C/C++ Programming in a UNIX Environment
CS 3377
Bhanu Kapoor, PhD
Department of Computer Science
University of Texas, Dallas, TX
bhanu.kapoor@utdallas.edu
1
Reading for Week 9-10
Chapter 12 of A Practical Guide to
Linux® Commands, Editors, and Shell
Programming, Third Edition. Mark G.
Sobell.
◼ Chapter 12: The Python Programming
Language
2
Agenda
Introduction to Python
References:
◼ A Practical Guide to Linux
◼ Python.org
◼ Lecture Notes: Marty Stepp, U of Washington
3
Working with Python
$which python
/usr/local/bin/python
$cat test.py or emacs test.py or …..
#! /usr/local/bin/python
print(“Hello, world!”)
$python test.py
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Go to www.python.org
Click on Download
Click on Python 3.3.2 link
Scroll down and click on “Windows
x86 MSI Installer (3.3.2)”
Click Run to download and install
python on your machine
Select Install option and click Next
Strings
string: A sequence of text characters in a program.
◼ Strings start and end with quotation mark " or apostrophe '
characters.
◼ Examples:
"hello"
"This is a string"
"This, too, is a string. It can be very long!"
A string may not span across multiple lines or contain a " character.
"This is not
a legal String."
"This is not a "legal" String either."
A string can represent characters by preceding them with a backslash.
◼ \t tab character
◼ \n new line character
◼ \" quotation mark character
◼ \\ backslash character
◼ Example: "Hello\tthere\nHow are you?"
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Note Install Directory and Click Next
Click Next
Allow Installation by clicking Yes on
Microsoft Account Control Question
Click Finish
Using Installed Program
Search IDLE (Python GUI)
Python GUI will be launched where you
can develop and run programs
Working with Python
Python 3.3.2 Shell will appear , you can type in
commands here and execute them
Some example commands to try out
and observe results
>>> 3 + 4
>>> 3
>>> “Python is cool!”
>>> name = “Bhanu Kapoor”
>>> name
>>> print (‘name’)
>>> print (“Hi there”, name)
See the results
Open a file and add these commands
Click File, Click New
Window
A New window will
open
Type all commands
in that window and
save it as a file in
your python code
directory
After saving file click
on Run → Run
Module or use F5
key on code window
Code will execute in
the shell
Submit the file as
solution for
assignment
Expressions
expression: A data value or set of operations to compute a
value.
Examples: 1 + 4 * 3
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Arithmetic operators we will use:
◼ + - * / addition, subtraction/negation, multiplication,
division
◼ % modulus, a.k.a. remainder
◼ ** exponentiation
precedence: Order in which operations are computed.
◼ * / % ** have a higher precedence than + -
1 + 3 * 4 is 13
◼ Parentheses can be used to force a certain order of evaluation.
(1 + 3) * 4 is 16
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Integer division
When we divide integers with / , the quotient is also an
integer.
3 52
4 ) 14 27 ) 1425
12 135
2 75
54
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◼ More examples:
35 / 5 is 7
84 / 10 is 8
156 / 100 is 1
The % operator computes the remainder from a division of
integers.
3 43
4 ) 14 5 ) 218
12 20
2 18
15
3
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Real numbers
Python can also manipulate real numbers.
◼ Examples: 6.022 -15.9997 42.0
2.143e17
The operators + - * / % ** ( ) all work for real numbers.
◼ The / produces an exact answer: 15.0 / 2.0 is 7.5
◼ The same rules of precedence also apply to real numbers:
Evaluate ( ) before * / % before + -
When integers and reals are mixed, the result is a real
number.
◼ Example: 1 / 2.0 is 0.5
◼ The conversion occurs on a per-operator basis.
◼ 7 / 3 * 1.2 + 3 / 2
◼ 2 * 1.2 + 3 / 2
◼ 2.4 + 3 / 2
◼ 2.4 + 1
◼ 3.4 23
Math commands
Python has useful commands for performing calculations.
Command name Description Constant Description
abs(value) absolute value e 2.7182818...
ceil(value) rounds up pi 3.1415926...
cos(value) cosine, in radians
floor(value) rounds down
log(value) logarithm, base e
log10(value) logarithm, base 10
max(value1, value2) larger of two values
min(value1, value2) smaller of two values
round(value) nearest whole number
sin(value) sine, in radians
sqrt(value) square root
To use many of these commands, you must write the
following at the top of your Python program:
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from math import * or import math
Variables
variable: A named piece of memory that can store a value.
◼ Usage:
Compute an expression's result,
store that result into a variable,
and use that variable later in the program.
assignment statement: Stores a value into a variable.
◼ Syntax:
name = value
◼ Examples: x = 5
gpa = 3.14
x 5 gpa 3.14
◼ A variable that has been given a value can be used in expressions.
x + 4 is 9
Try: Evaluate the quadratic equation for a given a, b, and c.
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print
print : Produces text output on the console.
Syntax:
print "Message"
print Expression
◼ Prints the given text message or expression value on the console, and moves
the cursor down to the next line.
print Item1, Item2, ..., ItemN
◼ Prints several messages and/or expressions on the same line.
◼ On IDLE, print (“Message”) use parentheses
Examples:
print ("Hello, world!“)
age = 45
print ("You have", 65 - age, "years until retirement“)
Output:
Hello, world!
You have 20 years until retirement
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input
input : Reads a number from user input.
◼ You can assign (store) the result of input into a variable.
◼ Example:
age = input("How old are you? ")
print ("Your age is", age)
print ("You have", 65 - age, "years until retirement“)
Output:
How old are you? 53
Your age is 53
You have 12 years until retirement
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The for loop
for loop: Repeats a set of statements over a group of values.
◼ Syntax:
for variableName in groupOfValues:
statements
We indent the statements to be repeated with tabs or spaces.
variableName gives a name to each value, so you can refer to it in the
statements.
groupOfValues can be a range of integers, specified with the range
function.
◼ Example:
for x in range(1, 6):
print (x, "squared is", x*x)
Output:
1 squared is 1
2 squared is 4
3 squared is 9
4 squared is 16
5 squared is 25
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range
The range function specifies a range of integers:
range(start, stop) - the integers between start (inclusive)
and stop (exclusive)
◼ It can also accept a third value specifying the change between
values.
range(start, stop, step) - the integers between start (inclusive)
and stop (exclusive) by step
◼ Example:
for x in range(5, 0, -1):
print (x)
print ("Blastoff!“)
Output:
5
4
3
2
1
Blastoff!
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Cumulative loops
Some loops incrementally compute a value that
is initialized outside the loop. This is
sometimes called a cumulative sum.
sum = 0
for i in range(1, 11):
sum = sum + (i * i)
print ("sum of first 10 squares is", sum)
Output:
sum of first 10 squares is 385
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if
if statement: Executes a group of statements
only if a certain condition is true. Otherwise,
the statements are skipped.
◼ Syntax:
if condition:
statements
Example:
gpa = 3.4
if gpa > 2.0:
print ("Your application is accepted.“)
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if/else
if/else statement: Executes one block of statements if a certain
condition is True, and a second block of statements if it is False.
◼ Syntax:
if condition:
statements
else:
statements
Example:
gpa = 1.4
if gpa > 2.0:
print ("Welcome to Mars University!)"
else:
print ("Your application is denied.“)
Multiple conditions can be chained with elif ("else if"):
if condition:
statements
elif condition:
statements
else:
statements
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while
while loop: Executes a group of statements as long as a condition is True.
◼ good for indefinite loops (repeat an unknown number of
times)
Syntax:
while condition:
statements
Example:
number = 1
while number < 200:
print (number)
number = number * 2
◼ Output:
1 2 4 8 16 32 64 128
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Logic
Many logical expressions use relational operators:
Operator Meaning Example Result
== equals 1 + 1 == 2 True
!= does not equal 3.2 != 2.5 True
< less than 10 < 5 False
> greater than 10 > 5 True
<= less than or equal to 126 <= 100 False
>= greater than or equal to 5.0 >= 5.0 True
Logical expressions can be combined with logical operators:
Operator Example Result
and 9 != 6 and 2 < 3 True
or 2 == 3 or -1 < 5 True
not not 7 > 0 False
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Indexes
Characters in a string are numbered with indexes starting at 0:
◼ Example:
name = "P. Diddy"
index 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
character P . D i d d y
Accessing an individual character of a string:
variableName [ index ]
◼ Example:
print (name, "starts with", name[0])
Output:
P. Diddy starts with P
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String properties
len(string) - number of characters in a string
(including spaces)
str.lower(string)- lowercase version of a string
str.upper(string)- uppercase version of a string
Example:
name = "Martin Douglas Stepp"
length = len(name)
big_name = str.upper(name)
print (big_name, "has", length, "characters“)
Output:
MARTIN DOUGLAS STEPP has 20 characters
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raw_input
raw_input : Reads a string of text from user
input.
◼ Example:
name = raw_input("What's your name? ")
raw_input() does not exist in Python 3.x, while input() does.
Actually, the old raw_input() has been renamed to input(),
and the old input() is gone (but can easily be simulated by
using eval(input())).
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Text processing
text processing: Examining, editing,
formatting text.
◼ often uses loops that examine the characters of a
string one by one
A for loop can examine each character in a
string in sequence.
◼ Example:
for c in "booyah":
print c
Output:
b
o
o
y
a
h
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Strings and numbers
ord(text) - converts a string into a number.
◼ Example: ord("a") is 97, ord("b") is 98, ...
◼ Characters map to numbers using standardized mappings
such as ASCII and Unicode.
chr(number) - converts a number into a string.
◼ Example: chr(99) is "c"
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File processing
Many programs handle data, which often
comes from files.
Reading the entire contents of a file:
variableName = open("filename").read()
Example:
file_text = open("bankaccount.txt").read()
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Line-by-line processing
Reading a file line-by-line:
for line in open("filename").readlines():
statements
Example:
count = 0
for line in open("bankaccount.txt").readlines():
count = count + 1
print ("The file contains", count, "lines.“)
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