Survival Python

Discover the basics of Python, including what Python is used for, a hello world example, variable assignment and naming rules, and Python comments.

Explore how Python, a versatile and readable language released in 1991, supports quick scripting, automation, big data analysis, machine learning, and web apps across Windows, Mac, Linux, and Raspberry Pi.

Learn the first steps in Python by writing a hello world script, using print to display a string, and understanding string quotes and running the program on the command line.

Understand Python variable assignment: variables are created on assignment and can hold type, sometimes overwritten. Follow naming rules: start with a letter or underscore, and use alphanumeric characters and underscores.

Learn to use code comments in Python, including line comments with a hash, inline comments, and multiline comments with triple quotes, noting that the interpreter ignores them at runtime.

Explore the most common Python data types: integers, floats, strings, and booleans, and learn lists and dictionaries for storing collections of other data types.

Explore integers as whole numbers in Python, assign them to variables like X, print to verify, and use the built-in type function to confirm they are of type int.

Explore floats in Python by assigning decimal values, printing them and their types, and using scientific notation like 4.01e5 to represent powers of ten.

Represent non numerical information in Python with quotes and multiline triple quotes that preserve newlines and tabs. Cast numbers with the string constructor and note identical prints, but different types.

Explore booleans in python by assigning true or false to variables, using boolean data types, and evaluating comparisons with the double equals operator to return true or false.

Explore how Python stores collections using lists, brackets, and commas, creating empty lists, appending items with append, and retrieving elements by index with zero-based indexing.

Master Python dictionaries to store data as key-value pairs, access values directly by key, and replace lists for scalable, fast lookups of friends' details.

Explore Python's operators, from arithmetic to comparison, logical (and, or, not), and membership checks in collections. Learn how these tools evaluate equality, greater than, and less than.

Explore six common arithmetic operators in Python, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and modulus, and learn how the print function displays multiple results.

Explore how Python's comparison operators return booleans and test equality and inequality, using ==, !=, >, <, >=, and <=.

Explore how to use Python logical operators and combine conditions to control program flow, with examples of and, or, not for profile access, gift reminders, and grouping with parentheses.

Learn how membership operators in Python test for items in lists and keys in dictionaries, returning true or false, with not in flipping results and supporting nested collections.

Explore control structures in python, using conditional statements and loops to run code conditionally and iterate over inputs. Compare while and for loops, and learn when to use each.

Explore Python's if statements and indentation, learn how boolean expressions control code blocks, and examine nesting and truth values through practical examples.

See how if, elif, and else control flow in Python grade scores with messages like great job or you could do better, using single comparisons and careful order.

Learn how while loops in Python repeat actions until the condition is met, illustrated by counting by fives to fifty.

Learn to define and call your own Python functions, pass arguments, return values, and set default arguments, building reusable code without rewriting blocks.

Write your first python function with def, call it to execute, and print hello from within; the interpreter reads top to bottom, and order of calls determines when code runs.

Define a function that takes a full name as an argument, splits it into first and last names using a space flag and a while loop, and prints them.

Discover how functions return values, not just print results, using a full name example and multiple returns in if blocks, and understand how return stops function execution.

Learn how default arguments work in Python by examining a teacher comment function that uses a default empty string for the student name and processes test scores from a dictionary.

Expand your understanding of Python data types by deepening knowledge of integers, floats, strings, booleans, lists, and dictionaries, and learn new functions to write cleaner, faster, and more reliable code.

Explore casting between strings, ints, and floats, including truncation to ints. Ensure a string represents an integer to cast to int, and round controls precision.

Explore common Python string methods such as split, replace, and slicing, and learn to build readable strings with format while handling delimited data like csv.

Explore booleans in Python, including implicit truth values for strings, lists, and dicts, and compare implicit vs explicit true or false to understand how casting affects control flow.

Discover Python list operations, including slicing and len, appending and inserting, index-based updates, and list concatenation. Understand removing items by value or index and first-match behavior.

Explore adding, editing, and removing dictionary items in Python, including using del and pop to delete keys, while noting dictionaries have no intrinsic order.

Learn to organize Python code by splitting into multiple files and importing functions across modules. Explore importing from the standard library, getting user input, and handling errors.

Learn how Python imports allow you to split code into multiple files, call functions with dot syntax, and selectively import with from, enabling modular, reusable teacher comment logic.

Explore importing from Python's standard library, using the os and random packages to access operating system details, directory listings, and pseudo random functions like randint, shuffle, and choice.

Learn how to get user input in Python using the built-in input function, with prompts and stored responses. Create interactive scripts with menus and simple list operations.

Use try and except blocks to catch errors and continue execution after failures, such as value errors from list indexing. Improve error messages and log errors for debugging unpredictable inputs.