A Crash Course in Python

By Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

SIGUnix Meeting
Mon 28 Oct 2002
8:00 pm
1310 DCL

Based on the excellent tutorial by Guido Van Rossum:

[Link]
A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

How to Start Python

Interactive:
bash# python
>>> print "Hello World"
Hello World
>>>

From File:
bash# cat << EOF > [Link]
print "Hello World\n"
EOF
bash# python [Link]
Hello World
bash#

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

How to Start Python

Executable File:
bash# cat << EOF > [Link]
#!/usr/bin/python
print "Hello World\n"
EOF
bash# chmod a+x [Link]
bash# ./[Link]
Hello World
bash#

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Python Data Types

Numbers: flt_num = 10.0 int_num = 25

Strings: my_str = "Dude, why are you using perl?"

Lists: my_list = ("yo", 24, "blah", "go away")

Tuples: my_tup = (1, 4, 32, "yoyo", ['fo', 'moog'])

Dictionaries: my_dict = {'a': 24.5, 'mo': 'fo', 42: 'answer'}

Objects: my_inst = MyClass('foo')

Modules: import myfile

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Numbers
Integers:
>>> my_int = 4
>>> my_int/3
1
Floating Point:
>>> my_float = 5.5
>>> 20/my_float
3.6363636363636362
>>> 0.5-0.1
0.40000000000000002

Complex Numbers:
>>> 4+3j
(4+3j)
>>> _ - 3j
(4+0j)
>>> my_complex = complex(10,3)

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Strings
>>> str = "Hello, my friends, welcome to Python."
>>> [Link]()
'HELLO, MY FRIENDS, WELCOME TO PYTHON.'
>>> [Link]('my')
7
>>> str[0:5]
'Hello'
>>> str + " I hope you enjoy your stay."

line
one
'Hello, my friends, welcome to Python. I hope you
enjoy your stay'
>>> print str(5) + " + " + str(3) + " = " + str(3+5)
5 + 3 = 8
>>> [Link]('e')
4
>>> len(str)
37

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Everything's an Object
Object Attributes: str . index ('e')

variable name delimiter attribute arguments

Attribute Peeking with dir():

>>> dir(str)
['capitalize', 'center', 'count', 'encode',
'endswith', 'expandtabs', 'find', 'index', 'isalnum',
'isalpha', 'isdigit', 'islower', 'isspace',
'istitle', 'isupper', 'join', 'ljust', 'lower',
'lstrip', 'replace', 'rfind', 'rindex', 'rjust',
'rstrip', 'split', 'splitlines', 'startswith',
'strip', 'swapcase', 'title', 'translate', 'upper']

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Lists
>>> lst = ['3', 45, 'frogger', 2]
>>> lst[2]
'frogger'
>>> del lst[2]
>>> lst
['3', 45, 2]
>>> [Link]('help')
>>> lst
['3', 45, 2, 'help']
List Methods:
append(x) – add x to the end of the list
extend(L) – add all items in sequence L to end of list
insert(i,x) – insert x at a position i
remove(x) – remove first item equal to x
pop([i]) – remove item at position i or end of list
index(x) – return index of first item equal to x
count(x) – count occurances of x
sort() – sort the list
reverse() – reverse the list

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Tuples (sequences)
>>> tup = (6, 7, 'forty-two', 'question?')
>>> tup[0]
6
>>> del tup[3]
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
TypeError: object doesn't support item deletion
>>> tup2 = ((1,2,3),[4,5,6]); tup2
((1, 2, 3), [4, 5, 6])
Sequence Operations (s,t sequences):
x in s – test if s contains x
x not in s – test if s does not contain x
s + t – sequence concatenation
s * n, n * s – n shallow copies of s
s[i] – ith element of s
s[i:j] – slice of s
len(s) – length of s (number of elements)
min(s) – minimal element of s
max(s) – maximal element of s

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Slicing up Sequences
Slice Operator: sequence [ i : j ]

sequence variable start one past end

>>> seq = (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

>>> seq[0]
0
>>> seq[-1]
8
>>> seq[1:4]
(1, 2, 3)
>>> seq[:3]
(0, 1, 2)
>>> seq[3:]
(3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
>>> seq[-3:]
(6, 7, 8)

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Dictionaries (mapping types)

>>> dict = {42: 'forty-two', 'naomi': 'person'}, 3: [1,2]}
>>> dict[42]
'forty-two'
>>> dict['namoi']
'person'
>>> del dict[42]; dict
{3: [1, 2], 'naomi': 'person'}
>>> [Link]()
[3, 'naomi']
Mapping Operations Abridged (d mapping object):
len(d) – number of items in d
d[k] – item of d with key k
d[k] = x – associate key k with value x
del d[k] – delete item with key k
k in d – test if d has an item with key k
[Link]() – a copy of the (key, value) pairs in d
[Link]() – a copy of the list of keys in d
[Link]() – a copy of the list of values in d

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Control Flow Statements

If Conditionals:
>>> x = 2
>>> if x < 4:
... print "x is so small\n"
... else:
... print "x is big, yo!\n"
...
x is so small
For Loops:
>>> for x in [1,2]:
... print x
...
1
2
While Loops:
>>> while x < 4: x++
...
>>> x
4
28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL
A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

If Conditionals

if conditional1:
statement1
...
statementn
elif conditional2:
statements
else:
statements

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

For Statements
for name in list:
statement1
statement2
...
statementn

The Range Function:

range([start,]stop[,step])
make a list of integers in the range [start, stop),
progressing by step each time.

>>> range(2,8)
[2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
>>> range(10,2,-2)
[10, 8, 6, 4]

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

While Loops

while conditional:
statement1
statement2
...
statementn

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Breaking out of Loops

from random import randrange

for n in range(10):
r = randrange(0,10) # get random int in [0,10)
if n=r: continue # skip iteration if n=r
if n>r: break # exit the loop if n>r
print n
else:
print "wow, you are lucky!\n"

if n<9:
print "better luck next time\n"

Break, Continue and Else:

break – exit the loop immediately
continue – skip to next loop iteration
else – executed when a loop falls off the end

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Pass into the Void

# a big, long, infinte noop

def void(): pass

if a=b: pass
for n in range(10): pass
while 1: pass

class Nada: pass

The Pass Statement:

pass – do nothing but fill a syntactic hole

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Functions

>>> def bar():

... print "The QuuxBox if foobarred!"
...
>>> def baz():
... print "No it's not!"
...
>>> def foo(fun):
... fun()
...
>>> foo(bar)
The QuuxBox is foobarred!
>>> foo(baz)
No it's not!
>>> def docfoo():
... "This foo is documented!"

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Basic Def
def name([arg1, arg2, ...]):
statement1
...
statementn
[return [expression]]

Returning Values:
return [expression]
exit the function, optionally returning the result
of expression to the one who invoketh the function

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Function Namespace
bullets = 10;
def fire():
print "BANG!\n"
bullets -= 1 # error – bullets not defined

def truefire():
global bullets # make bullets global
print "BANG!\n"
bullets -= 1 # good – bullets is global

Global Variable Access

global name [...]
tell python to interpret name as a global variable.
Multiple names may be globalized by listing the all
separated by commas.

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

The Argument List

def name(arg[=defval], ..., [*arglist], [**kwdict]):
function-body

Default Arguments
def charIndex(string, char, start=0, len=-1):
if len<0: len=len(string)
...

Keyword Arguments
charAt("MakeMyDay", "M", len=4)

Extended Argument Lists

def arbitraryfun(foo, *arglist):
...
def keywordfun(foo, **kwdict):
...

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Lamba Forms

Function Objects
>>> def subtractor(x, y): return x-y
...
>>> sub = subtractor
>>> add = lambda(x, y): return x+y
>>> sub(5, 7)
-2
>>> add(5, 7)
12

lambda arglist: expression

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Modules
Importing Modules
>>> import sys
>>> print [Link]
2.2.1 (#1, Oct 4 2002, 15:26:55)
[GCC 3.2 (CRUX)]
>>> from math import *
>>> sin(pi/2)
1.0

The Import Statement

import module
from module import name[, ...]
from module import *
from package import module

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Standard Modules
sys – python system variables, including argv
os – generic system interface (cross-platform)
[Link] – generic filesystem interface (cross-platform)
re – regular expressions
time – time query and conversion
math – basic floating-point math functions (C libm)

Online Module Index

[Link]

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Functional Programming (Lists)

Filter
def positives(list):
return filter(lambda x: return x>0, list)

filter(function, sequence)
return all items in sequence for which function is true

Map
def lookup(dict, kwlist):
return map(lambda k: return dict[k], kwlist)

map(function, sequence)
return the result of function applied to all items in
sequence

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Function Programming Contd.

List Comprehensions
>>> [x**2 for x in range(10)]
[0, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81]

[expression for name in sequence [if conditional] ...]

Reduce
def dot(a, b):
if len(a) != len(b):
raise ValueError, "sequences have inequal lengths"
prod = [a[i]*b[i] for i in range(len(a))]
return reduce(lamba x, y: return x+y, prod)
reduce(function, sequence)
apply the binary function function to the first two items
in the sequence, then on the result and the next item, ...

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Classes
class Namespace(UserDict):
def __init__(self, basedicts):
[Link] = basedicts
def __getitem__(self, key):
if key in [Link]:
return [Link][key]
for dict in basedicts:
if key in dict:
return dict[key]
raise NameError, key
def __contains__(self, key):
if key in [Link]:
return 1
for dict in basedicts:
if key in dict:
return 1
return 0

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Basic Syntax

class name(bases):
statements

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Class Instances
class Area:
def __init__(self, x=0.0, y=0.0, w=0.0, h=0.0):
self.x = x
self.y = y
self.w = w
self.h = h
def pointIn(self, x, y):
return self.x <= x <= self.x + self.w && \
self.y <= y <= self.y + self.h
def move(self, dx, dy):
self.x += dx
self.y += dy

inst = Area(1.0, 1.0, 4.0, 4.0)

Initializer Method
__init__(self[, args])
method called to initialize a new instance of the class.

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL

A Crash Course in Python SigUNIX/Stephen Saville and Andrew Lusk

Class Inheritance
class Rect(Area): pass
class Circle(Area):
def __init__(self, x=0.0, y=0.0, r=0.0):
self.x = x
self.y = y
self.r = r
def pointIn(self, x, y):
return (x-self.x)**2 + (y-self.y)**2 < self.r**2

28 Oct 2002 1310 DCL