Kevin Wilson

The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Python Programming

A Step-by-Step Guide with Examples and Lab Exercises

Kevin Wilson
London, UK
ISBN 978-1-4842-8715-6e-ISBN 978-1-4842-8716-3
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-8716-3
© Kevin Wilson 2022
Apress Standard
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Apress imprint is published by the registered company APress Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

The registered company address is: 1 New York Plaza, New York, NY 10004, U.S.A.

Introduction

The aim of this book is to provide a first course in the use of Python to develop programs.

It provides a foundation for those who wish to write computer programs based on sound programming principles, and because the book is intended to be a primer, it allows the beginner to become comfortable with basic programming tasks.

As it is a first course, no previous experience of computer programming is assumed.

Throughout the book, we’ll explore the Python programming language with worked examples and lab exercises for you to complete yourself. For this purpose, we’ve included all the source code for this book in the following repository: github.com/apress/absolute-beginners-guide-python

Table of Contents
Chapter 1:​ Introduction to Computer Programming 1
What Is Python 2
Getting Started 4
Setting Up 4
Install on Windows 4
Install on MacOS 9
Install on Linux 11
Summary 13
Chapter 2:​ The Basics 15
Language Classification 15
Low-Level Language 15
High-Level Language 16
Python Language Syntax 18
Reserved Words 18
Identifiers 20
Indentation 20
Comments 20
Input 21
Output 21
Escape Characters 21
Writing a Program 22
Lab Exercises 29
Summary 30
Chapter 3:​ Working with Data 31
Variables 31
Local Variables 31
Global Variables 32
Basic Data Types 32
Integers 32
Floating Point Numbers 33
Strings 33
Lists 33
Two-Dimensional Lists 35
Sets 37
Tuples 37
Dictionaries 38
Program Input 39
Program Output 40
Casting Data Types 41
Arithmetic Operators 42
Operator Precedence 42
Performing Arithmetic 43
Comparison Operators 43
Boolean Operators 44
Bitwise Operators 45
Lab Exercises 45
Summary 46
Chapter 4:​ Flow Control 49
Sequence 49
Selection 52
if.​.​.​ else 52
elif 55
Iteration (Loops) 61
For Loop 61
While Loop 65
Break and Continue 68
Lab Exercises 69
Summary 69
Chapter 5:​ Handling Files 71
File Types 71
Text File 71
Binary 72
Text File Operations 73
Open Files 73
Write to a File 75
Read from a File 78
Binary File Operations 79
Open Files 79
Write to a File 80
Read a File 81
Random File Access 83
Lab Exercises 84
Summary 85
Chapter 6:​ Using Functions 87
Declaring Functions 87
Scope 90
Recursion 90
Lab Exercises 92
Summary 93
Chapter 7:​ Using Modules 95
Importing Modules 96
Creating Your Own Modules 100
Lab Exercises 101
Summary 102
Chapter 8:​ Exception Handling 103
Types of Exception 103
Catching Exceptions 105
Raising Your Own Exceptions 107
Summary 108
Chapter 9:​ Object-Oriented Programming 109
Principles of OOP 109
Encapsulation 109
Inheritance 110
Polymorphism 110
Abstraction 110
Classes and Objects 110
Class Inheritance 113
Polymorphic Classes 116
Method Overriding 117
Lab Exercises 119
Summary 120
Chapter 10:​ Building an Interface 121
Creating a Window 121
Adding Widgets 124
Menus 124
The Canvas 126
Images 129
Buttons 130
Message Boxes 131
Text Field 132
Listbox 133
Checkbox 135
Labels 137
Label Frame 138
Interface Design 139
Summary 144
Chapter 11:​ Developing a Game 145
Installing Pygame 145
Opening a Window 147
Adding an Image 148
The Game Loop 149
The Event Loop 151
Shapes 155
Basic Animation 156
Summary 164
Chapter 12:​ Python Web Development 167
Web Servers 167
Install the Web Server 169
Set Up Python Support 169
Executing a Script 171
Python Web Frameworks 175
Summary 181
Appendix A:​ Quick Reference 183
Data Types 183
Numeric Operators 183
Comparison Operators 184
Boolean Operators 184
String Operators 184
List Operators 184
Dictionary Operators 185
String Methods 185
List Methods 185
Dictionary Methods 185
Functions 186
Files 186
Conditional 186
Multi-conditional 186
While Loop 187
For Loop 187
Loop Control 187
Modules 187
Built-In Functions 187
Declare a Class 188
Child Class 188
Create Object 188
Call Object Method 188
Access Object Attributes 188
Exceptions 188
Index 189
About the Author
Kevin Wilson

With over 20 years’ experience in the computer industry, Kevin Wilson has made a career out of technology and showing others how to use it. After earning a master’s degree in computer science, software engineering, and multimedia systems, Kevin has held various positions in the IT industry including graphic and web design, digital film and photography, programming and software engineering, developing and managing corporate networks, building computer systems, and IT support. He currently teaches computer science at college and works as an IT trainer in England while researching for his Ph.D.

 
About the Technical Reviewer
Joos Korstanje

A photo of Joos Korstanje.

is a data scientist, with over five years of industry experience in developing machine-learning tools. He has a double M.Sc. in applied data science and environmental science and has extensive experience working with geodata use cases. He currently works at Disneyland Paris, where he develops machine learning for a variety of tools. His project experience includes forecasting, recommender engines, optimization, machine learning on GPS tracking data, and more. Joos is also an active blogger on Medium and has worked on multiple book publications.
 
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