Python Essentials for Dummies.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Simpson, Alan.

Series:

--For dummies.

For dummies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Python (Computer program language).

Computer programming.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (195 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Newark : John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2024.

Summary:

Python Essentials For Dummies is a quick reference to all the core concepts in Python, the multifaceted general-purpose language used for everything from building websites to creating apps. This book gets right to the point, with no excess review, wordy explanations, or fluff, making it perfect as a desk reference on the job or as a brush-up as you expand your skills in related areas. Focusing on just the essential topics you need to know to brush up or level up your Python skill, this is the reliable little book you can always turn to for answers.

Contents:

Intro

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Foolish Assumptions

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Chapter 1 Starting with Python

Why Python Is Hot

Choosing the Right Python

Tools for Success

Installing Python and VS Code

Installing the Python extension

Letting AI write your Python code

Using GitHub Copilot

Chapter 2 Using Interactive Mode, Getting Help, and Writing Apps

Using Python's Interactive Mode

Opening Terminal

Going into the Python Interpreter

Entering commands

Using Python's built-in help

Exiting interactive help

Searching for specific help topics online

Creating a Folder for Your Python Code

Typing, Editing, and Debugging Python Code

Writing Python code

Saving your code

Running Python in VS Code

Learning simple debugging

Closing a file

Chapter 3 Python Elements and Syntax

The Zen of Python

Introducing Object-Oriented Programming

Discovering Why Indentations Count, Big Time

Using Python Modules

Chapter 4 Building Your First Python Application

Opening the Python App File

Typing and Using Python Comments

Understanding Python Data Types

Numbers

Integers

Floats

Words (strings)

Booleans

Working with Python Operators

Arithmetic operators

Comparison operators

Boolean operators

Creating and Using Variables

Creating valid variable names

Creating variables in code

Manipulating variables

Saving your work

Running your Python app in VS Code

Understanding What Syntax Is and Why It Matters

Chapter 5 Working with Numbers, Text, and Dates

Calculating Numbers with Functions

Still More Math Functions

Formatting Numbers

Formatting with f-strings

Showing dollar amounts

Formatting percent numbers.

Formatting width and alignment

Grappling with Weirder Numbers

Manipulating Strings

Concatenating strings

Getting the length of a string

Working with common string operators

Manipulating strings with methods

Uncovering Dates and Times

Working with dates

Calculating timespans

Chapter 6 Controlling the Action

Main Operators for Controlling the Action

Making Decisions with if

Adding else to your if logic

Ternary operations

Repeating a Process with for

Looping through numbers in a range

Looping through a list

Bailing out of a loop

Looping with continue

Nesting loops

Looping with while

Starting while loops over with continue

Breaking while loops with break

Chapter 7 Speeding Along with Lists and Tuples

Defining and Using Lists

Referencing list items by position

Seeing whether a list contains an item

Getting the length of a list

Adding an item to the end of a list

Inserting an item into a list

Changing an item in a list

Combining lists

Removing list items

Clearing out a list

Counting how many times an item appears in a list

Finding a list item's index

Alphabetizing and sorting lists

Reversing a list

Copying a list

What's a Tuple and Who Cares?

Working with Sets

Chapter 8 Wrangling Bigger Chunks of Code

Creating a Function

Commenting a Function

Passing Information to a Function

Defining optional parameters with defaults

Passing multiple values to a function

Using keyword arguments (kwargs)

Passing in an arbitrary number of arguments

Returning Values from Functions

Chapter 9 Sidestepping Errors

Understanding Exceptions

Handling Errors Gracefully

Being Specific about Exceptions

Keeping Your App from Crashing

Adding an else to the Mix.

Using try . . . except . . . else . . . finally

Raising Your Own Exceptions

Chapter 10 Working with External Files

Understanding Text and Binary Files

Opening and Closing Files

Reading a File's Contents

Looping through a File

Looping with readlines()

Looping with readline()

Appending versus overwriting files

Using tell() to determine the pointer location

Moving the pointer with seek()

Reading and Copying a Binary File

Chapter 11 Juggling JSON Data

Organizing JSON Data

Understanding Serialization

Loading Data from JSON Files

Converting an Excel date to a JSON date

Loading unkeyed JSON from a Python string

Loading keyed JSON data from a Python string

Changing JSON data

Removing data from a dictionary

Dumping Python Data to JSON

Chapter 12 Interacting with the Internet

Seeing How the Web Works

Understanding the mysterious URL

Exposing the HTTP headers

Opening a URL from Python

Posting to the web with Python

Scraping the web with Python

Storing the parsed content

Chapter 13 Libraries, Packages, and Modules

Understanding the Python Standard Library

Using the dir() function

Using the help() function

Exploring built-in functions

Exploring Python Packages

Importing Python Modules

Chapter 14 The Ten Most Essential Aspects of Python

Being Pythonic

Identifying the Importance of Indents

Understanding Python Syntax

Appreciating the Flexibility of Python Variables

Seeing Lists as Your Friend

Controlling Your Program

Understanding Python Functions

Figuring Out Errors

Using Other People's Modules

Using the Web and AI When You Have Problems

Index

EULA.

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-394-26348-1

OCLC:

1434258732