibrary.
11.7.Summary
Justlikefunctionsarereusablepartsofprograms,modulesarereusableprograms.Packagesareanother
hierarchytoorganizemodules.ThestandardlibrarythatcomeswithPythonisanexampleofsuchaset
ofpackagesandmodules.
Wehaveseenhowtousethesemodulesandcreateourownmodules.
Next,wewilllearnaboutsomeinterestingconceptscalleddatastructures.
82/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
12.DataStructures
Datastructuresarebasicallyjustthattheyarestructureswhichcanholdsomedatatogether.Inother
words,theyareusedtostoreacollectionofrelateddata.
TherearefourbuiltindatastructuresinPythonlist,tuple,dictionaryandset.Wewillseehowtouse
eachofthemandhowtheymakelifeeasierforus.
12.1.List
A list isadatastructurethatholdsanorderedcollectionofitemsi.e.youcanstoreasequenceof
itemsinalist.Thisiseasytoimagineifyoucanthinkofashoppinglistwhereyouhavealistofitemsto
buy,exceptthatyouprobablyhaveeachitemonaseparatelineinyourshoppinglistwhereasinPython
youputcommasinbetweenthem.
ThelistofitemsshouldbeenclosedinsquarebracketssothatPythonunderstandsthatyouarespecifying
alist.Onceyouhavecreatedalist,youcanadd,removeorsearchforitemsinthelist.Sincewecanadd
andremoveitems,wesaythatalistisamutabledatatypei.e.thistypecanbealtered.
12.2.QuickIntroductionToObjectsAndClasses
AlthoughIvebeengenerallydelayingthediscussionofobjectsandclassestillnow,alittleexplanationis
neededrightnowsothatyoucanunderstandlistsbetter.Wewillexplorethistopicindetailinalater
chapter.
Alistisanexampleofusageofobjectsandclasses.Whenweuseavariable i andassignavaluetoit,
sayinteger 5 toit,youcanthinkofitascreatinganobject(i.e.instance) i ofclass(i.e.type) int .In
fact,youcanread help(int) tounderstandthisbetter.
Aclasscanalsohavemethodsi.e.functionsdefinedforusewithrespecttothatclassonly.Youcanuse
thesepiecesoffunctionalityonlywhenyouhaveanobjectofthatclass.Forexample,Pythonprovidesan
append methodforthe list classwhichallowsyoutoaddanitemtotheendofthelist.Forexample,
mylist.append('anitem') willaddthatstringtothelist mylist .Notetheuseofdottednotation
foraccessingmethodsoftheobjects.
Aclasscanalsohavefieldswhicharenothingbutvariablesdefinedforusewithrespecttothatclass
only.Youcanusethesevariables/namesonlywhenyouhaveanobjectofthatclass.Fieldsarealso
accessedbythedottednotation,forexample, mylist.field .
Example(saveas ds_using_list.py ):
83/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
#Thisismyshoppinglist
shoplist=['apple','mango','carrot','banana']
PYTHON
print'Ihave',len(shoplist),'itemstopurchase.'
print'Theseitemsare:',
foriteminshoplist:
printitem,
print'\nIalsohavetobuyrice.'
shoplist.append('rice')
print'Myshoppinglistisnow',shoplist
print'Iwillsortmylistnow'
shoplist.sort()
print'Sortedshoppinglistis',shoplist
print'ThefirstitemIwillbuyis',shoplist[0]
olditem=shoplist[0]
delshoplist[0]
print'Iboughtthe',olditem
print'Myshoppinglistisnow',shoplist
Output:
$pythonds_using_list.py
Ihave4itemstopurchase.
Theseitemsare:applemangocarrotbanana
Ialsohavetobuyrice.
Myshoppinglistisnow['apple','mango','carrot','banana','rice']
Iwillsortmylistnow
Sortedshoppinglistis['apple','banana','carrot','mango','rice']
ThefirstitemIwillbuyisapple
Iboughttheapple
Myshoppinglistisnow['banana','carrot','mango','rice']
HowItWorks
Thevariable shoplist isashoppinglistforsomeonewhoisgoingtothemarket.In shoplist ,we
onlystorestringsofthenamesoftheitemstobuybutyoucanaddanykindofobjecttoalistincluding
numbersandevenotherlists.
Wehavealsousedthe for..in looptoiteratethroughtheitemsofthelist.Bynow,youmusthave
realisedthatalistisalsoasequence.Thespecialityofsequenceswillbediscussedinalatersection.
84/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Noticetheuseofthetrailingcommainthe print statementtoindicatethatwewanttoendtheoutput

withaspaceinsteadoftheusuallinebreak.ThinkofthecommaastellingPythonthatwehavemore
itemstoprintonthesameline.
Next,weaddanitemtothelistusingthe append methodofthelistobject,asalreadydiscussedbefore.
Then,wecheckthattheitemhasbeenindeedaddedtothelistbyprintingthecontentsofthelistby
simplypassingthelisttothe print statementwhichprintsitneatly.
Then,wesortthelistbyusingthe sort methodofthelist.Itisimportanttounderstandthatthismethod
affectsthelistitselfanddoesnotreturnamodifiedlistthisisdifferentfromthewaystringswork.This
iswhatwemeanbysayingthatlistsaremutableandthatstringsareimmutable.
Next,whenwefinishbuyinganiteminthemarket,wewanttoremoveitfromthelist.Weachievethis
byusingthe del statement.Here,wementionwhichitemofthelistwewanttoremoveandthe del
statementremovesitfromthelistforus.Wespecifythatwewanttoremovethefirstitemfromthelist
andhenceweuse delshoplist[0] (rememberthatPythonstartscountingfrom0).
Ifyouwanttoknowallthemethodsdefinedbythelistobject,see help(list) fordetails.
12.3.Tuple
Tuplesareusedtoholdtogethermultipleobjects.Thinkofthemassimilartolists,butwithoutthe
extensivefunctionalitythatthelistclassgivesyou.Onemajorfeatureoftuplesisthattheyare
immutablelikestringsi.e.youcannotmodifytuples.
Tuplesaredefinedbyspecifyingitemsseparatedbycommaswithinanoptionalpairofparentheses.
Tuplesareusuallyusedincaseswhereastatementorauserdefinedfunctioncansafelyassumethatthe
collectionofvaluesi.e.thetupleofvaluesusedwillnotchange.
Example(saveas ds_using_tuple.py ):
85/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
#Iwouldrecommendalwaysusingparentheses
#toindicatestartandendoftuple
#eventhoughparenthesesareoptional.
#Explicitisbetterthanimplicit.
zoo=('python','elephant','penguin')
print'Numberofanimalsinthezoois',len(zoo)
PYTHON
new_zoo='monkey','camel',zoo
print'Numberofcagesinthenewzoois',len(new_zoo)
print'Allanimalsinnewzooare',new_zoo
print'Animalsbroughtfromoldzooare',new_zoo[2]
print'Lastanimalbroughtfromoldzoois',new_zoo[2][2]
print'Numberofanimalsinthenewzoois',\
len(new_zoo)1+len(new_zoo[2])
Output:
$pythonds_using_tuple.py
Numberofanimalsinthezoois3
Numberofcagesinthenewzoois3
Allanimalsinnewzooare('monkey','camel',('python','elephant','penguin'))
Animalsbroughtfromoldzooare('python','elephant','penguin')
Lastanimalbroughtfromoldzooispenguin
Numberofanimalsinthenewzoois5
HowItWorks
Thevariable zoo referstoatupleofitems.Weseethatthe len functioncanbeusedtogetthelength
ofthetuple.Thisalsoindicatesthatatupleisasequenceaswell.
Wearenowshiftingtheseanimalstoanewzoosincetheoldzooisbeingclosed.Therefore,the
new_zoo tuplecontainssomeanimalswhicharealreadytherealongwiththeanimalsbroughtoverfrom
theoldzoo.Backtoreality,notethatatuplewithinatupledoesnotloseitsidentity.
Wecanaccesstheitemsinthetuplebyspecifyingtheitemspositionwithinapairofsquarebracketsjust
likewedidforlists.Thisiscalledtheindexingoperator.Weaccessthethirditemin new_zoo by
specifying new_zoo[2] andweaccessthethirditemwithinthethirditeminthe new_zoo tupleby
specifying new_zoo[2][2] .Thisisprettysimpleonceyouveunderstoodtheidiom.
Tuplewith0or1items
Anemptytupleisconstructedbyanemptypairofparenthesessuchas myempty=
NOTE
() .However,atuplewithasingleitemisnotsosimple.Youhavetospecifyitusing
acommafollowingthefirst(andonly)itemsothatPythoncandifferentiatebetweena
86/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
tupleandapairofparenthesessurroundingtheobjectinanexpressioni.e.youhaveto
specify singleton=(2,) ifyoumeanyouwantatuplecontainingtheitem 2 .
NoteforPerlprogrammers
Alistwithinalistdoesnotloseitsidentityi.e.listsarenotflattenedasinPerl.The
NOTE
sameappliestoatuplewithinatuple,oratuplewithinalist,oralistwithinatuple,
etc.AsfarasPythonisconcerned,theyarejustobjectsstoredusinganotherobject,
thatsall.
12.4.Dictionary
Adictionaryislikeanaddressbookwhereyoucanfindtheaddressorcontactdetailsofapersonby
knowingonlyhis/hernamei.e.weassociatekeys(name)withvalues(details).Notethatthekeymustbe
uniquejustlikeyoucannotfindoutthecorrectinformationifyouhavetwopersonswiththeexactsame
name.
Notethatyoucanuseonlyimmutableobjects(likestrings)forthekeysofadictionarybutyoucanuse
eitherimmutableormutableobjectsforthevaluesofthedictionary.Thisbasicallytranslatestosaythat
youshoulduseonlysimpleobjectsforkeys.
Pairsofkeysandvaluesarespecifiedinadictionarybyusingthenotation d={key1:value1,key2
:value2} .Noticethatthekeyvaluepairsareseparatedbyacolonandthepairsareseparated
themselvesbycommasandallthisisenclosedinapairofcurlybraces.
Rememberthatkeyvaluepairsinadictionaryarenotorderedinanymanner.Ifyouwantaparticular
order,thenyouwillhavetosortthemyourselfbeforeusingit.
Thedictionariesthatyouwillbeusingareinstances/objectsofthe dict class.
Example(saveas ds_using_dict.py ):
87/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
#'ab'isshortfor'a'ddress'b'ook
PYTHON
ab={'Swaroop':'[email protected]',
'Larry':'[email protected]',
'Matsumoto':'[email protected]',
'Spammer':'[email protected]'
}
print"Swaroop'saddressis",ab['Swaroop']
#Deletingakeyvaluepair
delab['Spammer']
print'\nThereare{}contactsintheaddressbook\n'.format(len(ab))
forname,addressinab.items():
print'Contact{}at{}'.format(name,address)
#Addingakeyvaluepair
ab['Guido']='[email protected]'
if'Guido'inab:
print"\nGuido'saddressis",ab['Guido']
Output:
$pythonds_using_dict.py
Swaroop'[email protected]
Thereare3contactsintheaddressbook
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Guido'[email protected]
HowItWorks
Wecreatethedictionary ab usingthenotationalreadydiscussed.Wethenaccesskeyvaluepairsby
specifyingthekeyusingtheindexingoperatorasdiscussedinthecontextoflistsandtuples.Observethe
simplesyntax.
Wecandeletekeyvaluepairsusingouroldfriendthe del statement.Wesimplyspecifythedictionary
andtheindexingoperatorforthekeytoberemovedandpassittothe del statement.Thereisnoneedto
knowthevaluecorrespondingtothekeyforthisoperation.
88/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Next,weaccesseachkeyvaluepairofthedictionaryusingthe items methodofthedictionarywhich

returnsalistoftupleswhereeachtuplecontainsapairofitemsthekeyfollowedbythevalue.We
retrievethispairandassignittothevariables name and address correspondinglyforeachpairusing
the for..in loopandthenprintthesevaluesintheforblock.
Wecanaddnewkeyvaluepairsbysimplyusingtheindexingoperatortoaccessakeyandassignthat
value,aswehavedoneforGuidointheabovecase.
Wecancheckifakeyvaluepairexistsusingthe in operator.
Forthelistofmethodsofthe dict class,see help(dict) .
KeywordArgumentsandDictionaries
Ifyouhaveusedkeywordargumentsinyourfunctions,youhavealreadyused
TIP
dictionaries!Justthinkaboutitthekeyvaluepairisspecifiedbyyouinthe
parameterlistofthefunctiondefinitionandwhenyouaccessvariableswithinyour
function,itisjustakeyaccessofadictionary(whichiscalledthesymboltablein
compilerdesignterminology).
12.5.Sequence
Lists,tuplesandstringsareexamplesofsequences,butwhataresequencesandwhatissospecialabout
them?
Themajorfeaturesaremembershiptests,(i.e.the in and notin expressions)andindexing
operations,whichallowustofetchaparticulariteminthesequencedirectly.
Thethreetypesofsequencesmentionedabovelists,tuplesandstrings,alsohaveaslicingoperation
whichallowsustoretrieveasliceofthesequencei.e.apartofthesequence.
Example(saveas ds_seq.py ):
89/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
name='swaroop'
PYTHON
#Indexingor'Subscription'operation#
print'Item0is',shoplist[0]
print'Character0is',name[0]
#Slicingonalist#
print'Item1to3is',shoplist[1:3]
print'Item2toendis',shoplist[2:]
print'Item1to1is',shoplist[1:1]
print'Itemstarttoendis',shoplist[:]
#Slicingonastring#
print'characters1to3is',name[1:3]
print'characters2toendis',name[2:]
print'characters1to1is',name[1:1]
print'charactersstarttoendis',name[:]
Output:
$pythonds_seq.py
Item0isapple
Item1ismango
Item2iscarrot
Item3isbanana
Item1isbanana
Item2iscarrot
Character0iss
Item1to3is['mango','carrot']
Item2toendis['carrot','banana']
Item1to1is['mango','carrot']
Itemstarttoendis['apple','mango','carrot','banana']
characters1to3iswa
characters2toendisaroop
characters1to1iswaroo
charactersstarttoendisswaroop
HowItWorks
First,weseehowtouseindexestogetindividualitemsofasequence.Thisisalsoreferredtoasthe
subscriptionoperation.Wheneveryouspecifyanumbertoasequencewithinsquarebracketsasshown
above,Pythonwillfetchyoutheitemcorrespondingtothatpositioninthesequence.Rememberthat
90/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Pythonstartscountingnumbersfrom0.Hence, shoplist[0] fetchesthefirstitemand shoplist[3]

fetchesthefourthiteminthe`shoplist`sequence.
Theindexcanalsobeanegativenumber,inwhichcase,thepositioniscalculatedfromtheendofthe
sequence.Therefore, shoplist[1] referstothelastiteminthesequenceand shoplist[2] fetches
thesecondlastiteminthesequence.
Theslicingoperationisusedbyspecifyingthenameofthesequencefollowedbyanoptionalpairof
numbersseparatedbyacolonwithinsquarebrackets.Notethatthisisverysimilartotheindexing
operationyouhavebeenusingtillnow.Rememberthenumbersareoptionalbutthecolonisnt.
Thefirstnumber(beforethecolon)intheslicingoperationreferstothepositionfromwheretheslice
startsandthesecondnumber(afterthecolon)indicateswheretheslicewillstopat.Ifthefirstnumberis
notspecified,Pythonwillstartatthebeginningofthesequence.Ifthesecondnumberisleftout,Python
willstopattheendofthesequence.Notethattheslicereturnedstartsatthestartpositionandwillend
justbeforetheendpositioni.e.thestartpositionisincludedbuttheendpositionisexcludedfromthe
sequenceslice.
Thus, shoplist[1:3] returnsasliceofthesequencestartingatposition1,includesposition2but
stopsatposition3andthereforeasliceoftwoitemsisreturned.Similarly, shoplist[:] returnsacopy
ofthewholesequence.
Youcanalsodoslicingwithnegativepositions.Negativenumbersareusedforpositionsfromtheendof
thesequence.Forexample, shoplist[:1] willreturnasliceofthesequencewhichexcludesthelast
itemofthesequencebutcontainseverythingelse.
Youcanalsoprovideathirdargumentfortheslice,whichisthestepfortheslicing(bydefault,thestep
sizeis1):
>>>shoplist=['apple','mango','carrot','banana']
>>>shoplist[::1]
['apple','mango','carrot','banana']
>>>shoplist[::2]
['apple','carrot']
>>>shoplist[::3]
['apple','banana']
>>>shoplist[::1]
['banana','carrot','mango','apple']
PYTHON
Noticethatwhenthestepis2,wegettheitemswithposition0,2,Whenthestepsizeis3,wegetthe
itemswithposition0,3,etc.
91/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
TryvariouscombinationsofsuchslicespecificationsusingthePythoninterpreterinteractivelyi.e.the
promptsothatyoucanseetheresultsimmediately.Thegreatthingaboutsequencesisthatyoucan
accesstuples,listsandstringsallinthesameway!
12.6.Set
Setsareunorderedcollectionsofsimpleobjects.Theseareusedwhentheexistenceofanobjectina
collectionismoreimportantthantheorderorhowmanytimesitoccurs.
Usingsets,youcantestformembership,whetheritisasubsetofanotherset,findtheintersection
betweentwosets,andsoon.
>>>bri=set(['brazil','russia','india'])
>>>'india'inbri
True
>>>'usa'inbri
False
>>>bric=bri.copy()
>>>bric.add('china')
>>>bric.issuperset(bri)
True
>>>bri.remove('russia')
>>>bri&bric#ORbri.intersection(bric)
{'brazil','india'}
PYTHON
HowItWorks
Theexampleisprettymuchselfexplanatorybecauseitinvolvesbasicsettheorymathematicstaughtin
school.
12.7.References
Whenyoucreateanobjectandassignittoavariable,thevariableonlyreferstotheobjectanddoesnot
representtheobjectitself!Thatis,thevariablenamepointstothatpartofyourcomputersmemory
wheretheobjectisstored.Thisiscalledbindingthenametotheobject.
Generally,youdontneedtobeworriedaboutthis,butthereisasubtleeffectduetoreferenceswhich
youneedtobeawareof:
Example(saveas ds_reference.py ):
92/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
print'SimpleAssignment'
#mylistisjustanothernamepointingtothesameobject!
mylist=shoplist
PYTHON
#Ipurchasedthefirstitem,soIremoveitfromthelist
delshoplist[0]
print'shoplistis',shoplist
print'mylistis',mylist
#Noticethatbothshoplistandmylistbothprint
#thesamelistwithoutthe'apple'confirmingthat
#theypointtothesameobject
print'Copybymakingafullslice'
#Makeacopybydoingafullslice
mylist=shoplist[:]
#Removefirstitem
delmylist[0]
print'shoplistis',shoplist
print'mylistis',mylist
#Noticethatnowthetwolistsaredifferent
Output:
$pythonds_reference.py
SimpleAssignment
shoplistis['mango','carrot','banana']
mylistis['mango','carrot','banana']
Copybymakingafullslice
shoplistis['mango','carrot','banana']
mylistis['carrot','banana']
HowItWorks
Mostoftheexplanationisavailableinthecomments.
Rememberthatifyouwanttomakeacopyofalistorsuchkindsofsequencesorcomplexobjects(not
simpleobjectssuchasintegers),thenyouhavetousetheslicingoperationtomakeacopy.Ifyoujust
assignthevariablenametoanothername,bothofthemwill''refer''tothesameobjectandthiscouldbe
troubleifyouarenotcareful.
NoteforPerlprogrammers
NOTE
Rememberthatanassignmentstatementforlistsdoesnotcreateacopy.Youhaveto
useslicingoperationtomakeacopyofthesequence.
93/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
12.8.MoreAboutStrings
Wehavealreadydiscussedstringsindetailearlier.Whatmorecantherebetoknow?Well,didyouknow
thatstringsarealsoobjectsandhavemethodswhichdoeverythingfromcheckingpartofastringto
strippingspaces!
Thestringsthatyouuseinprogramareallobjectsoftheclass str .Someusefulmethodsofthisclass
aredemonstratedinthenextexample.Foracompletelistofsuchmethods,see help(str) .
Example(saveas ds_str_methods.py ):
#Thisisastringobject
name='Swaroop'
PYTHON
ifname.startswith('Swa'):
print'Yes,thestringstartswith"Swa"'
if'a'inname:
print'Yes,itcontainsthestring"a"'
ifname.find('war')!=1:
print'Yes,itcontainsthestring"war"'
delimiter='_*_'
mylist=['Brazil','Russia','India','China']
printdelimiter.join(mylist)
Output:
$pythonds_str_methods.py
Yes,thestringstartswith"Swa"
Yes,itcontainsthestring"a"
Yes,itcontainsthestring"war"
Brazil_*_Russia_*_India_*_China
HowItWorks
Here,weseealotofthestringmethodsinaction.The startswith methodisusedtofindoutwhether
thestringstartswiththegivenstring.The in operatorisusedtocheckifagivenstringisapartofthe
string.
94/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
The find methodisusedtolocatethepositionofthegivensubstringwithinthestring find returns1

ifitisunsuccessfulinfindingthesubstring.The str classalsohasaneatmethodto join theitemsof
asequencewiththestringactingasadelimiterbetweeneachitemofthesequenceandreturnsabigger
stringgeneratedfromthis.
12.9.Summary
WehaveexploredthevariousbuiltindatastructuresofPythonindetail.Thesedatastructureswillbe
essentialforwritingprogramsofreasonablesize.
NowthatwehavealotofthebasicsofPythoninplace,wewillnextseehowtodesignandwriteareal
worldPythonprogram.
95/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
13.ProblemSolving
WehaveexploredvariouspartsofthePythonlanguageandnowwewilltakealookathowalltheseparts
fittogether,bydesigningandwritingaprogramwhichdoessomethinguseful.Theideaistolearnhowto
writeaPythonscriptonyourown.
13.1.TheProblem
Theproblemwewanttosolveis:
Iwantaprogramwhichcreatesabackupofallmyimportantfiles.
Although,thisisasimpleproblem,thereisnotenoughinformationforustogetstartedwiththesolution.
Alittlemoreanalysisisrequired.Forexample,howdowespecifywhichfilesaretobebackedup?How
aretheystored?Wherearetheystored?
Afteranalyzingtheproblemproperly,wedesignourprogram.Wemakealistofthingsabouthowour
programshouldwork.Inthiscase,IhavecreatedthefollowinglistonhowIwantittowork.Ifyoudo
thedesign,youmaynotcomeupwiththesamekindofanalysissinceeverypersonhastheirownwayof
doingthings,sothatisperfectlyokay.
Thefilesanddirectoriestobebackeduparespecifiedinalist.
Thebackupmustbestoredinamainbackupdirectory.
Thefilesarebackedupintoazipfile.
Thenameoftheziparchiveisthecurrentdateandtime.
Weusethestandard zip commandavailablebydefaultinanystandardGNU/LinuxorUnix
distribution.Notethatyoucanuseanyarchivingcommandyouwantaslongasithasacommand
lineinterface.
ForWindowsusers
Windowsuserscaninstall (http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/downlinks/zip.php)the zip
NOTE
commandfromtheGnuWin32projectpage
(http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/zip.htm)andadd C:\Program
Files\GnuWin32\bin toyoursystem PATH environmentvariable,similartowhat
wedidforrecognizingthepythoncommanditself.
13.2.TheSolution
96/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Asthedesignofourprogramisnowreasonablystable,wecanwritethecodewhichisan
implementationofoursolution.
Saveas backup_ver1.py :
importos
importtime
PYTHON
#1.Thefilesanddirectoriestobebackedupare
#specifiedinalist.
#ExampleonWindows:
#source=['"C:\\MyDocuments"','C:\\Code']
#ExampleonMacOSXandLinux:
source=['/Users/swa/notes']
#Noticewehadtousedoublequotesinsidethestring
#fornameswithspacesinit.
#2.Thebackupmustbestoredina
#mainbackupdirectory
#ExampleonWindows:
#target_dir='E:\\Backup'
target_dir='/Users/swa/backup'
#Remembertochangethistowhichfolderyouwillbeusing
#3.Thefilesarebackedupintoazipfile.
#4.Thenameoftheziparchiveisthecurrentdateandtime
target=target_dir+os.sep+\
time.strftime('%Y%m%d%H%M%S')+'.zip'
#Createtargetdirectoryifitisnotpresent
ifnotos.path.exists(target_dir):
os.mkdir(target_dir)#makedirectory
#5.Weusethezipcommandtoputthefilesinaziparchive
zip_command="zipr{0}{1}".format(target,
''.join(source))
#Runthebackup
print"Zipcommandis:"
printzip_command
print"Running:"
ifos.system(zip_command)==0:
print'Successfulbackupto',target
else:
print'BackupFAILED'
Output:
97/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
$pythonbackup_ver1.py
Zipcommandis:
zipr/Users/swa/backup/20140328084844.zip/Users/swa/notes
Running:
adding:Users/swa/notes/(stored0%)
adding:Users/swa/notes/blah1.txt(stored0%)
Successfulbackupto/Users/swa/backup/20140328084844.zip
Now,weareinthetestingphasewherewetestthatourprogramworksproperly.Ifitdoesntbehaveas
expected,thenwehavetodebugourprogrami.e.removethebugs(errors)fromtheprogram.
Iftheaboveprogramdoesnotworkforyou,copythelineprintedafterthe Zipcommandis lineinthe
output,pasteitintheshell(onGNU/LinuxandMacOSX)/ cmd (onWindows),seewhattheerroris
andtrytofixit.Alsocheckthezipcommandmanualonwhatcouldbewrong.Ifthiscommandsucceeds,
thentheproblemmightbeinthePythonprogramitself,socheckifitexactlymatchestheprogram
writtenabove.
HowItWorks
Youwillnoticehowwehaveconvertedourdesignintocodeinastepbystepmanner.
Wemakeuseofthe os and time modulesbyfirstimportingthem.Then,wespecifythefilesand
directoriestobebackedupinthe source list.Thetargetdirectoryiswherewestoreallthebackupfiles
andthisisspecifiedinthe target_dir variable.Thenameoftheziparchivethatwearegoingtocreate
isthecurrentdateandtimewhichwegenerateusingthe time.strftime() function.Itwillalsohave
the .zip extensionandwillbestoredinthe target_dir directory.
Noticetheuseofthe os.sep variablethisgivesthedirectoryseparatoraccordingtoyouroperating
systemi.e.itwillbe '/' inGNU/LinuxandUnix,itwillbe '\\' inWindowsand ':' inMacOS.
Using os.sep insteadofthesecharactersdirectlywillmakeourprogramportableandworkacrossall
ofthesesystems.
The time.strftime() functiontakesaspecificationsuchastheonewehaveusedintheabove
program.The %Y specificationwillbereplacedbytheyearwiththecentury.The %m specificationwill
bereplacedbythemonthasadecimalnumberbetween 01 and 12 andsoon.Thecompletelistofsuch
specificationscanbefoundinthePythonReferenceManual
(http://docs.python.org/2/library/time.html#time.strftime).
98/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Wecreatethenameofthetargetzipfileusingtheadditionoperatorwhichconcatenatesthestringsi.e.it
joinsthetwostringstogetherandreturnsanewone.Then,wecreateastring zip_command which
containsthecommandthatwearegoingtoexecute.Youcancheckifthiscommandworksbyrunningit
intheshell(GNU/LinuxterminalorDOSprompt).
The zip commandthatweareusinghassomeoptionsandparameterspassed.The r optionspecifies
thatthezipcommandshouldworkrecursivelyfordirectoriesi.e.itshouldincludeallthesubdirectories
andfiles.Thetwooptionsarecombinedandspecifiedinashortcutas qr .Theoptionsarefollowedby
thenameoftheziparchivetocreatefollowedbythelistoffilesanddirectoriestobackup.Weconvert
the source listintoastringusingthe join methodofstringswhichwehavealreadyseenhowtouse.
Then,wefinallyrunthecommandusingthe os.system functionwhichrunsthecommandasifitwas
runfromthesystemi.e.intheshellitreturns 0 ifthecommandwassuccessfully,elseitreturnsan
errornumber.
Dependingontheoutcomeofthecommand,weprinttheappropriatemessagethatthebackuphasfailed
orsucceeded.
Thatsit,wehavecreatedascripttotakeabackupofourimportantfiles!
NotetoWindowsUsers
NOTE
Insteadofdoublebackslashescapesequences,youcanalsouserawstrings.For
example,use 'C:\\Documents' or rC:\Documents' .However,donotuse
'C:\Documents' sinceyouendupusinganunknownescapesequence \D .
Nowthatwehaveaworkingbackupscript,wecanuseitwheneverwewanttotakeabackupofthefiles.
Thisiscalledtheoperationphaseorthedeploymentphaseofthesoftware.
Theaboveprogramworksproperly,but(usually)firstprogramsdonotworkexactlyasyouexpect.For
example,theremightbeproblemsifyouhavenotdesignedtheprogramproperlyorifyouhavemadea
mistakewhentypingthecode,etc.Appropriately,youwillhavetogobacktothedesignphaseoryou
willhavetodebugyourprogram.
13.3.SecondVersion
Thefirstversionofourscriptworks.However,wecanmakesomerefinementstoitsothatitcanwork
betteronadailybasis.Thisiscalledthemaintenancephaseofthesoftware.
99/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
OneoftherefinementsIfeltwasusefulisabetterfilenamingmechanismusingthetimeasthenameof
thefilewithinadirectorywiththecurrentdateasadirectorywithinthemainbackupdirectory.Thefirst
advantageisthatyourbackupsarestoredinahierarchicalmannerandthereforeitismucheasierto
manage.Thesecondadvantageisthatthefilenamesaremuchshorter.Thethirdadvantageisthatseparate
directorieswillhelpyoucheckifyouhavemadeabackupforeachdaysincethedirectorywouldbe
createdonlyifyouhavemadeabackupforthatday.
100/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
importos
importtime
PYTHON
#specifiedinalist.
#ExampleonWindows:
#ExampleonWindows:
#4.Thecurrentdayisthenameofthesubdirectory
#inthemaindirectory.
today=target_dir+os.sep+time.strftime('%Y%m%d')
#Thecurrenttimeisthenameoftheziparchive.
now=time.strftime('%H%M%S')
#Thenameofthezipfile
target=today+os.sep+now+'.zip'
#Createthesubdirectoryifitisn'talreadythere
ifnotos.path.exists(today):
os.mkdir(today)
print'Successfullycreateddirectory',today
''.join(source))
#Runthebackup
printzip_command
print"Running:"
else:
print'BackupFAILED'
101/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Output:
Successfullycreateddirectory/Users/swa/backup/20140329
Zipcommandis:
zipr/Users/swa/backup/20140329/073201.zip/Users/swa/notes
Running:
Successfulbackupto/Users/swa/backup/20140329/073201.zip
HowItWorks
Mostoftheprogramremainsthesame.Thechangesarethatwecheckifthereisadirectorywiththe
currentdayasitsnameinsidethemainbackupdirectoryusingthe os.path.exists function.Ifit
doesntexist,wecreateitusingthe os.mkdir function.
13.4.ThirdVersion
ThesecondversionworksfinewhenIdomanybackups,butwhentherearelotsofbackups,Iamfinding
ithardtodifferentiatewhatthebackupswerefor!Forexample,Imighthavemadesomemajorchanges
toaprogramorpresentation,thenIwanttoassociatewhatthosechangesarewiththenameofthezip
archive.Thiscanbeeasilyachievedbyattachingausersuppliedcommenttothenameoftheziparchive.
WARNING
Thefollowingprogramdoesnotwork,sodonotbealarmed,pleasefollowalong
becausetheresalessoninhere.
importos
importtime
PYTHON
#specifiedinalist.
#ExampleonWindows:
102/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
#ExampleonWindows:
#Takeacommentfromtheuserto
#createthenameofthezipfile
comment=raw_input('Enteracomment>')
#Checkifacommentwasentered
iflen(comment)==0:
else:
target=today+os.sep+now+'_'+
comment.replace('','_')+'.zip'
os.mkdir(today)
''.join(source))
#Runthebackup
printzip_command
print"Running:"
else:
print'BackupFAILED'
Output:
103/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
File"backup_ver3.py",line39
target=today+os.sep+now+'_'+
^
SyntaxError:invalidsyntax
HowThis(doesnot)Work
Thisprogramdoesnotwork!Pythonsaysthereisasyntaxerrorwhichmeansthatthescriptdoesnot
satisfythestructurethatPythonexpectstosee.WhenweobservetheerrorgivenbyPython,italsotells
ustheplacewhereitdetectedtheerroraswell.Sowestartdebuggingourprogramfromthatline.
Oncarefulobservation,weseethatthesinglelogicallinehasbeensplitintotwophysicallinesbutwe
havenotspecifiedthatthesetwophysicallinesbelongtogether.Basically,Pythonhasfoundtheaddition
operator( + )withoutanyoperandinthatlogicallineandhenceitdoesntknowhowtocontinue.
Rememberthatwecanspecifythatthelogicallinecontinuesinthenextphysicallinebytheuseofa
backslashattheendofthephysicalline.So,wemakethiscorrectiontoourprogram.Thiscorrectionof
theprogramwhenwefinderrorsiscalledbugfixing.
13.5.FourthVersion
importos
importtime
PYTHON
#specifiedinalist.
#ExampleonWindows:
#ExampleonWindows:
104/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
#Takeacommentfromtheuserto
#createthenameofthezipfile
comment=raw_input('Enteracomment>')
#Checkifacommentwasentered
iflen(comment)==0:
else:
target=today+os.sep+now+'_'+\
comment.replace('','_')+'.zip'
os.mkdir(today)
''.join(source))
#Runthebackup
printzip_command
print"Running:"
else:
print'BackupFAILED'
Output:
Enteracomment>addednewexamples
Zipcommandis:
zipr/Users/swa/backup/20140329/074122_added_new_examples.zip/Users/swa/notes
Running:
Successfulbackupto/Users/swa/backup/20140329/074122_added_new_examples.zip
HowItWorks
105/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Thisprogramnowworks!Letusgothroughtheactualenhancementsthatwehadmadeinversion3.We
takeintheuserscommentsusingthe input functionandthencheckiftheuseractuallyentered
somethingbyfindingoutthelengthoftheinputusingthe len function.Iftheuserhasjustpressed
enter withoutenteringanything(maybeitwasjustaroutinebackupornospecialchangesweremade),
thenweproceedaswehavedonebefore.
However,ifacommentwassupplied,thenthisisattachedtothenameoftheziparchivejustbeforethe
.zip extension.Noticethatwearereplacingspacesinthecommentwithunderscoresthisisbecause
managingfilenameswithoutspacesismucheasier.
13.6.MoreRefinements
Thefourthversionisasatisfactorilyworkingscriptformostusers,butthereisalwaysroomfor
improvement.Forexample,youcanincludeaverbositylevelfortheprogramwhereyoucanspecifya
v optiontomakeyourprogrambecomemoretalkativeora q tomakeitquiet.
Anotherpossibleenhancementwouldbetoallowextrafilesanddirectoriestobepassedtothescriptat
thecommandline.Wecangetthesenamesfromthe sys.argv listandwecanaddthemtoour
source listusingthe extend methodprovidedbythe list class.
Themostimportantrefinementwouldbetonotusethe os.system wayofcreatingarchivesandinstead

usingthezipfile (http://docs.python.org/2/library/zipfile.html)ortarfile (http://docs.python.org/2/library/tarfile.html)
builtinmodulestocreatethesearchives.Theyarepartofthestandardlibraryandavailablealreadyfor
youtousewithoutexternaldependenciesonthezipprogramtobeavailableonyourcomputer.
However,Ihavebeenusingthe os.system wayofcreatingabackupintheaboveexamplespurelyfor
pedagogicalpurposes,sothattheexampleissimpleenoughtobeunderstoodbyeverybodybutreal
enoughtobeuseful.
Canyoutrywritingthefifthversionthatusesthezipfile (http://docs.python.org/2/library/zipfile.html)module
insteadofthe os.system call?
13.7.TheSoftwareDevelopmentProcess
Wehavenowgonethroughthevariousphasesintheprocessofwritingasoftware.Thesephasescanbe
summarisedasfollows:
1. What(Analysis)
2. How(Design)
3. DoIt(Implementation)
106/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
4. Test(TestingandDebugging)
5. Use(OperationorDeployment)
6. Maintain(Refinement)
Arecommendedwayofwritingprogramsistheprocedurewehavefollowedincreatingthebackup
script:Dotheanalysisanddesign.Startimplementingwithasimpleversion.Testanddebugit.Useitto
ensurethatitworksasexpected.Now,addanyfeaturesthatyouwantandcontinuetorepeattheDoIt
TestUsecycleasmanytimesasrequired.
Remember:
Softwareisgrown,notbuilt.
Billdehra (http://97things.oreilly.com/wiki/index.php/Great_software_is_not_built,_it_is_grown)
13.8.Summary
WehaveseenhowtocreateourownPythonprograms/scriptsandthevariousstagesinvolvedinwriting
suchprograms.Youmayfinditusefultocreateyourownprogramjustlikewedidinthischaptersothat
youbecomecomfortablewithPythonaswellasproblemsolving.
Next,wewilldiscussobjectorientedprogramming.
107/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
14.ObjectOrientedProgramming
Inalltheprogramswewrotetillnow,wehavedesignedourprogramaroundfunctionsi.e.blocksof
statementswhichmanipulatedata.Thisiscalledtheprocedureorientedwayofprogramming.Thereis
anotherwayoforganizingyourprogramwhichistocombinedataandfunctionalityandwrapitinside
somethingcalledanobject.Thisiscalledtheobjectorientedprogrammingparadigm.Mostofthetime
youcanuseproceduralprogramming,butwhenwritinglargeprogramsorhaveaproblemthatisbetter
suitedtothismethod,youcanuseobjectorientedprogrammingtechniques.
Classesandobjectsarethetwomainaspectsofobjectorientedprogramming.Aclasscreatesanewtype
whereobjectsareinstancesoftheclass.Ananalogyisthatyoucanhavevariablesoftype int which
translatestosayingthatvariablesthatstoreintegersarevariableswhichareinstances(objects)ofthe
int class.
NoteforStaticLanguageProgrammers
Notethatevenintegersaretreatedasobjects(ofthe int class).ThisisunlikeC++
andJava(beforeversion1.5)whereintegersareprimitivenativetypes.
NOTE
See help(int) formoredetailsontheclass.

C#andJava1.5programmerswillfindthissimilartotheboxingandunboxing
concept.
Objectscanstoredatausingordinaryvariablesthatbelongtotheobject.Variablesthatbelongtoan
objectorclassarereferredtoasfields.Objectscanalsohavefunctionalitybyusingfunctionsthatbelong
toaclass.Suchfunctionsarecalledmethodsoftheclass.Thisterminologyisimportantbecauseithelps
ustodifferentiatebetweenfunctionsandvariableswhichareindependentandthosewhichbelongtoa
classorobject.Collectively,thefieldsandmethodscanbereferredtoastheattributesofthatclass.
Fieldsareoftwotypestheycanbelongtoeachinstance/objectoftheclassortheycanbelongtothe
classitself.Theyarecalledinstancevariablesandclassvariablesrespectively.
Aclassiscreatedusingthe class keyword.Thefieldsandmethodsoftheclassarelistedinanindented
block.
14.1.Theself
108/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Classmethodshaveonlyonespecificdifferencefromordinaryfunctionstheymusthaveanextrafirst
namethathastobeaddedtothebeginningoftheparameterlist,butyoudonotgiveavalueforthis
parameterwhenyoucallthemethod,Pythonwillprovideit.Thisparticularvariablereferstotheobject
itself,andbyconvention,itisgiventhename self .
Although,youcangiveanynameforthisparameter,itisstronglyrecommendedthatyouusethename
self anyothernameisdefinitelyfrownedupon.Therearemanyadvantagestousingastandardname
anyreaderofyourprogramwillimmediatelyrecognizeitandevenspecializedIDEs(Integrated
DevelopmentEnvironments)canhelpyouifyouuse self .
NoteforC++/Java/C#Programmers
NOTE
The self inPythonisequivalenttothe this pointerinC++andthe this

referenceinJavaandC#.
YoumustbewonderinghowPythongivesthevaluefor self andwhyyoudontneedtogiveavalue

forit.Anexamplewillmakethisclear.Sayyouhaveaclasscalled MyClass andaninstanceofthis
classcalled myobject .Whenyoucallamethodofthisobjectas myobject.method(arg1,arg2) ,
thisisautomaticallyconvertedbyPythoninto MyClass.method(myobject,arg1,arg2) thisisall
thespecial self isabout.
Thisalsomeansthatifyouhaveamethodwhichtakesnoarguments,thenyoustillhavetohaveone
argumentthe self .
14.2.Classes
Thesimplestclasspossibleisshowninthefollowingexample(saveas oop_simplestclass.py ).
classPerson:
pass#Anemptyblock
PYTHON
p=Person()
print(p)
Output:
$pythonoop_simplestclass.py
<__main__.Personinstanceat0x10171f518>
HowItWorks
109/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Wecreateanewclassusingthe class statementandthenameoftheclass.Thisisfollowedbyan

indentedblockofstatementswhichformthebodyoftheclass.Inthiscase,wehaveanemptyblock
whichisindicatedusingthe pass statement.
Next,wecreateanobject/instanceofthisclassusingthenameoftheclassfollowedbyapairof
parentheses.(Wewilllearnmoreaboutinstantiationinthenextsection).Forourverification,weconfirm
thetypeofthevariablebysimplyprintingit.Ittellsusthatwehaveaninstanceofthe Person classin
the main module.
Noticethattheaddressofthecomputermemorywhereyourobjectisstoredisalsoprinted.Theaddress
willhaveadifferentvalueonyourcomputersincePythoncanstoretheobjectwhereveritfindsspace.
14.3.Methods
Wehavealreadydiscussedthatclasses/objectscanhavemethodsjustlikefunctionsexceptthatwehave
anextra self variable.Wewillnowseeanexample(saveas oop_method.py ).
classPerson:
defsay_hi(self):
print('Hello,howareyou?')
PYTHON
p=Person()
p.say_hi()
#Theprevious2linescanalsobewrittenas
#Person().say_hi()
Output:
$pythonoop_method.py
Hello,howareyou?
HowItWorks
Hereweseethe self inaction.Noticethatthe say_hi methodtakesnoparametersbutstillhasthe
self inthefunctiondefinition.
14.4.The init method

TherearemanymethodnameswhichhavespecialsignificanceinPythonclasses.Wewillseethe
significanceofthe init methodnow.
110/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
The init methodisrunassoonasanobjectofaclassisinstantiated.Themethodisusefultodoany

initializationyouwanttodowithyourobject.Noticethedoubleunderscoresbothatthebeginningand
attheendofthename.
Example(saveas oop_init.py ):
classPerson:
def__init__(self,name):
self.name=name
defsay_hi(self):
print'Hello,mynameis',self.name
PYTHON
p=Person('Swaroop')
p.say_hi()
#Theprevious2linescanalsobewrittenas
#Person('Swaroop').say_hi()
Output:
$pythonoop_init.py
Hello,mynameisSwaroop
HowItWorks
Here,wedefinethe init methodastakingaparameter name (alongwiththeusual self ).Here,we
justcreateanewfieldalsocalled name .Noticethesearetwodifferentvariableseventhoughtheyare
bothcalled'name'.Thereisnoproblembecausethedottednotation self.name meansthatthereis
somethingcalled"name"thatispartoftheobjectcalled"self"andtheother name isalocalvariable.
Sinceweexplicitlyindicatewhichnamewearereferringto,thereisnoconfusion.
Mostimportantly,noticethatwedonotexplicitlycallthe init methodbutpasstheargumentsinthe
parenthesesfollowingtheclassnamewhencreatinganewinstanceoftheclass.Thisisthespecial
significanceofthismethod.
Now,weareabletousethe self.name fieldinourmethodswhichisdemonstratedinthe sayHi
method.
14.5.ClassAndObjectVariables
Wehavealreadydiscussedthefunctionalitypartofclassesandobjects(i.e.methods),nowletuslearn
aboutthedatapart.Thedatapart,i.e.fields,arenothingbutordinaryvariablesthatareboundtothe
namespacesoftheclassesandobjects.Thismeansthatthesenamesarevalidwithinthecontextofthese
111/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
classesandobjectsonly.Thatswhytheyarecallednamespaces.
Therearetwotypesoffieldsclassvariablesandobjectvariableswhichareclassifieddependingon
whethertheclassortheobjectownsthevariablesrespectively.
Classvariablesaresharedtheycanbeaccessedbyallinstancesofthatclass.Thereisonlyonecopyof
theclassvariableandwhenanyoneobjectmakesachangetoaclassvariable,thatchangewillbeseen
byalltheotherinstances.
Objectvariablesareownedbyeachindividualobject/instanceoftheclass.Inthiscase,eachobjecthas
itsowncopyofthefieldi.e.theyarenotsharedandarenotrelatedinanywaytothefieldbythesame
nameinadifferentinstance.Anexamplewillmakethiseasytounderstand(saveas oop_objvar.py ):
classRobot:
"""Representsarobot,withaname."""
PYTHON
#Aclassvariable,countingthenumberofrobots
population=0
def__init__(self,name):
"""Initializesthedata."""
self.name=name
print"(Initializing{})".format(self.name)
#Whenthispersoniscreated,therobot
#addstothepopulation
Robot.population+=1
defdie(self):
"""Iamdying."""
print"{}isbeingdestroyed!".format(self.name)
Robot.population=1
ifRobot.population==0:
print"{}wasthelastone.".format(self.name)
else:
print"Therearestill{:d}robotsworking.".format(
Robot.population)
defsay_hi(self):
"""Greetingbytherobot.
Yeah,theycandothat."""
print"Greetings,mymasterscallme{}.".format(self.name)
@classmethod
defhow_many(cls):
112/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
"""Printsthecurrentpopulation."""
print"Wehave{:d}robots.".format(cls.population)
droid1=Robot("R2D2")
droid1.say_hi()
Robot.how_many()
droid2=Robot("C3PO")
droid2.say_hi()
Robot.how_many()
print"\nRobotscandosomeworkhere.\n"
print"Robotshavefinishedtheirwork.Solet'sdestroythem."
droid1.die()
droid2.die()
Robot.how_many()
Output:
$pythonoop_objvar.py
(InitializingR2D2)
Greetings,mymasterscallmeR2D2.
Wehave1robots.
(InitializingC3PO)
Greetings,mymasterscallmeC3PO.
Wehave2robots.
Robotscandosomeworkhere.
Robotshavefinishedtheirwork.Solet'sdestroythem.
R2D2isbeingdestroyed!
Therearestill1robotsworking.
C3POisbeingdestroyed!
C3POwasthelastone.
Wehave0robots.
HowItWorks
Thisisalongexamplebuthelpsdemonstratethenatureofclassandobjectvariables.Here,
population belongstothe Robot classandhenceisaclassvariable.The name variablebelongsto
theobject(itisassignedusing self )andhenceisanobjectvariable.

Thus,werefertothe population classvariableas Robot.population andnotas
self.population .Werefertotheobjectvariable name using self.name notationinthemethods
ofthatobject.Rememberthissimpledifferencebetweenclassandobjectvariables.Alsonotethatan
113/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
objectvariablewiththesamenameasaclassvariablewillhidetheclassvariable!
Insteadof Robot.population ,wecouldhavealsousedself.__class__.populationbecauseeveryobject
referstoitsclassviatheself.__class__attribute.
The how_many isactuallyamethodthatbelongstotheclassandnottotheobject.Thismeanswecan
defineitaseithera classmethod ora staticmethod dependingonwhetherweneedtoknowwhich
classwearepartof.Sincewerefertoaclassvariable,letsuse classmethod .
Wehavemarkedthe how_many methodasaclassmethodusingadecorator.
Decoratorscanbeimaginedtobeashortcuttocallingawrapperfunction,soapplyingthe
@classmethod decoratorissameascalling:
how_many=classmethod(how_many)
PYTHON
Observethatthe init methodisusedtoinitializethe Robot instancewithaname.Inthismethod,we

increasethe population countby1sincewehaveonemorerobotbeingadded.Alsoobservethatthe
valuesof self.name isspecifictoeachobjectwhichindicatesthenatureofobjectvariables.
Remember,thatyoumustrefertothevariablesandmethodsofthesameobjectusingthe self only.
Thisiscalledanattributereference.
Inthisprogram,wealsoseetheuseofdocstringsforclassesaswellasmethods.Wecanaccesstheclass
docstringatruntimeusing Robot.doc andthemethoddocstringas Robot.say_hi.doc
Inthe die method,wesimplydecreasethe Robot.population countby1.
Allclassmembersarepublic.Oneexception:Ifyouusedatamemberswithnamesusingthedouble
underscoreprefixsuchas __privatevar ,Pythonusesnamemanglingtoeffectivelymakeitaprivate
variable.
Thus,theconventionfollowedisthatanyvariablethatistobeusedonlywithintheclassorobjectshould
beginwithanunderscoreandallothernamesarepublicandcanbeusedbyotherclasses/objects.
RememberthatthisisonlyaconventionandisnotenforcedbyPython(exceptforthedoubleunderscore
prefix).
NoteforC++/Java/C#Programmers
114/165
1/4/2015
NOTE
AByteofPython
Allclassmembers(includingthedatamembers)arepublicandallthemethodsare
virtualinPython.
14.6.Inheritance
Oneofthemajorbenefitsofobjectorientedprogrammingisreuseofcodeandoneofthewaysthisis
achievedisthroughtheinheritancemechanism.Inheritancecanbebestimaginedasimplementinga
typeandsubtyperelationshipbetweenclasses.
Supposeyouwanttowriteaprogramwhichhastokeeptrackoftheteachersandstudentsinacollege.
Theyhavesomecommoncharacteristicssuchasname,ageandaddress.Theyalsohavespecific
characteristicssuchassalary,coursesandleavesforteachersand,marksandfeesforstudents.
Youcancreatetwoindependentclassesforeachtypeandprocessthembutaddinganewcommon
characteristicwouldmeanaddingtobothoftheseindependentclasses.Thisquicklybecomesunwieldy.
Abetterwaywouldbetocreateacommonclasscalled SchoolMember andthenhavetheteacherand
studentclassesinheritfromthisclassi.e.theywillbecomesubtypesofthistype(class)andthenwecan
addspecificcharacteristicstothesesubtypes.
Therearemanyadvantagestothisapproach.Ifweadd/changeanyfunctionalityin SchoolMember ,this
isautomaticallyreflectedinthesubtypesaswell.Forexample,youcanaddanewIDcardfieldforboth
teachersandstudentsbysimplyaddingittotheSchoolMemberclass.However,changesinthesubtypes
donotaffectothersubtypes.Anotheradvantageisthatifyoucanrefertoateacherorstudentobjectasa
SchoolMember objectwhichcouldbeusefulinsomesituationssuchascountingofthenumberof
schoolmembers.Thisiscalledpolymorphismwhereasubtypecanbesubstitutedinanysituation
whereaparenttypeisexpectedi.e.theobjectcanbetreatedasaninstanceoftheparentclass.
Alsoobservethatwereusethecodeoftheparentclassandwedonotneedtorepeatitinthedifferent
classesaswewouldhavehadtoincasewehadusedindependentclasses.
The SchoolMember classinthissituationisknownasthebaseclassorthesuperclass.The Teacher
and Student classesarecalledthederivedclassesorsubclasses.
Wewillnowseethisexampleasaprogram(saveas oop_subclass.py ):
115/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
classSchoolMember:
'''Representsanyschoolmember.'''
def__init__(self,name,age):
self.name=name
self.age=age
print'(InitializedSchoolMember:{})'.format(self.name)
PYTHON
deftell(self):
'''Tellmydetails.'''
print'Name:"{}"Age:"{}"'.format(self.name,self.age),
classTeacher(SchoolMember):
'''Representsateacher.'''
def__init__(self,name,age,salary):
SchoolMember.__init__(self,name,age)
self.salary=salary
print'(InitializedTeacher:{})'.format(self.name)
deftell(self):
SchoolMember.tell(self)
print'Salary:"{:d}"'.format(self.salary)
classStudent(SchoolMember):
'''Representsastudent.'''
def__init__(self,name,age,marks):
SchoolMember.__init__(self,name,age)
self.marks=marks
print'(InitializedStudent:{})'.format(self.name)
deftell(self):
SchoolMember.tell(self)
print'Marks:"{:d}"'.format(self.marks)
t=Teacher('Mrs.Shrividya',40,30000)
s=Student('Swaroop',25,75)
#printsablankline
print
members=[t,s]
formemberinmembers:
#WorksforbothTeachersandStudents
member.tell()
Output:
116/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
$pythonoop_subclass.py
(InitializedSchoolMember:Mrs.Shrividya)
(InitializedTeacher:Mrs.Shrividya)
(InitializedSchoolMember:Swaroop)
(InitializedStudent:Swaroop)
Name:"Mrs.Shrividya"Age:"40"Salary:"30000"
Name:"Swaroop"Age:"25"Marks:"75"
HowItWorks
Touseinheritance,wespecifythebaseclassnamesinatuplefollowingtheclassnameintheclass
definition.Next,weobservethatthe init methodofthebaseclassisexplicitlycalledusingthe self
variablesothatwecaninitializethebaseclasspartoftheobject.Thisisveryimportanttoremember
Pythondoesnotautomaticallycalltheconstructorofthebaseclass,youhavetoexplicitlycallityourself.
Wealsoobservethatwecancallmethodsofthebaseclassbyprefixingtheclassnametothemethodcall
andthenpassinthe self variablealongwithanyarguments.
Noticethatwecantreatinstancesof Teacher or Student asjustinstancesofthe SchoolMember
whenweusethe tell methodofthe SchoolMember class.
Also,observethatthe tell methodofthesubtypeiscalledandnotthe tell methodofthe
SchoolMember class.OnewaytounderstandthisisthatPythonalwaysstartslookingformethodsin
theactualtype,whichinthiscaseitdoes.Ifitcouldnotfindthemethod,itstartslookingatthemethods
belongingtoitsbaseclassesonebyoneintheordertheyarespecifiedinthetupleintheclassdefinition.
Anoteonterminologyifmorethanoneclassislistedintheinheritancetuple,thenitiscalledmultiple
inheritance.
Thetrailingcommaisusedattheendofthe print statementinthesuperclasss tell() methodto
printalineandallowthenextprinttocontinueonthesameline.Thisisatricktomake print notprint
a \n (newline)symbolattheendoftheprinting.
14.7.Summary
Wehavenowexploredthevariousaspectsofclassesandobjectsaswellasthevariousterminologies
associatedwithit.Wehavealsoseenthebenefitsandpitfallsofobjectorientedprogramming.Pythonis
highlyobjectorientedandunderstandingtheseconceptscarefullywillhelpyoualotinthelongrun.
Next,wewilllearnhowtodealwithinput/outputandhowtoaccessfilesinPython.
117/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
15.InputandOutput
Therewillbesituationswhereyourprogramhastointeractwiththeuser.Forexample,youwouldwant
totakeinputfromtheuserandthenprintsomeresultsback.Wecanachievethisusingthe
raw_input() functionand print statementrespectively.
Foroutput,wecanalsousethevariousmethodsofthe str (string)class.Forexample,youcanusethe

rjust methodtogetastringwhichisrightjustifiedtoaspecifiedwidth.See help(str) formore
details.
Anothercommontypeofinput/outputisdealingwithfiles.Theabilitytocreate,readandwritefilesis
essentialtomanyprogramsandwewillexplorethisaspectinthischapter.
15.1.Inputfromuser
Savethisprogramas io_input.py :
defreverse(text):
returntext[::1]
PYTHON
defis_palindrome(text):
returntext==reverse(text)
something=raw_input("Entertext:")
ifis_palindrome(something):
print"Yes,itisapalindrome"
else:
print"No,itisnotapalindrome"
Output:
$pythonio_input.py
Entertext:sir
No,itisnotapalindrome
$pythonio_input.py
Entertext:madam
Yes,itisapalindrome
$pythonio_input.py
Entertext:racecar
Yes,itisapalindrome
HowItWorks
118/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Weusetheslicingfeaturetoreversethetext.Wevealreadyseenhowwecanmakeslicesfrom
sequencesusingthe seq[a:b] codestartingfromposition a toposition b .Wecanalsoprovideathird
argumentthatdeterminesthestepbywhichtheslicingisdone.Thedefaultstepis 1 becauseofwhichit
returnsacontinuouspartofthetext.Givinganegativestep,i.e., 1 willreturnthetextinreverse.
The raw_input() functiontakesastringasargumentanddisplaysittotheuser.Thenitwaitsforthe
usertotypesomethingandpressthereturnkey.Oncetheuserhasenteredandpressedthereturnkey,the
raw_input() functionwillthenreturnthattexttheuserhasentered.
Wetakethattextandreverseit.Iftheoriginaltextandreversedtextareequal,thenthetextisa
palindrome (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/palindrome).
15.1.1.Homeworkexercise
Checkingwhetheratextisapalindromeshouldalsoignorepunctuation,spacesandcase.Forexample,
"Risetovote,sir."isalsoapalindromebutourcurrentprogramdoesntsayitis.Canyouimprovethe
aboveprogramtorecognizethispalindrome?
Ifyouneedahint,theideaisthat[2]
15.2.Files
Youcanopenandusefilesforreadingorwritingbycreatinganobjectofthe file classandusingits
read , readline or write methodsappropriatelytoreadfromorwritetothefile.Theabilitytoread
orwritetothefiledependsonthemodeyouhavespecifiedforthefileopening.Thenfinally,whenyou
arefinishedwiththefile,youcallthe close methodtotellPythonthatwearedoneusingthefile.
Example(saveas io_using_file.py ):
119/165
1/4/2015
poem='''\
Programmingisfun
Whentheworkisdone
usePython!
'''
AByteofPython
PYTHON
#Openfor'w'riting
f=open('poem.txt','w')
#Writetexttofile
f.write(poem)
#Closethefile
f.close()
#Ifnomodeisspecified,
#'r'eadmodeisassumedbydefault
f=open('poem.txt')
whileTrue:
line=f.readline()
#ZerolengthindicatesEOF
iflen(line)==0:
break
#The`line`alreadyhasanewline
#attheendofeachline
#sinceitisreadingfromafile.
printline,
#closethefile
f.close()
Output:
$pythonio_using_file.py
Programmingisfun
Whentheworkisdone
usePython!
HowItWorks
First,openafilebyusingthebuiltin open functionandspecifyingthenameofthefileandthemodein
whichwewanttoopenthefile.Themodecanbeareadmode( 'r' ),writemode( 'w' )orappend
mode( 'a' ).Wecanalsospecifywhetherwearereading,writing,orappendingintextmode( 't' )or
binarymode( 'b' ).Thereareactuallymanymoremodesavailableand help(open) willgiveyou
moredetailsaboutthem.Bydefault, open() considersthefiletobea'textfileandopensitin'read
mode.
120/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Inourexample,wefirstopenthefileinwritetextmodeandusethe write methodofthefileobjectto

writetothefileandthenwefinally close thefile.
Next,weopenthesamefileagainforreading.Wedontneedtospecifyamodebecause'readtextfile'is
thedefaultmode.Wereadineachlineofthefileusingthe readline methodinaloop.Thismethod
returnsacompletelineincludingthenewlinecharacterattheendoftheline.Whenanemptystringis
returned,itmeansthatwehavereachedtheendofthefileandwe'break'outoftheloop.
Intheend,wefinally close thefile.
Now,checkthecontentsofthe poem.txt filetoconfirmthattheprogramhasindeedwrittentoand
readfromthatfile.
15.3.Pickle
Pythonprovidesastandardmodulecalled pickle usingwhichyoucanstoreanyplainPythonobjectin
afileandthengetitbacklater.Thisiscalledstoringtheobjectpersistently.
Example(saveas io_pickle.py ):
importpickle
PYTHON
#Thenameofthefilewherewewillstoretheobject
shoplistfile='shoplist.data'
#Thelistofthingstobuy
shoplist=['apple','mango','carrot']
#Writetothefile
f=open(shoplistfile,'wb')
#Dumptheobjecttoafile
pickle.dump(shoplist,f)
f.close()
#Destroytheshoplistvariable
delshoplist
#Readbackfromthestorage
f=open(shoplistfile,'rb')
#Loadtheobjectfromthefile
storedlist=pickle.load(f)
printstoredlist
Output:
121/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
$pythonio_pickle.py
['apple','mango','carrot']
HowItWorks
Tostoreanobjectinafile,wehavetofirst open thefileinwritebinarymodeandthencallthe dump
functionofthe pickle module.Thisprocessiscalledpickling.
Next,weretrievetheobjectusingthe load functionofthe pickle modulewhichreturnstheobject.
Thisprocessiscalledunpickling.
15.4.Unicode
Sofar,whenwehavebeenwritingandusingstrings,orreadingandwritingtoafile,wehaveused
simpleEnglishcharactersonly.IfwewanttobeabletoreadandwriteothernonEnglishlanguages,we
needtousethe unicode type,anditallstartswiththecharacter u :
>>>"helloworld"
'helloworld'
>>>type("helloworld")
<type'str'>
>>>u"helloworld"
u'helloworld'
>>>type(u"helloworld")
<type'unicode'>
Weusethe unicode typeinsteadof strings tomakesurethatwehandlenonEnglishlanguagesin

ourprograms.However,whenwereadorwritetoafileorwhenwetalktoothercomputersonthe
Internet,weneedtoconvertourunicodestringsintoaformatthatcanbesentandreceived,andthat
formatiscalled"UTF8".Wecanreadandwriteinthatformat,usingasimplekeywordargumenttoour
standard open function:
#encoding=utf8
importio
PYTHON
f=io.open("abc.txt","wt",encoding="utf8")
f.write(u"ImaginenonEnglishlanguagehere")
f.close()
text=io.open("abc.txt",encoding="utf8").read()
printtext
HowItWorks
122/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Youcanignorethe import statementfornow,wellexplorethatindetailinthemoduleschapter.

WheneverwewriteaprogramthatusesUnicodeliteralslikewehaveusedabove,wehavetomakesure
thatPythonitselfistoldthatourprogramusesUTF8,andwehavetoput #encoding=utf8
commentatthetopofourprogram.
Weuse io.open andprovidethe"encoding"and"decoding"argumenttotellPythonthatweareusing
unicode,andinfact,wehavetopassinastringintheformof u"" tomakeitclearthatweareusing
Unicodestrings.
Youshouldlearnmoreaboutthistopicbyreading:
"TheAbsoluteMinimumEverySoftwareDeveloperAbsolutely,PositivelyMustKnowAbout
UnicodeandCharacterSets" (http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/Unicode.html)
PythonUnicodeHowto (http://docs.python.org/2/howto/unicode.html)
PragmaticUnicodetalkbyNatBatchelder (http://nedbatchelder.com/text/unipain.html)
15.5.Summary
Wehavediscussedvarioustypesofinput/output,aboutfilehandling,aboutthepicklemoduleandabout
Unicode.
Next,wewillexploretheconceptofexceptions.
123/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
16.Exceptions
Exceptionsoccurwhenexceptionalsituationsoccurinyourprogram.Forexample,whatifyouaregoing
toreadafileandthefiledoesnotexist?Orwhatifyouaccidentallydeleteditwhentheprogramwas
running?Suchsituationsarehandledusingexceptions.
Similarly,whatifyourprogramhadsomeinvalidstatements?ThisishandledbyPythonwhichraisesits
handsandtellsyouthereisanerror.
16.1.Errors
Considerasimple print functioncall.Whatifwemisspelt print as Print ?Notethecapitalization.
Inthiscase,Pythonraisesasyntaxerror.
>>>Print"HelloWorld"
File"<stdin>",line1
Print"HelloWorld"
^
SyntaxError:invalidsyntax
>>>print"HelloWorld"
HelloWorld
Observethata SyntaxError israisedandalsothelocationwheretheerrorwasdetectedisprinted.This

iswhatanerrorhandlerforthiserrordoes.
16.2.Exceptions
Wewilltrytoreadinputfromtheuser.Press ctrld andseewhathappens.
>>>s=raw_input('Entersomething>')
Entersomething>Traceback(mostrecentcalllast):
File"<stdin>",line1,in<module>
EOFError
Pythonraisesanerrorcalled EOFError whichbasicallymeansitfoundanendoffilesymbol(whichis

representedby ctrld )whenitdidnotexpecttoseeit.
16.3.HandlingExceptions
Wecanhandleexceptionsusingthe try..except statement.Webasicallyputourusualstatements
withinthetryblockandputallourerrorhandlersintheexceptblock.
124/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Example(saveas exceptions_handle.py ):
try:
text=raw_input('Entersomething>')
exceptEOFError:
print'WhydidyoudoanEOFonme?'
exceptKeyboardInterrupt:
print'Youcancelledtheoperation.'
else:
print'Youentered{}'.format(text)
PYTHON
Output:
#Pressctrl+d
$pythonexceptions_handle.py
Entersomething>WhydidyoudoanEOFonme?
#Pressctrl+c
Entersomething>^CYoucancelledtheoperation.
Entersomething>Noexceptions
YouenteredNoexceptions
HowItWorks
Weputallthestatementsthatmightraiseexceptions/errorsinsidethe try blockandthenputhandlers
fortheappropriateerrors/exceptionsinthe except clause/block.The except clausecanhandlea
singlespecifiederrororexception,oraparenthesizedlistoferrors/exceptions.Ifnonamesoferrorsor
exceptionsaresupplied,itwillhandleallerrorsandexceptions.
Notethattherehastobeatleastone except clauseassociatedwithevery try clause.Otherwise,
whatsthepointofhavingatryblock?
Ifanyerrororexceptionisnothandled,thenthedefaultPythonhandleriscalledwhichjuststopsthe
executionoftheprogramandprintsanerrormessage.Wehavealreadyseenthisinactionabove.
Youcanalsohavean else clauseassociatedwitha try..except block.The else clauseis
executedifnoexceptionoccurs.
Inthenextexample,wewillalsoseehowtogettheexceptionobjectsothatwecanretrieveadditional
information.
125/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
16.4.RaisingExceptions
Youcanraiseexceptionsusingthe raise statementbyprovidingthenameoftheerror/exceptionand
theexceptionobjectthatistobethrown.
Theerrororexceptionthatyoucanraiseshouldbeaclasswhichdirectlyorindirectlymustbeaderived
classofthe Exception class.
Example(saveas exceptions_raise.py ):
classShortInputException(Exception):
'''Auserdefinedexceptionclass.'''
def__init__(self,length,atleast):
Exception.__init__(self)
self.length=length
self.atleast=atleast
PYTHON
try:
text=raw_input('Entersomething>')
iflen(text)<3:
raiseShortInputException(len(text),3)
#Otherworkcancontinueasusualhere
exceptEOFError:
print'WhydidyoudoanEOFonme?'
exceptShortInputExceptionasex:
print('ShortInputException:Theinputwas'+\
'{0}long,expectedatleast{1}')\
.format(ex.length,ex.atleast)
else:
print'Noexceptionwasraised.'
Output:
$pythonexceptions_raise.py
Entersomething>a
ShortInputException:Theinputwas1long,expectedatleast3
$pythonexceptions_raise.py
Entersomething>abc
Noexceptionwasraised.
HowItWorks
Here,wearecreatingourownexceptiontype.Thisnewexceptiontypeiscalled
ShortInputException .Ithastwofields length whichisthelengthofthegiveninput,and
atleast whichistheminimumlengththattheprogramwasexpecting.
126/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Inthe except clause,wementiontheclassoferrorwhichwillbestored as thevariablenametohold

thecorrespondingerror/exceptionobject.Thisisanalogoustoparametersandargumentsinafunction
call.Withinthisparticular except clause,weusethe length and atleast fieldsoftheexception
objecttoprintanappropriatemessagetotheuser.
16.5.TryFinally
Supposeyouarereadingafileinyourprogram.Howdoyouensurethatthefileobjectisclosedproperly
whetherornotanexceptionwasraised?Thiscanbedoneusingthe finally block.
Savethisprogramas exceptions_finally.py :
importsys
importtime
PYTHON
f=None
try:
f=open("poem.txt")
#Ourusualfilereadingidiom
whileTrue:
line=f.readline()
iflen(line)==0:
break
printline,
sys.stdout.flush()
print"Pressctrl+cnow"
#Tomakesureitrunsforawhile
time.sleep(2)
exceptIOError:
print"Couldnotfindfilepoem.txt"
exceptKeyboardInterrupt:
print"!!Youcancelledthereadingfromthefile."
finally:
iff:
f.close()
print"(Cleaningup:Closedthefile)"
Output:
$pythonexceptions_finally.py
Programmingisfun
Pressctrl+cnow
^C!!Youcancelledthereadingfromthefile.
(Cleaningup:Closedthefile)
HowItWorks
127/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Wedotheusualfilereadingstuff,butwehavearbitrarilyintroducedsleepingfor2secondsafterprinting
eachlineusingthe time.sleep functionsothattheprogramrunsslowly(Pythonisveryfastby
nature).Whentheprogramisstillrunning,press ctrl+c tointerrupt/canceltheprogram.
Observethatthe KeyboardInterrupt exceptionisthrownandtheprogramquits.However,beforethe
programexits,thefinallyclauseisexecutedandthefileobjectisalwaysclosed.
Notethatweuse sys.stdout.flush() after print sothatitprintstothescreenimmediately.
16.6.Thewithstatement
Acquiringaresourceinthe try blockandsubsequentlyreleasingtheresourceinthe finally blockis
acommonpattern.Hence,thereisalsoa with statementthatenablesthistobedoneinacleanmanner:
Saveas exceptions_using_with.py :
withopen("poem.txt")asf:
forlineinf:
printline,
PYTHON
HowItWorks
Theoutputshouldbesameasthepreviousexample.Thedifferencehereisthatweareusingthe open
functionwiththe with statementweleavetheclosingofthefiletobedoneautomaticallyby with
open .
Whathappensbehindthescenesisthatthereisaprotocolusedbythe with statement.Itfetchesthe

objectreturnedbythe open statement,letscallit"thefile"inthiscase.
Italwayscallsthe thefile.enter functionbeforestartingtheblockofcodeunderitandalwayscalls
thefile.exit afterfinishingtheblockofcode.
Sothecodethatwewouldhavewrittenina finally blockshouldbetakencareofautomaticallybythe

exit method.Thisiswhathelpsustoavoidhavingtouseexplicit try..finally statements
repeatedly.
Morediscussiononthistopicisbeyondscopeofthisbook,sopleasereferPEP343
(http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep0343/)foracomprehensiveexplanation.
16.7.Summary
128/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Wehavediscussedtheusageofthe try..except and try..finally statements.Wehaveseenhow

tocreateourownexceptiontypesandhowtoraiseexceptionsaswell.
Next,wewillexplorethePythonStandardLibrary.
129/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
17.StandardLibrary
ThePythonStandardLibrarycontainsahugenumberofusefulmodulesandispartofeverystandard
Pythoninstallation.ItisimportanttobecomefamiliarwiththePythonStandardLibrarysincemany
problemscanbesolvedquicklyifyouarefamiliarwiththerangeofthingsthattheselibrariescando.
Wewillexploresomeofthecommonlyusedmodulesinthislibrary.Youcanfindcompletedetailsforall
ofthemodulesinthePythonStandardLibraryinthe'LibraryReference'section
(http://docs.python.org/2/library/)ofthedocumentationthatcomeswithyourPythoninstallation.
Letusexploreafewusefulmodules.
Ifyoufindthetopicsinthischaptertooadvanced,youmayskipthischapter.
CAUTION
However,Ihighlyrecommendcomingbacktothischapterwhenyouaremore
comfortablewithprogrammingusingPython.
17.1.sysmodule
The sys modulecontainssystemspecificfunctionality.Wehavealreadyseenthatthe sys.argv list
containsthecommandlinearguments.
SupposewewanttochecktheversionofthePythonsoftwarebeingused,the sys modulegivesusthat
information.
$python
>>>importsys
>>>sys.version_info
sys.version_info(major=2,minor=7,micro=6,releaselevel='final',serial=0)
>>>sys.version_info.major==2
True
HowItWorks
The sys modulehasa version_info tuplethatgivesustheversioninformation.Thefirstentryisthe
majorversion.Wecanpulloutthisinformationtouseit.
17.2.loggingmodule
Whatifyouwantedtohavesomedebuggingmessagesorimportantmessagestobestoredsomewhereso
thatyoucancheckwhetheryourprogramhasbeenrunningasyouwouldexpectit?Howdoyou"store
somewhere"thesemessages?Thiscanbeachievedusingthe logging module.
130/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Saveas stdlib_logging.py :
importos,platform,logging
PYTHON
ifplatform.platform().startswith('Windows'):
logging_file=os.path.join(os.getenv('HOMEDRIVE'),
os.getenv('HOMEPATH'),
'test.log')
else:
logging_file=os.path.join(os.getenv('HOME'),
'test.log')
print"Loggingto",logging_file
logging.basicConfig(
level=logging.DEBUG,
format='%(asctime)s:%(levelname)s:%(message)s',
filename=logging_file,
filemode='w',
)
logging.debug("Startoftheprogram")
logging.info("Doingsomething")
logging.warning("Dyingnow")
Output:
$pythonstdlib_logging.py
Loggingto/Users/swa/test.log
$cat/Users/swa/test.log
2014032909:27:36,660:DEBUG:Startoftheprogram
2014032909:27:36,660:INFO:Doingsomething
2014032909:27:36,660:WARNING:Dyingnow
Ifyoudonothavethe cat command,thenyoucanjustopenthe test.log fileinatexteditor.

HowItWorks
Weusethreemodulesfromthestandardlibrarythe os moduleforinteractingwiththeoperating
system,the platform moduleforinformationabouttheplatformi.e.theoperatingsystemandthe
logging moduletologinformation.
First,wecheckwhichoperatingsystemweareusingbycheckingthestringreturnedby
platform.platform() (formoreinformation,see importplatform;help(platform) ).Ifitis
Windows,wefigureoutthehomedrive,thehomefolderandthefilenamewherewewanttostorethe
131/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
information.Puttingthesethreepartstogether,wegetthefulllocationofthefile.Forotherplatforms,we
needtoknowjustthehomefolderoftheuserandwegetthefulllocationofthefile.
Weusethe os.path.join() functiontoputthesethreepartsofthelocationtogether.Thereasontouse
aspecialfunctionratherthanjustaddingthestringstogetherisbecausethisfunctionwillensurethefull
locationmatchestheformatexpectedbytheoperatingsystem.
Weconfigurethe logging moduletowriteallthemessagesinaparticularformattothefilewehave
specified.
Finally,wecanputmessagesthatareeithermeantfordebugging,information,warningorevencritical
messages.Oncetheprogramhasrun,wecancheckthisfileandwewillknowwhathappenedinthe
program,eventhoughnoinformationwasdisplayedtotheuserrunningtheprogram.
17.3.ModuleoftheWeekSeries
Thereismuchmoretobeexploredinthestandardlibrarysuchasdebugging
(http://docs.python.org/2/library/pdb.html),handlingcommandlineoptions
(http://docs.python.org/2/library/argparse.html),regularexpressions (http://docs.python.org/2/library/re.html)andso
on.
ThebestwaytofurtherexplorethestandardlibraryistoreadDougHellmannsexcellentPythonModule
oftheWeek (http://pymotw.com/2/contents.html)series(alsoavailableasabook (http://amzn.com/0321767349))
andreadingthePythondocumentation (http://docs.python.org/2/).
17.4.Summary
WehaveexploredsomeofthefunctionalityofmanymodulesinthePythonStandardLibrary.Itishighly
recommendedtobrowsethroughthePythonStandardLibrarydocumentation
(http://docs.python.org/2/library/)togetanideaofallthemodulesthatareavailable.
Next,wewillcovervariousaspectsofPythonthatwillmakeourtourofPythonmorecomplete.
132/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
18.More
SofarwehavecoveredamajorityofthevariousaspectsofPythonthatyouwilluse.Inthischapter,we
willcoversomemoreaspectsthatwillmakeourknowledgeofPythonmorewellrounded.
18.1.Passingtuplesaround
Everwishedyoucouldreturntwodifferentvaluesfromafunction?Youcan.Allyouhavetodoisusea
tuple.
>>>defget_error_details():
...return(2,'details')
...
>>>errnum,errstr=get_error_details()
>>>errnum
2
>>>errstr
'details'
Noticethattheusageof a,b=<someexpression> interpretstheresultoftheexpressionasatuple

withtwovalues.
ThisalsomeansthefastestwaytoswaptwovariablesinPythonis:
>>>a=5;b=8
>>>a,b
(5,8)
>>>a,b=b,a
>>>a,b
(8,5)
18.2.SpecialMethods
Therearecertainmethodssuchasthe init and del methodswhichhavespecialsignificancein
classes.
Specialmethodsareusedtomimiccertainbehaviorsofbuiltintypes.Forexample,ifyouwanttouse
the x[key] indexingoperationforyourclass(justlikeyouuseitforlistsandtuples),thenallyouhave
todoisimplementthe getitem() methodandyourjobisdone.Ifyouthinkaboutit,thisiswhat
Pythondoesforthe list classitself!
Someusefulspecialmethodsarelistedinthefollowingtable.Ifyouwanttoknowaboutallthespecial
methods,seethemanual (http://docs.python.org/2/reference/datamodel.html#specialmethodnames).
133/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
init(self,
)
Thismethodiscalledjustbeforethenewlycreatedobjectisreturnedforusage.
del(self)
Calledjustbeforetheobjectisdestroyed(whichhasunpredictabletiming,soavoidusingthis)
str(self)
Calledwhenweusethe print statementorwhen str() isused.

lt(self,other)
Calledwhenthelessthanoperator(<)isused.Similarly,therearespecialmethodsforalltheoperators
(+,>,etc.)
getitem(self,key)
Calledwhen x[key] indexingoperationisused.

len(self)
Calledwhenthebuiltin len() functionisusedforthesequenceobject.
18.3.SingleStatementBlocks
Wehaveseenthateachblockofstatementsissetapartfromtherestbyitsownindentationlevel.Well,
thereisonecaveat.Ifyourblockofstatementscontainsonlyonesinglestatement,thenyoucanspecifyit
onthesamelineof,say,aconditionalstatementorloopingstatement.Thefollowingexampleshould
makethisclear:
>>>flag=True
>>>ifflag:print'Yes'
...
Yes
Noticethatthesinglestatementisusedinplaceandnotasaseparateblock.Although,youcanusethis
formakingyourprogramsmaller,Istronglyrecommendavoidingthisshortcutmethod,exceptforerror
checking,mainlybecauseitwillbemucheasiertoaddanextrastatementifyouareusingproper
indentation.
18.4.LambdaForms
134/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
A lambda statementisusedtocreatenewfunctionobjects.Essentially,the lambda takesaparameter

followedbyasingleexpressiononlywhichbecomesthebodyofthefunctionandthevalueofthis
expressionisreturnedbythenewfunction.
Example(saveas more_lambda.py ):
points=[{'x':2,'y':3},
{'x':4,'y':1}]
points.sort(key=lambdai:i['y'])
printpoints
PYTHON
Output:
$pythonmore_lambda.py
[{'y':1,'x':4},{'y':3,'x':2}]
HowItWorks
Noticethatthe sort methodofa list cantakea key parameterwhichdetermineshowthelistis
sorted(usuallyweknowonlyaboutascendingordescendingorder).Inourcase,wewanttodoacustom
sort,andforthatweneedtowriteafunctionbutinsteadofwritingaseparate def blockforafunction
thatwillgetusedinonlythisoneplace,weusealambdaexpressiontocreateanewfunction.
18.5.ListComprehension
Listcomprehensionsareusedtoderiveanewlistfromanexistinglist.Supposeyouhavealistof
numbersandyouwanttogetacorrespondinglistwithallthenumbersmultipliedby2onlywhenthe
numberitselfisgreaterthan2.Listcomprehensionsareidealforsuchsituations.
Example(saveas more_list_comprehension.py ):
listone=[2,3,4]
listtwo=[2*iforiinlistoneifi>2]
printlisttwo
PYTHON
Output:
$pythonmore_list_comprehension.py
[6,8]
HowItWorks
135/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Here,wederiveanewlistbyspecifyingthemanipulationtobedone(2*i)whensomeconditionis
satisfied( ifi>2 ).Notethattheoriginallistremainsunmodified.
Theadvantageofusinglistcomprehensionsisthatitreducestheamountofboilerplatecoderequired
whenweuseloopstoprocesseachelementofalistandstoreitinanewlist.
18.6.ReceivingTuplesandDictionariesinFunctions
Thereisaspecialwayofreceivingparameterstoafunctionasatupleoradictionaryusingthe*or**
prefixrespectively.Thisisusefulwhentakingvariablenumberofargumentsinthefunction.
>>>defpowersum(power,*args):
...'''Returnthesumofeachargumentraisedtothespecifiedpower.'''
...total=0
...foriinargs:
...total+=pow(i,power)
...returntotal
...
>>>powersum(2,3,4)
25
>>>powersum(2,10)
100
Becausewehavea*prefixonthe args variable,allextraargumentspassedtothefunctionarestoredin

args asatuple.Ifa**prefixhadbeenusedinstead,theextraparameterswouldbeconsideredtobe
key/valuepairsofadictionary.
18.7.Theassertstatement
The assert statementisusedtoassertthatsomethingistrue.Forexample,ifyouareverysurethatyou
willhaveatleastoneelementinalistyouareusingandwanttocheckthis,andraiseanerrorifitisnot
true,then assert statementisidealinthissituation.Whentheassertstatementfails,an
AssertionError israised.
>>>mylist=['item']
>>>assertlen(mylist)>=1
>>>mylist.pop()
'item'
>>>assertlen(mylist)>=1
Traceback(mostrecentcalllast):
File"<stdin>",line1,in<module>
AssertionError
136/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
The assert statementshouldbeusedjudiciously.Mostofthetime,itisbettertocatchexceptions,

eitherhandletheproblemordisplayanerrormessagetotheuserandthenquit.
18.8.Decorators
Decoratorsareashortcuttoapplyingwrapperfunctions.Thisishelpfulto"wrap"functionalitywiththe
samecodeoverandoveragain.Forexample,Icreateda retry decoratorformyselfthatIcanjust
applytoanyfunctionandifanyexceptionisthrownduringarun,itisretriedagain,tillamaximumof5
timesandwithadelaybetweeneachretry.Thisisespeciallyusefulforsituationswhereyouaretryingto
makeanetworkcalltoaremotecomputer:
137/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
fromtimeimportsleep
fromfunctoolsimportwraps
importlogging
logging.basicConfig()
log=logging.getLogger("retry")
PYTHON
defretry(f):
@wraps(f)
defwrapped_f(*args,**kwargs):
MAX_ATTEMPTS=5
forattemptinrange(1,MAX_ATTEMPTS+1):
try:
returnf(*args,**kwargs)
except:
log.exception("Attempt%s/%sfailed:%s",
attempt,
MAX_ATTEMPTS,
(args,kwargs))
sleep(10*attempt)
log.critical("All%sattemptsfailed:%s",
MAX_ATTEMPTS,
(args,kwargs))
returnwrapped_f
counter=0
@retry
defsave_to_database(arg):
print"Writetoadatabaseormakeanetworkcalloretc."
print"Thiswillbeautomaticallyretriedifexceptionisthrown."
globalcounter
counter+=1
#Thiswillthrowanexceptioninthefirstcall
#Andwillworkfineinthesecondcall(i.e.aretry)
ifcounter<2:
raiseValueError(arg)
if__name__=='__main__':
save_to_database("Somebadvalue")
Output:
138/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
$pythonmore_decorator.py
Writetoadatabaseormakeanetworkcalloretc.
Thiswillbeautomaticallyretriedifexceptionisthrown.
ERROR:retry:Attempt1/5failed:(('Somebadvalue',),{})
Traceback(mostrecentcalllast):
File"more_decorator.py",line14,inwrapped_f
returnf(*args,**kwargs)
File"more_decorator.py",line39,insave_to_database
raiseValueError(arg)
ValueError:Somebadvalue
Writetoadatabaseormakeanetworkcalloretc.
Thiswillbeautomaticallyretriedifexceptionisthrown.
HowItWorks
See:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/lcpdecor.html
http://toumorokoshi.github.io/dryprinciplesthroughpythondecorators.html
18.9.DifferencesbetweenPython2andPython3
See:
"Six"library (http://pythonhosted.org/six/)
PortingtoPython3ReduxbyArmin (http://lucumr.pocoo.org/2013/5/21/portingtopython3redux/)
Python3experiencebyPyDanny (http://pydanny.com/experienceswithdjangopython3.html)
OfficialDjangoGuidetoPortingtoPython3 (https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/topics/python3/)
DiscussiononWhataretheadvantagestopython3.x?
(http://www.reddit.com/r/Python/comments/22ovb3/what_are_the_advantages_to_python_3x/)
18.10.Summary
WehavecoveredsomemorefeaturesofPythoninthischapterandyetwehaventcoveredallthe
featuresofPython.However,atthisstage,wehavecoveredmostofwhatyouareevergoingtousein
practice.Thisissufficientforyoutogetstartedwithwhateverprogramsyouaregoingtocreate.
Next,wewilldiscusshowtoexplorePythonfurther.
[[WhatNext]]
139/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Ifyouhavereadthisbookthoroughlytillnowandpracticedwritingalotofprograms,thenyoumust
havebecomecomfortableandfamiliarwithPython.YouhaveprobablycreatedsomePythonprogramsto
tryoutstuffandtoexerciseyourPythonskillsaswell.Ifyouhavenotdoneitalready,youshould.The
questionnowis'WhatNext?'.
Iwouldsuggestthatyoutacklethisproblem:
Create your own commandline addressbookprogram using which you can

browse,add,modify,deleteorsearchfor yourcontactssuchasfriends,familyand
colleagues and their information such as email address and/or phone number.
Detailsmustbestoredforlaterretrieval.
Thisisfairlyeasyifyouthinkaboutitintermsofallthevariousstuffthatwehavecomeacrosstillnow.
Ifyoustillwantdirectionsonhowtoproceed,thenheresahint[3].
Onceyouareabletodothis,youcanclaimtobeaPythonprogrammer.Now,immediatelysendmean
email (http://swaroopch.com/contact/)thankingmeforthisgreatbook).Thisstepisoptionalbut
recommended.Also,pleaseconsiderbuyingaprintedcopy (http://swaroopch.com/buybook/)tosupportthe
continueddevelopmentofthisbook.
Ifyoufoundthatprogrameasy,heresanotherone:
Implement the replace command (http://unixhelp.ed.ac.uk/CGI/mancgi?replace). This

commandwillreplaceonestringwithanotherinthelistoffilesprovided.
Thereplacecommandcanbeassimpleorassophisticatedasyouwish,fromsimplestringsubstitutionto
lookingforpatterns(regularexpressions).
18.11.NextProjects
Ifyoufoundaboveprogramseasytocreate,thenlookatthiscomprehensivelistofprojectsandtry
writingyourownprograms:https://github.com/thekarangoel/Projects#numbers(thelistisalsoat
Martyr2sMegaProjectList (http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/78802martyr2smegaprojectideaslist/)).
AlsoseeIntermediatePythonProjects (https://openhatch.org/wiki/Intermediate_Python_Workshop/Projects).
18.12.ExampleCode
Thebestwaytolearnaprogramminglanguageistowritealotofcodeandreadalotofcode:
140/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
PythonCookbook (http://code.activestate.com/recipes/langs/python/)isanextremelyvaluablecollectionof
recipesortipsonhowtosolvecertainkindsofproblemsusingPython.Thisisamustreadforevery
Pythonuser.
PythonModuleoftheWeek (http://pymotw.com/2/contents.html)isanotherexcellentmustreadguideto
theStandardLibrary.
18.13.Advice
TheHitchhikersGuidetoPython! (http://docs.pythonguide.org/en/latest/)
PythonBigPicture (http://slottsoftwarearchitect.blogspot.ca/2013/06/pythonbigpicturewhatsroadmap.html)
"WritingIdiomaticPython"ebook (http://www.jeffknupp.com/writingidiomaticpythonebook/)(paid)
18.14.Videos
PyVideo (http://www.pyvideo.org)
18.15.QuestionsandAnswers
OfficialPythonDosandDonts (http://docs.python.org/3/howto/doanddont.html)
OfficialPythonFAQ (http://www.python.org/doc/faq/general/)
NorvigslistofInfrequentlyAskedQuestions (http://norvig.com/pythoniaq.html)
PythonInterviewQ&A (http://dev.fyicenter.com/InterviewQuestions/Python/index.html)
StackOverflowquestionstaggedwithpython (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/python)
18.16.Tutorials
HiddenfeaturesofPython (http://stackoverflow.com/q/101268/4869)
Whatstheonecodesnippet/pythontrick/etcdidyouwishyouknewwhenyoulearnedpython?
(http://www.reddit.com/r/Python/comments/19dir2/whats_the_one_code_snippetpython_tricketc_did_you/)
AwaretekscomprehensivelistofPythontutorials (http://www.awaretek.com/tutorials.html)
18.17.Discussion
IfyouarestuckwithaPythonproblem,anddontknowwhomtoask,thenthepythontutorlist
(http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor)isthebestplacetoaskyourquestion.
Makesureyoudoyourhomeworkbytryingtosolvingtheproblemyourselffirstandasksmartquestions
(http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smartquestions.html).
141/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
18.18.News
IfyouwanttolearnwhatisthelatestintheworldofPython,thenfollowtheOfficialPythonPlanet
(http://planet.python.org).
18.19.Installinglibraries
ThereareahugenumberofopensourcelibrariesatthePythonPackageIndex (http://pypi.python.org/pypi)
whichyoucanuseinyourownprograms.
Toinstallandusetheselibraries,youcanusepip (http://www.pipinstaller.org/en/latest/).
18.20.CreatingaWebsite
LearnFlask (http://flask.pocoo.org)tocreateyourownwebsite.Someresourcestogetstarted:
FlaskOfficialQuickstart (http://flask.pocoo.org/docs/quickstart/)
TheFlaskMegaTutorial (http://blog.miguelgrinberg.com/post/theflaskmegatutorialpartihelloworld)
ExampleFlaskProjects (https://github.com/mitsuhiko/flask/tree/master/examples)
18.21.GraphicalSoftware
SupposeyouwanttocreateyourowngraphicalprogramsusingPython.ThiscanbedoneusingaGUI
(GraphicalUserInterface)librarywiththeirPythonbindings.Bindingsarewhatallowyoutowrite
programsinPythonandusethelibrarieswhicharethemselveswritteninCorC++orotherlanguages.
TherearelotsofchoicesforGUIusingPython:
Kivy
http://kivy.org
PyGTK
ThisisthePythonbindingfortheGTK+toolkitwhichisthefoundationuponwhichGNOMEisbuilt.
GTK+hasmanyquirksinusagebutonceyoubecomecomfortable,youcancreateGUIappsfast.The
Gladegraphicalinterfacedesignerisindispensable.Thedocumentationisyettoimprove.GTK+
workswellonGNU/LinuxbutitsporttoWindowsisincomplete.Youcancreatebothfreeaswellas
proprietarysoftwareusingGTK+.Togetstarted,readthePyGTKtutorial
(http://www.pygtk.org/tutorial.html).
PyQt
142/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
ThisisthePythonbindingfortheQttoolkitwhichisthefoundationuponwhichtheKDEisbuilt.Qt
isextremelyeasytouseandverypowerfulespeciallyduetotheQtDesignerandtheamazingQt
documentation.PyQtisfreeifyouwanttocreateopensource(GPLed)softwareandyouneedtobuy
itifyouwanttocreateproprietaryclosedsourcesoftware.StartingwithQt4.5youcanuseittocreate
nonGPLsoftwareaswell.Togetstarted,readaboutPySide (http://qtproject.org/wiki/PySide).
wxPython
ThisisthePythonbindingsforthewxWidgetstoolkit.wxPythonhasalearningcurveassociatedwith
it.However,itisveryportableandrunsonGNU/Linux,Windows,Macandevenembedded
platforms.TherearemanyIDEsavailableforwxPythonwhichincludeGUIdesignersaswellsuchas
SPE(StanisPythonEditor) (http://spe.pycs.net/)andthewxGlade (http://wxglade.sourceforge.net/)GUI
builder.YoucancreatefreeaswellasproprietarysoftwareusingwxPython.Togetstarted,readthe
wxPythontutorial (http://zetcode.com/wxpython/).
18.22.SummaryofGUITools
Formorechoices,seetheGuiProgrammingwikipageattheofficialpythonwebsite
(http://www.python.org/cgibin/moinmoin/GuiProgramming).
Unfortunately,thereisnoonestandardGUItoolforPython.Isuggestthatyouchooseoneoftheabove
toolsdependingonyoursituation.ThefirstfactoriswhetheryouarewillingtopaytouseanyoftheGUI
tools.ThesecondfactoriswhetheryouwanttheprogramtorunonlyonWindowsoronMacand
GNU/Linuxorallofthem.Thethirdfactor,ifGNU/Linuxisachosenplatform,iswhetheryouarea
KDEorGNOMEuseronGNU/Linux.
Foramoredetailedandcomprehensiveanalysis,seePage26ofthe'ThePythonPapers,Volume3,Issue
1' (http://archive.pythonpapers.org/ThePythonPapersVolume3Issue1.pdf).
18.23.VariousImplementations
Thereareusuallytwopartsaprogramminglanguagethelanguageandthesoftware.Alanguageishow
youwritesomething.Thesoftwareiswhatactuallyrunsourprograms.
WehavebeenusingtheCPythonsoftwaretorunourprograms.ItisreferredtoasCPythonbecauseitis
writtenintheClanguageandistheClassicalPythoninterpreter.
TherearealsoothersoftwarethatcanrunyourPythonprograms:
Jython (http://www.jython.org)
143/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
APythonimplementationthatrunsontheJavaplatform.ThismeansyoucanuseJavalibrariesand
classesfromwithinPythonlanguageandviceversa.
IronPython (http://www.codeplex.com/Wiki/View.aspx?ProjectName=IronPython)
APythonimplementationthatrunsonthe.NETplatform.Thismeansyoucanuse.NETlibrariesand
classesfromwithinPythonlanguageandviceversa.
PyPy (http://codespeak.net/pypy/dist/pypy/doc/home.html)
APythonimplementationwritteninPython!Thisisaresearchprojecttomakeitfastandeasyto
improvetheinterpretersincetheinterpreteritselfiswritteninadynamiclanguage(asopposedto
staticlanguagessuchasC,JavaorC#intheabovethreeimplementations)
TherearealsootherssuchasCLPython (http://commonlisp.net/project/clpython/)aPythonimplementation
writteninCommonLispandBrython (http://brython.info/)whichisanimplementationontopofa
JavaScriptinterpreterwhichcouldmeanthatyoucanusePython(insteadofJavaScript)towriteyour
webbrowser("Ajax")programs.
Eachoftheseimplementationshavetheirspecializedareaswheretheyareuseful.
18.24.FunctionalProgramming(foradvancedreaders)
Whenyoustartwritinglargerprograms,youshoulddefinitelylearnmoreaboutafunctionalapproachto
programmingasopposedtotheclassbasedapproachtoprogrammingthatwelearnedintheobject
orientedprogrammingchapter:
FunctionalProgrammingHowtobyA.M.Kuchling (http://docs.python.org/3/howto/functional.html)
Functionalprogrammingchapterin'DiveIntoPython'book
(http://www.diveintopython.net/functional_programming/index.html)
FunctionalProgrammingwithPythonpresentation (http://ua.pycon.org/static/talks/kachayev/index.html)
Funcylibrary (https://github.com/Suor/funcy)
18.25.Summary
Wehavenowcometotheendofthisbookbut,astheysay,thisisthethebeginningoftheend!.Youare
nowanavidPythonuserandyouarenodoubtreadytosolvemanyproblemsusingPython.Youcanstart
automatingyourcomputertodoallkindsofpreviouslyunimaginablethingsorwriteyourowngames
andmuchmuchmore.So,getstarted!
144/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
19.Appendix:FLOSS
NOTE
Pleasenotethatthissectionwaswrittenin2003,sosomeofthismightsoundquaintto
you:)
"Free/LibreandOpenSourceSoftware",inshort,FLOSS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLOSS)isbasedon
theconceptofacommunity,whichitselfisbasedontheconceptofsharing,andparticularlythesharing
ofknowledge.FLOSSarefreeforusage,modificationandredistribution.
Ifyouhavealreadyreadthisbook,thenyouarealreadyfamiliarwithFLOSSsinceyouhavebeenusing
PythonallalongandPythonisanopensourcesoftware!
HerearesomeexamplesofFLOSStogiveanideaofthekindofthingsthatcommunitysharingand
buildingcancreate:
Linux (http://www.kernel.org)
ThisisaFLOSSOSkernelusedintheGNU/Linuxoperatingsystem.Linux,thekernel,wasstarted
byLinusTorvaldsasastudent.AndroidisbasedonLinux.Anywebsiteyouusethesedayswill
mostlyberunningonLinux.
Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com)
Thisisacommunitydrivendistribution,sponsoredbyCanonicalanditisthemostpopular
GNU/Linuxdistributiontoday.ItallowsyoutoinstallaplethoraofFLOSSavailableandallthisinan
easytouseandeasytoinstallmanner.Bestofall,youcanjustrebootyourcomputerandrun
GNU/LinuxofftheCD!ThisallowsyoutocompletelytryoutthenewOSbeforeinstallingitonyour
computer.However,Ubuntuisnotentirelyfreesoftwareitcontainsproprietarydrivers,firmware,and
applications.
LibreOffice (http://www.libreoffice.org/)
Thisisanexcellentcommunitydrivenanddevelopedofficesuitewithawriter,presentation,
spreadsheetanddrawingcomponentsamongotherthings.ItcanevenopenandeditMSWordandMS
PowerPointfileswithease.Itrunsonalmostallplatformsandisentirelyfree,libreandopensource
software.
MozillaFirefox (http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox)
Thisisthebestwebbrowser.Itisblazinglyfastandhasgainedcriticalacclaimforitssensibleand
impressivefeatures.Theextensionsconceptallowsanykindofpluginstobeused.
145/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Mono (http://www.monoproject.com)
ThisisanopensourceimplementationoftheMicrosoft.NETplatform.Itallows.NETapplicationsto
becreatedandrunonGNU/Linux,Windows,FreeBSD,MacOSandmanyotherplatformsaswell.
Apachewebserver (http://httpd.apache.org)
Thisisthepopularopensourcewebserver.Infact,itisthemostpopularwebserverontheplanet!It
runsnearlymorethanhalfofthewebsitesoutthere.Yes,thatsrightApachehandlesmorewebsites
thanallthecompetition(includingMicrosoftIIS)combined.
VLCPlayer (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/)
ThisisavideoplayerthatcanplayanythingfromDivXtoMP3toOggtoVCDsandDVDstowho
saysopensourceaintfun?)
ThislistisjustintendedtogiveyouabriefideatherearemanymoreexcellentFLOSSoutthere,such
asthePerllanguage,PHPlanguage,Drupalcontentmanagementsystemforwebsites,PostgreSQL
databaseserver,TORCSracinggame,KDevelopIDE,Xinethemovieplayer,VIMeditor,Quanta+
editor,Bansheeaudioplayer,GIMPimageeditingprogram,Thislistcouldgoonforever.
TogetthelatestbuzzintheFLOSSworld,checkoutthefollowingwebsites:
OMG!Ubuntu! (http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/)
WebUpd8 (http://www.webupd8.org/)
DistroWatch (http://www.distrowatch.com)
PlanetDebian (http://planet.debian.org/)
VisitthefollowingwebsitesformoreinformationonFLOSS:
GitHubExplore (http://github.com/explore)
CodeTriage (http://www.codetriage.com/)
SourceForge (http://www.sourceforge.net)
FreshMeat (http://www.freshmeat.net)
So,goaheadandexplorethevast,freeandopenworldofFLOSS!
146/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
20.Appendix:Colophon
AlmostallofthesoftwarethatIhaveusedinthecreationofthisbookareFLOSS.
20.1.BirthoftheBook
Inthefirstdraftofthisbook,IhadusedRedHat9.0Linuxasthefoundationofmysetupandinthesixth
draft,IusedFedoraCore3Linuxasthebasisofmysetup.
Initially,IwasusingKWordtowritethebook(asexplainedinthehistorylessoninthepreface).
20.2.TeenageYears
Later,IswitchedtoDocBookXMLusingKatebutIfoundittootedious.So,IswitchedtoOpenOffice
whichwasjustexcellentwiththelevelofcontrolitprovidedforformattingaswellasthePDF
generation,butitproducedverysloppyHTMLfromthedocument.
Finally,IdiscoveredXEmacsandIrewrotethebookfromscratchinDocBookXML(again)afterI
decidedthatthisformatwasthelongtermsolution.
Inthesixthdraft,IdecidedtouseQuanta+todoalltheediting.ThestandardXSLstylesheetsthatcame
withFedoraCore3Linuxwerebeingused.However,IhadwrittenaCSSdocumenttogivecolorand
styletotheHTMLpages.Ihadalsowrittenacrudelexicalanalyzer,inPythonofcourse,which
automaticallyprovidessyntaxhighlightingtoalltheprogramlistings.
Fortheseventhdraft,ImusingMediaWiki (http://www.mediawiki.org)asthebasisofmysetup.Iusedto
editeverythingonlineandthereaderscandirectlyread/edit/discusswithinthewikiwebsite,butIended
upspendingmoretimefightingspamthanwriting.
Fortheeightdraft,IusedVim (http://www.swaroopch.com/notes/vim),Pandoc
(http://johnmacfarlane.net/pandoc/README.html),andMacOSX.
20.3.Now
Fortheninthdraft,IswitchedtoAsciiDocformat (http://asciidoctor.org/docs/whatisasciidoc/)andused
Emacs24.3 (http://www.masteringemacs.org/articles/2013/03/11/whatsnewemacs243/),tomorrowtheme
(https://github.com/chriskempson/tomorrowtheme),FiraMonofont
(https://www.mozilla.org/enUS/styleguide/products/firefoxos/typeface/#downloadprimary)andadocmode
(https://github.com/sensorflo/adocmode/wiki)towrite.
20.4.AbouttheAuthor
147/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Seehttp://swaroopch.com/about/
148/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
21.Appendix:HistoryLesson
IfirststartedwithPythonwhenIneededtowriteaninstallerforsoftwareIhadwrittencalled'Diamond'
sothatIcouldmaketheinstallationeasy.IhadtochoosebetweenPythonandPerlbindingsfortheQt
library.IdidsomeresearchonthewebandIcameacrossanarticlebyEricS.Raymond
(http://www.python.org/about/success/esr/),afamousandrespectedhacker,wherehetalkedabouthow
Pythonhadbecomehisfavoriteprogramminglanguage.IalsofoundoutthatthePyQtbindingswere
morematurecomparedtoPerlQt.So,IdecidedthatPythonwasthelanguageforme.
Then,IstartedsearchingforagoodbookonPython.Icouldntfindany!IdidfindsomeOReillybooks
buttheywereeithertooexpensiveorweremorelikeareferencemanualthanaguide.So,Isettledforthe
documentationthatcamewithPython.However,itwastoobriefandsmall.Itdidgiveagoodideaabout
Pythonbutwasnotcomplete.ImanagedwithitsinceIhadpreviousprogrammingexperience,butitwas
unsuitablefornewbies.
AboutsixmonthsaftermyfirstbrushwithPython,Iinstalledthe(then)latestRedHat9.0LinuxandI
wasplayingaroundwithKWord.Igotexcitedaboutitandsuddenlygottheideaofwritingsomestuffon
Python.Istartedwritingafewpagesbutitquicklybecame30pageslong.Then,Ibecameseriousabout
makingitmoreusefulinabookform.Afteralotofrewrites,ithasreachedastagewhereithasbecomea
usefulguidetolearningthePythonlanguage.Iconsiderthisbooktobemycontributionandtributetothe
opensourcecommunity.
ThisbookstartedoutasmypersonalnotesonPythonandIstillconsideritinthesameway,although
Ivetakenalotofefforttomakeitmorepalatabletoothers:)
Inthetruespiritofopensource,Ihavereceivedlotsofconstructivesuggestions,criticismsandfeedback
fromenthusiasticreaderswhichhashelpedmeimprovethisbookalot.
21.1.StatusOfTheBook
Thebookwaslastupdatedon20141204andgeneratedusingAsciiDoctor (http://www.asciidoctor.org)
1.5.1.
LastmajorupdateofthisbookwasinMarApr2014,convertedtoAsciidoc
(http://asciidoctor.org/docs/whatisasciidoc/)usingEmacs24
(http://swaroopch.com/2013/10/17/emacsconfigurationtutorial/)andadocmode
(https://github.com/sensorflo/adocmode/wiki).
InDec2008,thebookwasupdatedforthePython3.0release(oneofthefirstbookstodoso).But
now,IhaveconvertedthebookbackforPython2languagebecausereaderswouldoftengetconfused
betweenthedefaultPython2installedontheirsystemsvs.Python3whichtheyhadtoseparately
149/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
installandallthetooling,esp.editorswouldassumePython2aswell.Ihadahardtimejustifying
whyIhadtoaggravatereadersandmakethemgothroughallthiswhenthefactisthattheycanlearn
eitheroneanditwouldbejustasuseful.So,Python2itis.
Thebookneedsthehelpofitsreaderssuchasyourselvestopointoutanypartsofthebookwhicharenot
good,notcomprehensibleoraresimplywrong.Pleasewritetothemainauthor
(http://swaroopch.com/contact)ortherespectivetranslatorswithyourcommentsandsuggestions.
150/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
22.Appendix:RevisionHistory
3.0
31Mar2014
RewrittenusingAsciiDoc (http://asciidoctor.org/docs/whatisasciidoc/)andadocmode
(https://github.com/sensorflo/adocmode/wiki).
2.1
03Aug2013
RewrittenusingMarkdownandJasonBlevins'MarkdownMode
(http://jblevins.org/projects/markdownmode/)
2.0
20Oct2012
RewritteninPandocformat (http://johnmacfarlane.net/pandoc/README.html),thankstomywifewho
didmostoftheconversionfromtheMediawikiformat
Simplifyingtext,removingnonessentialsectionssuchas nonlocal andmetaclasses
1.90
04Sep2008andstillinprogress
Revivalafteragapof3.5years!
RewritingforPython3.0
RewriteusingMediaWiki (http://www.mediawiki.org)(again)
1.20
13Jan2005
CompleterewriteusingQuanta+ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quanta_Plus)onFedora
(http://fedoraproject.org/)Core3withlotofcorrectionsandupdates.Manynewexamples.Rewrote
myDocBooksetupfromscratch.
1.15
28Mar2004
Minorrevisions
1.12
151/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
16Mar2004
Additionsandcorrections
1.10
09Mar2004
Moretypocorrections,thankstomanyenthusiasticandhelpfulreaders.
1.00
08Mar2004
Aftertremendousfeedbackandsuggestionsfromreaders,Ihavemadesignificantrevisionstothe
contentalongwithtypocorrections.
0.99
22Feb2004
Addedanewchapteronmodules.Addeddetailsaboutvariablenumberofargumentsinfunctions.
0.98
16Feb2004
WroteaPythonscriptandCSSstylesheettoimproveXHTMLoutput,includingacrudeyet
functionallexicalanalyzerforautomaticVIMlikesyntaxhighlightingoftheprogramlistings.
0.97
13Feb2004
Anothercompletelyrewrittendraft,inDocBookXML(again).Bookhasimprovedalotitis
morecoherentandreadable.
0.93
25Jan2004
AddedIDLEtalkandmoreWindowsspecificstuff
0.92
05Jan2004
Changestofewexamples.
0.91
30Dec2003
152/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Correctedtypos.Improvisedmanytopics.
0.90
18Dec2003
Added2morechapters.OpenOffice (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenOffice)formatwithrevisions.
0.60
21Nov2003
Fullyrewrittenandexpanded.
0.20
20Nov2003
Correctedsometyposanderrors.
0.15
20Nov2003
ConvertedtoDocBookXML (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DocBook)withXEmacs.
0.10
14Nov2003
InitialdraftusingKWord (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kword).
153/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
23.Translations
Therearemanytranslationsofthebookavailableindifferenthumanlanguages,thankstomanytireless
volunteers!
Ifyouwanttohelpwiththesetranslations,pleaseseethelistofvolunteersandlanguagesbelowand
decideifyouwanttostartanewtranslationorhelpinexistingtranslationprojects.
Ifyouplantostartanewtranslation,pleasereadtheTranslationHowto.
23.1.Arabic
BelowisthelinkfortheArabicversion.ThankstoAshrafAliKhalaffortranslatingthebook,youcan
readthewholebookonlineathttp://www.khaledhosny.org/byteofpython/index.htmloryoucan
downloaditfromsourceforge.net
(http://downloads.sourceforge.net/omlx/byteofpython_arabic.pdf?use_mirror=osdn)formoreinfosee
http://itwadi.com/byteofpython_arabi.
23.2.BrazilianPortuguese
Therearetwotranslations:
SamuelDiasNeto (http://www.samueldiasneto.com/aprendendopython/index.html)([email protected])
madethefirstBrazilianPortuguesetranslationofthisbookwhenPythonwasin2.3.5version.
Samuelstranslationisavailableataprendendopython
(http://www.samueldiasneto.com/aprendendopython/index.html).
RodrigoAmaral (http://rodrigoamaral.net)([email protected])hasvolunteeredtotranslatethebook
toBrazilianPortuguese.
23.3.Catalan
MoisesGomez([email protected])hasvolunteeredtotranslatethebooktoCatalan.The
translationisinprogress.
154/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Moiss Gmez I am a developer and also a teacher of programming (normally

forpeoplewithoutanypreviousexperience).
Some time ago I needed to learn how to program in Python, and Swaroops work
wasreallyhelpful.Clear,concise,andcompleteenough.JustwhatIneeded.
After this experience, I thought some other people in my country could take
benefitfromittoo.ButEnglishlanguagecanbeabarrier.
So,whynottrytotranslateit?AndIdidforapreviousversionofBoP.
I my country there are two official languages. I selected the Catalan language
assumingthatotherswilltranslateittothemorewidespreadSpanish.
23.4.Chinese
Translationsareavailableathttp://woodpecker.org.cn/abyteofpython_cn/chinese/and
http://zhgdg.gitcafe.com/static/doc/byte_of_python.html.
JuanShen([email protected])hasvolunteeredtotranslatethebooktoChinese.
I am a postgraduate at Wireless Telecommunication Graduate School, Beijing

University of Technology, China PR. My current research interest is on the
synchronization, channel estimation and multiuser detection of multicarrier
CDMA system. Python is my major programming language for daily simulation
andresearch job,with thehelp ofPython Numeric,actually. Ilearned Pythonjust
half a year before, but as you can see, its really easyunderstanding, easytouse
and productive. Just as what is ensured in Swaroops book, 'Its my favorite
programminglanguagenow'.
'A Byte of Python' is my tutorial to learn Python. Its clear and effective to lead
you into a world of Python in the shortest time. Its not too long, but efficiently
covers almost allimportant things in Python.I think 'A Byte ofPython' should be
strongly recommendable for newbies as their first Python tutorial. Just dedicate
mytranslationtothepotentialmillionsofPythonusersinChina.
155/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
23.5.ChineseTraditional
FredLin([email protected])hasvolunteeredtotranslatethebooktoChineseTraditional.
Itisavailableathttp://code.google.com/p/zhpy/wiki/ByteOfZhpy.
Anexcitingfeatureofthistranslationisthatitalsocontainstheexecutablechinesepythonsourcesside
bysidewiththeoriginalpythonsources.
FredLinImworkingasa networkfirmwareengineeratDeltaNetwork,andIm
alsoacontributorofTurboGearswebframework.
As a python evangelist (:p), I need some material to promote python language. I
found 'A Byte of Python' hit the sweet point for both newbies and experienced
programmers. 'A Byte of Python' elaborates the python essentials with affordable
size.
The translation are originally based on simplified chinese version, and soon a lot
ofrewriteweremadetofitthecurrentwikiversionandthequalityofreading.
The recent chinese traditional version also featured with executable chinese
python sources, which are achieved by my new 'zhpy' (python in chinese) project
(launchfromAug07).
zhpy(pronounce (Z.H.?, or zippy) build a layer upon python to translate or
interact with python in chinese(Traditional or Simplified). This project is mainly
aimedforeducation.
23.6.French
Gregory([email protected])hasvolunteeredtotranslatethebooktoFrench.
GrardLabadie([email protected])hascompletedtotranslatethebooktoFrench.
23.7.German
LutzHorn([email protected]),BerndHengelein([email protected])andChristoph
Zwerschke([email protected])havevolunteeredtotranslatethebooktoGerman.
156/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Theirtranslationislocatedathttp://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub//sourceforge/a/ab/abopgerman.berlios/
LutzHornsays:
Im 32 years old and have a degree of Mathematics from University of

Heidelberg,Germany. CurrentlyIm workingas asoftware engineeron apublicly
funded project to build a web portal for all things related to computer science in
Germany.The main language I use as a professional is Java, but I try to do as
much as possible with Python behind the scenes. Especially text analysis and
conversionisvery easywithPython.Im notveryfamiliarwith GUItoolkits,since
most of my programming is about web applications, where the user interface is
build using Java frameworks like Struts. Currently I try to make more use of the
functionalprogramming featuresof Pythonandof generators.Aftertaking ashort
look into Ruby, I was very impressed with the use of blocks in this language.
Generally I like the dynamic nature of languages like Python and Ruby since it
allows me to do things not possible in more static languages like Java.Ive
searched for some kind of introduction to programming, suitable to teach a
complete nonprogrammer. Ive found the book 'How to Think Like a Computer
Scientist: Learning with Python', and 'Dive into Python'. The first is good for
beginnersbuttolong totranslate.Thesecondisnotsuitable forbeginners.Ithink
'AByteof Python'fallsnicelybetweenthese, sinceitisnottoolong, writtentothe
point, andat the sametime verbose enoughto teach anewbie. Besides this,I like
the simple DocBook structure, which makes translating the text a generation the
outputinvariousformatsacharm.
BerndHengeleinsays:
157/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Lutz andme are going todo the germantranslation together. We juststarted with
the intro and preface but we will keep you informed about the progress we make.
Ok, now some personal things about me. I am 34 years old and playing with
computerssincethe 1980s,whenthe"CommodoreC64"ruled thenurseries.After
studying computer science I started working as a software engineer. Currently I
am working in the field of medical imaging for a major german company.
Although C++ is the main language I (have to) use for my daily work, I am
constantly looking for new things to learn.Last year I fell in love with Python,
which is a wonderful language, both for its possibilities and its beauty. I read
somewherein thenet aboutaguy whosaid thathelikes python,because thecode
looks so beautiful. In my opinion hes absolutly right. At the time I decided to
learn python, I noticed that there is very little good documentation in german
available. When I came across your book the spontaneous idea of a german
translation crossed my mind. Luckily, Lutz had the same idea and we can now
dividethework.Iamlookingforwardtoagoodcooperation!
23.8.Greek
TheGreekUbuntuCommunitytranslatedthebookinGreek (http://wiki.ubuntugr.org/byteofpythonel),for
useinouronlineasynchronousPythonlessonsthattakeplaceinourforums.Contact@savvasradevic
(https://twitter.com/savvasradevic)formoreinformation.
23.9.Indonesian
Daniel([email protected])istranslatingthebooktoIndonesianat
http://python.or.id/moin.cgi/ByteofPython.
WisnuPriyambodo([email protected])alsohasvolunteeredtotranslatethebooktoIndonesian.
Also,BagusAjiSantoso([email protected])hasvolunteered.
23.10.Italian
EnricoMorelli([email protected])andMassimoLucci([email protected])havevolunteeredto
translatethebooktoItalian.
TheItaliantranslationispresentathttp://www.gentoo.it/Programmazione/byteofpython.
158/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
MassimoLucci andEnricoMorelli weare workingat theUniversity ofFlorence

(Italy) Chemistry Department. I (Massimo) as service engineer and system
administrator for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometers Enrico as service
engineer and system administrator for our CED and parallel / clustered systems.
We are programming on python since about seven years, we had experience
working with Linux platforms since ten years. In Italy we are responsible and
administrator for www.gentoo.it web site for Gentoo/Linux distrubution and
www.nmr.it (now under construction) for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
applications and Congress Organization and Managements.Thats all! We are
impressed bythe smartlanguage usedon yourBook andwe thinkthis isessential
for approaching the Python to new users (we are thinking about hundred of
studentsandresearcherworkingonourlabs).
23.11.Japanese
ShunroDozono([email protected])istranslatingthebooktoJapanese.
23.12.Korean
JeongbinPark([email protected])hastranslatedthebooktoKorean
https://github.com/pjb7687/byte_of_python
159/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
I am Jeongbin Park, currently working as a Biophysics & Bioinformatics

researcherinKorea.
A year ago, I was looking for a good tutorial/guide for Python to introduce it to
my colleagues, because using Python in such research fields is becoming
inevitableduetotheuserbaseisgrowingmoreandmore.
But at that time only few Python books are available in Korean, so I decided to
translate your ebook because it looks like one of the best guides that I have ever
read!
Currently, the book is almost completely translated in Korean, except some of the
textinintroductionchapterandtheappendixes.
Thankyouagainforwritingsuchagoodguide!
23.13.Mongolian
AriunsanaaTunjin([email protected])hasvolunteeredtotranslatethebooktoMongolian.
UpdateonNov22,2009:Ariunsanaaisonthevergeofcompletingthetranslation.
23.14.Norwegian(bokml)
EirikVgeskarisahighschoolstudentatSandvikavideregendeskole
(http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandvika_videreg%C3%A5ende_skole)inNorway,ablogger
(http://forbedre.blogspot.com/)andcurrentlytranslatingthebooktoNorwegian(bokml).
160/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
Eirik Vgeskar: I have always wanted to program, but because I speak a small
language, the learning process was much harder. Most tutorials and books are
written in very technical English, so most high school graduates will not even
have the vocabulary to understand what the tutorial is about. When I discovered
this book, all my problems were solved. "A Byte of Python" used simple non
technical languageto explain aprogramming language thatis just assimple, and
these two things make learning Python fun. After reading half of the book, I
decided that the book was worth translating. I hope the translation will help
people who have found themself in the same situation as me (especially young
people), and maybe help spread interest for the language among people with less
technicalknowledge.
23.15.Polish
DominikKozaczko([email protected])hasvolunteeredtotranslatethebooktoPolish.
Translationisinprogressanditsmainpageisavailablehere:UkPythona
(http://python.edu.pl/byteofpython/).
Update:ThetranslationiscompleteandreadyasofOct2,2009.ThankstoDominik,histwostudents
andtheirfriendfortheirtimeandeffort!
DominikKozaczkoImaComputerScienceandInformationTechnologyteacher.
23.16.Portuguese
FidelViegas([email protected])hasvolunteeredtotranslatethebooktoPortuguese.
23.17.Romanian
PaulSebastianManole([email protected])hasvolunteeredtotranslatethisbooktoRomanian.
161/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
PaulSebastian Manole Im a second year Computer Science student at Spiru

Haret University, here in Romania. Im more of a selftaught programmer and
decided to learn a new language, Python. The web told me there was no better
way to do so but read ''A Byte of Python''. Thats how popular this book is
(congratulations to the author for writing such an easy to read book). I started
likingPythonsoI decidedtohelptranslatethelatestversion ofSwaroopsbookin
Romanian. Although I could be the one with the first initiative, Im just one
volunteersoifyoucanhelp,pleasejoinme.
23.18.Russian
VladimirSmolyar([email protected])hascompletedaRussiantranslationat
http://wombat.org.ua/AByteOfPython/.
23.19.Ukranian
AverkievAndrey([email protected])hasvolunteeredtotranslatethebooktoRussian,andperhaps
Ukranian(timepermitting).
23.20.Serbian
"BugSpice"([email protected])hascompletedaSerbiantranslation:
You
can
download
it
http://www.sendspace.com/filegroup/DlNY1mF7DFqNt4e61LvVug (Latin
from
and
Cyrillicserbian(andsimilarlanguages)version.
Moredetailsathttp://forum.ubunturs.org/Threadzagrljajpitona.
23.21.Slovak
AlbertioWard([email protected])hastranslatedthebooktoSlovakat
http://www.fatcow.com/edu/pythonswaroopchsl/:
162/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
We are a nonprofit organization called "Translation for education". We represent

a group of people, mainly students and professors, of the Slavonic University.
Here are students from different departments: linguistics, chemistry, biology, etc.
We try to find interesting publications on the Internet that can be relevant for us
and our university colleagues. Sometimes we find articles by ourselves other
times our professors help us choose the material for translation. After obtaining
permission from authors we translate articles and post them in our blog which is
available and accessible to our colleagues and friends. These translated
publicationsoftenhelpstudentsintheirdailystudyroutine.
23.22.Spanish
AlfonsodelaGuardaReyes([email protected]),GustavoEcheverria
([email protected]),DavidCrespoArroyo([email protected])andCristian
BermudezSerna([email protected])havevolunteeredtotranslatethebooktoSpanish.
GustavoEcheverriasays:
Iwork asa softwareengineer inArgentina.I usemostly C#and .Nettechnologies

at work but strictlyPython or Ruby in my personal projects.I knew Python many
years ago and I got stuck inmediately. Not so long after knowing Python I
discoveredthisbookandithelpedme tolearnthelanguage.ThenIvolunteeredto
translate the book to Spanish. Now, after receiving some requests, Ive begun to
translate"AByteofPython"withthehelpofMaximilianoSoler.
CristianBermudezSernasays:
I am student of Telecommunications engineering at the University of Antioquia

(Colombia).Months ago,i startedtolearn Pythonand foundthis wonderfulbook,
soivolunteeredtogettheSpanishtranslation.
23.23.Swedish
MikaelJacobsson([email protected])hasvolunteeredtotranslatethebooktoSwedish.
23.24.Turkish
163/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
TrkerSEZER([email protected])andBugraCakir([email protected])havevolunteeredto
translatethebooktoTurkish."WhereisTurkishversion?Bitsedeokusak."
164/165
1/4/2015
AByteofPython
24.TranslationHowto
1. Thefullsourceofthebookisavailablefromhttps://github.com/swaroopch/byte_of_python.
2. Pleaseforktherepository (https://help.github.com/articles/forkarepo).
3. Then,fetchtherepositorytoyourcomputer.YouneedtoknowhowtouseGit (http://www.gitscm.com)
todothat.
4. ReadAsciiDocsyntaxquickreference (http://asciidoctor.org/docs/asciidocsyntaxquickreference/).
5. Starteditingthe .asciidoc filestotranslatetoyourlocallanguage.
6. Run sourcecommands.bash anduse make_html , make_pdf ,etc.togenerateoutputfromthe
AsciiDocsources.
1.theauthoroftheamazing'BeginningPerl'book
2.Useatuple(youcanfindalistofallpunctuationmarkshere
(http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/marks.htm)
)toholdalltheforbiddencharacters,thenusethemembershiptesttodeterminewhetheracharactershouldbe
removedornot,i.e.forbidden=( ! , ? , . ,
).
3.Createaclasstorepresentthepersonsinformation.Useadictionarytostorepersonobjectswiththeirnameas
thekey.Usethepicklemoduletostoretheobjectspersistentlyonyourharddisk.Usethedictionarybuiltin
methodstoadd,deleteandmodifythepersons.
Lastupdated2014101217:56:27IST
165/165

A Byte of Python PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

A Byte of Python PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

A Byte of Python PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1/4/2015

A Byte of Python, written by Swaroop. (this is the book Im currently reading).

Im from Dayanandasagar College of Engineering (7th sem, CSE). Firstly i want

I am a 18 year old IT student studying at University in Ireland. I would like to

Hi, Imfrom DominicanRepublic. Myname isPavel, recentlyI readyour bookA

Dear Swaroop, I am taking a class from an instructor that has no interest in

Onceagain, thanksVERYmuch forplacingsucha structuredandhelpful guideto

Before I started to learn Python, Ive acquired basic programming skills in

Ijust wanttothankyou forwritingthefirst bookonprogrammingIve everreally

Finished reading A byte of Python in 3 days. It is thoroughly interesting. Not a

I am Isen from Taiwan, who is a graduating PhD student in Electrical

Success in life is a matter not so much of talent and opportunity as of

Python isan easy tolearn, powerful programminglanguage. It hasefficient high

OnceyouhavestartedPython,youshouldsee >>> whereyoucanstarttypingstuff.Thisiscalledthe

Examplesofvalididentifiernamesare i , name_2_3 .Examplesofinvalididentifiernamesare

Leftshiftingby2bitsgives 1000 whichrepresentsthedecimal 8 .

Returnswhetherxislessthany.Allcomparisonoperatorsreturn True or False .Notethe

Comparisonscanbechainedarbitrarily: 3<5<7 gives True .

x='str';y='str';x==y returns True .

Ifxis True ,itreturns False .Ifxis False ,itreturns True .

evaluateysinceitknowsthatthelefthandsideofthe'and'expressionis False whichimpliesthat

Ifxis True ,itreturnsTrue,elseitreturnsevaluationofy

Noticethat var=varoperationexpression becomes varoperation=expression .

key,the raw_input() functionreturnswhat

weentered,asastring.Wethenconvertthisstringtoanintegerusing int andthenstoreitinthe

The elif and else statementsmustalsohaveacolonattheendofthelogicallinefollowedbytheir

AfterPythonhasfinishedexecutingthecomplete if statementalongwiththeassociated elif and

Thereisno switch statementinPython.Youcanusean if..elif..else

The else blockisexecutedwhenthe while loopconditionbecomes False thismayevenbethe

becomesthestepcount.Forexample, range(1,5,2) gives [1,3] .Rememberthattherangeextends

The continue statementisusedtotellPythontoskiptherestofthestatementsinthecurrentloop

Youcanspecifymorethanoneglobalvariableusingthesame global statemente.g. globalx,y,

Inthefirstusageof say ,wesupplyonlythestringanditprintsthestringonce.Inthesecondusageof

The pass statementisusedinPythontoindicateanemptyblockofstatements.

Thereisabuiltinfunctioncalled max thatalreadyimplementsthe'findmaximum'

First,weimportthe sys moduleusingthe import statement.Basically,thistranslatestoustelling

passedtotheprogram.Pythonstoresthecommandlineargumentsinthe sys.argv variableforusto

Theoutputof mymodule_demo2.py issameastheoutputof mymodule_demo.py .

Thiswillimportallpublicnamessuchas say_hi butwouldnotimport version becauseitstartswith

First,weseetheusageof dir ontheimported sys module.Wecanseethehugelistofattributesthatit

variable/attributeofthecurrentmoduleusingthe del statementandthechangeisreflectedagaininthe

Noticetheuseofthetrailingcommainthe print statementtoindicatethatwewanttoendtheoutput

Next,weaccesseachkeyvaluepairofthedictionaryusingthe items methodofthedictionarywhich

Pythonstartscountingnumbersfrom0.Hence, shoplist[0] fetchesthefirstitemand shoplist[3]

The find methodisusedtolocatethepositionofthegivensubstringwithinthestring find returns1

Files\GnuWin32\bin toyoursystem PATH environmentvariable,similartowhat

Themostimportantrefinementwouldbetonotusethe os.system wayofcreatingarchivesandinstead

See help(int) formoredetailsontheclass.

The self inPythonisequivalenttothe this pointerinC++andthe this

YoumustbewonderinghowPythongivesthevaluefor self andwhyyoudontneedtogiveavalue

Wecreateanewclassusingthe class statementandthenameoftheclass.Thisisfollowedbyan

14.4.The init method

The init methodisrunassoonasanobjectofaclassisinstantiated.Themethodisusefultodoany

theobject(itisassignedusing self )andhenceisanobjectvariable.

Observethatthe init methodisusedtoinitializethe Robot instancewithaname.Inthismethod,we

Foroutput,wecanalsousethevariousmethodsofthe str (string)class.Forexample,youcanusethe

Inourexample,wefirstopenthefileinwritetextmodeandusethe write methodofthefileobjectto

Weusethe unicode typeinsteadof strings tomakesurethatwehandlenonEnglishlanguagesin

Youcanignorethe import statementfornow,wellexplorethatindetailinthemoduleschapter.