Python Basics
Cheat Sheet
This cheat sheet provides you with all the Python Basics in one place.
Variables
Defining variables
miles = 10 # type integer
first_name = 'John' # type string (the value of the variable is between single quotes)
last_name = "Wick" # type string (use single or double quotes)
a, b, c = 1.5, 3, 'x' # defining 3 variables on the same line (float, an integer and a string)
# PEP 8 recommends using snake _case for variable names
max_permitted_value = 500 # snake-case notation
maxPermittedValue = 500 # camel-case notation
# Invalid or not recommended names
4you = 10 # not permitted, name starts with a digit
valu!es = 100 # not permitted, name contains special characters
str = 'Python' # not recommended, name str is a Python language keyword
_location = 'Europe' # not recommended name.
# Avoid names that start with underscores (they have special meaning)
Comments in Python
Comments in Python start with the hash character # and extend to the end of the physical line.
If you want to comment out more lines, insert a hash character at the beginning of each line.
# This line is a comment.
The following line is commented out and will be ignored by the Python Interpreter
#x=1
a = 7 # defines a variable that stores an integer
my_str = 'A hash character # within a string literal is just a hash character'
Data Types
age = 31 # type int
miles = 3.4 # type float
finished = True # type bool
name = 'Andrei' # type str (string)
years = [2018, 2019, 2020] # type list
week_days = ('Monday', 'Tuesday', 'Wednesday') # type tuple
vowels = {'a', 'e', 'o', 'u'} # type set
fs = frozenset((1, 2, 'abc', 'xyz')) # type frozenset
# type dictionary
countries = {'de':'Germany', 'au':'Australia', 'us':'United States of America', 'gr':'Greece'}
Python Operators
Arithmetic Operators
a=9
b=4
a+b # addition operator => 13
a-b # subtraction operator => 5
a*b # multiplication operator => 36
a/b # division operator => 2.25
a // b # floor division operator => 2
5.0 // 3.0 # => 1.0 -> works on floats too
a ** b # exponentiation operator (a to the power of b) => 6561
a%b # modulus operator => 1
Assignment Operators
a=5
a += 2 # shorthand for a = a + 2 => a = 7
a -= 3 # shorthand for a = a - 3 => a = 4
a /= 2 # shorthand for a = a / 2 => a = 2
a *= 3 # shorthand for a = a * 3 => a = 6
a **=2 # shorthand for a = a ** 2 => a = 36
Arithmetic Built-in Function
divmod(9, 4) # returns the quotient and the remainder using integer division => (2, 1)
sum([1,2,4]) # returns the sum of an iterable => 7
min(1,-2,3) # returns the minimum value => -2
max(1,2,4) # returns the maximum value => 4
a = 10/3 # a = 3.3333333333
round(a, 4) # returns a number rounded with 4 decimals => 3.3333
pow(2, 4) # 2 ** 4 = 16
Comparison and Identity Operators
# Assignment operator is =
a=2
b=3
# Equality operator is ==
# It compares the values stored in variables
a == b # => False
b == b # => True
# Inequality operator is !=
a != b # => True
# Other comparisons
a > b # => False
5 >= 5 # => True
b <= a # => False
'Python' == 'python' # => False, case matters
"Python" == 'Python' # => True, double and single quotes are equivalent
id(a) # => returns the address where the value referenced by a is stored. Ex: 140464475242000
# is operator checks if two variables refer to the same object (saved at the same memory
address)
a is b # => False = compares the address of a to the address of b
# equivalent to:
id(a) == id(b)
Boolean Variables
# True is 1 and False is 0
True == 1 # => True
bool(True) # => 1
False == 0 # => True
bool(False) # => 0
1 is True # => False
0 is False # => False
True > False # => True
a = (True + True ) * 10 # => 20
id(True) # => 10714848 (you'll get another value)
id(4 > 2) # => 10714848 - the address of True and False is constant during program execution
# The next 2 expressions are equivalent
(4 > 2) == True # => True
(4 > 2) is True # => True
