Introduction to Programming

with Python

By
Ass. Noor Thamer
1
Tutorial Outline
interactive "shell"
basic types: numbers, strings
container types: lists, dictionaries, tuples
variables
control structures
functions & procedures
Python
Python is newer.
It is loosely typed language.
It's runtime is slow.
It's code are faster to write.
It is really fun to write with its easier, and its rich features.
As python is gaining levels really fast.
Python is an easy to learn and powerful programming language as it is
known in common parlance, there is nevertheless need of a good
introduction and tutorial on the Python language.
Programming basics
code or source code: The sequence of instructions in a program.

syntax: The set of legal structures and commands that can be used in a
particular programming language.

output: The messages printed to the user by a program.

console: The text box onto which output is printed.

◦ Some source code editors pop up the console as an external window, and
others contain their own console window.

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Compiling and interpreting
Many languages require you to compile (translate) your program into a
form that the machine understands.
compile execute
source code byte code output
Hello.java Hello.class

Python is instead directly interpreted into machine instructions.

interpret
source code output
Hello.py

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Expressions
expression: A data value or set of operations to compute a value.
Examples: 1 + 4 * 3
13

Arithmetic operators we will use:

◦ + - * / addition, subtraction/negation, multiplication, division
◦ % modulus, a.k.a. remainder
◦ ** exponentiation

precedence: Order in which operations are computed.

◦ * / % ** have a higher precedence than + -
1 + 3 * 4 is 13
◦ Parentheses can be used to force a certain order of evaluation.
(1 + 3) * 4 is 16

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print
print : Produces text output on the console.
Syntax:
print ("Message“)
print Expression
◦ Prints the given text message or expression value on the console, and moves the cursor
down to the next line.

print Item1, Item2, ..., ItemN

◦ Prints several messages and/or expressions on the same line.

Examples:
print ("Hello, world!“)
age = 45
print "You have", 65 - age, "years until retirement"
Output:
Hello, world!
You have 20 years until retirement

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input
input : Reads a number from user input.
◦ You can assign (store) the result of input into a variable.
◦ Example:
age = input("How old are you? ")
print ("Your age is", age)
print ("You have", 65 - age, "years until retirement“)
Output:
How old are you? 53
Your age is 53
You have 12 years until retirement

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Math commands
Python has useful commands for performing calculations.
Command name Description

abs(value) absolute value

ceil(value) rounds up Constant Description

cos(value) cosine, in radians e 2.7182818...

floor(value) rounds down pi 3.1415926...

log(value) logarithm, base e

log10(value) logarithm, base 10

max(value1, value2) larger of two values

min(value1, value2) smaller of two values

round(value) nearest whole number

sin(value) sine, in radians

sqrt(value) square root

To use many of these commands, you must write the following at the top of your Python program: 9
from math import *
”Interactive “Shell
Great for learning the language
Great for experimenting with the library
Great for testing your own modules
Two variations: IDLE (GUI),
python (command line)
Type statements or expressions at prompt:
>>> print ("Hello, world“)
Hello, world
>>> x = 12**2
>>> x/2
72
>>> # this is a comment
Numbers
The usual suspects
◦ 12, 3.14, 0xFF, 0377, (-1+2)*3/4**5, abs(x), 0<x<=5

C-style shifting & masking

◦ 1<<16, x&0xff, x|1, ~x, x^y

Integer division truncates :-(

◦ 1/2 -> 0 # 1./2. -> 0.5, float(1)/2 -> 0.5
◦ Will be fixed in the future

Long (arbitrary precision), complex

◦ 2L**100 -> 1267650600228229401496703205376L
◦ In Python 2.2 and beyond, 2**100 does the same thing
◦ 1j**2 -> (-1+0j)
Strings
◦ "hello"+"world" "helloworld" # concatenation
◦ "hello"*3 "hellohellohello" # repetition
◦ "hello"[0] "h" # indexing
◦ "hello"[-1] "o" # (from end)
◦ "hello"[1:4] "ell" # slicing
◦ len("hello") 5 # size
◦ "hello" < "jello" 1 # comparison
◦ "e" in "hello" 1 # search
◦ "escapes: \n etc, \033 etc, \if etc"
◦ 'single quotes' """triple quotes""" r"raw strings"
Lists
Flexible arrays, not Lisp-like linked lists
◦ a = [99, "bottles of beer", ["on", "the", "wall"]]

Same operators as for strings

◦ a+b, a*3, a[0], a[-1], a[1:], len(a)

Item and slice assignment

◦ a[0] = 98
◦ a[1:2] = ["bottles", "of", "beer"]
-> [98, "bottles", "of", "beer", ["on", "the", "wall"]]
◦ del a[-1] # -> [98, "bottles", "of", "beer"]
More List Operations
>>> a = range(5) # [0,1,2,3,4]
>>> a.append(5) # [0,1,2,3,4,5]
>>> a.pop() # [0,1,2,3,4]
>>> a.insert(0, 42) # [42,0,1,2,3,4]
>>> a.pop(0) # [0,1,2,3,4]
>>> a.reverse() # [4,3,2,1,0]
>>> a.sort() # [0,1,2,3,4]
Tuples
key = (lastname, firstname)
point = x, y, z # parentheses optional
x, y, z = point # unpack
lastname = key[0]
singleton = (1,) # trailing comma!!!
empty = () # parentheses!
tuples vs. lists; tuples immutable
Compare between Sequence Types
1. Tuple: (‘john’, 32, [CMSC])
 A simple immutable ordered sequence of items
 Items can be of mixed types, including
collection types
2. Strings: “John Smith”
◦ Immutable
◦ Conceptually very much like a tuple
3. List: [1, 2, ‘john’, (‘up’, ‘down’)]
 Mutable ordered sequence of items of mixed
types
Similar Syntax
All three sequence types (tuples, strings, and lists)
share much of the same syntax and functionality.
Key difference:
◦ Tuples and strings are immutable
◦ Lists are mutable
The operations shown in this section can be
applied to all sequence types
◦ most examples will just show the operation
performed on one
Sequence Types 1
Define tuples using parentheses and commas
>>> tu = (23, ‘abc’, 4.56, (2,3), ‘def’)

Define lists are using square brackets and commas

>>> li = [“abc”, 34, 4.34, 23]

Define strings using quotes (“, ‘, or “““).

>>> st = “Hello World”
>>> st = ‘Hello World’
>>> st = “““This is a multi-line
string that uses triple quotes.”””
 Sequence Types 2
Access individual members of a tuple, list, or string using
square bracket “array” notation
Note that all are 0 based…
>>> tu = (23, ‘abc’, 4.56, (2,3), ‘def’)
>>> tu[1] # Second item in the tuple.
‘abc’
>>> li = [“abc”, 34, 4.34, 23]
>>> li[1] # Second item in the list.
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>>> st = “Hello World”
>>> st[1] # Second character in string.
‘e’
Variables
No need to declare
Need to assign (initialize)
◦ use of uninitialized variable raises exception

Not typed
if friendly: greeting = "hello world"
else: greeting = 12**2
print greeting

Everything is a "variable":
◦ Even functions, classes, modules
Reference Semantics
Assignment manipulates references
◦ x = y does not make a copy of y
◦ x = y makes x reference the object y references

Very useful; but beware!

Example:
>>> a = [1, 2, 3]
>>> b = a
>>> a.append(4)
>>> print b
[1, 2, 3, 4]
Changing a Shared List
a = [1, 2, 3] a 1 2 3

a
b=a 1 2 3
b

a
a.append(4) 1 2 3 4
b
Changing an Integer
a=1 a 1

a
b=a 1
b new int object created
by add operator (1+1)

a 2
a = a+1 old reference deleted
by assignment (a=...)
b 1
for… loop
for loop: Repeats a set of statements over a group of values.
◦ Syntax:

for variableName in groupOfValues:

statements
◦ We indent the statements to be repeated with tabs or spaces.
◦ variableName gives a name to each value, so you can refer to it in the statements.
◦ groupOfValues can be a range of integers, specified with the range function.

◦ Example:

for x in range(1, 6):

print x, "squared is", x * x

Output:
1 squared is 1
2 squared is 4
3 squared is 9
4 squared is 16
5 squared is 25

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range
The range function specifies a range of integers:
◦ range(start, stop) - the integers between start (inclusive)
and stop (exclusive)

◦ It can also accept a third value specifying the change between values.
◦ range(start, stop, step) - the integers between start (inclusive)
and stop (exclusive) by step

◦ Example:
for x in range(5, 0, -1):
print x
print "Blastoff!"

Output:
5
4
3
2
1
Blastoff!
◦ Exercise: How would we print the "99 Bottles of Beer" song?

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Cumulative loops
Some loops incrementally compute a value that is initialized outside the
loop. This is sometimes called a cumulative sum.

sum = 0
for i in range(1, 11):
sum = sum + (i * i)
print "sum of first 10 squares is", sum

Output:
sum of first 10 squares is 385

Exercise: Write a Python program that computes the factorial of an

integer.

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if
if statement: Executes a group of statements only if a certain
condition is true. Otherwise, the statements are skipped.
◦ Syntax:
if condition:
statements

Example:
gpa = 3.4
if gpa > 2.0:
print "Your application is accepted."

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if/else
if/else statement: Executes one block of statements if a certain condition is True, and a second block of statements if it is
False.
◦ Syntax:
if condition:
statements
else:
statements

Example:
gpa = 1.4
if gpa > 2.0:
print ("Welcome to Mars University!“)
else:
print ("Your application is denied.“)

Multiple conditions can be chained with elif ("else if"):

if condition:
statements
elif condition:
statements
else:
statements

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while
while loop: Executes a group of statements as long as a condition is True.
◦ good for indefinite loops (repeat an unknown number of times)

Syntax:
while condition:
statements

Example:
number = 1
while number < 200:
print (number,
number = number * 2)

◦ Output:
1 2 4 8 16 32 64 128

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 Logic
Many logical expressions use relational operators:

Operator Meaning Example Result

== equals 1 + 1 == 2 True
!= does not equal 3.2 != 2.5 True
< less than 10 < 5 False
> greater than 10 > 5 True
<= less than or equal to 126 <= 100 False
>= greater than or equal to 5.0 >= 5.0 True

Logical expressions can be combined with logical operators:

Operator Example Result

and 9 != 6 and 2 < 3 True
or 2 == 3 or -1 < 5 True
not not 7 > 0 False

Exercise: Write code to display and count the factors of a number.

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 Strings
string: A sequence of text characters in a program.
◦ Strings start and end with quotation mark " or apostrophe ' characters.
◦ Examples:
"hello"
"This is a string"
"This, too, is a string. It can be very long!"

A string may not span across multiple lines or contain a " character.
"This is not
a legal String."
"This is not a "legal" String either."

A string can represent characters by preceding them with a backslash.

◦ \t tab character
◦ \n new line character
◦ \" quotation mark character
◦ \\ backslash character

◦ Example: "Hello\tthere\nHow are you?"

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Indexes
Characters in a string are numbered with indexes starting at 0:
◦ Example:
name = "P. Diddy"

index 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
character P . D i d d y

Accessing an individual character of a string:

variableName [ index ]
◦ Example:
print name, "starts with", name[0]
Output:
P. Diddy starts with P

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String properties
len(string) - number of characters in a string
(including spaces)
str.lower(string) - lowercase version of a string
str.upper(string) - uppercase version of a string

Example:
name = "Martin Douglas Stepp"
length = len(name)
big_name = str.upper(name)
print big_name, "has", length, "characters"

Output:
MARTIN DOUGLAS STEPP has 20 characters

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 input
input : Reads a string of text from user input.
◦ Example:
name = input("What’s your name? ")
print (name, "... This is my name!“)
Output:
What’s your name? Ahmed Salah
Ahmed Salah ... This is my name!

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Text processing
text processing: Examining, editing, formatting text.
◦ often uses loops that examine the characters of a string one by one

A for loop can examine each character in a string in sequence.

◦ Example:
for c in "booyah":
print (c)

Output:
b
o
o
y
a
h

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File processing
Many programs handle data, which often comes from files.

Reading the entire contents of a file:

variableName = open("filename").read()

Example:
file_text = open("bankaccount.txt").read()

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Line-by-line processing
Reading a file line-by-line:
for line in open("filename").readlines():
statements
Example:
count = 0
for line in open("bankaccount.txt").readlines():
count = count + 1
print "The file contains", count, "lines."
Exercise: Write a program to process a file of DNA text, such as:
ATGCAATTGCTCGATTAG
◦ Count the percent of C+G present in the DNA.

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Strings and numbers
ord(text) - converts a string into a number.
◦ Example: ord("a") is 97, ord("b") is 98, ...

◦ Characters map to numbers using standardized mappings such as ASCII and

Unicode.

chr(number) - converts a number into a string.

◦ Example: chr(99) is "c"

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Functions, Procedures
def name(arg1, arg2, ...):
"""documentation""" # optional doc string
statements

return # from procedure

return expression # from function
Example Function
def gcd(a, b):
"greatest common divisor"
while a != 0:
a, b = b%a, a # parallel assignment
return b

>>> gcd.__doc__
'greatest common divisor'
>>> gcd(12, 20)
4
 Classes
class name:
"documentation"
statements
-or-
class name(base1, base2, ...):
...
Most, statements are method definitions:
def name(self, arg1, arg2, ...):
...
May also be class variable assignments
 Example Class
class Stack:
"A well-known data structure…"

def __init__(self): # constructor

self.items = []

def push(self, x):

self.items.append(x) # What is the upper limit

def pop(self):
x = self.items[-1] # what happens if it’s empty?
del self.items[-1]
return x

def empty(self):
return len(self.items) == 0 # Boolean result
Using Classes
To create an instance, simply call the class object:
x = Stack() # no 'new' operator!

To use methods of the instance, call using dot notation:

x.empty() # -> 1
x.push(1) # [1]
x.empty() # -> 0
x.push("hello") # [1, "hello"]
x.pop() # -> "hello" # [1]

To inspect instance variables, use dot notation:

x.items # -> [1]
URLs
http://www.python.org
◦ official site

http://starship.python.net
◦ Community

http://www.python.org/psa/bookstore/
◦ (alias for http://www.amk.ca/bookstore/)
◦ Python Bookstore
TIME FOR QUESTIONS