THE CODE ACADEMY PRESENTS Python Programming An In-Depth Guide Into The Essentials Of Python Programming Table of Contents 1: Introduction What is Python? What should you expect of this book? What you need to get started Setting up Python environment The Python shell Use a text editor Executing Python scripts 2. Python Basic Syntax Rules, Variables and Values Hello World Program Basic Syntax Rules in Python Python Identifiers Reserved Words Lines and Indentation Multi-Line Statements String Quotation Characters Comments in Python Multiple Statements on a Single Line Variables and Values Variables and Assignment 3. Basic Operators in Python Types of Operator Arithmetic Operators Comparison Operators Assignment Operators Logical Operators Membership operators Identity operators Bitwise operators Operator Precedence in Python 4. Python Data Types I: Numbers and Strings Numbers Creating number objects Deleting number objects Number Type Conversion Mathematical Functions Strings Accessing Values in a String Updating Strings Concatenating two or more strings Escape characters String formatting with % String formatting with format() Other common string methods 5. Python Data Types II: Lists, Tuples, and Dictionary Lists Creating a list in Python Accessing values in a list Updating a list Deleting an element in a list Basic list operations Tuples Accessing values in a tuple Updating a tuple Deleting tuple elements Basic tuple operations Dictionaries Creating a dictionary Accessing elements of a dictionary Adding, deleting, and modifying elements in a dictionary Properties of dictionary keys 6: Decision Making in Python The if statement The if… else statement if...elif...else statement Nested if statement 7: Loops in Python The for Loop Syntax of for Loop The range() function for… else loop while loop Syntax of while loop While… else loop Loop Control Statements The break statement The continue statement The pass statement 8. Input, Output, Files and Import Output Using the print() function Output formatting Input Python File Input and Output Opening a file Writing to a File Reading From a File Closing a file Python File Methods Importing Modules 9. Functions and Arguments Syntax of a Function Creating and calling a function Docstring The return statement Function Arguments Default arguments Required arguments Keyword arguments Variable-length arguments 10. Objects and Class Defining a Class Creating an Object Constructors Deleting Attributes and Objects Conclusion What next? 1. Chapter 1: Introduction You have used a computer. You even own one or more, and it helps you accomplish all kinds of interesting and useful things. The many applications that computers run to help you solve daily life problems to make your life easier are designed and written by programmers to accept input and respond to commands in different ways—but you already know this. The underlying operations that make computer applications and computer systems in general useful are determined by the design in which the programs are written. In this eBook, you will learn how to write computer programs so that a user can issue instructions to the computer and make it react a way that solves their problems. This eBook will teach you the basics on how to write computer programs using a programming language called Python. What is Python? Python is one of the numerous computer programming languages that are gaining popularity every day. It is a general high-level language that is easy to learn and even easier to use. Its style and philosophy emphasizes on code readability and simplicity. The syntax makes it easy for programmers to write computer instructions in fewer lines of code compared to the number it would take to write similar instructions in other languages such as Java, C++, or C#. Python’s core philosophy is summarized in the first seven principles that governed the development of the language as written in The Zen of Python: They read: 1. Beautiful is better than ugly. 2. Explicit is better than implicit. 3. Simple is better than complex. 4. Complex is better than complicated. 5. Flat is better than nested. 6. Sparse is better than dense. 7. Readability counts. At the risk of exposing my biasness towards the language, I will make a bold claim that Python is fast and steadily becoming the most popular programming language amongst beginner programmers. You probably chose to study this language because you were influenced by a programmer already using it, or learning it. You are in luck because you get to study a simple-to-learn yet powerful programming language that is also economical with a high level information structure. Studying Python is possibly the most effective approach you could have chosen to learn object-oriented programming. The code you will learn to create by studying the chapters in this eBook will help you create elegant and dynamic syntax that is already interpreted. Your code will be perfect and ready for scripting, and turning simple lines of text into speedy and useful applications that can run on a variety of platforms – both small and large scale. Whether you are completely new to computer programming or have some experience with another language, you will be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to create powerful programs with Python. What should you expect of this book? This book is written for a complete beginner to the world of programming or a seasoned programmer curious to learn a new language. It goes deep to show what makes Python such a dynamic programming language, starting from how to set it up on your computer, what the different data types it uses are, what basic functions you need to know, and what classes and objects are used in the course of creating programs. It also teaches the basics about operators and variables, and how to call functions among others. Do not be intimidated by all these jargon—they are the most basic things you need to learn when you are introduced to any programming language. What makes this book special, however, is HOW you learn them, and not WHAT you learn. You could use Google only and still get as much information as you need to get started, but you would probably end up lost and confused because you need ordered and simplified introduction to master the art of coding in Python. This book uses instruction technique to guide you through a sequence of 64 controlled exercises that will build your skills through practice. First you do, see HOW it works, then learn the WHAT and WHY. This is a great way to gradually but progressively establish your coding skills by practice and memorization, which enables you to apply what you learn in more difficult problems at the end of each section of the book. By the end of this book, you will be equipped with the skills to learn even more complex programming topics in Python and other object oriented programming languages. As long as you invest your focus in every chapter of the book, dedicate some time in understanding and practicing what you learn, and apply the skills you acquire outside what you learn within the book, you will be a proficient Python programmer in no time.