Introduction to Modern Python

Wikipedia states that the Python programming language is an interpreted high-level general-purpose programming language that is dynamically-typed and garbage-collected. It supports multiple programming paradigms, including procedural object-oriented and functional programming.

Getting Started with Python

Getting started with Python is as easy as downloading and installing the. Python interpreter
Download the latest stable release for your operating system from https://www.python.org/downloads/
After installing run the python interpreter from the terminal by typing the word python

If successful you should get something likes shown below;
Python 3.9.4 (tags/v3.9.4:1f2e308, Apr 6 2021, 13:40:21) [MSC v.1928 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information

Introduction to python program structure

Input/Output (I/O) in python

The input() and print() functions are used for accepting and displaying data on the terminal respectively.
Accepting user input using input() function and converts it into a string. To change value use typecasting

name = input(‘Enter name’)
print(“Your name is: " + name)

To convert input to integer, float, list, tuple etc. Use the following examples i.e. casting

num = int(input("Enter a number:"))
num =float(input("Enter number "))
li =list(input("Enter number "))
num =tuple(input("Enter number "))`

Variables and Datatypes

Variables can store data of different types, and different types can do different things

Operators

The operators +, -, *** and **/ work just like in most other languages (for example, Pascal or C); parentheses (()) can be used for grouping
Division (/) always returns a float. To do floor division and get an integer result (discarding any fractional result) you can use the // operator; to calculate the remainder you can use %:

17 / 3 # classic division returns a float
5.666666666666667
17 // 3 # floor division discards the fractional part
5
17 % 3 # the % operator returns the remainder of the division

Operator Name Example

• == Equal x == y
• != Not equal x != y
• > Greater than x > y
• < Less than x < y
• >= Greater than or equal to x >= y

• <= Less than or equal to x <= y
  Operator Description Example

• and Returns True if both statements are true x < 5 and x < 10

• or Returns True if one of the statements is true x < 5 or x < 4

• not Reverse the result, returns False if the result is true not(x < 5 and x < 10)

Lists, Tuples, Sets and Dictionaries

There are four collection data types in the Python programming language:

1. List is a collection which is ordered and changeable. Allows duplicate members.
2. Tuple is a collection which is ordered and unchangeable. Allows duplicate members.
3. Set is a collection which is unordered and unindexed. No duplicate members.
4. Dictionary a set of key: value pairs, with the requirement that the keys are unique (within one dictionary) It is ordered* and changeable. No duplicate members. (*for python 3.7 and above)

• fruits= [‘Apple’, ’Mango’, ’Banana’] #List
• fruits =(‘Apple’, ’Mango’, ’Banana’) #Tuple
• basket = {'orange', 'apple', 'pear', 'banana'}#Set
• a = {‘name’:’John’, ’surname’:’Ford’} #Dictionary

Conditionals

if b > a:
print("b is greater than a")
if b > a:
print("b is greater than a")
elif a == b:
print("a and b are equal
if b > a:
print("b is greater than a")
elif a == b:
print("a and b are equal")
else:
print("a is greater than b")

• There can be zero or more elif parts, and the else part is optional.
• The keyword elif is short for ‘else if’, and is useful to avoid excessive indentation.
• An if … elif … elif … sequence is a substitute for the switch or case statements found in other languages.

Loops

for statement
Python’s for statement iterates over the items of any sequence (a list or a string), in the order that they appear in the sequence

# Measure some strings:
... words = ['cat', 'window', 'defenestrate']
for w in words:
... print(w, len(w))
...
cat 3
window 6
defenestrate 12

While loop

count = 0
while (count<5):
count = count + 1
print("Hello there!")

Functions

• A function is a block of code which only runs when it is called.
• You can pass data, known as parameters, into a function.
• A function can return data as a result.
• You can send any data types of argument to a function (string, number, list, dictionary etc.), and it will be treated as the same data type inside the function. The syntax for a user defined function is as follows using the def keyword; def function_name(parameters): #some code return expression

A function is invoked by declaring it as follows;
function name(parameters)

def fib(n): # write Fibonacci series up to n
... a, b = 0, 1
... while a < n:
... print(a, end=' ')
... a, b = b, a+b
... print()
# Now call the function we just defined:
... fib(2000)

0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233 377 610 987 1597

Classes

• Almost everything in Python is an object, with its properties and methods.
• A Class is like an object constructor, or a "blueprint" for creating objects. class MyClass: #class named MyClass, with a property named x x = 5 p1 = MyClass() #object named p1, and print the value of x print(p1.x) # print the value of x

__init__() function
All classes have a function called __init__(), which is always executed when the class is being initiated. The __init__() function is called automatically every time the class is being used to create a new object.
Use the __init__() function to assign values to object properties, or other operations that are necessary to do when the object is being created
class Person:

def __init__(self, name, age):
self.name = name
self.age = age

p1 = Person("John", 36)

print(p1.name)
print(p1.age)

Visit my article Introduction to Data Structures and Algorithms with Python to get familiar with data structures and algorithms. Understanding Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA) will help you write effective and efficient programs that work optimally under given conditions in terms of speed (execution time) and memory usage.

sources;
en.wikipedia.org
w3schools.com