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 PythonInterviewQuestions&Answers
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Basic

1. Whattypeofalanguageispython?InterpretedorCompiled?
Ans .BeginnersAnswer:
Pythonisaninterpreted,interactive,objectorientedprogramminglanguage.
ExpertAnswer:
Pythonisaninterpretedlanguage,asopposedtoacompiledone,thoughthe
distinctioncanbeblurrybecauseofthepresenceofthebytecodecompiler.Thismeans
thatsourcefilescanberundirectlywithoutexplicitlycreatinganexecutablewhichis
thenrun.

2. Whatdoyoumeanbypythonbeinganinterpretedlanguage?(Continues
frompreviousquestion)
Ans .An
interpretedlanguage isaprogramming language forwhichmostofits
implementationsexecuteinstructionsdirectly,withoutpreviouslycompilingaprogram
intomachine language instructions.IncontextofPython,itmeansthatPythonprogram
runsdirectlyfromthesourcecode.

3. Whatispythonsstandardwayofidentifyingablockofcode?
Ans
.Indentation.

4. Pleaseprovideanexampleimplementationofafunctioncalledmy_func
thatreturnsthesquareofagivenvariablex.(Continuesfromprevious
question)
Ans.
defmy_func
(
x
):
returnx
**2

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 5. Ispythonstaticallytypedordynamicallytyped?
Ans.Dynamic.
Inastaticallytypedlanguage,thetypeofvariablesmustbeknown(andusually
declared)atthepointatwhichitisused.Attemptingtouseitwillbeanerror.Ina
dynamicallytypedlanguage,objectsstillhaveatype,butitisdeterminedatruntime.
Youarefreetobindnames(variables)todifferentobjectswithadifferenttype.Solong
asyouonlyperformoperationsvalidforthetypetheinterpreterdoesn'tcarewhattype
theyactuallyare.

6. Ispythonstronglytypedorweaklytypedlanguage?
Ans.Strong.
Inaweaklytypedlanguageacompiler/interpreterwillsometimeschangethe
typeofavariable.Forexample,insomelanguages(like
JavaScript)youcanadd
stringstonumbers'x'+3becomes'x3'.Thiscanbeaproblembecauseifyouhave
madeamistakeinyourprogram,insteadofraisinganexceptionexecutionwillcontinue
butyourvariablesnowhavewrongandunexpectedvalues.Inastronglytyped
language(likePython)youcan'tperformoperationsinappropriatetothetypeofthe
objectattemptingtoaddnumberstostringswillfail.Problemsliketheseareeasierto
diagnosebecausetheexceptionisraisedatthepointwheretheerroroccursratherthan
atsomeother,potentiallyfarremoved,place.

7. CreateaunicodestringinpythonwiththestringThisisateststring?
Ans .some_variable
=u'
Thisisa test
string'
Or
some_variable
=u
"
This
isa test
string"

8. Whatisthepythonsyntaxforswitchcasestatements?
Ans .Pythondoesntsupportswitchcasestatements.Youcanuseifelsestatements
forthispurpose.

9. Whatisalambdastatement?Provideanexample.
Ans .Alambdastatementisusedtocreatenewfunctionobjectsandthenreturnthemat
runtime.Example:
my_func
=
lambdax
:x
**2
createsafunctioncalledmy_functhatreturnsthesquareoftheargument
passed.
10. WhataretherulesforlocalandglobalvariablesinPython?
Ans.Ifavariableisdefinedoutsidefunctionthenitis implicitly
global
.Ifvariableis
assignednewvalueinsidethefunctionmeansitis local .Ifwewanttomakeitglobalwe

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needtoexplicitlydefineitasglobal.Variablereferencedinsidethefunctionareimplicit
global
.

11. Whatistheoutputofthefollowingprogram?

#!/usr/bin/python

deffun1 (
a
):
print 'a:'
,a
a=
33;
print 'local a: '
,a

a =
100
fun1(
a)
print'a outside fun1:' ,a

Ans.Output:
a:
100
locala :
33
a outside fun1 :
100

12. Whatistheoutputofthefollowingprogram?

#!/usr/bin/python

deffun2():
globalb
print 'b: '
,b
b=
33
print 'global b:'
,b

b=
100
fun2()
print'b outside fun2' ,b

Ans.Output:
b:
100
globalb:
33
b outside fun2 :
33
13. Whatistheoutputofthefollowingprogram?

#!/usr/bin/python

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deffoo(
x
,y):
globala
a=42
x
,
y =y,x
b=33
b=17
c=100
print(
a,
b
,x
,
y)

a,
b
,
x
,
y=1
,
15,
3,4
foo(
17
,
4)
print(
a
,
b
,x
,
y)

Ans. Output:
4217
4
17
4215
3
4

14. Whatistheoutputofthefollowingprogram?
#!/usr/bin/python

deffoo (
x
=[]):
x.
append
(1)
returnx

foo()
foo()

Ans .Output:
[1]
[1
,1]

15. Whatisthepurposeof #!/usr/bin/python onthefirstlineintheabove

code?Isthereanyadvantage?
Ans.Byspecifying #!/usr/bin/python youspecifyexactlywhichinterpreterwillbe
usedtorunthescriptonaparticularsystem.Thisisthehardcodedpathtothepython
interpreterforthatparticularsystem.Theadvantageofthislineisthatyoucanusea
specificpythonversiontorunyourcode.

16. Whatistheoutputofthefollowingprogram?

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list
=
[
'a','b',
'c'
,
'd'
,
'e'
]
printlist[
10]

Ans.Output:
IndexError. O r Error.

17. Whatistheoutputofthefollowingprogram?
list =
[
'a',
'b',
'c'
,
'd'
,
'e'
]
printlist[10
:]

Ans.Output:
[]
Theabove code will output [], notresult
andwill inan
IndexError.
Asonewouldexpect,attemptingtoaccessamemberofalistusinganindexthat
exceedsthenumberofmembersresultsinan .
IndexError

18. Whatdoesthislistcomprehensiondo:
[
x
**2
forx inrange (
10)ifx
%
2
==
0]
Ans .Createsthefollowinglist:
[0
,
4,
16
,
36
,
64]

19. Dosets,dictionariesandtuplesalsosupportcomprehensions?
Ans.Setsanddictionariessupportit.Howevertuplesareimmutableandhave
generatorsbutnotcomprehensions.
SetComprehension:
r={
xforx
inrange
(
2
,101
)
if notany
(
x%y
==
0
fory inrange
(
2
,x
))}

DictionaryComprehension:
{i:
jfori
,j
in
{
1
:
'a',
2
:
'b'
}.
items
()}
since
{1:
'a'
,
2
:
'b'
}.
items
()returns a list of 2
-
Tuple
.i
isthe first element
of tuple j isthe second.

20. Whataresomemutableandimmutabledatatypes/datastructuresin
python?
Ans
.

MutableTypes ImmutableTypes

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Dictionary number

List boolean

string

tuple

21. WhataregeneratorsinPython?

Ans .Ageneratorissimplyafunctionwhichreturnsanobjectonwhichyoucancall
next,suchthatforeverycallitreturnssomevalue,untilitraisesaStopIteration
exception,signalingthatallvalueshavebeengenerated.Suchanobjectiscalledan
iterator.
Normalfunctionsreturnasinglevalueusingreturn,justlikeinJava.InPython,
however,thereisanalternative,calledyield.Usingyieldanywhereinafunctionmakes
itagenerator.

22. WhatcanyouusePythongeneratorfunctionsfor?

Ans .Oneofthereasonstousegeneratoristomakethesolutionclearerforsomekind
ofsolutions.
Theotheristotreatresultsoneatatime,avoidingbuildinghugelistsofresultsthatyou
wouldprocessseparatedanyway.

23. Whenisnotagoodtimetousepythongenerators?

Ans
.Uselistinsteadofgeneratorwhen:

1Youneedtoaccessthedatamultipletimes(i.e.cachetheresultsinsteadof
recomputingthem)

2Youneedrandomaccess(oranyaccessotherthanforwardsequentialorder):

3Youneedtojoinstrings(whichrequirestwopassesoverthedata)

4YouareusingPyPywhichsometimescan'toptimizegeneratorcodeasmuch
asitcanwithnormalfunctioncallsandlistmanipulations.

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24. What'syourpreferredtexteditor?
Ans
.Emacs.Anyalternateanswerleadstoinstantdisqualificationoftheapplicant:P

25. Whenshouldyouusegeneratorexpressionsvs.listcomprehensionsin
Pythonandviceversa?

Ans .Iteratingoverthegeneratorexpressionorthelistcomprehensionwilldothesame
thing.However,thelistcompwillcreatetheentirelistinmemoryfirstwhilethe
generatorexpressionwillcreatetheitemsonthefly,soyouareabletouseitforvery
large(andalsoinfinite!)sequences.

26. WhatisanegativeindexinPython?
Ans.Pythonarraysandlistitemscanbeaccessedwithpositiveornegativenumbers.A
negativeIndexaccessestheelementsfromtheendofthelistcountingbackwards.
Example:
a
=
[
1 2
3]
printa
[- 3]
printa
[- 2]
Outputs:
1
2

Q27.Whatisthedifferencebetweenrangeandxrangefunctions?

Ans .Rangereturnsalistwhilexrangereturnsanxrangeobjectwhichtakethe
samememorynomatteroftherangesize.Inthefirstcaseyouhaveallitemsalready
generated(thiscantakealotoftimeandmemory).InPython3however,rangeis
implementedwithxrangeandyouhavetoexplicitlycallthelistfunctionifyouwantto
convertittoalist.

Q28.WhatisPEP8?
Ans.
PEP8isacodingconvention(asetofrecommendations)howtowriteyour
Pythoncodeinordertomakeitmorereadableandusefulforthoseafteryou.

Q29.HowcanIfindmethodsorattributesofanobjectinPython?
Ans.

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 Builtindir()functionofPython,onaninstanceshowstheinstancevariablesas
wellasthemethodsandclassattributesdefinedbytheinstance'sclassandallitsbase
classesalphabetically.Sobyanyobjectasargumenttodir()wecanfindallthe
methods&attributesoftheobjectsclass

Q30.WhatisthestatementthatcanbeusedinPythonifastatementisrequired
syntacticallybuttheprogramrequiresnoaction?
Ans.
pass

Q31.Doyouknowwhatisthedifferencebetweenlistsandtuples?Canyougive
meanexamplefortheirusage?
Ans.
Firstlistaremutablewhiletuplesarenot,andsecondtuplescanbehashede.g.
tobeusedaskeysfordictionaries.Asanexampleoftheirusage,tuplesareusedwhen
theorderoftheelementsinthesequencematterse.g.ageographiccoordinates,"list"
ofpointsinapathorroute,orsetofactionsthatshouldbeexecutedinspecificorder.
Don'tforgetthatyoucanusethemadictionarykeys.Foreverythingelseuselists

Q32.Whatisthefunctionofself?
Ans.
Selfisavariablethatrepresentstheinstanceoftheobjecttoitself.Inmostof
theobjectorientedprogramminglanguages,thisispassedtothemethodsasahidden
parameterthatisdefinedbyanobject.But,inpythonitispassedexplicitly.Itrefersto
separateinstanceofthevariableforindividualobjects.Thevariablesarereferredas
self.xxx.

Q33.HowismemorymanagedinPython?
Ans.
MemorymanagementinPythoninvolvesaprivateheapcontainingall
Pythonobjectsanddatastructures.InterpretertakescareofPythonheapand
theprogrammerhasnoaccesstoit.TheallocationofheapspaceforPython
objectsisdonebyPythonmemorymanager.ThecoreAPIofPythonprovides
sometoolsfortheprogrammertocodereliableandmorerobustprogram.Python
alsohasabuiltingarbagecollectorwhichrecyclesalltheunusedmemory.

Thegcmoduledefinesfunctionstoenable/disablegarbagecollector:
gc
.
enable
() Enablesautomaticgarbagecollection.
gc
.
disable
() Disablesautomaticgarbagecollection
-

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Q34.Whatis__init__.py?
Ans.
Itisusedtoimportamoduleinadirectory,whichiscalledpackageimport.
Q35.Printcontentsofafileensuringpropererrorhandling?
Ans.
try
:
withopen (
'filename' ,
'r'
) asf:
printf.
read ()
except IOError:
print
"No such file exists"

Q36HowdoweshareglobalvariablesacrossmodulesinPython?
Ans.
Wecancreateaconfigfileandstoretheentireglobalvariabletobe
sharedacrossmodulesinit.Bysimplyimportingconfig,theentireglobalvariable
definedwillbeavailableforuseinothermodules.
ForexampleIwanta,b&ctosharebetweenmodules.
config.py:
a=0
b=0
c=0

module1.py:
importconfig
config .a =1
config .b =2
config .c
=3
print "a ,b &resp .are : ",config .a
,config .
b
,config
.c

output of module1 .py will be

123

Q37.DoesPythonsupportMultithreading?
Ans
.Yes

Medium

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38.HowdoIgetalistofallfiles(anddirectories)inagivendirectoryinPython?
Ans.Followingisonepossiblesolutiontherecanbeothersimilarones:

importos

fordirname
,dirnames
,filenames
inos
.
walk
(
'.'
):

# print path to all subdirectories first.
forsubdirname
indirnames:
printos
.
path
.
join
(
dirname
,subdirname)

print path to all filenames.

#
forfilename
infilenames:
printos
.
path
.
join
(
dirname
,filename)

Advanced usage:
#

# editing the 'dirnames' list will stop os.walk() from recursing
into there.
if
'.git'
indirnames:

# don't go into any .git directories.
dirnames
.
remove
(
'.git')

39.HowtoappendtoastringinPython?

Ans.Theeasiestwayistousethe+=operator.Ifthestringisalistofcharacter,join()
functioncanalsobeused.

40.HowtoconvertastringtolowercaseinPython?

Ans
.uselower()function.

Example:
s =
'
MYSTRING'
prints.
lower
()

41.HowtoconvertastringtolowercaseinPython?

Ans
.Similartotheabovequestion.useupper()functioninstead.

42.HowtocheckifstringAissubstringofstringB?

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Ans
.Theeasiestwayistousetheinoperator.

>>>abcinabcdefg
True

43.FindalloccurrencesofasubstringinPython

Ans. Thereisnosimplebuiltinstringfunctionthatdoeswhatyou'relookingfor,but
youcouldusethemorepowerfulregularexpressions:

>>>
[
m
.
start
()
form
inre
.
finditer
(
'test'
,
'test test test test'
)]
[
0
,
5
,
10
,
15] // these are starting indices for the string

44.WhatisGIL?Whatdoesitdo?TalktomeabouttheGIL.Howdoesitimpact
concurrencyinPython?Whatkindsofapplicationsdoesitimpactmorethan
others?

Ans .Python'sGILisintendedtoserializeaccesstointerpreterinternalsfromdifferent
threads.Onmulticoresystems,itmeansthatmultiplethreadscan'teffectivelymake
useofmultiplecores.(IftheGILdidn'tleadtothisproblem,mostpeoplewouldn'tcare
abouttheGILit'sonlybeingraisedasanissuebecauseoftheincreasingprevalence
ofmulticoresystems.)
NotethatPython'sGILisonlyreallyanissueforCPython,thereference
implementation.JythonandIronPythondon'thaveaGIL.AsaPythondeveloper,you
don'tgenerallycomeacrosstheGILunlessyou'rewritingaCextension.Cextension
writersneedtoreleasetheGILwhentheirextensionsdoblockingI/O,sothatother
threadsinthePythonprocessgetachancetorun.

45.Printtheindexofaspecificiteminalist?
Ans.usetheindex()function
>>>["foo","bar",
"baz" ].
index
(
'bar')
1
.

46.Howdoyouiterateoveralistandpullelementindicesatthesametime?

Ans .Youarelookingfortheenumeratefunction.Ittakeseachelementinasequence
(likealist)andsticksit'slocationrightbeforeit.Forexample:
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>>>my_list
=
[
'a'
,
'b'
,
'c']
>>>list
(
enumerate
(
my_list
))
[(
0
,
'a'
),
(
1
,
'b'
),
(
2
,
'c'
)]

Notethatenumerate()returnsanobjecttobeiteratedover,sowrappingitinlist()just
helpsusseewhatenumerate()produces.

Anexamplethatdirectlyanswersthequestionisgivenbelow

my_list
=
[
'a'
,
'b'
,
'c']

fori
,
char
inenumerate
(
my_list
):
printi
,
char

Theoutputis:

0a
1b
2c

47.HowdoesPython'slist.sortworkatahighlevel?Isitstable?What'sthe
runtime?

Ans.Inearlypythonversions,thesortfunctionimplementedamodifiedversionof
quicksort.However,itwasdeemedunstableandasof2.3theyswitchedtousingan
adaptivemergesortalgorithm.

48.Whatdoesthelistcomprehensiondo:
Ans.
my_list
=[(
x
,
y
,
z
)
forx
inrange
(
1
,
30)
fory
inrange
(
x
,
30
)
forz
in
range
(
y
,
30
)
ifx
**
2
+y
**
2
==z
**
2]

Ans.Itcreatesalistoftuplescalledmy_list,wherethefirst2elementsarethe
perpendicularsidesofrightangletriangleandthethirdvaluezisthehypotenuse.
[(3
,
4
,
5
),
(
5
,
12
,
13
),
(
6
,
8
,
10
),
(
7
,
24
,
25
),
(
8
,
15,
17
),
(
9
,
12
,
15
),
(10
,
24
,
26
),
(
12
,
16
,
20
),
(
15
,
20
,
25
),
(
20
,
21
,
29
)]

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49.Howcanwepassoptionalorkeywordparametersfromonefunctionto
anotherinPython?
Ans.

Gathertheargumentsusingthe*and**specifiersinthefunction'sparameterlist.This
givesuspositionalargumentsasatupleandthekeywordargumentsasadictionary.
Thenwecanpasstheseargumentswhilecallinganotherfunctionbyusing*and**:

deffun1(
a
,
*
tup
,
**
keywordArg
):

keywordArg
[
'width'
]=
'23.3c'
...
Fun2(
a
,
*
tup
,
**
keywordArg)

50.Explaintheroleofreprfunction.
Ans.

Pythoncanconvertanyvaluetoastringbymakinguseoftwofunctionsrepr()or
str().Thestr()functionreturnsrepresentationsofvalueswhicharehumanreadable,
whilerepr()generatesrepresentationswhichcanbereadbytheinterpreter.
repr()returnsamachinereadablerepresentationofvalues,suitableforanexec
command.

51.PythonHowdoyoumakeahigherorderfunctioninPython?
Ans.
Ahigherorderfunctionacceptsoneormorefunctionsasinputandreturnsanew
function.SometimesitisrequiredtousefunctionasdataTomakehighorderfunction,
weneedtoimportfunctoolsmoduleThefunctools.partial()functionisusedoftenfor
highorderfunction.

52.Whatismap?
Ans.
Thesyntaxofmapis:
map
(
aFunction ,aSequence)
Thefirstargumentisafunctiontobeexecutedforalltheelementsoftheiterablegiven
asthesecondargument.Ifthefunctiongiventakesinmorethan1arguments,then
manyiterablesaregiven.

53.Tellmeaverysimplesolutiontoprinteveryotherelementofthislist?

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 L
=
[
0
,
10
,
20
,
30
,
40
,
50
,
60
,
70
,
80
,
90]

Ans. L
[::
2]

Q54.AreTuplesimmutable?
Ans
.Yes.

Q55.Whyisnotallmemoryfreedwhenpythonexits?

Ans. ObjectsreferencedfromtheglobalnamespacesofPythonmodulesarenot
alwaysdeallocatedwhenPythonexits.Thismayhappeniftherearecircular
references.TherearealsocertainbitsofmemorythatareallocatedbytheClibrarythat
areimpossibletofree(e.g.atoolliketheonePurifywillcomplainaboutthese).Python
is,however,aggressiveaboutcleaningupmemoryonexitanddoestrytodestroyevery
singleobject.IfyouwanttoforcePythontodeletecertainthingsondeallocation,you
canusetheatexitmoduletoregisteroneormoreexitfunctionstohandlethose
deletions.

Q56.WhatisJavaimplementationofPythonpopularlyknow?

Ans. Jython.

Q57.WhatisusedtocreateunicodestringsinPython?

Ans.
Addubeforethestring.
umystring

Q58.Whatisadocstring?
Ans.
docstringisthedocumentationstringforafunction.Itcanbeaccessedby
function_name.__doc__

Q59.Giventhelistbelowremovetherepetitionofanelement.

Ans.
words =
['
one','one','
two ','three',
'
three ',
'two']
Abadsolutionwouldbetoiterateoverthelistandcheckingforcopiessomehowand
thenremovethem!

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Averygoodsolutionwouldbetousethesettype.InaPythonset,duplicatesarenot
allowed.
So,list(set(words))wouldremovetheduplicates.

Q60.Printthelengthofeachlineinthefilefile.txtnotincludingany
whitespacesattheendofthelines?

Ans.
withopen ("filename.txt" ,
"r")asf1:
printlen
(
f1.readline ().
rstrip ())
rstrip()isaninbuiltfunctionwhichstripsthestringfromtherightendofspacesortabs
(whitespacecharacters).

Q61.Whatiswrongwiththecode?
func
([1
,
2
,
3
])
# explicitly passing in a list
func
()
# using a default empty list

deffunc
(
n=
[]):
#do something with n

printn
Ans.
ThiswouldresultinaNameError.Thevariablenislocaltofunctionfuncand
cantbeaccessesdoutside.So,printingitwontbepossible.

Q62.Whatdoesthebelowmean?

s=a+[+b+:+c+]
Ans.
seemslikeastringisbeingconcatenated.Nothingmuchcanbesaidwithout
knowingtypesofvariablesa,b,c.Also,ifallofthea,b,carenotoftypestring,
TypeErrorwouldberaised.Thisisbecauseofthestringconstants([,])usedinthe
statement.

Q63.WhatarePythondecorators?

Ans.
APythondecoratorisaspecificchangethatwemakeinPythonsyntaxtoalter
functionseasily.

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Q64.WhatisnamespaceinPython?

Ans.
InPython,everynameintroducedhasaplacewhereitlivesandcanbehooked
for.Thisisknownasnamespace.Itislikeaboxwhereavariablenameismappedto
theobjectplaced.Wheneverthevariableissearchedout,thisboxwillbesearched,to
getcorrespondingobject.

Q65.Explaintheroleofreprfunction.

Ans.
Pythoncanconvertanyvaluetoastringbymakinguseoftwofunctionsrepr()or
str().Thestr()functionreturnsrepresentationsofvalueswhicharehumanreadable,
whilerepr()generatesrepresentationswhichcanbereadbytheinterpreter.repr()
returnsamachinereadablerepresentationofvalues,suitableforanexeccommand.
Followingcodesniipetsshowsworkingofrepr()&str():

deffun():
y
=
2333.3
x
=
str
(y)
z
=
repr(
y)
print" y :",y
print"str(y) :" ,x
print"repr(y):" ,z
fun
()
-------------
output
y:
2333.3
str
(
y
):2333.3
repr
(
y)
:2333.3000000000002

Q66.WhatisLISTcomprehensionsfeaturesofPythonusedfor?

Ans.
LISTcomprehensionsfeatureswereintroducedinPythonversion2.0,itcreates
anewlistbasedonexistinglist.Itmapsalistintoanotherlistbyapplyingafunctionto

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eachoftheelementsoftheexistinglist.Listcomprehensionscreateslistswithoutusing
map(),filter()orlambdaform.

Q67.ExplainhowtocopyanobjectinPython.?

Ans.
Therearetwowaysinwhichobjectscanbecopiedinpython.Shallowcopy&
Deepcopy.ShallowcopiesduplicateasminuteaspossiblewhereasDeepcopies
duplicateeverything.Ifaisobjecttobecopiedthen
copy.copy(a)returnsashallowcopyofa.
copy.deepcopy(a)returnsadeepcopyofa.

Q68.DescribehowtosendmailfromaPythonscript?

Ans.
ThesmtplibmoduledefinesanSMTPclientsessionobjectthatcanbeusedto
sendmailtoanyInternetmachine.
Asampleemailisdemonstratedbelow.
importsmtplib
SERVER=smtplib.SMTP(smtp.server.domain)
FROM=sender@mail.com
TO=["user@mail.com"]#mustbealist
SUBJECT="Hello!"
TEXT="ThismessagewassentwithPython'ssmtplib."
#Mainmessage
message="""
From:Lincoln<sender@mail.com>
To:CarreerRideuser@mail.com
Subject:SMTPemailmsg
Thisisatestemail.Acknowledgetheemailbyresponding.
"""%(FROM,",".join(TO),SUBJECT,TEXT)
server=smtplib.SMTP(SERVER)
server.sendmail(FROM,TO,message)
server.quit()

Q69.WhichofthelanguagesdoesPythonresembleinitsclasssyntax?

Ans
.c++.

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Q70.PythonHowtocreateamultidimensionallist?

Ans. TherearetwowaysinwhichMultidimensionallistcanbecreated:
BydirectinitializingthelistasshownbelowtocreatemyListbelow.
>>>
myList = [[
227,122,223
],[
222
,321,192
],[
21,122
,
444
]]
>>>
printmyList [
0]
>>>
printmyList [
1][
2]
____________________
Output
[227,122,223]
192

Thesecondapproachistocreatealistofthedesiredlengthfirstandthenfillineach
elementwithanewlycreatedlistsdemonstratedbelow:

>>>
list
=[0
]*3
>>>
fori inrange(3
):
>>>list[
i
]=[
0]*2
>>>
fori inrange (
3
):
>>>
forj inrange (
2
):
>>>list[
i
][
j
]=i+j
>>>
printlist
__________________________
Output
[[
0
,
1
],[
1
,
2],
[2
,3
]]

Q71.Explainthedisadvantagesofpython

Ans. DisadvantagesofPythonare:Pythonisn'tthebestformemoryintensivetasks.
Pythonisinterpretedlanguage&isslowcomparedtoC/C++orJava.

Q72.ExplainhowtomakeFormsinpython.

Ans. AspythonisscriptinglanguageformsprocessingisdonebyPython.Weneedto
importcgimoduletoaccessformfieldsusingFieldStorageclass.

EveryinstanceofclassFieldStorage(for'form')hasthefollowingattributes:

form.name:Thenameofthefield,ifspecified.
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form.filename:IfanFTPtransaction,theclientsidefilename.
form.value:Thevalueofthefieldasastring.
form.file:fileobjectfromwhichdatacanberead.
form.type:Thecontenttype,ifapplicable.
form.type_options:Theoptionsofthe'contenttype'lineoftheHTTPrequest,returned
asadictionary.
form.disposition:Thefield'contentdisposition'Noneifunspecified.
form.disposition_options:Theoptionsfor'contentdisposition'.
form.headers:AlloftheHTTPheadersreturnedasadictionary.

Acodesnippetofformhandlinginpython:

importcgi

form
=cgi.
FieldStorage
()
if
not(
form
.
has_key
(
"name"
)
andform.
has_key
(
"age"
)):
print
"<H1>Name & Age not Entered</H1>"
print
"Fill the Name & Age accurately."
return
print
"<p>name:",form
[
"name"
].
value
print
"<p>Age:",form
[
"age"
].
value

Q73. Explainhowpythonisinterpreted.

Ans. Pythonprogramrunsdirectlyfromthesourcecode.EachtypePythonprograms
areexecutedcodeisrequired.Pythonconvertssourcecodewrittenbytheprogrammer
intointermediatelanguagewhichisagaintranslateditintothenativelanguage
machinelanguagethatisexecuted.SoPythonisanInterpretedlanguage.

Q74.Explainhowtooverloadconstructors(ormethods)inPython.?

Ans. _init__()isafirstmethoddefinedinaclass.whenaninstanceofaclassis
created,pythoncalls__init__()toinitializetheattributeoftheobject.
Followingexampledemonstratesfurther:

class
Employee:

def__init__
(
self
,name
,empCode
,
pay
):
self
.
name
=
name
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self
.
empCode
=empCode
self
.
pay
=
pay

e1
=
Employee
(
"Obama"
,
99
,
30000.00)

e2
=
Employee
(
"Clinton"
,
100,
60000.00)
print
(
"Employee Details:")

print
(
" Name:"
,
e1
.
name
,
"Code:"
,e1
.
empCode
,
"Pay:"
,e1
.
pay)
print
(
" Name:"
,
e2
.
name
,
"Code:"
,e2
.
empCode
,
"Pay:"
,e2
.
pay)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Output

Employee
Details:
(
' Name:'
,
'Obama',
'Code:'
,
99
,
'Pay:'
,
30000.0)
(
' Name:'
,
'Clinton',
'Code:'
,
100
,
'Pay:'
,
60000.0)

Q75.Howdowemakepythonscriptsexecutable?

Ans. Pythonscriptscanbeexecutedintwoways:
Supposewewanttoexecutescript1.py
Wecanopenthescript1.pyinIDEeditor&runthescriptinthefrontmostwindowofthe
pythonIDEbyhittingtherunallbutton.
SecondwayisusingcommandpromptbymakingsurePATHissetappropriately
directlytypescriptnameelsetype

>>>pythonscript1.py

Advanced

76.Wehavethefollowingcodewithunknownfunctionf()

forx
inf
(
5
):
printx,

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 Outputlookslikethis
0
182764
Writethefunctionf()?
Ans
.
Followingisapossibleimplementationoff()

deff
(
n
):
forx inrange
(
n
):
yieldx
**
3

77.WhatisPicklingandunpickling?
Ans.
Pickleisastandardmodulewhichserializes&deserializesapython
objectstructure.picklemoduleacceptsanypythonobjectconvertsitintoastring
representation&dumpsitintoafile(byusingdump()function)whichcanbeused
later,processiscalledpickling.Whereasunpicklingisprocessofretrieving
originalpythonobjectfromthestoredstringrepresentationforuse.

78.WhataresomecommonusesofPicklinginPython?

Ans.
(OpenEndedQuestion,apossibleanswerisgivenbelow)

Thesearesomeoftheusecases,therecanbemanyother:

1)savingaprogram'sstatedatatodisksothatitcancarryonwhereitleftoffwhen
restarted(persistence)

2)sendingpythondataoveraTCPconnectioninamulticoreordistributedsystem
(marshalling)

3)storingpythonobjectsinadatabase

4)convertinganarbitrarypythonobjecttoastringsothatitcanbeusedasadictionary
key(e.g.forcaching&memoization).

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Therearesomeissueswiththelastonetwoidenticalobjectscanbepickledandresult
indifferentstringsoreventhesameobjectpickledtwicecanhavedifferent
representations.Thisisbecausethepicklecanincludereferencecountinformation.

79.Whydolistcomprehensionswritetotheloopvariable,butgeneratorsdon't?
Ans.
ThiswasabuginPython2.xandisfixedinPython3.x.

78.Whatisthelengthofyourlargestpythoncode?Canyoupleasedescribethe
project?

Ans.

Itsaveryopenendedquestion.Theanswerisdifficulttopredict.Pythonbeginnerswill
havewrittensmallcodes(basicscripts).MoreadvanceduserswouldhaveusedOOPin
pythonandtheircodeswillrangefroma200to800linesofcode.Advanceduserswill
havewrittenlargercodesupto2000or3000linesofcodes.
Beyondthispoint,codesaregenerallywritteningroupstomeetadeadline.

79.Intheaboveproject,wereyoualoneorwereyouingroupofdevelopers?If
so,howmany?

Ans.(OpenEndedQuestion)Dependsonthepersonalexperienceoftheperson.A
goodsuccessfulprojectbeingpartoftheteamindicatesthatthepersonisagoodteam
player.

80.Whatwasyourcontributiontotheaboveproject?
Ans.
(OpenendedQuestion).Intervieweesanswerdependsonthepersonal
experiencewhichcouldinvolvewritingamodulefortheproject,testingor
documentationetc.

81.Howoftendoyoucommentyourcode?Canyouwriteanyonewhoreadsyour
coderecogniseandunderstandyourvariablenames?

Ans.
(OpenEndedQuestion)Agoodprogrammerwoulddomediumamountof
commentingfrequentlymakinguseofpythondocstrings.

Q82.WhydoesPythonhaveamaximumrecursiondepth?
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Ans.Recursionrequiresspaceonthecallstack,whichislimitedinsize.Codewhich
usedtoomanylevelsofrecursionwillgiveanerrorcalledastackoverflow.Python
stackframesarealsoquitebiginsizewhichfurthermakestheissuemorecrucial.

Q83.CanyoumodifythemaximumdepthforarecursivefunctioninPython?If
yeshow?

Ans
.Yes

sys
.
setrecursionlimit
(
1500) // Generally the length is 1000 stack
frame

Q84.Whatistailrecursion?

Ans .Intraditionalrecursion,thetypicalmodelisthatyouperformyourrecursivecalls
first,andthenyoutakethereturnvalueoftherecursivecallandcalculatetheresult.In
thismanner,youdon'tgettheresultofyourcalculationuntilyouhavereturnedfrom
everyrecursivecall.

Intailrecursion,youperformyourcalculationsfirst,andthenyouexecutetherecursive
call,passingtheresultsofyourcurrentsteptothenextrecursivestep.Thisresultsin
thelaststatementbeingintheformof"(return(recursivefunctionparams))".Basically,
thereturnvalueofanygivenrecursivestepisthesameasthereturnvalueofthenext
recursivecall.

Theconsequenceofthisisthatonceyouarereadytoperformyournextrecursivestep,
youdon'tneedthecurrentstackframeanymore.Thisallowsforsomeoptimization.In
fact,withanappropriatelywrittencompiler,youshouldneverhaveastackoverflow
snickerwithatailrecursivecall.Simplyreusethecurrentstackframeforthenext
recursivestep.

Q85.Doespythonperformtailrecursionoptimization?

Ans
.Noitdoesnt.PythonfounderGuidovanRossumwroteinhisblog:

IrecentlypostedanentryinmyPythonHistoryblogontheoriginsofPython's
functionalfeatures.Asideremarkaboutnotsupportingtailrecursionelimination(TRE)
immediatelysparkedseveralcommentsaboutwhatapityitisthatPythondoesn'tdo
this,includinglinkstorecentblogentriesbyotherstryingto"prove"thatTREcanbe
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addedtoPythoneasily.Soletmedefendmyposition(whichisthatIdon'twantTREin
thelanguage).Ifyouwantashortanswer,it'ssimplyunpythonic.

Q86.WhatisametaclassinPython?

Ans.Ametaclassistheclassofaclass.Likeaclassdefineshowaninstanceofthe
classbehaves,ametaclassdefineshowaclassbehaves.Aclassisaninstanceofa
metaclass.

Q87.HowtogetclassnameofaninstanceinPython?

Ans.
instance
.
__class__
.
__name__

Q88.DescribehowtouseSessionsforWebpython?
Ans.
Sessionsaretheserversideversionofcookies.Whileacookiepreservesstateatthe
clientside,sessionspreservesstateatserverside.

Thesessionstateiskeptinafileorinadatabaseattheserverside.Eachsessionis
identifiedbyauniquesessionid(SID).Tomakeitpossibletotheclienttoidentify
himselftotheservertheSIDmustbecreatedbytheserverandsenttotheclient
whenevertheclientmakesarequest.

Q89.Multiplyallelementsofalistwithoutwritingaloop.
Ans.
from operatorimportmul
reduce (
mul
,range (
1
,
10
))

Q90.Whatisasingletondesignpattern?
Ans.
Inthesingletondesignpatternthatlimitsthenumberofinstancesofaclass(normallyto
1).

Q91.WriteaprogramtoshowtheusageofsingletonpatterninPython?
Ans.
Somecodealongthefollowinglineswoulddo.

Singleton
&
Singleton
::
Handle
()
{
if
(
!
psingle
){
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psingle
=
new
Singleton;
}
return
*
psingle;
}

Q92.Canweusesingletonfunctionalitywithoutmakingasingletonclassin
Python?
Ans.
Amodulewithfunctions(andnotaclass)wouldservewellasasingleton.Allits
variableswouldbeboundtothemodule,whichcouldnotbeinstantiatedrepeatedly
anyways.

Q93.Doespythonsupportdatabaseprogramming?
Ans.
Yes.

Q94.WhatisMySQLdb?
Ans.MySQLdbisaninterfaceforconnectingtoaMySQLdatabaseserverfromPython.
ItimplementsthePythonDatabaseAPIv2.0andisbuiltontopoftheMySQLCAPI.

Q95.HowwouldyoucheckifMySQLdbisinstalled?
Ans.TryimportingitwithimportMySQLdb.Anerrorwouldindicatethatitsnot
installed.

Q96.WriteascripttoconnecttoMySqldatabaseusingPython.
Ans.

#!/usr/bin/python

import
MySQLdb

# Open database connection

db
=
MySQLdb
.
connect
(
"localhost"
,
"username"
,
"password"
,
"databasename"
)

# prepare a cursor object using cursor() method

cursor
=db
.
cursor
()

# execute SQL query using execute() method.

cursor
.
execute
(
"SELECT VERSION()")

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# Fetch a single row using fetchone() method.
data
=cursor
.
fetchone
()

print
"Database version : %s "
%data

# disconnect from server

db
.
close
()

Ifaconnectionisestablishedwiththedatasource,thenaConnectionObjectisreturned
andsavedintodbforfurtheruse,otherwisedbissettoNone.Next,dbobjectisusedto
createacursorobject,whichinturnisusedtoexecuteSQLqueries.Finally,before
comingout,itensuresthatdatabaseconnectionisclosedandresourcesarereleased.

Q97.Howdoyoudisconnectfromthedatabase?
Ans.Usetheclose()method.db.close()closestheconnectionfromthedatabaselikein
thescriptabove.

Q98.DoesPythonsupportenums?
Ans.
Python3.4does.EarlierversionsofPythondont.

Q99.HowdoyouuseenumsinPython?
Ans.
Thefollowingcodewoulddo.

from
enum
import
Enum
Game
=
Enum
(
'Game'
,
'hockey football rugby')

Q100.Booleanshave2possiblevalues.Aretheretypesinpythonthathave3
possiblevalues?
Ans.
Yes.Thisfunctionalitycanbeachievedbyenums.refertotheexampleinprevious
enumquestion.

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Further Reading and References For Python Developers

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10+PopularPythonFrameworksForWebDevelopment

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