Python 101 (1st Edition)
Python 101 (1st Edition)
About the Book
Note: This book has been replaced with a new edition.
Learn how to program with Python 3 from beginning to end. Python 101 starts off with the fundamentals of Python and then builds onto what you've learned from there. The audience of this book is primarily people who have programmed in the past but want to learn Python. This book covers a fair amount of intermediate level material in addition to the beginner material.
To cover all this information, the book is split into five parts.
Part One
The first part is the beginner section. In it you will learn all the basics of Python. From Python types (strings, lists, dictionaries) to conditional statements to loops. You will also learn about comprehensions, functions and classes and everything in between!
Part Two
This section will be a curated tour of the Python Standard Library. The intent isn't to cover everything in it, but instead it is to show the reader that you can do a lot with Python right out of the box. We'll be covering the modules I find the most useful in day-to-day programming tasks, such as os, sys, logging, threads, and more.
Part Three
An all intermediate section covering lambda, decorators, properties, debugging, testing and profiling.
Part Four
Now things get really interesting! In part four, we will be learning how to install 3rd party libraries (i.e. packages) from the Python Package Index and other locations. We will cover easy_install and pip. This section will also be a series of tutorials where you will learn how to use the packages you download. For example, you will learn how to download a file, parse XML, use an Object Relational Mapper to work with a database, etc.
Part Five
The last section of the book will cover how to share your code with your friends and the world! You will learn how to package it up and share it on the Python Package Index (i.e. how to create an egg or wheel). You will also learn how to create executables using py2exe, bb_freeze, cx_freeze and PyInstaller. Finally you will learn how to create an installer using Inno Setup.
About the Author
Reader Testimonials
Nick Russo
Network Consulting Engineer (CCDE/CCIEx2)
Python programming is quickly becoming a critical skill for network engineers and architects. As a former-coder-turned-networker, I found this book to be refreshingly easy to read with succinct examples. I follow along step-by-step with Mike to code his examples and see the outputs for myself, which builds confidence. This is among the best resources for network engineers who need to brush up on their Python skills or learn Python for the first time. I highly recommend this book!
Table of Contents
-
Introduction
- A Brief History of Python
- About the Author
- Conventions
- Requirements
- Reader Feedback
- Errata
- Code Examples
- Part I - Learning the Basics
-
Chapter 1 - IDLE Programming
- Using IDLE
- Other Tips
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 2 - All About Strings
- How to Create a String
- String Concatenation
- String Methods
- String Slicing
- String Formatting
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 3 - Lists, Tuples and Dictionaries
- Lists
- Tuples
- Dictionaries
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 4 - Conditional Statements
- The if statement
- Boolean Operations
- Checking for Nothing
- Special Characters
- if __name__ == “__main__”
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 5 - Loops
- The for Loop
- The while Loop
- What else is for in loops
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 6 - Python Comprehensions
- List Comprehensions
- Dictionary Comprehensions
- Set Comprehensions
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 7 - Exception Handling
- Common Exceptions
- How to Handle Exceptions
- The finally Statement
- try, except, or else!
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 8 - Working with Files
- How to Read a File
- How To Read Files Piece by Piece
- How to Read a Binary File
- Writing Files in Python
- Using the with Operator
- Catching Errors
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 9 - Importing
- import this
- Using from to import
- Importing Everything!
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 10 - Functions
- An Empty Function (the stub)
- Passing Arguments to a Function
- Keyword Arguments
- *args and **kwargs
- A Note on Scope and Globals
- Coding Tips
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 11 - Classes
- Creating a Class
- What is self?
- Subclasses
- Wrapping Up
- Part II - Learning from the Library
-
Chapter 12 - Introspection
- The Python Type
- The Python Dir
- Python Help!
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 13 - The csv Module
- Reading a CSV File
- Writing a CSV File
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 14 - configparser
- Creating a Config File
- How to Read, Update and Delete Options
- How to Use Interpolation
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 15 - Logging
- Creating a Simple Logger
- How to log From Multiple Modules (and Formatting too!)
- Configuring Logs for Work and Pleasure
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 16 - The os Module
- os.name
- os.environ, os.getenv() and os.putenv()
- os.chdir() and os.getcwd()
- os.mkdir() and os.makedirs()
- os.remove() and os.rmdir()
- os.rename(src, dst)
- os.startfile()
- os.walk()
- os.path
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 17 - The email / smtplib Module
- Email Basics - How to Send an Email with smtplib
- Sending Multiple Emails at Once
- Send email using the TO, CC and BCC lines
- Add an attachment / body using the email module
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 18 - The sqlite Module
- How to Create a Database and INSERT Some Data
- Updating and Deleting Records
- Basic SQLite Queries
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 19 - The subprocess Module
- The call function
- The Popen Class
- Learning to Communicate
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 20 - The sys Module
- sys.argv
- sys.executable
- sys.exit
- sys.path
- sys.platform
- sys.stdin / stdout / stderr
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 21 - The threading module
- Using Threads
- Writing a Threaded Downloader
- Using Queues
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 22 - Working with Dates and Time
- The datetime Module
- datetime.date
- datetime.datetime
- datetime.timedelta
- The time Module
- time.ctime
- time.sleep
- time.strftime
- time.time
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 23 - The xml module
- Working with minidom
- Parsing with ElementTree
- How to Create XML with ElementTree
- How to Edit XML with ElementTree
- How to Parse XML with ElementTree
- Wrapping Up
- Part III - Intermediate Odds and Ends
-
Chapter 24 - The Python Debugger
- How to Start the Debugger
- Stepping Through the Code
- Setting breakpoints
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 25 - Decorators
- A Simple Function
- Creating a Logging Decorator
- Built-in Decorators
- @classmethod and @staticmethod
- Python Properties
- Replacing Setters and Getters with a Python property
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 26 - The lambda
- Tkinter + lambda
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 27 - Code Profiling
- Profiling Your Code with cProfile
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 28 - An Intro to Testing
- Testing with doctest
- Running doctest via the Terminal
- Running doctest Inside a Module
- Running doctest From a Separate File
- Test Driven Development with unittest
- The First Test
- The Second Test
- The Third (and Final) Test
- Other Notes
- Wrapping Up
- Part IV - Tips, Tricks and Tutorials
-
Chapter 29 - Installing Packages
- Installing from Source
- Using easy_install
- Using pip
- A Note on Dependencies
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 30 - ConfigObj
- Getting Started
- Using a configspec
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 31 - Parsing XML with lxml
- Parsing XML with lxml
- Parsing the Book Example
- Parsing XML with lxml.objectify
- Creating XML with lxml.objectify
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 32 - Python Code Analysis
- Getting Started with pylint
- Analyzing Your Code
- Getting Started with pyflakes
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 33 - The requests package
- Using requests
- How to Submit a Web Form
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 34 - SQLAlchemy
- How to Create a Database
- How to Insert / Add Data to Your Tables
- How to Modify Records with SQLAlchemy
- How to Delete Records in SQLAlchemy
- The Basic SQL Queries of SQLAlchemy
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 35 - virtualenv
- Installation
- Creating a Virtual Environment
- Wrapping Up
- Part V - Packaging and Distribution
-
Chapter 36 - Creating Modules and Packages
- How to Create a Python Module
- How to Create a Python Package
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 37 - How to Add Your Code to PyPI
- Creating a setup.py File
- Registering Packages
- Uploading Packages to PyPI
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 38 - The Python egg
- Creating an egg
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 39 - Python wheels
- Getting Started
- Creating a wheel
- Installing a Python wheel
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 40 - py2exe
- Creating a Simple GUI
- The py2exe setup.py file
- Creating an Advanced setup.py File
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 41 - bbfreeze
- Getting Started with bbfreeze
- Using bbfreeze’s Advanced Configuration
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 42 - cx_Freeze
- Getting Started with cx_Freeze
- Advanced cx_Freeze - Using a setup.py File
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 43 - PyInstaller
- Getting Started with PyInstaller
- PyInstaller and wxPython
- Wrapping Up
-
Chapter 44 - Creating an Installer
- Getting Started with GUI2Exe
- Let’s Make an Installer!
- Wrapping Up
-
Appendix A: Putting It All Together
- The Background
- The Specification
- Breaking the Specification Down
- Turning Chapters Into a Book
- Reading the Customer CSV File
- Emailing the PDF
- Putting it all Together
- Wrapping Up
Authors have earned$9,882,857writing, publishing and selling on Leanpub, earning 80% royalties while saving up to 25 million pounds of CO2 and up to 46,000 trees.
Learn more about writing on Leanpub
The Leanpub 45-day 100% Happiness Guarantee
Within 45 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.
See full terms
Free Updates. DRM Free.
If you buy a Leanpub book, you get free updates for as long as the author updates the book! Many authors use Leanpub to publish their books in-progress, while they are writing them. All readers get free updates, regardless of when they bought the book or how much they paid (including free).
Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers), EPUB (for phones and tablets) and MOBI (for Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.
Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.
Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them
Top Books
- #1
C++ Best Practices
Jason TurnerLevel up your C++, get the tools working for you, eliminate common problems, and move on to more exciting things!
- #2
Functional Design and Architecture
Alexander GraninSoftware Design in Functional Programming, Design Patterns and Practices, Methodologies and Application Architectures. How to build real software in Haskell with less efforts and low risks. The first complete source of knowledge.
- #3
OpenIntro Statistics
David Diez, Christopher Barr, Mine Cetinkaya-Rundel, and OpenIntroA complete foundation for Statistics, also serving as a foundation for Data Science.
Leanpub revenue supports OpenIntro (US-based nonprofit) so we can provide free desk copies to teachers interested in using OpenIntro Statistics in the classroom and expand the project to support free textbooks in other subjects.
More resources: openintro.org.
- #4
R Programming for Data Science
Roger D. PengThis book brings the fundamentals of R programming to you, using the same material developed as part of the industry-leading Johns Hopkins Data Science Specialization. The skills taught in this book will lay the foundation for you to begin your journey learning data science. Printed copies of this book are available through Lulu.
- #5
C++20
Rainer GrimmC++20 is the next big C++ standard after C++11. As C++11 did it, C++20 changes the way we program modern C++. This change is, in particular, due to the big four of C++20: ranges, coroutines, concepts, and modules.
- #6
I am a Software Engineer and I am in Charge
Alexis Monville and Michael DoyleI am a Software Engineer and I am in Charge is a real-world, practical book that helps you increase your impact and satisfaction at work no matter who you work with.
In the book, we will follow Sandrine, a fictional character who learns to think in a new way enabling her to take a different course of action.
- #7
Invest In Digital Health - The Medical Futurist's Guide
Dr. Bertalan MeskoArtificial Intelligence and Digital Health are booming. In this book, we explain why now it's a good time to invest in Digital Health and give recommendations on where to invest by looking at the top 24 technological trends we find the most promising.
- #8
Atomic Kotlin
Bruce Eckel and Svetlana IsakovaFor both beginning and experienced programmers! From the author of the multi-award-winning Thinking in C++ and Thinking in Java together with a member of the Kotlin language team comes a book that breaks the concepts into small, easy-to-digest "atoms," along with exercises supported by hints and solutions directly inside IntelliJ IDEA!
- #9
The Hundred-Page Machine Learning Book
Andriy BurkovEverything you really need to know in Machine Learning in a hundred pages.
- #10
Mastering STM32
Carmine NovielloWith more than 600 microcontrollers, STM32 is probably the most complete ARM Cortex-M platform on the market. This book aims to be the first guide around that introduces the reader to this exciting MCU portfolio from ST Microelectronics and its official CubeHAL.
Top Bundles
- #1
Software Architecture for Developers: Volumes 1 & 2 - Technical leadership and communication
2 Books
"Software Architecture for Developers" is a practical and pragmatic guide to modern, lightweight software architecture, specifically aimed at developers. You'll learn:The essence of software architecture.Why the software architecture role should include coding, coaching and collaboration.The things that you really need to think about before... - #2
The Future of Digital Health
6 Books
We put together the most popular books from The Medical Futurist to provide a clear picture about the major trends shaping the future of medicine and healthcare. Digital health technologies, artificial intelligence, the future of 20 medical specialties, big pharma, data privacy and how technology giants such as Amazon or Google want to conquer... - #3
Cisco CCNA 200-301 Complet
4 Books
Ce lot comprend les quatre volumes du guide préparation à l'examen de certification Cisco CCNA 200-301. - #4
CCDE Practical Studies (All labs)
3 Books
CCDE lab - #5
"The C++ Standard Library" and "Concurrency with Modern C++"
2 Books
Get my books "The C++ Standard Library" and "Concurrency with Modern C++" in a bundle. The first book gives you the details you should know about the C++ standard library; the second one dives deeper into concurrency with modern C++. In sum, you get more than 600 pages full of modern C++ and about 250 source files presenting the standard library... - #6
Modern Management Made Easy
3 Books
Read all three Modern Management Made Easy books. Learn to manage yourself, lead and serve others, and lead the organization. - #7
Programming with Ease
3 Books
Alle drei Bände der Serie Programming with Ease in einem Paket. Darin findest du alles, was ich dir zu den wichtigsten Phasen der Softwareentwicklung im Hinblick auf Clean Code Development für langfristig hohe Produktivität sagen kann.Im Band Slicing findest du die Anforderungsanalyse im Rahmen eines iterativ-inkrementellen Vorgehensmodells aus... - #8
Vagrant Ansible
2 Books
Unveil the power of Ansible and Vagrant with this bundle at a special price. You'll have everything you need to get started with Vagrant - learn the basics and how to create your virtual development environments, using Ansible as provisioner! About Vagrant Cookbook Vagrant Cookbook is a complete guide to get started with Vagrant and create your... - #9
Mastering Containers
2 Books
Docker and Kubernetes are taking the world by storm! These books will get you up-to-speed fast! Docker Deep Dive is over 400 pages long, and covers all objectives on the Docker Certified Associate exam.The Kubernetes Book includes everything you need to get up and running with Kubernetes! - #10
Growing Agile: The Complete Coach's Guide
7 Books
Growing Agile: Coach's Guide Series This bundle provides a collection of training and workshop plans for a variety of agile topics. The series is aimed at agile coaches, trainers and ScrumMasters who often find themselves needing to help teams understand agile concepts. Each book in the series provides the plans, slides, handouts and activity...
