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Python Introduction

What is Python ?
Python is a popular programming language. It was created by Guido van
Rossum, and released in 1991.

It is used for:
● web development (server-side),
● software development,
● mathematics,
● system scripting.

What can Python do?

● Python can be used on a server to create web applications.
● Python can be used alongside software to create workflows.
● Python can connect to database systems. It can also read and modify
files.
● Python can be used to handle big data and perform complex
mathematics.
● Python can be used for rapid prototyping, or for production-ready
software development.

Why Python?
● Python works on different platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux,
Raspberry Pi, etc).
● Python has a simple syntax similar to the English language.
● Python has a syntax that allows developers to write programs with
fewer lines than some other programming languages.
● Python runs on an interpreter system, meaning that code can be
executed as soon as it is written. This means that prototyping can be
very quick.
● Python can be treated in a procedural way, an object-oriented way, or a
functional way.

Good to know
● The most recent major version of Python is Python 3, which we shall
be using in this tutorial. However, Python 2, although not being
updated with anything other than security updates, is still quite popular.
● In this tutorial, Python will be written in a text editor. It is possible to
write Python in an Integrated Development Environment, such as
Thonny, Pycharm, Netbeans, or Eclipse which are particularly useful
when managing larger collections of Python files.

Python Syntax compared to other programming languages

● Python was designed for readability and has some similarities to the
English language with influence from mathematics.
● Python uses new lines to complete a command, as opposed to other
programming languages which often use semicolons or parentheses.
● Python relies on indentation, using whitespace, to define scope; such as
the scope of loops, functions, and classes. Other programming
languages often use curly brackets for this purpose.
Example
print("Hello, World!")
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Definition and Usage

The print() function prints the specified message to the screen or another

standard output device.

The message can be a string or any other object, the object will be converted
into a string before written to the screen.

Getting Started with python :

Python Install
Many PCs and Macs will have python already installed.
To check if you have python installed on a Windows PC, search in the start
bar for Python or run the following on the Command Line ([Link]):
C:\Users\Your Name>python --version
To check if you have python installed on a Linux or Mac, then on Linux open
the command line or on Mac open the Terminal, and type:

python --version
If you find that you do not have python installed on your computer, then you
can download it for free from the following website:
[Link]

Python Quickstart
Python is an interpreted programming language, this means that as a
developer you write Python (.py) files in a text editor and then put those files
into the python interpreter to be executed.

The way to run a python file is like this on the command line:
C:\Users\Your Name>python [Link]
Where "[Link]" is the name of your python file.
Let's write our first Python file, called [Link], which can be done in
any text editor.
print("Hello, World!")
Simple as that. Save your file. Open your command line, navigate to the
directory where you saved your file, and run:
C:\Users\Your Name>python [Link]
The output should read: Hello, World!
Congratulations, you have written and executed your first Python
program!

The Python Command Line

To test a short amount of code in python sometimes it is the quickest and
easiest not to write the code in a file. This is made possible because Python
can be run as a command-line itself.

Type the following on the Windows, Mac, or Linux command line:

C:\Users\Your Name>python
Or, if the "python" command did not work, you can try "py":
C:\Users\Your Name>py
From there you can write any python, including our hello world example
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from earlier in the tutorial:

C:\Users\Your Name>python
Python 3.6.4 (v3.6.4:d48eceb, Dec 19 2017, 06:04:45) [MSC v.1900 32 bit
(Intel)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> print("Hello, World!")
Which will write "Hello, World!" in the command line:
C:\Users\Your Name>python
Python 3.6.4 (v3.6.4:d48eceb, Dec 19 2017, 06:04:45) [MSC v.1900 32 bit
(Intel)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> print("Hello, World!")
Hello, World!
Whenever you are done in the python command line, you can simply type the
following to quit the python command-line interface: exit()

Python Syntax

Execute Python Syntax

As we learned in the previous page, Python syntax can be executed by
writing directly in the Command Line:
>>> print("Hello, World!")
Hello, World!
Or by creating a python file on the server, using the .py file extension, and
running it in the Command Line:
C:\Users\Your Name>python [Link]

Python Indentation
Indentation refers to the spaces at the beginning of a code line.
Where in other programming languages the indentation in code is for
readability only, the indentation in Python is very important.
Python uses indentation to indicate a block of code.
Example
if 5 > 2:
print("Five is greater than two!")
Python will give you an error if you skip the indentation!

Python Comments
● Comments can be used to explain Python code.
● Comments can be used to make the code more readable.
● Comments can be used to prevent execution when testing code.

Creating a Comment
Comments start with a #, and Python will ignore them:
#This is a comment
print("Hello, World!")

Comments can be placed at the end of a line, and Python will ignore the rest
of the line:
print("Hello, World!") #This is a comment
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A comment does not have to be text that explains the code, it can also be
used to prevent Python from executing code:
#print("Hello, World!")
print("Cheers, Mate!")

Multi-Line Comments
Python does not really have a syntax for multi-line comments.
To add a multiline comment you could insert a # for each line.
#This is a comment
#written in
#more than just one line
print("Hello, World!")
Or, not quite as intended, you can use a multiline string.
Since Python will ignore string literals that are not assigned to a variable, you
can add a multiline string (triple quotes) in your code, and place your
comment inside it:
"""
This is a comment
written in
more than just one line
"""
print("Hello, World!")

Python Variables
Variables
Variables are containers for storing data values.

Creating Variables
Python has no command for declaring a variable.
A variable is created the moment you first assign a value to it.
x=5
y = "John"
print(x)
print(y)
Variables do not need to be declared with any particular type, and can
even change type after they have been set.
x=4
# x is of type int
x = "Sally" # x is now of type str
print(x)

Type Casting
If you want to specify the data type of a variable, this can be done with
casting.
x = str(3)# x will be '3'
y = int(3)# y will be 3
z = float(3) # z will be 3.0

Get the Type

You can get the data type of a variable with the type() function.
x=5
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y = "John"
print(type(x))
print(type(y))

Single or Double Quotes?

String variables can be declared either by using single or double quotes:
x = "John"
# is the same as
x = 'John'
Case-Sensitive

Variable names are case-sensitive.

a=4
A = "Sally"
#A will not overwrite a
Python - Variable Names

Variable Names
A variable can have a short name (like x and y) or a more descriptive name
(age, carname, total_volume). Rules for Python variables:
● A variable name must start with a letter or the underscore character
● A variable name cannot start with a number
● A variable name can only contain alpha-numeric characters and
underscores (A-z, 0-9, and _ )
● Variable names are case-sensitive (age, Age, and AGE are three
different variables)
Legal variable names:
myvar = "John"
my_var = "John"
_my_var = "John"
myVar = "John"
MYVAR = "John"
myvar2 = "John"
Remember that variable names are case-sensitive

Multi Words Variable Names

Variable names with more than one word can be difficult to read.
There are several techniques you can use to make them more readable:
Camel Case
Each word, except the first, starts with a capital letter:
myVariableName = "John"
Pascal Case
Each word starts with a capital letter:
MyVariableName = "John"
Snake Case
Each word is separated by an underscore character:
my_variable_name = "John"
Python Variables - Assign Multiple

Values
Many Values to Multiple Variables
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Python allows you to assign values to multiple variables in one line:

Example
x, y, z = "Orange", "Banana", "Cherry"
print(x)
print(y)
print(z)

Note: Make sure the number of variables matches the number of values, or
else you will get an error.

One Value to Multiple Variables

And you can assign the same value to multiple variables in one line:
Example
x = y = z = "Orange"
print(x)
print(y)
print(z)
Unpack a Collection
If you have a collection of values in a list, tuple, etc. Python allows you
extract the values into variables. This is called unpacking.
Learn more about unpacking in Tuples Chapter.
Python - Output Variables

Output Variables
The Python print statement is often used to output variables.
To combine both text and a variable, Python uses the + character:
Example
x = "awesome"
print("Python is " + x)
You can also use the + character to add a variable to another variable:
Example
x = "Python is "
y = "awesome"
z= x+y
print(z)
For numbers, the + character works as a mathematical operator:
Example
x=5
y = 10
print(x + y)