Introduction To Python - Harvard University
Introduction to PythonHeavily based on presentations byMatt Huenerfauth (Penn State)Guido van Rossum (Google)Richard P. Muller (Caltech).Monday, October 19, 2009
Python Open source general-purpose language.Object Oriented, Procedural, FunctionalEasy to interface with C/ObjC/Java/FortranEasy-ish to interface with C (via SWIG)Great interactive environment Downloads: http://www.python.org Documentation: http://www.python.org/doc/ Free book: http://www.diveintopython.orgMonday, October 19, 2009
2.5.x / 2.6.x / 3.x ? “Current” version is 2.6.x “Mainstream” version is 2.5.x The new kid on the block is 3.xYou probably want 2.5.x unless you are starting fromscratch. Then maybe 3.xMonday, October 19, 2009
Technical IssuesInstalling & Running PythonMonday, October 19, 2009
Binaries Python comes pre-installed with Mac OS X andLinux. Windows binaries from http://python.org/ You might not have to do anything!Monday, October 19, 2009
The Python Interpreter Interactive interface to Python% pythonPython 2.5 (r25:51908, May 25 2007, 16:14:04)[GCC 4.1.2 20061115 (prerelease) (SUSE Linux)] on linux2Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. Python interpreter evaluates inputs: 3*(7 2)27 Python prompts with ‘ ’. To exit Python: CTRL-DMonday, October 19, 2009
Running Programs on UNIX% python filename.pyYou could make the *.py file executable and add thefollowing #!/usr/bin/env python to the top to make itrunnable.Monday, October 19, 2009
Batteries Included Large collection of proven modules included in thestandard onday, October 19, 2009
numpy Offers Matlab-ish capabilities within Python Fast array operations 2D arrays, multi-D arrays, linear algebra etc. Downloads: http://numpy.scipy.org/ Tutorial: http://www.scipy.org/Tentative NumPy TutorialMonday, October 19, 2009
matplotlib High quality plotting library.#!/usr/bin/env pythonimport numpy as npimport matplotlib.mlab as mlabimport matplotlib.pyplot as pltmu, sigma 100, 15x mu sigma*np.random.randn(10000)# the histogram of the datan, bins, patches plt.hist(x, 50, normed 1, facecolor 'green',alpha 0.75)# add a 'best fit' liney mlab.normpdf( bins, mu, sigma)l plt.plot(bins, y, 'r--', linewidth .title(r' \mathrm{Histogram\ of\ IQ:}\ \mu 100,\ \sigma 15 ')plt.axis([40, 160, 0, 0.03])plt.grid(True)plt.show() Downloads: http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/Monday, October 19, 2009
PyFITS FITS I/O made simple: import pyfits hdulist pyfits.open(’input.fits’) hdulist.info()Filename: test1.fitsNo. Name Type Cards Dimensions Format0 PRIMARY PrimaryHDU 220 () Int161 SCI ImageHDU 61 (800, 800) Float322 SCI ImageHDU 61 (800, 800) Float323 SCI ImageHDU 61 (800, 800) Float324 SCI ImageHDU 61 (800, 800) Float32 hdulist[0].header[’targname’]’NGC121’ scidata hdulist[1].data scidata.shape(800, 800) scidata.dtype.name ’float32’ scidata[30:40,10:20] scidata[1,4] 999 Downloads: http://www.stsci.edu/resources/software hardware/pyfitsMonday, October 19, 2009
pyds9 / python-sao Interaction with DS9 Display Python 1-D and 2-D arrays in DS9 Display FITS files in DS9 Downloads: Ask Eric Mandel :-) Downloads: http://code.google.com/p/python-sao/Monday, October 19, 2009
Wrappers for Astronomical Packages CasaPy (Casa)PYGILDAS (GILDAS)ParselTongue (AIPS)PyRAF (IRAF)PyMIDAS (MIDAS)PyIMSL (IMSL)Monday, October 19, 2009
Custom Distributions Python(x,y): http://www.pythonxy.com/ Python(x,y) is a free scientific and engineering developmentsoftware for numerical computations, data analysis and datavisualization Sage: http://www.sagemath.org/ Sage is a free open-source mathematics software systemlicensed under the GPL. It combines the power of many existingopen-source packages into a common Python-based interface.Monday, October 19, 2009
Extra Astronomy Links iPython (better shell, distributed computing):http://ipython.scipy.org/ SciPy (collection of science tools): http://www.scipy.org/ Python Astronomy Modules: http://astlib.sourceforge.net/ Python Astronomer Wiki: ?page python AstroPy: y.html Python for Astronomers: http://www.iac.es/sieinvens/siepedia/pmwiki.php?n HOWTOs.EmpezandoPythonMonday, October 19, 2009
The BasicsMonday, October 19, 2009
A Code Samplex 34 - 23# A comment.y “Hello”# Another one.z 3.45if z 3.45 or y “Hello”:x x 1y y “ World”print xprint yMonday, October 19, 2009# String concat.
Enough to Understand the Code Assignment uses and comparison uses . For numbers - * / % are as expected. Special use of for string concatenation. Special use of % for string formatting (as with printf in C) Logical operators are words (and, or, not)not symbols The basic printing command is print. The first assignment to a variable creates it. Variable types don’t need to be declared. Python figures out the variable types on its own.Monday, October 19, 2009
Basic Datatypes Integers (default for numbers)z 5 / 2# Answer is 2, integer division. Floatsx 3.456 Strings Can use “” or ‘’ to specify.“abc” ‘abc’ (Same thing.) Unmatched can occur within the string.“matt’s” Use triple double-quotes for multi-line strings or strings than contain both ‘and “ inside of them:“““a‘b“c”””Monday, October 19, 2009
WhitespaceWhitespace is meaningful in Python: especiallyindentation and placement of newlines. Use a newline to end a line of code. Use \ when must go to next line prematurely. No braces { } to mark blocks of code in Python Use consistent indentation instead. The first line with less indentation is outside of the block. The first line with more indentation starts a nested block Often a colon appears at the start of a new block.(E.g. for function and class definitions.)Monday, October 19, 2009
Comments Start comments with # – the rest of line is ignored. Can include a “documentation string” as the first line of anynew function or class that you define. The development environment, debugger, and other tools useit: it’s good style to include one.def my function(x, y):“““This is the docstring. Thisfunction does blah blah blah.”””# The code would go here.Monday, October 19, 2009
Assignment Binding a variable in Python means setting a name to hold areference to some object. Assignment creates references, not copies Names in Python do not have an intrinsic type. Objects havetypes. Python determines the type of the reference automatically based on thedata object assigned to it. You create a name the first time it appears on the left side ofan assignment expression:!x 3 A reference is deleted via garbage collection after any namesbound to it have passed out of scope.Monday, October 19, 2009
Accessing Non-Existent Names If you try to access a name before it’s been properly created(by placing it on the left side of an assignment), you’ll get anerror. yTraceback (most recent call last):File " pyshell#16 ", line 1, in -toplevelyNameError: name ‘y' is not defined y 3 y3Monday, October 19, 2009
Multiple Assignment You can also assign to multiple names at the same time. x, y 2, 3 x2 y3Monday, October 19, 2009
Naming Rules Names are case sensitive and cannot start with a number.They can contain letters, numbers, and underscores.bobBobbob2 bobbob 2BoB There are some reserved words:and, assert, break, class, continue, def, del, elif,else, except, exec, finally, for, from, global, if,import, in, is, lambda, not, or, pass, print, raise,return, try, whileMonday, October 19, 2009
Understanding Reference Semantics inPythonMonday, October 19, 2009
Understanding Reference Semantics Assignment manipulates references—x y does not make a copy of the object y references—x y makes x reference the object y references Very useful; but beware! Example: a [1, 2, 3] b a a.append(4) print b[1, 2, 3, 4]Why?Monday, October 19, 2009# a now references the list [1, 2, 3]# b now references what a references# this changes the list a references# if we print what b references,# SURPRISE! It has changed
Understanding Reference Semantics II There is a lot going on when we type: x 3First, an integer 3 is created and stored in memoryA name x is createdAn reference to the memory location storing the 3 is thenassigned to the name xSo: When we say that the value of x is 3we mean that x now refers to the integer 3Name: xRef: address1 Type: IntegerData: 3name listMonday, October 19, 2009memory
Understanding Reference Semantics III The data 3 we created is of type integer. In Python, thedatatypes integer, float, and string (and tuple) are“immutable.” This doesn’t mean we can’t change the value of x, i.e. changewhat x refers to For example, we could increment x: x 3 x x 1 print x4Monday, October 19, 2009
Understanding Reference Semantics IV If we increment x, then what’s really happening is:1. The reference of name x is looked up. x x 12. The value at that reference is retrieved.Name: xRef: address1 Monday, October 19, 2009Type: IntegerData: 3
Understanding Reference Semantics IV If we increment x, then what’s really happening is:1. The reference of name x is looked up. x x 12. The value at that reference is retrieved.3. The 3 1 calculation occurs, producing a new data element 4 which isassigned to a fresh memory location with a new reference.Name: xRef: address1 Type: IntegerData: 3Type: IntegerData: 4Monday, October 19, 2009
Understanding Reference Semantics IV If we increment x, then what’s really happening is:1. The reference of name x is looked up. x x 12. The value at that reference is retrieved.3. The 3 1 calculation occurs, producing a new data element 4 which isassigned to a fresh memory location with a new reference.4. The name x is changed to point to this new reference.Name: xRef: address1 Type: IntegerData: 3Type: IntegerData: 4Monday, October 19, 2009
Understanding Reference Semantics IV If we increment x, then what’s really happening is:1. The reference of name x is looked up. x x 12. The value at that reference is retrieved.3. The 3 1 calculation occurs, producing a new data element 4 which isassigned to a fresh memory location with a new reference.4. The name x is changed to point to this new reference.5. The old data 3 is garbage collected if no name still refers to it.Name: xRef: address1 Type: IntegerData: 4Monday, October 19, 2009
Assignment 1 So, for simple built-in datatypes (integers, floats, strings),assignment behaves as you would expect: 3Monday, October 19, 2009x 3y xy 4print x####Creates 3, nameCreates name y,Creates ref forNo effect on x,x refers to 3refers to 3.4. Changes y.still ref 3.
Assignment 1 So, for simple built-in datatypes (integers, floats, strings),assignment behaves as you would expect: 3x 3y xy 4print x####Creates 3, nameCreates name y,Creates ref forNo effect on x,Name: xRef: address1 Monday, October 19, 2009x refers to 3refers to 3.4. Changes y.still ref 3.Type: IntegerData: 3
Assignment 1 So, for simple built-in datatypes (integers, floats, strings),assignment behaves as you would expect: 3x 3y xy 4print x####Creates 3, nameCreates name y,Creates ref forNo effect on x,Name: xRef: address1 Name: yRef: address1 Monday, October 19, 2009x refers to 3refers to 3.4. Changes y.still ref 3.Type: IntegerData: 3
Assignment 1 So, for simple built-in datatypes (integers, floats, strings),assignment behaves as you would expect: 3x 3y xy 4print x####Creates 3, nameCreates name y,Creates ref forNo effect on x,Name: xRef: address1 Name: yRef: address1 Monday, October 19, 2009x refers to 3refers to 3.4. Changes y.still ref 3.Type: IntegerData: 3Type: IntegerData: 4
Assignment 1 So, for simple built-in datatypes (integers, floats, strings),assignment behaves as you would expect: 3x 3y xy 4print x####Creates 3, nameCreates name y,Creates ref forNo effect on x,Name: xRef: address1 Name: yRef: address2 Monday, October 19, 2009x refers to 3refers to 3.4. Changes y.still ref 3.Type: IntegerData: 3Type: IntegerData: 4
Assignment 1 So, for simple built-in datatypes (integers, floats, strings),assignment behaves as you would expect: 3x 3y xy 4print x####Creates 3, nameCreates name y,Creates ref forNo effect on x,Name: xRef: address1 Name: yRef: address2 Monday, October 19, 2009x refers to 3refers to 3.4. Changes y.still ref 3.Type: IntegerData: 3Type: IntegerData: 4
Assignment 2 For other data types (lists, dictionaries, user-defined types), assignmentworks differently. These datatypes are “mutable.”When we change these data, we do it in place.We don’t copy them into a new memory address each time.If we type y x and then modify y, both x and y are changed.immutable 3x 3y xy 4print xMonday, October 19, 2009mutablex some mutable objecty xmake a change to ylook at xx will be changed as well
Why? Changing a Shared Lista [1, 2, 3]a123123123 4ab abaa.append(4)bMonday, October 19, 2009
Our surprising example surprising no more. So now, here’s our code: a [1, 2, 3] b a a.append(4) print b[1, 2, 3, 4]Monday, October 19, 2009# a now references the list [1, 2, 3]# b now references what a references# this changes the list a references# if we print what b references,# SURPRISE! It has changed
Sequence types:Tuples, Lists, and StringsMonday, October 19, 2009
Sequence Types1. Tuple A simple immutable ordered sequence of items Items can be of mixed types, including collection types2. Strings Immutable Conceptually very much li
Python figures out the variable types on its own. Monday, October 19, 2009. Basic Datatypes Integers (default for numbers) z 5 / 2 # Answer is 2, integer division. Floats x 3.456 Strings Can use “” or ‘’ to specify. “abc” ‘abc’ (Same thing.) Unmatched can occur within the string. “matt’s” Use triple double-quotes for multi-line strings or .
Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner Second Edition. CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED: THE GAME OVER PROGRAM 1 Examining the Game Over Program 2 Introducing Python 3 Python Is Easy to Use 3 Python Is Powerful 3 Python Is Object Oriented 4 Python Is a "Glue" Language 4 Python Runs Everywhere 4 Python Has a Strong Community 4 Python Is Free and Open Source 5 Setting Up Python on .
Python 2 versus Python 3 - the great debate Installing Python Setting up the Python interpreter About virtualenv Your first virtual environment Your friend, the console How you can run a Python program Running Python scripts Running the Python interactive shell Running Python as a service Running Python as a GUI application How is Python code .
Python is readable 5 Python is complete—"batteries included" 6 Python is cross-platform 6 Python is free 6 1.3 What Python doesn't do as well 7 Python is not the fastest language 7 Python doesn't have the most libraries 8 Python doesn't check variable types at compile time 8 1.4 Why learn Python 3? 8 1.5 Summary 9
site "Python 2.x is legacy, Python 3.x is the present and future of the language". In addition, "Python 3 eliminates many quirks that can unnecessarily trip up beginning programmers". However, note that Python 2 is currently still rather widely used. Python 2 and 3 are about 90% similar. Hence if you learn Python 3, you will likely
There are currently two versions of Python in use; Python 2 and Python 3. Python 3 is not backward compatible with Python 2. A lot of the imported modules were only available in Python 2 for quite some time, leading to a slow adoption of Python 3. However, this not really an issue anymore. Support for Python 2 will end in 2020.
Launch Eclipse Install Python plug-in for Eclipse Add a Python Interpreter Create a Python Project Create a Python Program Run a Python Program Debug a Python Program 0 Introduction This tutorial is for students who want to develop Python projects using Eclipse. E
Introduction to basic Python Contents 1. Installing Python 2. How to run Python code 3. How to write Python code 4. How to troubleshoot Python code 5. Where to go to learn more Python is an astronomer's secret weapon. With Python, the process of visualizing, processing, and interacting with data is made extremely simple.
Python Basics.ipynb* Python Basics.toc* Python Basics.log* Python Basics_files/ Python Basics.out* Python_Basics_fig1.pdf* Python Basics.pdf* Python_Basics_fig1.png* Python Basics.synctex.gz* Python_Basics_figs.graffle/ If you are reading the present document in pdf format, you should consider downloading the notebook version so you can follow .
