Published Sep 13, 2016
This is a simple syntax reference for Python, intended for people with prior programming experience. If you know basic control flow, functions, and file i/o in another language, try using this to jump into Python. There is a more comprehensive quick reference at Learn X in Y minutes (which also has quick references for many other languages).
Install Python,
run Idle (Mac and Linux users may need to open a terminal and run idle3
or python3 -m idlelib
),
press CTRL-N
or File > New File
to start writing a script,
save your script as a .py
file,
and press F5
or Run > Run Module
to run it.
You can also run the script from the command-line using python myscript.py
or python3 myscript.py
.
You can access Python’s documentation from within Idle by pressing F1
.
name = 'fred' # can use ' or "
print(name)
print(type(name))
# help and dir are VERY useful when used in the shell
print(dir(str))
help(str)
quote = "he's dead, Jim" # using " auto-escapes '
quote = 'he\'s dead, Jim' # you can still use \ to escape ' or "
# standard Python style is to use ' unless your string contains ' but not "
quote = '"he\'s dead, Jim," said McCoy'
multiline = '''This is a multiline string.
It starts and ends with triple ' or ".
It can span multiple lines, and quotes are automatically escaped.
It's also sometimes used for block comments.
'''
x = 5
y = 2.7
print(x / y) # / is always floating-point division
print(x // y) # use // if you really want int division
print(int(x // y)) # if you REALLY want an int, you have to cast it to an int
print(x * x)
print(x ** x) # exponentiation operator
# if Python thinks something doesn't make sense, it raises an exception
try:
print(5 + '5')
except TypeError:
pass
print(5 + int('5'))
print(5 + float('5.5'))
print(str(5) + '5')
if 0 < x <= 10: # comparison operators can be chained like in math
print(x)
elif y < x and x < 10: # boolean operators are keywords
print(y, x)
else:
print(y)
a, b = 0, 1 # multiple assignment (actually, tuple packing and unpacking)
while b < 10:
print(b, end=', ')
a, b = b, a+b
print()
thelist = [1, 2, 'three', 4.0]
for item in thelist:
print(item)
# use len() to get the length of stuff
for index in range(len(thelist)):
print(index, thelist[index])
for index, item in enumerate(thelist):
print(index, item)
while thelist:
last_item = thelist.pop()
# a function
# the string is called a docstring and is used for documentation
# you can have segments that look like the Python shell and use the
# doctest module to test them
def fib(n):
"""
Returns the nth fibonacci number.
>>> fib(10)
89
"""
a, b = 0, 1
c = 0
while c < n:
a, b = b, a+b
c += 1
return b
z = fib(10)
print(z)
help(fib)
name = input('What is your name? ')
got_age = False
while not got_age:
age = input('What is your age? ') # input returns a str
try:
age = int(age) # parse it as an int
except ValueError:
print("That's not a valid integer")
else:
got_age = True
finally:
print() # I couldn't think of anything else to demo finally with
print("Your name is", name, "and your age is", age)
# str.format is very useful
# it's like Python's iomanip
print("Your name is {name} and your age is {age}".format(name=name, age=age))
print("Your name is {name} and your age is {age}".format_map(vars()))
print(name, age, sep=", ", end="!\n")
with open('input_file.txt') as input_file: # with ensures the file gets closed
lines = 0
for line in input_file:
lines += 1
print("the input file has", lines, "lines")
# the 'w' means open in write mode
with open('output_file.txt', 'w') as output_file:
print("the input file has", lines, "lines", file=output_file)
output_file.write("(isn't that great?)\n")
# items are just pointers (can be any type)
the_list = [1, 2, 3.14, 'four', [5, 6, 7]]
print(the_list[0])
print(the_list[2])
print(the_list[-1]) # negatives count from the end
print(the_list[-1][1])
print(the_list[1:4]) # "slice" returns a sublist
print(the_list[1:])
print(the_list[:-1])
print(the_list[:])
the_list.append(9001)
the_list[0] = '1!'
first_value = the_list.pop(0) # WARNING: moves all items over (linear time)
last_value = the_list.pop() # doesn't need to move anything (constant time)
print(the_list)
also_the_list = the_list # pointer/reference assignment
the_list.append(5)
print(the_list)
print(also_the_list)
print(the_list == also_the_list)
print(the_list is also_the_list) # is does a pointer comparison
not_the_list = the_list[:] # the slice returns a copy
print(the_list == not_the_list)
print(the_list is not_the_list)
the_list.append(66.6)
print(the_list)
print(not_the_list)
empty_dict = {}
d = {'key': 'value', 'name': name}
print(d['key'])
d['key'] = 'a different value'
d['non-existant key'] = 'gets created'
print(d)
value = d['key']
try:
value = d['this key does not exist']
except KeyError:
print('the key does not exist')
value = d.get('this key does not exist', 'so this is returned instead')
print(value)
print('name' in d)
for key in d:
print(key, d[key])
for key, value in d.items():
print(key, value)
class Vector2D:
'''
An example class
'''
def __init__(self, x, y):
'''
This is the constructor.
(actually, it's the initializer)
'''
self._x = x # members with leading underscores are assumed to be private
self._y = y
def magnitude(self): # all methods need a self parameter
'''
returns the magnitude.
>>> v = Vector2D(3, 4)
>>> v.magnitude()
5.0
'''
return (self._x ** 2 + self._y ** 2) ** 0.5
class Vector3D(Vector2D):
'''
A subclass
'''
def __init__(self, x, y, z):
# call superclass initializer
# (it doesn't get called automatically)
super().__init__(x, y)
self._z = z
def magnitude(self): # nothing special to override
'''
>>> v = Vector3D(2, 3, 6)
>>> v.magnitude()
7.0
'''
return (self._x ** 2 + self._y ** 2 + self._z ** 2) ** 0.5
myVector2 = Vector2D(3, 4)
print(myVector2.magnitude())
myVector3 = Vector3D(2, 3, 6)
print(myVector3.magnitude())
if __name__ == '__main__':
import doctest
doctest.testmod(verbose=True)