Python
Python is a general purpose, dynamically typed, object oriented and functional, open-source software programming language. Python is known as a good first programming language to learn, it's usefulness in data science, and for the use of indentation to delimit blocks of code.
Key Python language features
Truthiness
Python coercing variables to boolean values. Falsy values include None, an empty list ([]), an empty dictionary ({}), an empty string (""), an empty set (set()), and zero (0 or 0.0).
Type annotations
Though Python is dynamically typed, it supports type annotations as metadata but does not enforce them at runtime.
def say_hello(name: str) -> str: # Specifies the name argument and the return value are strings
return f"Hello, {name}!";
print(say_hello(5)) # Hello, 5!However, types can still serve as useful documentation and leveraged by code editors to provide features like auto-completion. There are also external tools like mypy that can provide or enforce type validation.
F-strings
F-strings are how Python provides string interpolation.
def say_hello(name):
return f"Hello, {name}!";
print(say_hello("James")) # "Hello, James!"Tuples
Tuples in Python can be thought of as immutable lists and support most non-mutating list functions. Tuples can also be destructured.
titanic_gps_coordinates = (41.7325, 49.9469) # Tuple
lat, lon = titanic_gps_coordinates # lat is 41.7325, lon is 49.9469First-class functions
Functions can be assigned to variables and passed to other functions.
def say_hello(name):
return f"Hello, {name}!";
def say_hi(name):
return f"Hi, {name}!";
def ask_how_are_you(greet, name):
return f"{greet(name)} How are you?"
print(ask_how_are_you(say_hello, "James")) # "Hello, James!"
print(ask_how_are_you(say_hi, "James")) # "Hi, James!"This means that it's easy to create higher-order functions:
def greeter(greeting):
def greet(name):
return greeting(name)
return greet
def say_hello(name):
return f"Hello, {name}!";
hello = greeter(say_hello)
print(hello("James")) # Hello, James!Classes
Python supports classes to encapsulate related data and functions. Notably, Python has the somewhat unusual convention of accepting self as the first argument of each function of a class. The self argument refers to the current class instance.
class Person:
# In Python, the constructor function is named __init__
def __init__(self, name)
self.name = name
def greet(self):
return f"Hello, {self.name}"
me = Person("James")
print(me.name) # JamesDictionaries
Python syntactically supports dictionaries, which are groups of key-value pairs. Dictionaries can also be nested.
contact = {
name: "James",
website: "https://www.jamestharpe.com",
location: {
city: "Atlanta"
state: "Georgia"
}
}
name = contact["name"] # "James"
city = contact["location"]["city"] # Atlanta
website = contact.get("website", "unknown") # "https://www.jamestharpe.com"
address = contact.get("address", "not provided") # "not provided"
address = contact["address"] # Throws a KeyError exception
contact["address"] = "1234 Fake St."
address = contact["address"] # "1234 Fake St."Sets
Python supports sets, which are collections of distinct elements. The in operator is very fast for sets.
baby_names = { "olivia", "emma", "amelia" }
"olivia" in baby_names # true
"abby" in baby_names # falseSets are also a useful way to find the distinct elements of an array:
baby_name_suggestions = [ "olivia", "emma", "amelia", "emma" ]
unique_suggestions = set(baby_name_suggestions) # { "olivia", "emma", "amelia" }Comprehensions
In Python, comprehension create lists, sets, or dictionaries from iterables.
List example:
def squares(max):
return [n * n for n in range(max)]
first_five_squares = squares(5) # [0, 1, 4, 9, 16]Set example:
def squares(max):
return {n * n for n in range(max)}
first_five_squares = squares(5) # {0, 1, 4, 9, 16}Dictionary example:
def squares(max)
return {n: n * n for n in range(max)}
first_five_squares = squares(5) # {0: 0, 1: 1, 2: 4, 3: 9, 4: 16}Generators
In Python, generators are functions that mimic iterators, which are objects that represent streams of data. This is accomplished through the yield keyword:
def count_to_infinity(start = 1): # This function is a generator
while True:
yield start # generates the next value, similar to "return" but without exiting
start += 1
for i in count_to_infinity(10)
print(f"{i}")
# 10, 11, 12, 13...Generators are "lazy" and do nothing until iterated upon. A useful application of this is to use comprehensions to create generators from other generators.
def count_to_infinity(start = 1):
while True:
yield start
start += 1
even_numbers = (i for i in count_to_infinity() if i % 2 == 0) # does nothing until iterated
for i in even_numbers
print(f"{i}")
# 2, 4, 6, 8 ...Argument unpacking
Argument unpacking converts lists to arguments.
def add(n1, n2):
return n1 + n2
add(*[1, 2]) # Equivalent to add(1, 2), returns 3
add([1, 2]) # TypeError, failsArguments (args) and keyword arguments (kwargs)
Python allows functions to accept arbitrary arguments as a tuple using args or as a dictionary using kwargs.
def print_args(*args, **kwargs):
print("args: ", args)
print("kwargs: ", kwargs)
print_args("a", "b", "c", one=1, two=2, three=3);
# prints
# args: ("a", "b", "c")
# kwargs: {"one": 1, "two": 2, "three": 3}Python tips and best practices
- Always work inside a virtual environment
- Don't use
pipwithsudo
Python resources
Deeper Knowledge on Python (Programming Language)
Python Open-Source Data Libraries
Python libraries commonly used in data science and analysis
Python Open-Source Machine Learning Libraries
Python libraries used for machine learning
Python Poetry
An alternative to pip for Python package management
Mypy
Static type checking for Python
Pip: Python's Package Manager
Python's default package manager
Python Virtual Environments
How to manage virtual environments with Python, Pip, and VEnv
Broader Topics Related to Python (Programming Language)
Open-Source Programming Languages
A list of open-source programming languages I've learned (at least a little bit)
Computer Languages
Computer Languages: How humans tell computers what to do