Introduction To Python
●
●Python is a widely used general-purpose, high-level
programming language.
●It was created by Guido van Rossum in 1991 and further
developed by the Python Software Foundation.
●It was designed with an emphasis on code readability, and its
syntax allows programmers to express their concepts in fewer
lines of code.
●Python is a programming language that lets you work quickly
and integrate systems more efficiently.
●There are two major Python versions:
Python 2 and Python 3. Both are quite different.
Beginning with Python Programming
Finding an Interpreter
Before we start Python programming, we need to have an
interpreter to interpret and run our programs.
●Windows: There are many interpreters available freely to run
Python scripts like IDLE (Integrated Development
Environment), which comes bundled with the Python software
downloaded from http://python.org/.
●Linux: Python comes preinstalled with popular Linux distros
such as Ubuntu and Fedora. To check which version of Python
you’re running, type “python” in the terminal emulator. The
interpreter should start and print the version number.
●macOS: Generally, Python 2.7 comes bundled with macOS.
You’ll have to manually install Python 3
from http://python.org/.
Writing our First Program
Just type in the following code after you start the interpreter.
Python
# Script Begins
print("Good")
# Scripts Ends
Output:
Good
Let’s analyze the script line by line.
Line 1: [# Script Begins]
In Python, comments begin with a #. This statement is ignored by
the interpreter and serves as documentation for our code.
Line 2: [print(“Good”)]
To print something on the console, print() function is used. This
function also adds a newline after our message is printed(unlike
in C). Note that in Python 2, “print” is not a function but a
keyword and therefore can be used without parentheses.
However, in Python 3, it is a function and must be invoked with
parentheses.
Line 3: [# Script Ends]
This is just another comment like in Line 1.
Reason for increasing popularity
1.Emphasis on code readability, shorter codes, ease of writing
2.Programmers can express logical concepts in fewer lines of code
in comparison to languages such as C++ or Java.
3.Python supports multiple programming paradigms, like
object-oriented, imperative and functional programming or
procedural.
4.There exists inbuilt functions for almost all of the frequently
used concepts.
5.Philosophy is “Simplicity is the best”.
LANGUAGE FEATURES
●Interpreted
oThere are no separate compilation and execution steps like
C and C++.
oDirectly run the program from the source code.
oInternally, Python converts the source code into an
intermediate form called bytecodes which is then
translated into native language of specific computer to run
it.
oNo need to worry about linking and loading with libraries,
etc.
●Platform Independent
oPython programs can be developed and executed on
multiple operating system platforms.
oPython can be used on Linux, Windows, Macintosh,
Solaris and many more.
●Free and Open Source; Redistributable
●High-level Language
oIn Python, no need to take care about low-level details
such as managing the memory used by the program.
●Simple
oCloser to English language;Easy to Learn
oMore emphasis on the solution to the problem rather than
the syntax
●Embeddable
oPython can be used within C/C++ program to give
scripting capabilities for the program’s users.
●Robust:
oExceptional handling features
oMemory management techniques in built
●Rich Library Support
oThe Python Standard Library is very vast.
oKnown as the “batteries included” philosophy of Python
;It can help do various things involving regular
expressions, documentation generation, unit testing,
threading, databases, web browsers, CGI, email, XML,
HTML, WAV files, cryptography, GUI and many more.
oBesides the standard library, there are various other
high-quality libraries such as the Python Imaging
Library which is an amazingly simple image manipulation
library.
Python vs JAVA
Python Java
Dynamically Typed Statically Typed
●No need to declare ●All variable names (along with
anything. An assignment their types) must be explicitly
statement binds a name to declared. Attempting to assign
an object, and the object an object of the wrong type to a
can be of any type. variable name triggers a type
●No type casting is exception.
required when using ●Type casting is required when
container objects using container objects.
Concise Express much in
Verbose Contains more words
limited words
Python Java
Compact Less Compact
Uses Indentation for
Uses braces for structuring code
structuring code
An indentation is the space at the beginning of a line of writing
when it starts further away from the edge of the paper than all
the other lines.
The classical Hello World program illustrating the relative
verbosity of a Java Program and Python Program
Java Code
public class HelloWorld
{
public static void main (String[] args)
{
System.out.println("Hello, world!");
}
}
Python Code
print("Hello, world!")
Similarity with Java
●Require some form of runtime on your system (JVM/Python
runtime)
●Can probably be compiled to executables without the runtime
(this is situational, none of them are designed to work this way)
