Learn Python

Python is a popular programming language.

Python can be used on a server to create web applications.

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 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.

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.

Python will give you an error if you skip the indentation:

Example
Syntax Error:

if 5 > 2:
print("Five is greater than two!")

Try it Yourself »
The number of spaces is up to you as a programmer, the most common use is
four, but it has to be at least one.

Example
if 5 > 2:
print("Five is greater than two!")
if 5 > 2:
print("Five is greater than two!")

Try it Yourself »

You have to use the same number of spaces in the same block of code,
otherwise Python will give you an error:

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 starts with a #, and Python will ignore them:

Example
#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:

Example
print("Hello, World!") #This is a comment

A comment does not have to be text that explains the code, it can also be used
to prevent Python from executing code:
Example
#print("Hello, World!")
print("Cheers, Mate!")

Multiline Comments
Python does not really have a syntax for multiline comments.

To add a multiline comment you could insert a # for each line:

Example
#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:

Example
"""
This is a comment
written in
more than just one line
"""
print("Hello, World!")

As long as the string is not assigned to a variable, Python will read the code, but
then ignore it, and you have made a multiline comment.

Python Variables
Variables
Example
x = 5
y = "John"
print(type(x))
print(type(y))

Single or Double Quotes?

String variables can be declared either by using single or double quotes:

Example
x = "John"
# is the same as
x = 'John'

Case-Sensitive
Variable names are case-sensitive.

Example
This will create two variables:

a = 4
A = "Sally"
#A will not overwrite a

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.

Example
x = 4 # x is of type int
x = "Sally" # x is now of type str
print(x)

Casting
If you want to specify the data type of a variable, this can be done with casting.

Example
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.

Example
x = 5
y = "John"
print(type(x))
print(type(y))

Python - 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)
 A variable name cannot be any of the Python keywords

Example
Legal variable names:

myvar = "John"
my_var = "John"
_my_var = "John"
myVar = "John"
MYVAR = "John"
myvar2 = "John"

Python has a set of keywords that are reserved words that cannot be used as
variable names, function names, or any other identifiers:

Keyword Description

and A logical operator

as To create an alias

assert For debugging

break To break out of a loop

class To define a class

continue To continue to the next iteration of a loop

def To define a function

del To delete an object

elif Used in conditional statements, same as else if

else Used in conditional statements

except Used with exceptions, what to do when an exception occurs

False Boolean value, result of comparison operations

finally Used with exceptions, a block of code that will be executed no m

an exception or not

for To create a for loop

from To import specific parts of a module

global To declare a global variable

if To make a conditional statement

import To import a module

in To check if a value is present in a list, tuple, etc.

is To test if two variables are equal

lambda To create an anonymous function

None Represents a null value

nonlocal To declare a non-local variable

not A logical operator

or A logical operator

pass A null statement, a statement that will do nothing

 raise To raise an exception

return To exit a function and return a value

True Boolean value, result of comparison operations

try To make a try...except statement

while To create a while loop

with Used to simplify exception handling

yield To return a list of values from a generator

Python Variables - Assign

Multiple Values
Many Values to Multiple Variables
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)

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)