Python Basics (2021-11-17 - 2021-11-19)

Day 1

Day 2

  • while Loops

  • for Loops

    • while and for in C (similar in Jave and C#): for is just a shorthand for while - as opposed to Python.

      #include <stdio.h>
      
      
      int main(void)
      {
          int i = 0;
          int s = 0;
          while (i <= 10) {
              s += i;
              i += 1;
          }
          printf("sum (while): %d\n", s);
      
          s = 0;
          for (i = 0; i <= 10; i++)
              s += i;
          printf("sum (for): %d\n", s);
          
          return 0;
      }
      
  • Sequential Datatypes

  • Exercise: Function: uniq()

    ../../../../_images/uniq-algo.png
    lin = [2,1,3,10,3,3,1,10,5,2]
    
    lout = []
    have = set()  # maintained in parallel to answer the "schon gesehen?"
                  # question faster
    
    for element in lin:
        if element not in have:
            lout.append(element)
            have.add(element)
    
    print('outputliste:', lout)
    print('have:', have)
    
  • File I/O

  • Exercise: Parsing /etc/passwd

    • Solution 1: relatively explicit and long

      import sys
      import pprint
      
      
      filename = sys.argv[1]
      username = sys.argv[2]
      
      userdatabase = {}
      
      f = open(filename)
      for line in f:
          line = line.rstrip()   # remove linefeed at end of line
          fields = line.split(':')
      
          username = fields[0]
          password = fields[1]
          userid = int(fields[2])
          groupid = int(fields[3])
          description = fields[4]
          home = fields[5]
          loginshell = fields[6]
      
          userrecord = {}
          userrecord['username'] = username
          userrecord['password'] = password
          userrecord['userid'] = userid
          userrecord['groupid'] = groupid
          userrecord['description'] = description
          userrecord['home'] = home
          userrecord['loginshell'] = loginshell
      
          # pprint.pprint(userrecord, indent=4)
      
          userdatabase[username] = userrecord
          
      #pprint.pprint(userdatabase, indent=4)
      
      pprint.pprint(userdatabase[username])
      
    • Solution 2: dense, short, requires a bit of programming pratice (not much though)

      import sys
      import pprint
      
      
      filename = sys.argv[1]
      username = sys.argv[2]
      
      userdatabase = {}
      
      f = open(filename)
      for line in f:
          username, password, userid, groupid, description, home, loginshell = line.rstrip().split(':')
          userdatabase[username] = {
              'username': username,
              'password': password,
              'userid': userid,
              'groupid': groupid,
              'description': description,
              'home': home,
              'loginshell': loginshell,
          }
      
      pprint.pprint(userdatabase[username])
      

Day 3

  • Back to Exercise: Function: uniq(): set usage for speed!

  • The range Function

  • Iteration, Comprehensions, and Generators

  • Fibonacci Numbers: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, …

    def fibo():
        '''
        Generate the *infinite* fibonacci sequence. Note that we use the
        ``yield`` statement and not ``return`` - this makes this a
        *generator* which is fundamentally different from a *function*.
        '''
    
        first = second = 1
    
        yield first
        yield second
    
        while True:
            next = first + second
            yield next
            first, second = second, next
    
    if __name__ == '__main__':    # started as program, and not imported
        nums = fibo()
        for i in nums:
            print(i)
    
  • Iterable and dict, list. See notebook.

  • Comprehensions. See notebook.

  • More About Lists

  • More About Dictionaries

  • More About Sets

  • References, (Im)mutability

  • Functions

  • Modules and Packages

  • CSV Files

  • Exercise: Read CSV File

    The module stock.py:

    import csv
    import datetime
    
    # note: functions prefixed with '_' are not imported when someone says
    # "from there import *". those functions are internal to this module,
    # so it is good practice to hide them in such a way.
    
    def _fix_float_number(record, fieldname):
        old = record[fieldname]
        old = old.replace(',', '.')
        new = float(old)
        record[fieldname] = new
    
    def _fix_bool(record, fieldname):
        old = record[fieldname]
        if old == 'T':
            new = True
        elif old == 'F':
            new = False
        else:
            new = True
        record[fieldname] = new
    
    def _fix_date(record, fieldname):
        old = record[fieldname]
        new = datetime.datetime.strptime(old, '%Y%m%d')
        record[fieldname] = new
    
    def read_stock(filename):
        csvfile = open(filename)
        rdr = csv.DictReader(csvfile, delimiter=';')
    
        converted_records = []
        for record in rdr:
            _fix_date(record, 'AS_OF_DATE')
            _fix_bool(record, 'FUND_IN_UNIVERSE')
            _fix_bool(record, 'FUND_OF_FUNDS')
            _fix_float_number(record, 'FUND_HOLDINGS_COUNT')
            _fix_float_number(record, 'FUND_HOLDING_FUNDS_COUNT')
            converted_records.append(record)
    
        return converted_records
    

    The program read-stock.py:

    import stock
    import sys
    from pprint import pprint
    
    for record in stock.read_stock(sys.argv[1]):
        pprint(record)
    
  • Databases

  • Exercise: Read CSV File, Write into Sqlite3 Database

    The program stock-to-db.py:

    import stock
    
    import sys
    import sqlite3
    
    csvname = sys.argv[1]
    dbname = sys.argv[2]
    
    db = sqlite3.connect(dbname)
    
    for record in stock.read_stock(csvname):
        stmt = f'''
        insert into records values (
            "{record['FUND_ISIN']}", 
            "{record['FUND_NAME']}", 
            "{record['FUND_TICKER']}"
        );
        '''
        db.execute(stmt)
    
    db.commit()
    

Jupyter Notebook

PCAP Exam Syllabus

Exam block #1: Modules and Packages (12%)

Objectives covered by the block (6 items)

  • import variants; advanced qualifiying for nested modules

    Comment: os.path

  • dir(); sys.path variable

  • math: ceil(), floor(), trunc(), factorial(), hypot(), sqrt(); random: random(), seed(), choice(), sample()

  • platform: platform(), machine(), processor(), system(), version(), python_implementation(), python_version_tuple()

  • idea, __pycache__, __name__, public variables, __init__.py

  • searching for modules/packages; nested packages vs directory tree

Exam block #2: Exceptions (14%)

Objectives covered by the block (5 items)

  • except, except:-except; except:-else:, except (e1,e2)

  • the hierarchy of exceptions

  • raise, raise ex, assert

  • event classes, except E as e, arg property

  • self-defined exceptions, defining and using

Exam block #3: Strings (18%)

Objectives covered by the block (8 items)

  • ASCII, UNICODE, UTF-8, codepoints, escape sequences

  • ord(), chr(), literals

  • indexing, slicing, immutability

  • iterating through,

  • concatenating, multiplying, comparing (against strings and numbers)

  • in, not in

  • .isxxx(), .join(), .split()

  • .sort(), sorted(), .index(), .find(), .rfind()

Exam block #4: Object-Oriented Programming (34%)

Objectives covered by the block (12 items)

  • ideas: class, object, property, method, encapsulation, inheritance, grammar vs class, superclass, subclass

  • instance vs class variables: declaring, initializing

  • __dict__ property (objects vs classes)

  • private components (instance vs classes), name mangling

  • methods: declaring, using, self parameter

  • instrospection: hasattr() (objects vs classes), __name__, __module__, __bases__ properties

  • inheritance: single, multiple, isinstance(), overriding, not is and is operators

  • constructors: declaring and invoking

  • polymorphism

  • __name__, __module__, __bases__ properties, __str__() method

  • multiple inheritance, diamonds

Exam block #5: Miscellaneous (List Comprehensions, Lambdas, Closures, and I/O Operations) (22%)

Objectives covered by the block (9 items)

  • list comprehension: if operator, using list comprehensions

  • lambdas: defining and using lambdas, self-defined functions taking lambda as as arguments; map(), filter();

  • closures: meaning, defining, and using closures

  • I/O Operations: I/O modes, predefined streams, handles; text/binary modes

  • open(), errno and its values; close()

  • .read(), .write(), .readline(); readlines() (along with bytearray())