EITC/CP/PPF Python Programming Fundamentals
Curriculum Reference Resources
Python documentation
https://www.python.org/doc/
Python releases downloads
https://www.python.org/downloads/
Python for Beginners Guide
https://www.python.org/about/gettingstarted/
Python Wiki Beginners Guide
https://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide
First steps
Functions Defined
The core of extensible programming is defining functions. Python allows mandatory and optional arguments, keyword arguments, and even arbitrary argument lists. More about defining functions in Python 3
# Python 3: Fibonacci series up to n
>>> def fib(n):
>>> a, b = 0, 1
>>> while a < n:
>>> print(a, end=' ')
>>> a, b = b, a+b
>>> print()
>>> fib(1000)
0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233 377 610 987Compound Data Types
Lists (known as arrays in other languages) are one of the compound data types that Python understands. Lists can be indexed, sliced and manipulated with other built-in functions. More about lists in Python 3
# Python 3: List comprehensions
>>> fruits = ['Banana', 'Apple', 'Lime']
>>> loud_fruits = [fruit.upper() for fruit in fruits]
>>> print(loud_fruits)
['BANANA', 'APPLE', 'LIME']
# List and the enumerate function
>>> list(enumerate(fruits))
[(0, 'Banana'), (1, 'Apple'), (2, 'Lime')]Intuitive Interpretation
Calculations are simple with Python, and expression syntax is straightforward: the operators +, -, * and / work as expected; parentheses () can be used for grouping. More about simple math functions in Python 3.
# Python 3: Simple arithmetic
>>> 1 / 2
0.5
>>> 2 ** 3
8
>>> 17 / 3 # classic division returns a float
5.666666666666667
>>> 17 // 3 # floor division
5Quick & Easy to Learn
Experienced programmers in any other language can pick up Python very quickly, and beginners find the clean syntax and indentation structure easy to learn. Whet your appetite with our Python 3 overview.
# Python 3: Simple output (with Unicode)
>>> print("Hello, I'm Python!")
Hello, I'm Python!
# Input, assignment
>>> name = input('What is your name?n')
>>> print('Hi, %s.' % name)
What is your name?
Python
Hi, Python.All the Flow You’d Expect
Python knows the usual control flow statements that other languages speak — if, for, while and range — with some of its own twists, of course. More control flow tools in Python 3
# For loop on a list
>>> numbers = [2, 4, 6, 8]
>>> product = 1
>>> for number in numbers:
... product = product * number
...
>>> print('The product is:', product)
The product is: 384
Download the complete offline self-learning preparatory materials for the EITC/CP/PPF Python Programming Fundamentals programme in a PDF file
EITC/CP/PPF preparatory materials – standard version