My Python Notes

1 Something about print

syntax	explanation
print(str1, str2, sep = "")	print strings separately
print(str1 + str2)	print strings as one string
print(f'{my_var}')	f-string interpret what inside the {}
print('%type' %my_var)	%d: integer; %f: float; %s: string; %b: binary; (doc)
print(\n)	print use escape characters
print(f'{my_var:n[type]}')	print the variable at a certain length
{:<}, {:>}, {:^}	left aligned, right aligned, centred

syntax	explanation
+, -, *, /	addition, subtraction, multiplication, division
**	exponentiation
//	integer division
%	modulus; the remainder of a deviation

2 Import modules

import numpy as np
print(np.sin(np.pi))

3 Variables and objects

type() : check data types.

• Numeric: int, float, complex;

• Sequence: str, list, range, tuple

• Boolean

• Set

• Dictionary

• number objects and string objects

3.1 Strings

syntax	explanation
my_str[i]	returns the $i+1$th character in string
my_str[-i]	returns the $i$th from the end
len(my_str)	the length of the string
max(my_str), min(my_str)	alphabetically
sorted(my_str)	from smallest to largest
my_str.capitalize()	capitalize the first letter of the string
my_str.split()	split the string

3.2 Booleans

Operators:

syntax	explanation
and, or, not	logical operators
==, <, <=, !=	comparison operators

3.3 Numbers

Floating points numbers: 1.0e-6 is $1\times 10^{-6}$.

3.4 Type casting

int(), float(), str().

bool(0) and bool('') are false.

3.5 List

List can contain almost any other object.

my_list = ['my', 1, 4.5, ['you', 'they'], 432, -2.3, 33]
emplist = []
print(list_1 + list_2)
print('hellow'+'world')   # "helloworld"
my_list.append('extar')    # add an item to the end of a list
print(my_list[3][1])       # the outcome is "they"
print(sorted(numberlist)) # sort a list
print(12 * my_list)        # create a list with 12 repetition of my_list
print('you' in my_list[3]) # check if something is in a list

Useful tools:

syntax	explanation
len(my_list)	the length of the list
my_list.append('a new element')	add a new element to the list

Slicing:

a = [2, 5, 4, 8, 8]
print(a[1:3]) # the 2nd and 3rd | [5, 4]
print(a[2:])  # the 3rd to the last | [4, 8, 8]
print(a[:-2]) # the 1st to the 3rd from the last | [2, 5, 4]

syntax	explanation
my_list[start:stop]	from start to stop-1 共stop-start个
my_list[start:]	from start to len(l)-1
my_list[:stop]	from 0 to stop-1
my_list[start:stop:step]	from start to stop-1, with increment step
my_list[::step]	from 0 to len(l)-1, with increment step
my_list[::], my_list[:]	all the elements

• If j $=$ i, then a[i:j] and a[i:j:k] are empty lists, for any value of k.
• If j $<$ i, then a[i:j] and a[i:j:k] are empty lists, for positive values of k.

4 if statements

if my_condition:
    [some instructions]

my_condition is a Boolean object.

if cond_1:
    [some instructions]
elif cond_2:
    [other instructions]
else:
    [other instructions]

5 Loops

5.1 for loops

for i in my_seq:
	[some instructions]

• ranges: a sequence type

syntax	explanation
range(j)	$0$, $1$, $2$, …, $j-1$; 共$j$个.
range(i, j)	$i$, $i+1$, $i+2$, …, $j-1$; 共$j-i$个.
range(i, j, k)	$i$, $i+k$, $i+2k$, …, $i+m$; $i+m\le j-1$.

5.2 while loops

while my_condition:
    [some instructions]

Use break to exit the loop conditionally:

while my_condition:
    [some instructions]
    if my_condition:
        break

6 Defining function

def my_func(inputs):
    [function body]
    return outputs

Outputs can be variables separated by commas.

7 Debugging and troubleshooting

Built-in exception types：

• IndexError: a sequence subscript is out of range. r instance, here, we’re trying to access my_list[4], but my_list only has elements up to my_list[3].
• NameError: the variable referred to does not exist – there is no box in memory with this label. This often comes up when you mistype a variable name.
• SyntaxError: the code is not syntactically correct – it is not valid Python, so Python doesn’t know how to interpret it.
• TypeError: a very common error to see when learning Python! This means that an operation or a function is applied to an object of the wrong type
• ValueError: raised when an operation or function is applied to an object with the right type, but an invalid value. For example, the int() function can cast a string to an integer, if the string can be interpreted as a number.