Python Essentials For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

The no-nonsense way to get started coding in the Python programming language Python Essentials For Dummies is a quick reference to all the core concepts in Python, the multifaceted general-purpose language used for everything from building websites to creating apps. This book gets right to the point, with no excess review, wordy explanations, or fluff, making it perfect as a desk reference on the job or as a brush-up as you expand your skills in related areas. Focusing on just the essential topics you need to know to brush up or level up your Python skill, this is the reliable little book you can always turn to for answers. • Get a quick and thorough intro to the basic concepts of coding in Python • Review what you've already learned or pick up essential new skills • Create websites, software, machine learning, and automation for school or work • Keep this concise reference book handy for jogging your memory as you code This portable Dummies Essentials book focuses on the key topics you need to know about the popular Python language. Great for supplementing a course, reviewing for a certification, or staying knowledgeable on the job. Cover Title Page Copyright Introduction About This Book Foolish Assumptions Icons Used in This Book Where to Go from Here Chapter 1: Starting with Python Why Python Is Hot Choosing the Right Python Tools for Success Chapter 2: Using Interactive Mode, Getting Help, and Writing Apps Using Python’s Interactive Mode Creating a Folder for Your Python Code Typing, Editing, and Debugging Python Code Chapter 3: Python Elements and Syntax The Zen of Python Introducing Object-Oriented Programming Discovering Why Indentations Count, Big Time Using Python Modules Chapter 4: Building Your First Python Application Opening the Python App File Typing and Using Python Comments Understanding Python Data Types Working with Python Operators Creating and Using Variables Understanding What Syntax Is and Why It Matters Chapter 5: Working with Numbers, Text, and Dates Calculating Numbers with Functions Still More Math Functions Formatting Numbers Grappling with Weirder Numbers Manipulating Strings Uncovering Dates and Times Chapter 6: Controlling the Action Main Operators for Controlling the Action Making Decisions with if Repeating a Process with for Looping with while Chapter 7: Speeding Along with Lists and Tuples Defining and Using Lists What’s a Tuple and Who Cares? Working with Sets Chapter 8: Wrangling Bigger Chunks of Code Creating a Function Commenting a Function Passing Information to a Function Returning Values from Functions Chapter 9: Sidestepping Errors Understanding Exceptions Handling Errors Gracefully Being Specific about Exceptions Keeping Your App from Crashing Adding an else to the Mix Using try ... except ... else ... finally Raising Your Own Exceptions Chapter 10: Working with External Files Understanding Text and Binary Files Opening and Closing Files Reading a File’s Contents Looping through a File Reading and Copying a Binary File Chapter 11: Juggling JSON Data Organizing JSON Data Understanding Serialization Loading Data from JSON Files Dumping Python Data to JSON Chapter 12: Interacting with the Internet Seeing How the Web Works Chapter 13: Libraries, Packages, and Modules Understanding the Python Standard Library Exploring Python Packages Importing Python Modules Chapter 14: The Ten Most Essential Aspects of Python Being Pythonic Identifying the Importance of Indents Understanding Python Syntax Appreciating the Flexibility of Python Variables Seeing Lists as Your Friend Controlling Your Program Understanding Python Functions Figuring Out Errors Using Other People’s Modules Using the Web and AI When You Have Problems Index About the Authors Connect with Dummies End User License Agreement List of Tables Chapter 4 TABLE 4-1 Python’s Arithmetic Operators TABLE 4-2 Python Comparison Operators TABLE 4-3 Python Boolean Operators Chapter 5 TABLE 5-1 Some Built-In Python Functions for Numbers TABLE 5-2 Some Functions from the Python Math Module TABLE 5-3 Python for Base 2, 8, and 16 Numbers TABLE 5-4 Python Sequence Operators That Work with Strings TABLE 5-5 Built-In Methods for Python 3 Strings TABLE 5-6 Sample Date Format Strings TABLE 5-7 Sample Datetime Format Strings Chapter 6 TABLE 6-1 Python Comparison Operators for Decision-Making TABLE 6-2 Python Logical Operators Chapter 7 TABLE 7-1 Methods for Working with Lists Chapter 11 TABLE 11-1 Python JSON Methods for Serializing and Deserializing JSON Data TABLE 11-2 Python and JSON Data Conversions Chapter 12 TABLE 12-1 Common HTTP Status Codes TABLE 12-2 Packages from the Python urllib Library List of Illustrations Chapter 1 FIGURE 1-1: Obtaining the Python extension in VS Code. FIGURE 1-2: The GitHub Copilot extension in VS Code. FIGURE 1-3: The Accounts and Copilot icons in VS Code. Chapter 2 FIGURE 2-1: The Terminal pane in VS Code. FIGURE 2-2: Python doesn’t know what howdy means. FIGURE 2-3: Keyword help. FIGURE 2-4: The hello.py file contains some Python code and has unsaved changes... FIGURE 2-5: Output from FIGURE 2-6: PRINT is typed incorrectly in Chapter 3 FIGURE 3-1: The Zen of Python. Chapter 4 FIGURE 4-1: The hello.py file, open for editing in VS Code. FIGURE 4-2: The 19.9 is the output from print(extended_price) in the code. Chapter 5 FIGURE 5-1: Using the sqrt() function from the math module. FIGURE 5-2: A super simple f-string for formatting. Chapter 6 FIGURE 6-1: The result of a simple if when the condition proves true. FIGURE 6-2: Print an initial greeting based on the time of day. FIGURE 6-3: Looping through a list. FIGURE 6-4: Nested loops. FIGURE 6-5: An infinite while loop. FIGURE 6-6: A while loop with Chapter 7 FIGURE 7-1: Seeing whether an item is in a list. FIGURE 7-2: Program fails when trying to find the index of a nonexistent list i... Chapter 8 FIGURE 8-1: Writing, and calling, a simple function named FIGURE 8-2: A sample function with a couple of comments added. FIGURE 8-3: Passing data to a function via a variable. FIGURE 8-4: The hello function with three parameters. FIGURE 8-5: Calling the hello() function with three parameters, and again with ... FIGURE 8-6: Calling a function with keyword arguments (kwargs). FIGURE 8-7: A function accepting any number of arguments with FIGURE 8-8: Printing a string returned by the alphabetize() function. Chapter 9 FIGURE 9-1: The showfilecontents.py and people.csv files in a folder in VS Code... FIGURE 9-2: The contents of the people.csv file in Excel (top) and a text edito... FIGURE 9-3: The showfilecontents.py file raises an exception. FIGURE 9-4: The showfilecontents.py file catches the error and displays a frien... FIGURE 9-5: The correct error message is displayed. FIGURE 9-6: Code with try, exception handlers, and an else: block for when ther... Chapter 10 FIGURE 10-1: Common text and binary files. FIGURE 10-2: The binarycopy.py file copies any binary file. FIGURE 10-3: Running binarycopy.py added happy_pickle_copy.jpg to the folder. Chapter 11 FIGURE 11-1: Some data in an Excel spreadsheet. FIGURE 11-2: Excel spreadsheet data converted to JSON format. FIGURE 11-3: Some data in a Google Firebase Realtime Database. FIGURE 11-4: Output from showing one value at a time from each dictionary (see ... FIGURE 11-5: Changing the value of one key in each dictionary, and removing an ... Chapter 12 FIGURE 12-1: The client makes a request, and the server sends back a response. FIGURE 12-2: Different parts of URLs. FIGURE 12-3: Inspecting HTTP headers with Google Chrome. FIGURE 12-4: HTTP headers. FIGURE 12-5: Sample page used for web scraping. FIGURE 12-6: Some of the code from the sample page for web scraping. FIGURE 12-7: Web scraping code complete. Chapter 13 FIGURE 13-1: Python’s built-in functions.