The Python Apprentice
- Length: 352 pages
- Edition: 1
- Language: English
- Publisher: Packt Publishing
- Publication Date: 2017-06-21
- ISBN-10: 1788293185
- ISBN-13: 9781788293181
- Sales Rank: #2461867 (See Top 100 Books)
Learn the Python skills and culture you need to become a productive member of any Python project.
About This Book
- Taking a practical approach to studying Python
- A clear appreciation of the sequence-oriented parts of Python
- Emphasis on the way in which Python code is structured
- Learn how to produce bug-free code by using testing tools
Who This Book Is For
The Python Apprentice is for anyone who wants to start building, creating and contributing towards a Python project. No previous knowledge of Python is required, although at least some familiarity with programming in another language is helpful.
What You Will Learn
- Learn the language of Python itself
- Get a start on the Python standard library
- Learn how to integrate 3rd party libraries
- Develop libraries on your own
- Become familiar with the basics of Python testing
In Detail
Experienced programmers want to know how to enhance their craft and we want to help them start as apprentices with Python. We know that before mastering Python you need to learn the culture and the tools to become a productive member of any Python project. Our goal with this book is to give you a practical and thorough introduction to Python programming, providing you with the insight and technical craftsmanship you need to be a productive member of any Python project. Python is a big language, and it’s not our intention with this book to cover everything there is to know. We just want to make sure that you, as the developer, know the tools, basic idioms and of course the ins and outs of the language, the standard library and other modules to be able to jump into most projects.
Style and approach
We introduce topics gently and then revisit them on multiple occasions to add the depth required to support your progression as a Python developer. We’ve worked hard to structure the syllabus to avoid forward references. On only a few occasions do we require you to accept techniques on trust, before explaining them later; where we do, it’s to deliberately establish good habits.
Preface Errata and Suggestions Conventions Used in This Book Code examples Welcome Apprentice! Python Promo Overview What is Python? It’s a programming language! It’s a standard library! It’s a philosophy The journey of a thousand miles… Chapter 1 – Getting started Obtaining and installing Python 3 Starting Python command line REPL Leaving the REPL Code structure and significant indentation Python culture Importing standard library modules Getting help() Scalar data types: integers, floats, None and bool Relational operators Control flow: if-statements and while-loops Summary Chapter 2 – Strings and collections str – an immutable sequence of Unicode code points Moment of zen bytes – an immutable sequence of bytes list – a sequence of objects dict – associating keys with values For-loops – iterating over series of items Putting it all together Summary Chapter 3 – Modularity Organizing code in a .py file Defining functions Organizing our module into functions The Python execution model Setting up a main function with command line argument Moment of zen Docstrings Comments Shebang Summary Chapter 4 – Built-in types and the object model The nature of Python object references Argument passing semantics – pass by object-reference Python return semantics Function arguments in detail The Python type system Variable declaration and scoping Moment of zen Everything is an object Summary Chapter 5 – Exploring built-in collection types tuple – an immutable sequence of objects The tuple constructor Strings in action Moment of zen range – a collection of evenly spaced integers list in action Dictionaries set – an unordered collection of unique elements Collection protocols Summary Chapter 6 – Exceptions Exceptions and control flow Handling exceptions Handling multiple exceptions Programmer errors Empty blocks – the pass statement Exception objects Imprudent return codes Re-raising exceptions Exceptions are part of your function’s API Guard clauses Exceptions, APIs, and protocols Choosing not to guard against TypeError Pythonic style – EAFP versus LBYL Clean-up actions Moment of zen Platform-specific code Summary Chapter 7 - Comprehensions, iterables, and generators Comprehensions Moment of zen Iteration protocols Generator functions Generator expressions “Batteries included” iteration tools Pulling it all together Summary Chapter 8 – Defining new types with classes Defining classes Instance methods Instance initializers Validation and invariants Adding a second class Collaborating classes Moment of zen Booking seats Naming methods for implementation details Sometimes the only object you need is a function Polymorphism and duck-typing Inheritance and implementation sharing Summary Chapter 9 – Files and resource management Files Context managers Moment of zen Binary files File-like objects Other resources Summary Chapter 10 – Unit testing with the Python standard library Test cases Fixtures Assertions Unit testing example: text analysis Using fixtures to create temporary files Using the new fixtures Using assertions to test behavior Testing for exceptions Testing for file existence Moment of zen Summary Chapter 11 – Debugging with PDB Debugging commands Palindrome debugging Summary Afterword: Just the Beginning Appendix A – Virtual environments Creating a virtual environment Activating a virtual environment Deactivating a virtual environment Other tools for working with virtual environments Appendix B – Packaging and distribution Configuring a package with distutils Installing with distutils Packaging with distutils Appendix C – Installing third-party packages Introducing pip The Python Package Index Installing local packages with pip Uninstalling packages Notes
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