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Definition:
Python is a high-level, interpreted, interactive and object-oriented scripting language.
Python is designed to be highly readable. It uses English keywords frequently where as other
languages use punctuation, and it has fewer syntactical constructions than other languages.
 Python is Interpreted: Python is processed at runtime by the interpreter. You do not need
to compile your program before executing it. This is similar to PERL and PHP.
 Python is Interactive: You can actually sit at a Python prompt and interact with the
interpreter directly to write your programs.
 Python is Object-Oriented: Python supports Object-Oriented style or technique of
programming that encapsulates code within objects.
 Python is a Beginner's Language: Python is a great language for the beginner-level
programmers and supports the development of a wide range of applications from simple
text processing to WWW browsers to games.
History of Python
 Python was developed by Guido van Rossum in the late eighties
and early nineties at the National Research Institute for
Mathematics and Computer Science in the Netherlands.
 Python is derived from many other languages, including ABC,
Modula-3, C, C++, Algol-68, SmallTalk, Unix shell, and other
scripting languages.
 At the time when he began implementing Python, Guido van Rossum was also reading the
published scripts from "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (a BBC comedy series from the
seventies, in the unlikely case you didn't know). It occurred to him that he needed a name
that was short, unique, and slightly mysterious, so he decided to call the language Python.
 Python is now maintained by a core development team at the institute, although Guido
van Rossum still holds a vital role in directing its progress.
 Python 1.0 was released on 20 February, 1991.
 Python 2.0 was released on 16 October 2000 and had many major new features, including
a cycle detecting garbage collector and support for Unicode. With this release the
development process was changed and became more transparent and community- backed.
 Python 3.0 (which early in its development was commonly referred to as Python 3000 or
py3k), a major, backwards-incompatible release, was released on 3 December 2008 after
a long period of testing. Many of its major features have been back ported to the
backwards-compatible Python 2.6.x and 2.7.x version series.
 In January 2017 Google announced work on a Python 2.7 to go transcompiler, which The
Register speculated was in response to Python 2.7's planned end-of-life.
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Python Features:
Python's features include:
 Easy-to-learn: Python has few keywords, simple structure, and a clearly defined syntax.
This allows the student to pick up the language quickly.
 Easy-to-read: Python code is more clearly defined and visible to the eyes.
 Easy-to-maintain: Python's source code is fairly easy-to-maintain.
 A broad standard library: Python's bulk of the library is very portable and cross-
platform compatible on UNIX, Windows, and Macintosh.
 Interactive Mode: Python has support for an interactive mode which allows interactive
testing and debugging of snippets of code.
 Portable: Python can run on a wide variety of hardware platforms and has the same
interface on all platforms.
 Extendable: You can add low-level modules to the Python interpreter. These modules
enable programmers to add to or customize their tools to be more efficient.
 Databases: Python provides interfaces to all major commercial databases.
 GUI Programming: Python supports GUI applications that can be created and ported to
many system calls, libraries, and windows systems, such as Windows MFC, Macintosh,
and the X Window system of UNIX.
 Scalable: Python provides a better structure and support for large programs than shell
scripting.

Need of Python Programming

 Software quality
Python code is designed to be readable, and hence reusable and maintainable—
much more so than traditional scripting languages. The uniformity of Python code makes
it easy to understand, even if you did not write it. In addition, Python has deep support for
more advanced software reuse mechanisms, such as object-oriented (OO) and function
programming.
 Developer productivity
Python boosts developer productivity many times beyond compiled or statically
typed languages such as C, C++, and Java. Python code is typically one-third to less to
debug, and less to maintain after the fact. Python programs also run immediately, without
the lengthy compile and link steps required by some other tools, further boosting
programmer speed. Program portability Most Python programs run unchanged on all
major computer platforms. Porting Python code between Linux and Windows, for
example, is usually just a matter of copying a script‘s code between machines.
 Support libraries
Python comes with a large collection of prebuilt and portable functionality, known
as the standard library. This library supports an array of application-level programming
tasks, from text pattern matching to network scripting. In addition, Python can be extended
with both home grown libraries and a vast collection of third-party application support
software. Python‘s third-party domain offers tools for website construction, numeric
programming, serial port access, game development, and much more (see ahead for a
sampling).
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 Component integration
Python scripts can easily communicate with other parts of an application, using a
variety of integration mechanisms. Such integrations allow Python to be used as a product
customization and extension tool. Today, Python code can invoke C and C++ libraries, can
be called from C and C++ programs, can integrate with Java and .NET components, can
communicate over frameworks such as COM and Silverlight, can interface with devices
over serial ports, and can interact over networks with interfaces like SOAP, XML-RPC,
and CORBA. It is not a standalone tool.
 Enjoyment
Because of Python‘s ease of use and built-in toolset, it can make the act of
programming more pleasure than chore. Although this may be an intangible benefit, its
effect on productivity is an important asset. Of these factors, the first two (quality and
productivity) are probably the most compelling benefits to most Python users, and merit a
fuller description.
 It's Object-Oriented
Python is an object-oriented language, from the ground up. Its class model supports
advanced notions such as polymorphism, operator overloading, and multiple inheritance;
yet in the context of Python's dynamic typing, object-oriented programming (OOP) is
remarkably easy to apply. Python's OOP nature makes it ideal as a scripting tool for object-
oriented systems languages such as C++ and Java. For example, Python programs can
subclass (specialized) classes implemented in C++ or Java.
 It's Free
Python is freeware—something which has lately been come to be called open
source software. As with Tcl and Perl, you can get the entire system for free over the
Internet. There are no restrictions on copying it, embedding it in your systems, or shipping
it with your products. In fact, you can even sell Python, if you're so inclined. But don't get
the wrong idea: "free" doesn't mean "unsupported". On the contrary, the Python online
community responds to user queries with a speed that most commercial software vendors
would do well to notice.
 It's Portable
Python is written in portable ANSI C, and compiles and runs on virtually every
major platform in use today. For example, it runs on UNIX systems, Linux, MS-DOS, MS-
Windows (95, 98, NT), Macintosh, Amiga, Be-OS, OS/2, VMS, QNX, and more. Further,
Python programs are automatically compiled to portable bytecode, which runs the same on
any platform with a compatible version of Python installed (more on this in the section
"It's easy to use"). What that means is that Python programs that use the core language run
the same on UNIX, MS-Windows, and any other system with a Python interpreter.
 It's Powerful
From a features perspective, Python is something of a hybrid. Its tool set places it
between traditional scripting languages (such as Tcl, Scheme, and Perl), and systems
languages (such as C, C++, and Java). Python provides all the simplicity and ease of use
of a scripting language, along with more advanced programming tools typically found in
systems development languages.
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 Automatic memory management

Python automatically allocates and reclaims ("garbage collects") objects when no
longer used, and most grow and shrink on demand; Python, not you, keeps track of low-
level memory details.
 Programming-in-the-large support
Finally, for building larger systems, Python includes tools such as modules, classes,
and exceptions; they allow you to organize systems into components, do OOP, and handle
events gracefully.
 It's Mixable
Python programs can be easily "glued" to components written in other languages.
In technical terms, by employing the Python/C integration APIs, Python programs can be
both extended by (called to) components written in C or C++, and embedded in (called by)
C or C++ programs. That means you can add functionality to the Python system as needed
and use Python programs within other environments or systems.
 It's Easy to Use
For many, Python's combination of rapid turnaround and language simplicity make
programming more fun than work. To run a Python program, you simply type it and run
it. There are no intermediate compile and link steps (as when using languages such as C or
C++). As with other interpreted languages, Python executes programs immediately, which
makes for both an interactive programming experience and rapid turnaround after program
changes. Strictly speaking, Python programs are compiled (translated) to an intermediate
form called bytecode, which is then run by the interpreter.
 It's Easy to Learn
This brings us to the topic of this book: compared to other programming languages,
the core Python language is amazingly easy to learn. In fact In fact, you can expect to be
coding significant Python programs in a matter of days (and perhaps in just hours, if you're
already an experienced programmer).
 Internet Scripting
Python comes with standard Internet utility modules that allow Python programs to
communicate over sockets, extract form information sent to a server-side CGI script, parse
HTML, transfer files by FTP, process XML files, and much more. There are also a number
of peripheral tools for doing Internet programming in Python. For instance, the HTMLGen
and pythondoc systems generate HTML files from Python class-based descriptions, and
the JPython system mentioned above provides for seamless Python/Java integration.
 Database Programming
Python's standard pickle module provides a simple object-persistence system: it
allows programs to easily save and restore entire Python objects to files. For more
traditional database demands, there are Python interfaces to Sybase, Oracle, Informix,
ODBC, and more. There is even a portable SQL database API for Python that runs the
same on a variety of underlying database systems, and a system named gadfly that
implements an SQL database for Python programs.
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 Image Processing, AI, Distributed Objects, Etc.

Python is commonly applied in more domains than can be mentioned here. But in
general, many are just instances of Python's component integration role in action. By
adding Python as a frontend to libraries of components written in a compiled language
such as C, Python becomes useful for scripting in a variety of domains. For instance, image
processing for Python is implemented as a set of library components implemented in a
compiled language such as C, along with a Python frontend layer on top used to configure
and launch the compiled components.

Who Uses Python Today?

1. Google makes extensive use of Python in its web search systems.
2. The popular YouTube video sharing service is largely written in Python.
3. The Dropbox storage service codes both its server and desktop client software primarily
in Python.
4. The Raspberry Pi single-board computer promotes Python as its educational language.
5. The widespread BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing system began its life as a Python
program.
6. Google‘s App Engine web development framework uses Python as an application
language.
7. Maya, a powerful integrated 3D modeling and animation system, provides a Python
scripting API.
8. Intel, Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, Seagate, Qualcomm, and IBM use Python for hardware
testing.
9. NASA, Los Alamos, Fermilab, JPL, and others use Python for scientific programming
tasks.
Byte code Compilation:
Python first compiles your source code (the statements in your file) into a format known
as byte code. Compilation is simply a translation step, and byte code is a lower-level, platform
independent representation of your source code. Roughly, Python translates each of your
source statements into a group of byte code instructions by decomposing them into individual
steps. This byte code translation is performed to speed execution —byte code can be run much
more quickly than the original source code statements in your text file.

The Python Virtual Machine:

Once your program has been compiled to byte code (or the byte code has been loaded
from existing .pyc file), it is shipped off for execution to something generally known as the
python virtual machine (PVM).
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Applications of Python:
1. Systems Programming
2. GUIs
3. Internet Scripting
4. Component Integration
5. Database Programming
6. Rapid Prototyping
7. Numeric and Scientific Programming

What Are Python’s Technical Strengths?

1. It‘s Object-Oriented and Functional
2. It‘s Free
3. It‘s Portable
4. It‘s Powerful
5. It‘s Mixable
6. It‘s Relatively Easy to Use
7. It‘s Relatively Easy to Learn

Download and installation Python software:

Step 1: Go to website www.python.org and click downloads select version which you want.

Step 2: Click on Python 2.7.13 and download. After download open the file.
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Step 3: Click on Next to continue.

Step 4: After installation location will be displayed. The Default location is C:\Python27.
Click on next to continue.
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Step 5: After the python interpreter and libraries are displayed for installation. Click on Next
to continue.

Step 6: The installation has been processed.

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Step 7: Click the Finish to complete the installation.

Setting up PATH to python:

 Programs and other executable files can be in many directories, so operating systems
provide a search path that lists the directories that the OS searches for executables.
 The path is stored in an environment variable, which is a named string maintained by the
operating system. This variable contains information available to the command shell and
other programs.
 Copy the Python installation location C:\Python27
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 Right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop and choose Properties. And then
select Advanced System properties.

 Goto Environment Variables and go to System Variables select Path and click on
Edit.

 Add semicolon (;) at end and copy the location C:\Python27 and give semicolon (;) and
click OK.
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Running Python:
a. Running Python Interpreter:
Python comes with an interactive interpreter. When you type python in your shell or
command prompt, the python interpreter becomes active with a >>> prompt and waits for your
commands.

Now you can type any valid python expression at the prompt. Python reads the typed
expression, evaluates it and prints the result.

b. Running Python Scripts in IDLE:

 Goto File menu click on New File (CTRL+N) and write the code and save add.py
a=input("Enter a value ")
b=input("Enter b value ")
c=a+b
print ("The sum is",c)
 And run the program by pressing F5 or RunRun Module.
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c. Running python scripts in Command Prompt:

 Before going to run we have to check the PATH in environment variables.
 Open your text editor, type the following text and save it as hello.py.
print "hello"
 And run this program by calling python hello.py. Make sure you change to the directory
where you saved the file before doing it.

Variables:
Variables are nothing but reserved memory locations to store values. This means that
when you create a variable you reserve some space in memory.
Based on the data type of a variable, the interpreter allocates memory and decides what
can be stored in the reserved memory. Therefore, by assigning different data types to variables,
you can store integers, decimals or characters in these variables.

Assigning Values to Variables

Python variables do not need explicit declaration to reserve memory space. The
declaration happens automatically when you assign a value to a variable. The equal sign (=) is
used to assign values to variables.
The operand to the left of the = operator is the name of the variable and the operand to
the right of the = operator is the value stored in the variable. For example –
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Multiple Assignments to variables:

Python allows you to assign a single value to several variables simultaneously.
For example –
a=b=c=1
Here, an integer object is created with the value 1, and all three variables are assigned
to the same memory location. You can also assign multiple objects to multiple variables.
For example –
a, b, c = 1, 2.5, ”mothi”
Here, two integer objects with values 1 and 2 are assigned to variables a and b
respectively, and one string object with the value "john" is assigned to the variable c.

KEYWORDS
The following list shows the Python keywords. These are reserved words and you
cannot use them as constant or variable or any other identifier names. All the Python keywords
contain lowercase letters only.

INPUT Function:
To get input from the user you can use the input function. When the input function is
called the program stops running the program, prompts the user to enter something at the
keyboard by printing a string called the prompt to the screen, and then waits for the user to
press the Enter key. The user types a string of characters and presses enter. Then the input
function returns that string and Python continues running the program by executing the next
statement after the input statement.
Python provides the function input(). input has an optional parameter, which is the
prompt string.
For example,
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OUTPUT function:
We use the print() function or print keyword to output data to the standard output
device (screen). This function prints the object/string written in function.
The actual syntax of the print() function is
print(*objects, sep=' ', end='\n', file=sys.stdout, flush=False)
Here, objects is the value(s) to be printed.
The sep separator is used between the values. It defaults into a space character. After
all values are printed, end is printed. It defaults into a new line ( \n ).

Indentation
Code blocks are identified by indentation rather than using symbols like curly braces.
Without extra symbols, programs are easier to read. Also, indentation clearly identifies which
block of code a statement belongs to. Of course, code blocks can consist of single statements,
too. When one is new to Python, indentation may come as a surprise. Humans generally prefer
to avoid change, so perhaps after many years of coding with brace delimitation, the first
impression of using pure indentation may not be completely positive. However, recall that two
of Python's features are that it is simplistic in nature and easy to read.

Python does not support braces to indicate blocks of code for class and function
definitions or flow control. Blocks of code are denoted by line indentation. All the continuous
lines indented with same number of spaces would form a block. Python strictly follow
indentation rules to indicate the blocks.
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