Supercharged Python: Take Your Code to the Next Level

About This eBook
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication Page
Contents
Preface
	What Makes Python Special?
	Paths to Learning: Where Do I Start?
	Clarity and Examples Are Everything
	Learning Aids: Icons
	What You’ll Learn
	Have Fun
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
1. Review of the Fundamentals
	1.1 Python Quick Start
	1.2 Variables and Naming Names
	1.3 Combined Assignment Operators
	1.4 Summary of Python Arithmetic Operators
	1.5 Elementary Data Types: Integer and Floating Point
	1.6 Basic Input and Output
	1.7 Function Definitions
	1.8 The Python “if” Statement
	1.9 The Python “while” Statement
	1.10 A Couple of Cool Little Apps
	1.11 Summary of Python Boolean Operators
	1.12 Function Arguments and Return Values
	1.13 The Forward Reference Problem
	1.14 Python Strings
	1.15 Python Lists (and a Cool Sorting App)
	1.16 The “for” Statement and Ranges
	1.17 Tuples
	1.18 Dictionaries
	1.19 Sets
	1.20 Global and Local Variables
	Summary
	Review Questions
	Suggested Problems
2. Advanced String Capabilities
	2.1 Strings Are Immutable
	2.2 Numeric Conversions, Including Binary
	2.3 String Operators (+, =, *, >, etc.)
	2.4 Indexing and Slicing
	2.5 Single-Character Functions (Character Codes)
	2.6 Building Strings Using “join”
	2.7 Important String Functions
	2.8 Binary, Hex, and Octal Conversion Functions
	2.9 Simple Boolean (“is”) Methods
	2.10 Case Conversion Methods
	2.11 Search-and-Replace Methods
	2.12 Breaking Up Input Using “split”
	2.13 Stripping
	2.14 Justification Methods
	Summary
	Review Questions
	Suggested Problems
3. Advanced List Capabilities
	3.1 Creating and Using Python Lists
	3.2 Copying Lists Versus Copying List Variables
	3.3 Indexing
	3.4 Getting Data from Slices
	3.5 Assigning into Slices
	3.6 List Operators
	3.7 Shallow Versus Deep Copying
	3.8 List Functions
	3.9 List Methods: Modifying a List
	3.10 List Methods: Getting Information on Contents
	3.11 List Methods: Reorganizing
	3.12 Lists as Stacks: RPN Application
	3.13 The “reduce” Function
	3.14 Lambda Functions
	3.15 List Comprehension
	3.16 Dictionary and Set Comprehension
	3.17 Passing Arguments Through a List
	3.18 Multidimensional Lists
	Summary
	Review Questions
	Suggested Problems
4. Shortcuts, Command Line, and Packages
	4.1 Overview
	4.2 Twenty-Two Programming Shortcuts
	4.3 Running Python from the Command Line
	4.4 Writing and Using Doc Strings
	4.5 Importing Packages
	4.6 A Guided Tour of Python Packages
	4.7 Functions as First-Class Objects
	4.8 Variable-Length Argument Lists
	4.9 Decorators and Function Profilers
	4.10 Generators
	4.11 Accessing Command-Line Arguments
	Summary
	Questions for Review
	Suggested Problems
5. Formatting Text Precisely
	5.1 Formatting with the Percent Sign Operator (%)
	5.2 Percent Sign (%) Format Specifiers
	5.3 Percent Sign (%) Variable-Length Print Fields
	5.4 The Global “format” Function
	5.5 Introduction to the “format” Method
	5.6 Ordering by Position (Name or Number)
	5.7 “Repr” Versus String Conversion
	5.8 The “spec” Field of the “format” Function and Method
	5.9 Variable-Size Fields
	Summary
	Review Questions
	Suggested Problems
6. Regular Expressions, Part I
	6.1 Introduction to Regular Expressions
	6.2 A Practical Example: Phone Numbers
	6.3 Refining Matches
	6.4 How Regular Expressions Work: Compiling Versus Running
	6.5 Ignoring Case, and Other Function Flags
	6.6 Regular Expressions: Basic Syntax Summary
	6.7 A Practical Regular-Expression Example
	6.8 Using the Match Object
	6.9 Searching a String for Patterns
	6.10 Iterative Searching (“findall”)
	6.11 The “findall” Method and the Grouping Problem
	6.12 Searching for Repeated Patterns
	6.13 Replacing Text
	Summary
	Review Questions
	Suggested Problems
7. Regular Expressions, Part II
	7.1 Summary of Advanced RegEx Grammar
	7.2 Noncapture Groups
	7.3 Greedy Versus Non-Greedy Matching
	7.4 The Look-Ahead Feature
	7.5 Checking Multiple Patterns (Look-Ahead)
	7.6 Negative Look-Ahead
	7.7 Named Groups
	7.8 The “re.split” Function
	7.9 The Scanner Class and the RPN Project
	7.10 RPN: Doing Even More with Scanner
	Summary
	Review Questions
	Suggested Problems
8. Text and Binary Files
	8.1 Two Kinds of Files: Text and Binary
	8.2 Approaches to Binary Files: A Summary
	8.3 The File/Directory System
	8.4 Handling File-Opening Exceptions
	8.5 Using the “with” Keyword
	8.6 Summary of Read/Write Operations
	8.7 Text File Operations in Depth
	8.8 Using the File Pointer (“seek”)
	8.9 Reading Text into the RPN Project
	8.10 Direct Binary Read/Write
	8.11 Converting Data to Fixed-Length Fields (“struct”)
	8.12 Using the Pickling Package
	8.13 Using the “shelve” Package
	Summary
	Review Questions
	Suggested Problems
9. Classes and Magic Methods
	9.1 Classes and Objects: Basic Syntax
	9.2 More About Instance Variables
	9.3 The “_ _init_ _” and “_ _new_ _” Methods
	9.4 Classes and the Forward Reference Problem
	9.5 Methods Generally
	9.6 Public and Private Variables and Methods
	9.7 Inheritance
	9.8 Multiple Inheritance
	9.9 Magic Methods, Summarized
	9.10 Magic Methods in Detail
	9.11 Supporting Multiple Argument Types
	9.12 Setting and Getting Attributes Dynamically
	Summary
	Review Questions
	Suggested Problems
10. Decimal, Money, and Other Classes
	10.1 Overview of Numeric Classes
	10.2 Limitations of Floating-Point Format
	10.3 Introducing the Decimal Class
	10.4 Special Operations on Decimal Objects
	10.5 A Decimal Class Application
	10.6 Designing a Money Class
	10.7 Writing the Basic Money Class (Containment)
	10.8 Displaying Money Objects (“_ _str_ _”, “_ _repr_ _”)
	10.9 Other Monetary Operations
	10.10 Demo: A Money Calculator
	10.11 Setting the Default Currency
	10.12 Money and Inheritance
	10.13 The Fraction Class
	10.14 The Complex Class
	Summary
	Review Questions
	Suggested Problems
11. The Random and Math Packages
	11.1 Overview of the Random Package
	11.2 A Tour of Random Functions
	11.3 Testing Random Behavior
	11.4 A Random-Integer Game
	11.5 Creating a Deck Object
	11.6 Adding Pictograms to the Deck
	11.7 Charting a Normal Distribution
	11.8 Writing Your Own Random-Number Generator
	11.9 Overview of the Math Package
	11.10 A Tour of Math Package Functions
	11.11 Using Special Values (pi)
	11.12 Trig Functions: Height of a Tree
	11.13 Logarithms: Number Guessing Revisited
	Summary
	Review Questions
	Suggested Problems
12. The “numpy” (Numeric Python) Package
	12.1 Overview of the “array,” “numpy,” and “matplotlib” Packages
	12.2 Using the “array” Package
	12.3 Downloading and Importing “numpy”
	12.4 Introduction to “numpy”: Sum 1 to 1 Million
	12.5 Creating “numpy” Arrays
	12.6 Example: Creating a Multiplication Table
	12.7 Batch Operations on “numpy” Arrays
	12.8 Ordering a Slice of “numpy”
	12.9 Multidimensional Slicing
	12.10 Boolean Arrays: Mask Out That “numpy”!
	12.11 “numpy” and the Sieve of Eratosthenes
	12.12 Getting “numpy” Stats (Standard Deviation)
	12.13 Getting Data on “numpy” Rows and Columns
	Summary
	Review Questions
	Suggested Problems
13. Advanced Uses of “numpy”
	13.1 Advanced Math Operations with “numpy”
	13.2 Downloading “matplotlib”
	13.3 Plotting Lines with “numpy” and “matplotlib”
	13.4 Plotting More Than One Line
	13.5 Plotting Compound Interest
	13.6 Creating Histograms with “matplotlib”
	13.7 Circles and the Aspect Ratio
	13.8 Creating Pie Charts
	13.9 Doing Linear Algebra with “numpy”
	13.10 Three-Dimensional Plotting
	13.11 “numpy” Financial Applications
	13.12 Adjusting Axes with “xticks” and “yticks”
	13.13 “numpy” Mixed-Data Records
	13.14 Reading and Writing “numpy” Data from Files
	Summary
	Review Questions
	Suggested Problems
14. Multiple Modules and the RPN Example
	14.1 Overview of Modules in Python
	14.2 Simple Two-Module Example
	14.3 Variations on the “import” Statement
	14.4 Using the “_ _all_ _” Symbol
	14.5 Public and Private Module Variables
	14.6 The Main Module and “_ _main_ _”
	14.7 Gotcha! Problems with Mutual Importing
	14.8 RPN Example: Breaking into Two Modules
	14.9 RPN Example: Adding I/O Directives
	14.10 Further Changes to the RPN Example
	14.11 RPN: Putting It All Together
	Summary
	Review Questions
	Suggested Problems
15. Getting Financial Data off the Internet
	15.1 Plan of This Chapter
	15.2 Introducing the Pandas Package
	15.3 “stock_load”: A Simple Data Reader
	15.4 Producing a Simple Stock Chart
	15.5 Adding a Title and Legend
	15.6 Writing a “makeplot” Function (Refactoring)
	15.7 Graphing Two Stocks Together
	15.8 Variations: Graphing Other Data
	15.9 Limiting the Time Period
	15.10 Split Charts: Subplot the Volume
	15.11 Adding a Moving-Average Line
	15.12 Giving Choices to the User
	Summary
	Review Questions
	Suggested Problems
A. Python Operator Precedence Table
B. Built-In Python Functions
	abs(x)
	all(iterable)
	any(iterable)
	ascii(obj)
	bin(n)
	bool(obj)
	bytes(source, encoding)
	callable(obj)
	chr(n)
	compile(cmd_str, filename, mode_str, flags=0, dont_inherit=False, optimize=–1)
	complex(real=0, imag=0)
	complex(complex_str)
	delattr(obj, name_str)
	dir([obj])
	divmod(a, b)
	enumerate(iterable, start=0)
	eval(expr_str [, globals [, locals]] )
	exec(object [,global [,locals]])
	filter(function,iterable)
	float([x])
	format(obj, [format_spec])
	frozenset([iterable])
	getattr(obj,name_str [,default])
	globals()
	hasattr(obj,name_str)
	hash(obj)
	help([obj])
	hex(n)
	id(obj)
	input([prompt_str])
	int(x,base=10)
	int()
	isinstance(obj,class)
	issubclass(class1,class2)
	iter(obj)
	len(sequence)
	list([iterable])
	locals()
	map(function,iterable1 [,iterable2...])
	max(arg1 [, arg2]...)
	max(iterable)
	min(arg1 [, arg2]...)
	min(iterable)
	oct(n)
	open(file_name_str,mode=‘rt’)
	ord(char_str)
	pow(x,y [,z])
	print(objects,sep=‘‘,end=‘\\n‘,file=sys.stdout)
	range(n)
	range(start,stop [,step])
	repr(obj)
	reversed(iterable)
	round(x [,ndigits])
	set([iterable])
	setattr(obj,name_str,value)
	sorted(iterable [,key] [,reverse])
	str(obj=‘‘)
	str(obj=b‘‘ [,encoding=‘utf-8‘])
	sum(iterable [,start])
	super(type)
	tuple([iterable])
	type(obj)
	zip(*iterables)
	C. Set Methods
	set_obj.add(obj)
	set_obj.clear()
	set_obj.copy()
	set_obj.difference(other_set)
	set_obj.difference_update(other_set)
	set_obj.discard(obj)
	set_obj.intersection(other_set)
	set_obj.intersection_update(other_set)
	set_obj.isdisjoint(other_set)
	set_obj.issubset(other_set)
	set_obj.issuperset(other_set)
	set_obj.pop()
	set_obj.remove(obj)
	set_obj.symmetric_difference(other_set)
	set_obj.symmetric_difference_update(other_set)
	set_obj.union(other_set)
	set_obj.union_update(other_set)
D. Dictionary Methods
	dict_obj.clear()
	dict_obj.copy()
	dict_obj.get(key_obj, default_val = None)
	dict_obj.items()
	dict_obj.keys()
	dict_obj.pop(key [,default_value])
	dict_obj.popitem()
	dict_obj.setdefault(key,default_value=None)
	dict_obj.values()
	dict_obj.update(sequence)
E. Statement Reference
	Variables and Assignments
	Spacing Issues in Python
	Alphabetical Statement Reference
Index
Code Snippets