Basic Python for Data Structure

This note is about basic Python. Data type and syntaxes. From interactivepython.org

Online Playground for Python

If you are too lazy to install Python (or Anaconda / Jupyter Notebook) in your computer, just go to: https://repl.it/ for online playground. You can start playing with any Python code right away.

No installation required. Highly recommended.

Data Structure Types in Python

  1. List (or Array in other languages)
    • [1,2,3]
    • mutable
    • sequential
    • Nice to have features
      • x in list – return TRUE if x is in the list
      • .append(x) – Insert x to last position
      • .insert(i, x) – Insert x at position i
      • .pop(i) – Remove value and pop from position i
      • .index(x) – return index of value x
  2. String
    • e.g. “Hello”
    • immutable
    • sequential
    • Useful functions
      • .find(x) – return index of character x
      • .split(x) – Split string into list by using x as seperator
  3. Set (like Set in Mathematics)
    • e.g. {1,2,3}
    • immutable
    • non-sequential
    • Set features
      • .union(second_set) – combine 2 sets
      • .intersection(second_set) – get values common to both sets
      • .difference(second_set) – get values in first set that are not in second set
  4. Tuples (like immutable list)
    • e.g. (1,2,3)
    • immutable
    • sequencial
    • can be used to compare, but not edit
  5. Dictionary
    • e.g. {“key”: “value”, “key2”: “value2”}
    • basically key-value list
    • mutable
    • non-sequential
    • .get(‘key’) – to get value

Extra Type: Range (generate range of numbers)

  • e.g. range(5, 10) >>> [5,6,7,8,9,10]
  • range(5, 10, 2) >>> [5,7,9] (last argument 2 means +2 every time)
  • range(10, 5, -2) >>> [10,8,6] (last argument -2 means -2 every time)
  • immutable

String Formatting

Print function can be as advanced as printf in other language.

print("%s is %d years old." % (aName, age))

The format: "string with %d %s" % (var1, var2)

% = format operator

%s = string

%d = integer

Iterations

Python has the same syntax as other languages, but with semicolon (:) instead of brackets { }

For example:

for item in [1,2,3]:
    print(item)

 

  1. While Loop
    • e.g. while counter <= 10 and not done:
  2. For Loop (in list)
    • e.g. for item in [1,2,3]:
  3. For Loop in String works too !
    • e.g. for character in string:

Conditions

  • If
    • e.g.
      if n>4:
      else:

Get input from user

Just use input() to open prompt window

x = input("What is your name?")
print(x)

List Comprehension

Operations can be used when initializing list o__O

>>> sqlist=[x*x for x in range(1,11)]
>>> sqlist
[1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100]

Condition can be used:

>>> sqlist=[x*x for x in range(1,11) if x%2 != 0]
>>> sqlist
[1, 9, 25, 49, 81]

Import 3rd party Library

You can just type import lib_name e.g. import math

Error/Exception Handling

It’s as simple as try: and except: block to catch error in Python.

try:
   print(math.sqrt(anumber))
except:
   print("Bad Value for square root")
   print("Using absolute value instead")
   print(math.sqrt(abs(anumber)))

or we can raise our own runtime error:

raise RuntimeError("You can't use a negative number")

Defining Functions

Creating new function use the keyword “def” which is the same as in Ruby.

def func_name(arg):
    return arg*2

 

 


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