Using Files and Libraries -- Learning Python from Scratch

Brian Clark 💡 Oct 11 '19 Updated on Oct 30, 2019 ・5 min read

The following are notes and details recapping a past live stream where we live code together. The idea behind these streams is that they provide real-world examples of running into problems and solving them or working towards solving them live. Enjoy this latest one on Python 🙂👍

Wednesday - October 9, 2019

Goals

✅ Warm up/Catch up with chat
✅ Stretch/break
✅ Learn about using files and libraries in Python
✅ Closing and raid @cmgriffing

Results

Cloned our repo we created in GitHub from last session (repo)
Learned about working with files - reading, writing, etc.
Learned about libraries

Things we learned

A zip file is a compressed format of files and folders
What indentation errors indicate
How to show whitespace in vs code
We can't catch exceptions that are system exit type errors
Reminder of what gitignore does
Via svmihar: check out pipenv in a future episode
Use 'pip freeze' to save the libraries we depend upon in our projects
What the '>' symbol does in the terminal
Via ShephiZaragoza: as a note, > will add, >> will overwrite the file
Via phrakberg: >> Appends, > overwrites
The open() function is used to open files on which the system our program is running
Always use close() function when we're done with a file
We can use context managers to safely open files and it will automatically use close() for us under the hood
What is JSON? JavaScript Object Notation
When opening a file we need to keep in mind where exactly that file is on the system in order to properly access it
Via joaostriker: you use forward slahes to find a path in windows , or, you do full path with with backslash instead

Next Steps

Cover the API's section of the learnpython.dev course by Nina

Things to Review & Notes

TODO clarify the open() function modes to understand them better

Resources

Our Code Repository
Nina Zakharenko's course we're following: Learn Python
Python Cheat Sheet
Microsoft Developer's Python for Beginners

More of Nina Zakharenko's courses

VS Code Extensions Shown/Used

Python

Clips

Clips are a feature on Twitch that let you cut and capture segments of the live stream in the moment (up to 60 seconds). See how to use clips on Twitch for more details. The following are some fun moments captured from this stream:

Segments

Links not working on Twitch? It's most likely because Twitch will only save my stream recordings for about 60 days. Use the YouTube link at the top of this page instead.

This table helps point out different segments of the stream (highlighted in bold) or moments we learned something (not bold). The timestamps link to the video on Twitch at that point in the recording. If you'd like the YouTube link above will have similar timestamps and link to those same points in the recording as well.

Timestamp	Topic
00:07:28	Kick it off
00:12:11	Recap from last episode
00:18:36	Learning how to clone from the git repository we set up last episode
00:22:22	A zip file is a compressed format of files and folders
00:31:35	What indentation errors indicate
00:34:28	How to show whitespace in vs code
00:37:00	We can't catch exceptions that are system exit type errors
00:39:40	Reminder of what gitignore does
00:41:28	Setting up the virtual environment after cloning the git repository
00:49:52	Via @svmihar: check out pipenv in a future episode
00:58:59	Use 'pip freeze' to save the libraries we depend upon in our projects
00:59:45	What the '>' symbol does in the terminal
01:03:49	Via @ShephiZaragoza: as a note, > will add, >> will overwrite the file
01:05:19	Via @phrakberg: >> Appends, > overwrites
01:10:53	Start break
01:17:54	Back from break and start stretch
01:21:19	Start learning about working with files in python
01:22:46	The open() function is used to open files on which the system our program is running
01:24:42	Always use close() function when we're done with a file
01:26:20	We can use context managers to safely open files and it will automatically use close() for us under the hood
01:33:08	What is JSON? JavaScript Object Notation
01:38:54	Writing code to open a cities.json file
01:41:12	When opening a file we need to keep in mind where exactly that file is on the system in order to properly access it
01:55:32	Via @joaostriker: you use forward slahes to find a path in windows , or, you do full path with with backslash instead
02:23:05	Working with libraries
02:40:10	Close and recap

YouTube Video

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