The Python Apprentice

Preface

1. Errata and Suggestions
2. Conventions Used in This Book
3. Code examples

Welcome Apprentice!

Python Promo

Overview

What is Python?

1. It’s a programming language!
2. It’s a standard library!
3. It’s a philosophy

The journey of a thousand miles…

Chapter 1 – Getting started

1. Obtaining and installing Python 3
2. Starting Python command line REPL
3. Leaving the REPL
4. Code structure and significant indentation
5. Python culture
6. Importing standard library modules
7. Getting help()
8. Scalar data types: integers, floats, None and bool
9. Relational operators
10. Control flow: if-statements and while-loops
11. Summary

Chapter 2 – Strings and collections

1. str – an immutable sequence of Unicode code points
2. Moment of zen
3. bytes – an immutable sequence of bytes
4. String differences between Python 3 and Python 2
5. list – a sequence of objects
6. dict – associating keys with values
7. For-loops – iterating over series of items
8. Putting it all together
9. HTTP access problems?
10. Summary

Chapter 3 – Modularity

1. Organizing code in a .py file
2. Defining functions
3. Organizing our module into functions
4. Speaking Python aloud
5. The Python execution model
6. Setting up a main function with command line argument
7. Moment of zen
8. Docstrings
9. Comments
10. Shebang
11. Summary

Chapter 4 – Built-in types and the object model

1. The nature of Python object references
2. Argument passing semantics – pass by object-reference
3. Python return semantics
4. Function arguments in detail
5. The Python type system
6. Variable declaration and scoping
7. Moment of zen
8. Everything is an object
9. Summary

Chapter 5 – Exploring built-in collection types

1. tuple – an immutable sequence of objects
2. The tuple constructor
3. Strings in action
4. Moment of zen
5. range – a collection of evenly spaced integers
6. list in action
7. Dictionaries
8. set – an unordered collection of unique elements
9. Collection protocols
10. Summary

Chapter 6 – Exceptions

1. Exceptions and control flow
2. Handling exceptions
3. Handling multiple exceptions
4. Programmer errors
5. Empty blocks – the pass statement
6. Exception objects
7. Imprudent return codes
8. Re-raising exceptions
9. Exceptions are part of your function’s API
10. Guard clauses
11. Exceptions, APIs, and protocols
12. Choosing not to guard against TypeError
13. Pythonic style – EAFP versus LBYL
14. Clean-up actions
15. Moment of zen
16. Platform-specific code
17. Summary

Chapter 7 - Comprehensions, iterables, and generators

1. Comprehensions
2. Moment of zen
3. Iteration protocols
4. Generator functions
5. Generator expressions
6. “Batteries included” iteration tools
7. Pulling it all together
8. Summary

Chapter 8 – Defining new types with classes

1. Defining classes
2. Instance methods
3. Instance initializers
4. Validation and invariants
5. Adding a second class
6. Collaborating classes
7. Moment of zen
8. Booking seats
9. Naming methods for implementation details
10. Sometimes the only object you need is a function
11. Polymorphism and duck-typing
12. Inheritance and implementation sharing
13. Summary

Chapter 9 – Files and resource management

1. Files
2. Context managers
3. Moment of zen
4. Binary files
5. File-like objects
6. Other resources
7. Summary

Chapter 10 – Unit testing with the Python standard library

1. Test cases
2. Fixtures
3. Assertions
4. Unit testing example: text analysis
5. Using fixtures to create temporary files
6. Using the new fixtures
7. Using assertions to test behavior
8. Testing for exceptions
9. Testing for file existence
10. Moment of zen
11. Summary

Chapter 11 – Debugging with PDB

1. Debugging commands
2. Palindrome debugging
3. Summary

Afterword: Just the Beginning

Appendix A – Virtual environments

1. Creating a virtual environment
2. Activating a virtual environment
3. Deactivating a virtual environment
4. Other tools for working with virtual environments

Appendix B – Packaging and distribution

1. Configuring a package with distutils
2. Installing with distutils
3. Packaging with distutils

Appendix C – Installing third-party packages

1. Introducing pip
2. The Python Package Index
3. Installing local packages with pip
4. Uninstalling packages