Simeon Franklin

Welcome to my Python Fundamentals Course!

Completions from last week are here.

Following are additional resources, links, and documentation that you will need to complete the Python Fundamentals Course. We've added new lab assignments (and try a random project if you run out of things to do) but don't forget to grab the source for the test driven labs referenced in the book. Also you can download a pdf version of the course material.

Group quiz questions can be found here.

Windows users should make sure they have a usable python development environment set up.

Additional Resources

Learn Python the Hard Way!
The official Python docs (but try help and dir first)
The Official Python Tutorial (covering roughly the same ground as our fundamentals course)
Code like a Pythonista: read this and your code will be pythonic.
Doug Hellman's Python Module of the Week - a great way to get to know Python's vast stdlib.
Python in a Nutshell (my favorite reference)
Dive into Python Online Book - somewhat dated but still good and free online book.
An overview of the Python ecosystem as of late 2011

Important Basics You Should Know

Python builtin functions: see the http://docs.python.org/library/functions.html. Or


import __builtin__
dir(__builtin__)

Keywords: see the docs http://docs.python.org/reference/lexical_analysis.html#keywords. Or


import keyword
print(keyword.kwlist)

Tools

Use tools to check the style and correctness of your code - pylint and pep8.py
PDB - the stdlib python console debugger
IPython - a better python shell
Python Regex Testing Tool
virtualenv and virtualenvwrapper - tools for managing python environments. If you find yourself installing 3rd party python code you should be using these tools.
Stuck on windows? Use a replacement console for a much better experience.
Need an IDE? I recommend Notepad++ for windows users needing a text editor (but be sure to set the Preferences -> Language Menu/Tab Settings -> Replace Tab with Spaces checkbox and set the width to 4). If you want more IDE'ish features look at this list - for long time programmers I might recommend PyDev (built on Eclipse) and for newer programmers I recommend Pyscripter. If you're using Linux take the time to learn vi or Emacs (or both!)

Or just append to your .vimrc (thanks Matt Smith!)

" Tabs converted to 4 spaces
set shiftwidth=4
set tabstop=4
set expandtab
set smarttab
set backspace=indent,eol,start

"Optional: Enable syntax highlighting if your install
"supports it
set nocompatible
filetype on

Additional Documentation Referred to in Class

Simple String Formatting
Built In Exception Types
Quick Doctest Overview - but I like to use
```
$ python -m doctest -v myfile.py
```
Don't forget the first dunderscore hack you'll need:
```
if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()
```
A great walkthrough of the stdlib logging module
str.format
JSON in stdlib
List of dunderscore methods
PyMOTW coverage of CSV module
PyMOTW UnitTest
More than you could possibly want to know about dunderscore methods
my PDB tutorial video
David Beazley's great paper on generators

Don't forget the old labs! Also see saved interactive ipython shell sessions (day1, day2, day3, and day 4.) - this contains all the code (mistakes and all) I typed in the most recent class in response to questions.

ps - Go forth and code - but don't do this!