Comprehensive Python Programming

• Five days, roughly 50% hands-on lab and 50% instruction, demonstration and discussion.
• Introductory-and-beyond: starts at the basics and continues well past them.
• Emphasis on features unique to Python: tuples, array slices, comprehensions and output formatting.
• Materials: a 500+ page course manual and a double-sided Python 3 quick reference.

• Developers who want to use Python across a wide range of work.
• Anyone who wants to automate or simplify common tasks with Python scripts.
• Technical staff moving to Python from another language.

• Basic familiarity with any programming or scripting language is helpful.
• A working, user-level knowledge of Linux, macOS or Windows.
• No prior Python experience is required.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• create working Python scripts that follow current best practice
• use Python data types appropriately, including the lesser known but powerful ones
• read and write files containing both text and binary data
• search and replace text with regular expressions
• work productively with the standard library and its work-saving modules
• know when to reach for lists, tuples, dictionaries or sets
• use Pythonic features such as list comprehensions and generators
• write robust code with exception handling and logging
• work with dates, times and calendars
• create and replicate virtual environments

• 1. The Python Environment
  • Starting Python, using the interpreter, running a script, editors and IDEs.
• 2. Variables and Values
  • Using variables, builtin functions, string data, numeric data, converting types.
• 3. Basic Input and Output
  • Writing to the screen, string formatting, command-line arguments, reading the keyboard.
• 4. Flow Control The if statement, relational and Boolean values, while loops, exiting from loops.
• 5. Array Types
  • Sequence types, lists and list methods, tuples, indexing and slicing, iteration,
  • sequence functions and operators, list comprehensions and generators.
• 6. Working with Files
  • File I/O overview, opening, reading and writing text files.
• 7. Dictionaries and Sets
  • Creating dictionaries, getting values, iteration, creating and working with sets.
• 8. Functions
  • Defining functions, returning values, parameters and arguments, variable scope.
• 9. Sorting The sorted() function, custom sort keys, lambda functions, reverse sorting, min() and max().
• 10. Exception Handling and Logging
  • Exceptions, try/except/else/finally, handling multiple exceptions, logging setup and basic logging.
• 11. Modules and Packages
  • Creating modules, the import statement, module search path, using packages, function and module aliases.
• 12. Introduction to Classes
  • Object-oriented programming, defining classes, constructors, self, properties,
  • instance and class methods and data, inheritance.
• 13. Regular Expressions
  • RE syntax and objects, searching and matching, compilation flags, groups,
  • search-and-replace, splitting strings.
• 14. Dates and Times
  • Representations, parsing dates from text, formatting, converting, calendar data, time zones.
• 15. Working with the File System
  • Paths, directories and filenames, checking existence, permissions and attributes,
  • walking directory trees, shutil operations.
• 16. Advanced Data Handling
  • defaultdict and Counter, pretty-printing data structures, compressed archives, persistent data.
• 17. Network Programming
  • Using requests, grabbing web content, sending email, SSH for remote access, FTP.
• 18. Effective Scripts
  • Reading input files Unix-style, parsing command-line options, detecting the platform, logging.
• 19. Virtual Environments
  • Why they are needed, creating one, replicating an environment, common issues.

• Any operating system.
• Python 3 (python.org or Anaconda).
• A Python-aware IDE - Visual Studio Code recommended; PyCharm Community Edition or Eclipse also work.
• Detailed setup instructions are supplied before class.