Python Basics: Getting Started

Most Windows and Mac computers come with Python pre-installed. You can
check that via a Command Line search. The particular appeal of Python is that
you can write a program in any text editor, save it in .py format and then run via
a Command Line. But as you learn to write more complex code or venture into
data science, you might want to switch to an IDE or IDLE.

What is IDLE (Integrated Development and Learning)

IDLE (Integrated Development and Learning Environment) comes with every
Python installation. Its advantage over other text editors is that it highlights
important keywords (e.g. string functions), making it easier for you to interpret
code.
Shell is the default mode of operation for Python IDLE. In essence, it’s a simple
loop that performs that following four steps:
• Reads the Python statement
• Evaluates the results of it
• Prints the result on the screen
And then loops back to read the next statement. Python shell is a great place to
test various small code snippets.

Main Python Data Type

Every value in Python is called an “object”. And every object has a specific data
type. The three most-used data types are as follows:
Integers (int) — an integer number to represent an object such as “number 3”.
Integers -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Floating-point numbers (float) — use them to represent floating-point numbers.

Floating-point numbers -1.25, -1.0, --0.5, 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.25

Strings — codify a sequence of characters using a string. For example, the word
“hello”. In Python 3, strings are immutable. If you already defined one, you
cannot change it later on.

While you can modify a string with commands such as replace() or join(), they
will create a copy of a string and apply modification to it, rather than rewrite the
original one.

Strings ‘yo’, ‘hey’, ‘Hello!’, ‘what’s up!’

Plus, another three types worth mentioning are lists, dictionaries, and tuples. All
of them are discussed in the next sections.

For now, let’s focus on the strings.

How to Create a String in Python

You can create a string in three ways using single, double or triple quotes.
Here’s an example of every option:

Basic Python String

my_string = “Let’s Learn Python!”
another_string = ‘It may seem difficult first, but you
can do it!’
a_long_string = ‘’’Yes, you can even master multi-line
strings
that cover more than one line
with some practice’’’
IMP! Whichever option you choose, you should stick to it and use it consistently
within your program.
As the next step, you can use the print() function to output your string in the
console window. This lets you review your code and ensure that all functions
well.
Here’s a snippet for that:

print(“Let’s print out a string!”)

String Concatenation
The next thing you can master is concatenation — a way to add two strings
together using the “+” operator. Here’s how it’s done:

string_one = “I’m reading “ string_two

= “a new great book!” string_three =
string_one + string_two

Note: You can’t apply + operator to two different data types e.g. string + integer.
If you try to do that, you’ll get the following Python error:
TypeError: Can’t convert ‘int’ object to str implicitly

String Replication
As the name implies, this command lets you repeat the same string several
times. This is done using * operator. Mind that this operator acts as a replicator
only with string data types. When applied to numbers, it acts as a multiplier.
String replication example:

‘Alice’ * 5 ‘AliceAliceAliceAliceAlice’

And with print ()

print(“Alice” * 5)

And your output will be Alice written five times in a row.

Math Operators
For reference, here’s a list of other math operations you can apply towards
numbers:

Operators Operation Example

** Exponent 2 ** 3 = 8
% Modulus/Remainder 22 % 8 = 6

// Integer division 22 // 8 = 2

/ Division 22 / 8 = 2.75

* Multiplication 3*3=9

- Subtraction 5-2=3
+ Addition 2+2=4

How to Store Strings in Variables

Variables in Python 3 are special symbols that assign a specific storage location
to a value that’s tied to it. In essence, variables are like special labels that you
place on some value to know where it’s stored.
Strings incorporate data. So you can “pack” them inside a variable. Doing so
makes it easier to work with complex Python programs.
Here’s how you can store a string inside a variable.

my_str = “Hello World”

Let’s break it down a bit further:

• my_str is the variable name.
• = is the assignment operator.
• “Just a random string” is a value you tie to the variable name.

Now when you print this out, you receive the string output.

print(my_str)

= Hello World
See? By using variables, you save yourself heaps of effort as you don’t need to
retype the complete string every time you want to use it.

Built-in Functions in Python

You already know the most popular function in Python — print(). Now let’s take
a look at its equally popular cousins that are in-built in the platform.

Input() Function
input() function is a simple way to prompt the user for some input (e.g. provide
their name). All user input is stored as a string.
Here’s a quick snippet to illustrate this:
name = input(“Hi! What’s your name? “)
print(“Nice to meet you “ + name + “!”)

age = input(“How old are you “)

print(“So, you are already “ + str(age) + “ years old, “
+ name + “!”)
When you run this short program, the results will look like this:
Hi! What’s your name? “Jim”
Nice to meet you, Jim!
How old are you? 25
So, you are already 25 years old, Jim!

len() Function
len() function helps you find the length of any string, list, tuple, dictionary, or
another data type. It’s a handy command to determine excessive values and
trim them to optimize the performance of your program. Here’s an input
function example for a string:

# testing len()
str1 = “Hope you are enjoying our tutorial!” print(“The
length of the string is :”, len(str1))

Output:

The length of the string is: 35

filter()
Use the Filter() function to exclude items in an iterable object (lists, tuples,
dictionaries, etc)
ages = [5, 12, 17, 18, 24, 32]
def
myFunc(x):
if x < 18:
return False
else: return
True

adults = filter(myFunc, ages)

for x in
adults:
print(x)
(Optional: The PDF version of the checklist can also include a full table of all the in-built
functions).
How to Define a Function
Apart from using in-built functions, Python 3 also allows you to define your own
functions for your program.
To recap, a function is a block of coded instructions that perform a certain
action. Once properly defined, a function can be reused throughout your
program i.e. re-use the same code.
Here’s a quick walkthrough explaining how to define a function in Python:
First, use def keyword followed by the function name():. The parentheses can
contain any parameters that your function should take (or stay empty).

def name():

Next, you’ll need to add a second code line with a 4-space indent to specify
what this function should do.

def name(): print(“What’s

your name?”)

Now, you have to call this function to run the code.

name.py def
name():
print(“What’s your name?”)
hello()

Now, let’s take a look at a defined function with a parameter — an entity,

specifying an argument that a function can accept.

def add_numbers(x, y, z):

a = x + y b
= x + z c = y +
z print(a, b,
c) add_numbers(1,
2, 3)

In this case, you pass the number 1 in for the x parameter, 2 in for the y
parameter, and 3 in for the z parameter. The program will that do the simple
math of adding up the numbers:
Output:
 a=1+2
b=1+3
c=2+3

How to Pass Keyword Arguments to a Function

A function can also accept keyword arguments. In this case, you can use
parameters in random order as the Python interpreter will use the provided
keywords to match the values to the parameters.
Here’s a simple example of how you pass a keyword argument to a function.

# Define function with parameters def

product_info(product name, price):
print(“productname: “ + product name)
print(“Price “ + str(dollars))
# Call function with parameters assigned as above
product_info(“White T-shirt”, 15 dollars)
# Call function with keyword arguments
product_info(productname=”jeans”, price=45)

Output:

Productname: White T-shirt

Price: 15
Productname: Jeans
Price: 45

Lists
Lists are another cornerstone data type in Python used to specify an ordered
sequence of elements. In short, they help you keep related data together and
perform the same operations on several values at once. Unlike strings, lists are
mutable (=changeable).
Each value inside a list is called an item and these are placed between square
brackets.
Example lists
my_list = [1, 2, 3] my_list2 =
[“a”, “b”, “c”] my_list3 =
[“4”, d, “book”, 5]

Alternatively, you can use list() function to do the same:

alpha_list = list((“1”, “2”, “3”))

print(alpha_list)

How to Add Items to a List

You have two ways to add new items to existing lists.

The first one is using append() function:

beta_list = [“apple”, “banana”, “orange”]

beta_list.append(“grape”) print(beta_list)

The second option is to insert() function to add an item at the specified index:

beta_list = [“apple”, “banana”, “orange”]

beta_list.insert(“2 grape”) print(beta_list)

How to Remove an Item from a List

Again, you have several ways to do so. First, you can use remove() function:

beta_list = [“apple”, “banana”, “orange”]

beta_list.remove(“apple”) print(beta_list)

Secondly, you can use the pop() function. If no index is specified, it will remove
the last item.

beta_list = [“apple”, “banana”, “orange”]

beta_list.pop() print(beta_list)

The last option is to use del keyword to remove a specific item:

beta_list = [“apple”, “banana”, “orange”]
del beta_list [1]
 print(beta_list)
P.S. You can also apply del towards the entire list to scrap it.

Combine Two Lists

To mash up two lists use the + operator.

my_list = [1, 2, 3] my_list2 = [“a”, “b”,

“c”] combo_list = my_list + my_list2
combo_list
[1, 2, 3, ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’]

Create a Nested List

You can also create a list of your lists when you have plenty of them :)

my_nested_list = [my_list, my_list2]

my_nested_list
[[1, 2, 3], [‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’]]

Sort a List
Use the sort() function to organize all items in your list.
alpha_list = [34, 23, 67, 100, 88, 2]
alpha_list.sort()
alpha_list
[2, 23, 34, 67, 88, 100]

Slice a List
Now, if you want to call just a few elements from your list (e.g. the first 4
items), you need to specify a range of index numbers separated by a colon
[x:y]. Here’s an example:

alpha_list[0:4] [2,
23, 34, 67]

Change Item Value on Your List

You can easily overwrite a value of one list items:
 beta_list = [“apple”, “banana”, “orange”]
beta_list[1] = “pear” print(beta_list)

Output:

[‘apple’, ‘pear’, ‘cherry’]

Loop Through the List

Using for loop you can multiply the usage of certain items, similarly to what *
operator does. Here’s an example:

for x in range(1,4):
beta_list += [‘fruit’]
print(beta_list)

Copy a List
Use the built-in copy() function to replicate your data:

beta_list = [“apple”, “banana”, “orange”]

beta_list = beta_list.copy()
print(beta_list)

Alternatively, you can copy a list with the list() method:

beta_list = [“apple”, “banana”, “orange”]

beta_list = list (beta_list)
print(beta_list)
List Comprehensions
List comprehensions are a handy option for creating lists based on existing lists.
When using them you can build by using strings and tuples as well.

List comprehensions examples

list_variable = [x for x in iterable]

Here’s a more complex example that features math operators, integers, and the
range() function:

number_list = [x ** 2 for x in range(10) if x % 2 == 0]

print(number_list)

Tuples
Tuples are similar to lists — they allow you to display an ordered sequence of
elements. However, they are immutable and you can’t change the values stored
in a tuple.
The advantage of using tuples over lists is that the former are slightly faster. So
it’s a nice way to optimize your code.

How to Create a Tuple

my_tuple = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
my_tuple[0:3] (1,
2, 3)
Note: Once you create a tuple, you can’t add new items to it or change it in any other
way!

How to Slide a Tuple

The process is similar to slicing lists.

numbers = (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)

print(numbers[1:11:2])

Output:

(1, 3, 5, 7, 9)
Convert Tuple to a List
Since Tuples are immutable, you can’t change them. What you can do though is
convert a tuple into a list, make an edit and then convert it back to a tuple.
Here’s how to accomplish this:

x = (“apple”, “orange”, “pear”)

y = list(x) y[1] = “grape” x =
tuple(y) print(x)

Dictionaries
A dictionary holds indexes with keys that are mapped to certain values. These
key-value pairs offer a great way of organizing and storing data in Python. They
are mutable, meaning you can change the stored information.
A key value can be either a string, Boolean, or integer. Here’s an example
dictionary illustrating this:

Customer 1= {‘username’: ‘john-sea’, ‘online’: false,

‘friends’:100}

How to Create a Python Dictionary

Here’s a quick example showcasing how to make an empty dictionary.
Option 1: new_dict = {}
Option 2: other_dict= dict()

And you can use the same two approaches to add values to your dictionary:

new_dict = { “brand”: “Honda”,

“model”: “Civic”,
“year”: 1995
}
print(new_dict)

How to Access a Value in a Dictionary

You can access any of the values in your dictionary the following way:

x = new_dict[“brand”]
You can also use the following methods to accomplish the same.
• dict.keys() isolates keys
• dict.values() isolates values
• dict.items() returns items in a list format of (key, value) tuple pairs

Change Item Value

To change one of the items, you need to refer to it by its key name:
#Change the “year” to 2020:

new_dict=
{ “brand”:
“Honda”,
“model”: “Civic”,
“year”: 1995
}
new_dict[“year”] = 2020
Loop Through the Dictionary
Again to implement looping, use for loop command.

Note: In this case, the return values are the keys of the dictionary. But, you can also return
values using another method.

#print all key names in the dictionary

for x in new_dict:
print(x)
#print all values in the dictionary

for x in new_dict:
print(new_dict[x])
#loop through both keys and values

for x, y in my_dict.items():
print(x, y)

If Statements (Conditional
Statements) in Python
Just like other programming languages, Python supports the basic
logical conditions from math: • Equals: a == b
• Not Equals: a != b
• Less than: a < b
• Less than or equal to a <= b
• Greater than: a > b
• Greater than or equal to: a >= b
You can leverage these conditions in various ways. But most likely, you’ll use
them in “if statements” and loops.

If Statement Example
The goal of a conditional statement is to check if it’s True or False.

if 5 > 1:
print(“That’s True!”)

Output:

That’s True!

Nested If Statements
For more complex operations, you can create nested if statements. Here’s how
it looks:

x = 35

if x > 20:
print(“Above twenty,”) if x > 30:
print(“and also above 30!”)
Elif Statements
elif keyword prompts your program to try another condition if the previous
one(s) was not true. Here’s an example:

a = 45 b = 45 if b >
a:
print(“b is
greater than a”)
elif a == b:
print(“a and b are
equal”)
If Else Statements
else keyword helps you add some additional filters to your condition clause.
Here’s how an if-elif-else combo looks:

if age < 4:
ticket_price = 0 elif age < 18:
ticket_price = 10 else:
ticket_price = 15

If-Not-Statements
Not keyword let’s you check for the opposite meaning to verify whether the
value is NOT True:

new_list = [1, 2, 3, 4] x = 10 if x not in new_list:

print(“’x’ isn’t on the list, so this is True!”)

Pass Statements
If statements can’t be empty. But if that’s your case, add the pass statement to
avoid having an error:

a = 33 b = 200

if b > a:
pass

Python Loops
Python has two simple loop commands that are good to know:
• for loops
• while loops

Let’s take a look at each of these.

For Loop
As already illustrated in the other sections of this Python checklist, for loop is a
handy way for iterating over a sequence such as a list, tuple, dictionary, string,
etc.
Here’s an example showing how to loop through a string:

for x in “apple”:
print(x)

Plus, you’ve already seen other examples for lists and dictionaries.

While Loops
While loop enables you to execute a set of statements as long as the condition
for them is true.
#print as long as x is less than 8

i = 1 while
i< 8:
print(x)
i += 1
How to Break a Loop
You can also stop the loop from running even if the condition is met. For that,
use the break statement both in while and for loops:

i = 1 while
i < 8:
print(i)
if i == 4:
break i +=
1