Python Fundamentals takes you from zero experience to a complete understanding of key concepts, edge cases, and using Python for real-world application development. You'll move progressively from the basics to working with larger complex applications. After completing this book, you'll have the skills you need to dive into an existing ...

• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Introducing Python
  • Introduction
    • Python 2 Versus Python 3
  • Working with the Python Interactive Shell
    • Exercise 1: Checking our Python Installation
    • Exercise 2: Working with the Python Interpreter
    • Activity 1: Working with the Python Shell
  • Writing and Running Simple Scripts
    • Exercise 3: Creating a Script
    • Running a File Containing Invalid Commands
    • Exercise 4: Passing User Arguments to Scripts
    • Activity 2: Running Simple Python Scripts
  • Python Syntax
  • Variables
    • Values
    • Exercise 5: Checking the Type of a Value
    • Type Conversion
    • Exercise 6: Assigning Variables
    • Exercise 7: Using Variables
    • Multiple Assignment
    • Activity 3: Using Variables and Assign Statements
    • Naming Identifiers and Reserved Words
    • Exercise 8: Python Keywords
    • Python Naming Conventions
    • Activity 4: Variable Assignment and Variable Naming Conventions
  • User Input, Comments, and Indentations
    • User Input from the Keyboard
    • Passing in a Prompt to the input Function
    • Using Different Input Data Types in your Program
    • Exercise 9: Fetching and Using User Input
    • Comments
    • Indentation
    • Exercise 10: The Importance of Proper Indentation
    • Activity 5: Fixing Indentations in a Code Block
    • Activity 6: Implementing User Input and Comments in a Script
  • Summary
• Data Types
  • Introduction
  • Numerical Data
    • Types of Numbers
    • Exercise 11: Converting Between Different Types of Number Systems
    • Operators
    • Order of Operations
    • Activity 7: Order of Operations
    • Activity 8: Using Different Arithmetic Operators
  • Strings
    • String Operations and Methods
    • Indexing
    • Slicing
    • Activity 9: String Slicing
    • Length
    • String Formatting
    • String Methods
    • Activity 10: Working with Strings
    • Escape Sequences
    • Exercise 12: Using Escape Sequences
    • Activity 11: Manipulating Strings
  • Lists
    • List Operations
    • Exercise 13: List References
    • Activity 12: Working with Lists
  • Booleans
    • Comparison Operators
    • Logical Operators
    • Membership Operators
    • Activity 13: Using Boolean Operators
  • Summary
• Control Statements
  • Introduction
  • Control Statements
    • Program Flow
    • Control Statement
  • The if Statement
    • Exercise 14: Using the if Statement
    • Activity 14: Working with the if Statement
  • The while Statement
    • Exercise 15: Using the while Statement
    • Exercise 16: Using while to Keep a Program Running
    • Activity 15: Working with the while Statement
  • while Versus if
  • Loops
  • The for Loop
    • Exercise 17: Using the for Loop
    • Using else
  • The range Function
    • Activity 16: The for loop and the range Function
  • Nesting Loops
    • Exercise 18: Using Nested Loops
    • Activity 17: Nested Loops
  • Breaking Out of Loops
    • The break Statement
    • The continue Statement
    • The pass Statement
    • Activity 18: Breaking out of Loops
  • Summary
• Functions
  • Introduction
  • Built-In Functions
  • User-Defined Functions
    • Calling a Function
    • Global and Local Variables
    • Exercise 19: Defining Global and Local Variables
    • Function Return
    • Using main()
  • Function Arguments
    • Required Arguments
    • Keyword Arguments
    • Default Arguments
    • Variable Number of Arguments
    • Activity 19: Function Arguments
  • Anonymous Functions
    • Exercise 20: Creating a Lambda Function
    • Activity 20: Using Lambda Functions
  • Summary
• Lists and Tuples
  • Introduction
  • List Syntax
  • List Methods
    • list.append(item)
    • list.extend(iterable)
    • list.insert(index, item)
    • list.remove(item)
    • list.pop([index])
    • list.clear()
    • list.index(item [, start [, end]])
    • list.count(item)
    • list.sort(key=None, reverse=False)
    • list.reverse()
    • list.copy()
    • Activity 21: Using the List Methods
  • List Comprehensions
  • Tuple Syntax
    • Exercise 21: Creating a Tuple
  • Accessing Tuple Elements
    • Indexing
    • Exercise 22: Accessing Tuple Elements Using Indexing
    • Slicing
    • Exercise 21: Creating a Tuple
  • Accessing Tuple Elements
    • Indexing
    • Exercise 23: Accessing Tuple Elements Using Slicing
  • Tuple Methods
    • Activity 22: Using Tuple Methods
  • Summary
• Dictionaries and Sets
  • Introduction
  • Working with Dictionaries
    • Activity 23: Creating a Dictionary
    • Exercise 24: Adding Data to a Dictionary
    • Exercise 25: Reading Data from a Dictionary
    • Exercise 26: Iterating Through Dictionaries
    • Checking for the Existence of Particular Keys
  • Additional Dictionary Attributes
    • dict.update()
    • dict.clear() and dict.pop()
    • dict.copy()
    • dict.popitem()
    • dict.setdefault()
    • dict.fromkeys()
    • Activity 24: Arranging and Presenting Data Using Dictionaries
  • Ordered Dictionaries
    • Activity 25: Combining Dictionaries
  • The Basics of Sets
    • Exercise 27: Creating Sets
    • Exercise 28: Adding Data to a Set
    • Exercise 29: Reading Data from a Set
    • Activity 26: Building a Set
    • Exercise 30: Removing Data from a Set
  • Set Operations
    • Union
    • Intersection
    • Difference
    • Subsets
    • Equality
    • Update Methods
  • Frozen Sets
    • Activity 27: Creating Unions of Elements in a Collection
  • Summary
• Object-Oriented Programming
  • Introduction
  • A First Look at OOP
  • OOP in Python
    • Defining a Class in Python
    • Exercise 31: Creating a Class
    • Instantiating an Object
    • Exercise 32: Instantiating a Person Object
    • Adding Attributes to an Object
    • The __init__ Method
    • Exercise 33: Adding Attributes to a Class
    • Activity 28: Defining a Class and Objects
  • Methods in a Class
    • Defining Methods in a Class
    • Exercise 34: Creating a Method for our Class
    • Passing Arguments to Instance Methods
    • Exercise 35: Passing Arguments to Instance Methods
    • Exercise 36: Setting Instance Attributes within Instance Methods
    • Activity 29: Defining Methods in a Class
  • Class Versus Instance Attributes
    • Exercise 37: Declaring a Class with Instance Attributes
    • Class Attributes
    • Exercise 38: Extending our Class with Class Attributes
    • Exercise 39: Implementing a Counter for Instances of a Class
    • Activity 30: Creating Class Attributes
  • Class Versus Instance Methods
    • Exercise 40: Creating Instance Methods
    • Class Methods
    • Exercise 41: Testing our Factory Method
    • Exercise 42: Accessing Class Attributes from within Class Methods
    • Encapsulation and Information Hiding
    • Activity 31: Creating Class Methods and Using Information Hiding
  • Class Inheritance
    • Exercise 43: Implementing Class Inheritance
    • Overriding __init__()
    • Exercise 44: Overriding the __init__ Method to Add an Attribute
    • Commonly Overridden Methods
    • Activity 32: Overriding Methods
  • Multiple Inheritance
    • Exercise 45: Implementing Multiple Inheritance
    • Activity 33: Practicing Multiple Inheritance
  • Summary
• Modules, Packages, and File Operations
  • Introduction
  • Defining Modules
    • Exercise 46: Creating Modules
  • Imports and Import Statements
    • Exercise 47: Importing Modules
  • Modules and Packages
    • The Module Search Path
    • Standard Python Modules
    • Activity 34: Inspecting Modules
    • Packages
    • Absolute Imports
    • Relative Imports
    • Activity 35: Listing the Resources Defined in a Package or Module
    • Activity 36: Using Resources in a Module
  • File Operations
  • The file Object
    • The file Object Methods
  • Reading and Writing to Files
    • The open() Method
    • Exercise 48: Creating, Reading, and Writing to Files
    • The with Context Manager
    • Activity 37: Performing File Operations
  • Handling Structured Data
    • Working with CSV Data
    • Activity 38: Working with Files
    • Working with JSON Data
  • Summary
• Error Handling
  • Introduction
    • Errors and Exceptions in Python
    • How to Raise Exceptions
  • Built-In Exceptions
    • SyntaxError
    • ImportError
    • KeyError
    • TypeError
    • AttributeError
    • IndexError
    • NameError
    • FileNotFoundError
    • Activity 39: Identifying Error Scenarios
  • Handling Errors and Exceptions
    • Exercise 49: Implementing the try…except Block
    • Exercise 50: Implementing the try…except…else Block
    • Exercise 51: Implementing the finally Keyword
    • Activity 40: Handling Errors
  • Custom Exceptions
    • Implementing Your Own Exception Class
    • Activity 41: Creating Your Own Custom Exception Class
  • Summary
• Appendix A
• Index