Python Programming

Prerequisites:

Students should have taken the Software Development for Non-Programmers course or have some experience with at least one programming language. Typically, students in this course will have already programmed in either C, C++, Java, Perl, Ruby, VB, or anything equivalent to these languages. 

Target Audience:

This course is designed for anyone who needs to learn how to write programs in Python. 

Course Objectives:

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Execute Python code in a variety of environments
• Use correct Python syntax in Python programs
• Use the Python control flow constructs correctly
• Write Python programs using various collection data types
• Write homegrown Python functions
• Use many of the standard Python modules such as os, sys, math, and time
• Handle various exceptions via the Python Exception Handling model
• Use the io module in Python to read and write disk files
• Create custom classes and use existing Python classes
• Understand and use the Object-Oriented paradigm in Python programs
• Use the Python Regular Expression capabilities for data verification
• Differentiate between the proper use of Python collection classes
• Use advanced data structures
• Use Python list comprehensions
• Use Python generators
• Write GUI programs in Python
• Write CGI programs in Python
• Create and execute processes
• Write Network Programs in Python
• Use Python to store data in a variety of ways including the use of a database

Course Outline:

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Python

• Introduction
• A Brief History of Python
• Python Versions
• Installing Python
• Environment Variables
• Executing Python from the Command Line
• IDLE
• Editing Python Files
• Python Documentation
• Getting Help
• Dynamic Types
• Python Reserved Words
• Naming Conventions

Chapter 2: Basic Python Syntax

• Basic Syntax
• Comments
• String Values
• String Methods
• The format Method
• String Operators
• Numeric Data Types
• Conversion Functions
• Simple Output
• Simple Input
• The % Method
• The print Function

Chapter 3: Language Components

• Indenting Requirements
• The if Statement
• Relational and Logical Operators
• BitWise Operators
• The while Loop
• break and continue
• The for Loop

Chapter 4: Collections

• Introduction
• Lists
• Tuples
• Sets
• Dictionaries
• Sorting Dictionaries
• Copying Collections
• Summary

Chapter 5: Functions

• Introduction
• Defining Your Own Functions
• Parameters
• Function Documentation
• Keyword and Optional Parameters
• Passing Collections to a Function
• Variable Number of Arguments
• Scope
• Functions – "First Class Citizens"
• Passing Functions to a Function
• map
• filter
• Mapping Functions in a Dictionary
• Lambda
• Inner Functions
• Closures

Chapter 6: Modules

• Modules
• Standard Modules – sys
• Standard Modules – math
• Standard Modules – time
• The dir Function

Chapter 7: Exceptions

• Errors
• Runtime Errors
• The Exception Model
• Exception Hierarchy
• Handling Multiple Exceptions
• raise
• assert

Chapter 8: Input and Output

• Introduction
• Data Streams
• Creating Your Own Data Streams
• Access Modes
• Writing Data to a File
• Reading Data From a File
• Additional File Methods
• Using Pipes as Data Streams
• Handling IO Exceptions
• Working with Directories
• Metadata
• The pickle Module

Chapter 9: Classes in Python

• Classes in Python
• Principles of Object Orientation
• Creating Classes
• Instance Methods
• File Organization
• Special Methods
• Class Variables
• Inheritance
• Polymorphism
• Type Identification
• Custom Exception Classes

Chapter 10: Regular Expressions

• Introduction
• Simple Character Matches
• Special Characters
• Character Classes
• Quantifiers
• The Dot Character
• Greedy Matches
• Grouping
• Matching at Beginning or End
• Match Objects
• Substituting
• Splitting a String
• Compiling Regular Expressions
• Flags

Chapter 11: Data Structures

• List Comprehensions
• Nested List Comprehensions
• Dictionary Comprehensions
• Dictionaries with Compound Values
• Processing Lists in Parallel
• Specialized Sorts
• Time Functionality
• Generators

Chapter 12: Writing GUIs in Python

• Introduction
• Components and Events
• An Example GUI
• The Tk Widget
• Button Widgets
• Entry Widgets
• Text Widgets
• Check button Widgets
• Radiobutton Widgets
• Listbox Widgets
• Frame Widgets
• Menu Widgets
• Toplevel Widgets
• Dialogs

Chapter 13: Python and CGI Scripts

• What is CGI
• HTML
• HTML Forms
• A Guestbook Application
• What Can Go Wrong!
• HTML Tables
• The CGI Script
• Rendering of the Script

Chapter 14: The os module

• The Environment
• Creating a Process
• Listing Files
• Other Process Methods
• File Information (Metadata)
• Working With Directories

Chapter 15: Network Programming

• Networking Fundamentals
• The Client/Server Model
• The socket Module
• A Client Program
• A Server Program
• An Evaluation Client and Server
• A Threaded Server

Chapter 16: Python and Databases

• Introduction
• DBM Operations
• Pickling
• Pickling with Complex Objects
• Shelves
• Using sqlite3
• Executing Queries
• Table Descriptions
• Writing Database Scripts