Some tips and new examples from last week ... Python in Plymouth!

• How do I put comments in a Python regular expression to make it more readable: [source]

• How do I use a python dictionary as a table of counters - in our example, counting the number of people in our team who have each of a whole series of skills: [source]

• How do I replace a string you've matched in a Python regular expression with a literal string, with a string which includes part of the matched text, and with the result of running a piece of code on the matched text: [source]

• How do I convert a python program that reads a whole file in then processes it all into one that processes each line as it has read it (using a generator): [source] and [data]

• How do I run a block of python code every time I leave a try block, even if you are breaking or returning: [source]

• How do lists and strings and tuples differ when I copy them - mutable v immutable: [source]

• How do I manipulate python lists - insert and delete items, add things on to the end, etc: [source]

• How do I write python strings in different ways - raw and cooked, single line and multiline, unicode, etc: [source]

• "Have you an example in Python that shows many / most / all of the OO features of the language in a single practical example". In truth, the answer always has to be "no" as there are quite a lot of features used only rarely, and we really have to contrive an example to show a lot of them. But here are a couple: [source] of an example that uses a static method, comparators, operator overriding, polymorphism and interitance, etc. And [source] a simpler example that loads data into Python objects using a wholesale factory method. The data for that latter is [here].

See [here] for details of our public courses in Python. We also run courses on site (for groups of 4 or more delegates) which can be tailored to meet your needs, and scheduled to suit your requirements too.
(written 2010-10-10)

 Y107 - Python - Dictionaries
  [3662] Finding all the unique lines in a file, using Python or Perl - (2012-03-20)
  [3555] Football league tables - under old and new point system. Python program. - (2011-12-18)
  [3554] Learning more about our web site - and learning how to learn about yours - (2011-12-17)
  [3488] Python sets and frozensets - what are they? - (2011-10-20)
  [3464] Passing optional and named parameters to python methods - (2011-10-04)
  [2986] Python dictionaries - reaching to new uses - (2010-10-05)
  [2915] Looking up a value by key - associative arrays / Hashes / Dictionaries - (2010-08-11)
  [2368] Python - fresh examples of all the fundamentals - (2009-08-20)
  [1145] Using a list of keys and a list of values to make a dictionary in Python - zip - (2007-04-13)
  [1144] Python dictionary for quick look ups - (2007-04-12)
  [955] Python collections - mutable and imutable - (2006-11-29)
  [103] Can't resist writing about Python - (2004-10-29)

Y112 - Python - Objects - Intermediate
  [3524] Metaclasses (Python) and Metatables (Lua) - (2011-11-17)
  [3472] Static variables in functions - and better ways using objects - (2011-10-10)
  [3442] A demonstration of how many Python facilities work together - (2011-09-16)
  [3002] A list of special method and attribute names in Python - (2010-10-17)
  [2905] Defining static methods in Python - (2010-08-05)
  [2889] Should Python classes each be in their own file? - (2010-07-27)
  [2785] The Light bulb moment when people see how Object Orientation works in real use - (2010-05-28)
  [2764] Python decorators - your own, staticmethod and classmethod - (2010-05-14)
  [2722] Mixins example in Python - (2010-04-14)
  [2720] Multiple inheritance in Python - complete working example - (2010-04-14)
  [2717] The Multiple Inheritance Conundrum, interfaces and mixins - (2010-04-11)
  [2693] Methods that run on classes (static methods) in Python - (2010-03-25)
  [2485] How do I set up a constant in Python? - (2009-10-31)
  [2409] TypeError: super() argument 1 must be type, not classobj (Python) - (2009-09-18)
  [1819] Calling base class constructors - (2008-10-03)
  [1661] Equality, sameness and identity - Python - (2008-05-31)
  [1644] Using a utility method to construct objects of different types - Python - (2008-05-17)
  [1517] Python - formatting objects - (2008-01-24)
  [1217] What are factory and singleton classes? - (2007-06-04)
  [1146] __new__ v __init__ - python constructor alternatives? - (2007-04-14)
  [964] Practical polymorphism in action - (2006-12-04)
  [903] Pieces of Python - (2006-10-23)
  [831] Comparison of Object Oriented Philosophy - Python, Java, C++, Perl - (2006-08-13)
  [656] Think about your design even if you don't use full UML - (2006-03-24)
  [477] Class, static and unbound variables - (2005-10-25)
  [383] Overloading of operators on standard objects in Python - (2005-07-19)
  [296] Using a Python dictionary as a holder of object attributes - (2005-04-30)

Y109 - Python - Exceptions
  [3664] Error checking in a Python program - making your program robust via exceptions - (2012-03-22)
  [3441] Pressing ^C in a Python program. Also Progress Bar. - (2011-09-15)
  [3433] Exceptions - a fail-safe way of trapping things that may go wrong - (2011-09-11)
  [3177] Insurance against any errors - Volcanoes and Python - (2011-02-19)
  [2998] Using an exception to initialise a static variable in a Python function / method - (2010-10-13)
  [2622] Handling unusual and error conditions - exceptions - (2010-02-03)
  [2408] Robust user input (exception handling) example in Python - (2009-09-17)
  [2281] Python - using exceptions to set a fallback - (2009-07-12)
  [2018] UnboundLocalError - Python Message - (2009-01-31)
  [1236] Trying things in Python - (2007-06-18)
  [1042] Nested exceptions in Python - (2007-01-18)
  [381] Exceptions in Python - (2005-07-17)

Y105 - Python - Functions, Modules and Packages
  [3695] Functions are first class variables in Lua and Python - (2012-04-13)
  [3474] Python Packages - groupings of modules. An introduction - (2011-10-11)
  [3459] Catching the fishes first? - (2011-09-27)
  [3280] Passing parameters to Python functions - the options you have - (2011-05-07)
  [3159] Returning multiple values from a function call in various languages - a comparison - (2011-02-06)
  [2929] Passing a variable number of parameters in to a function / method - (2010-08-20)
  [2878] Program for reliability and efficiency - do not duplicate, but rather share and re-use - (2010-07-19)
  [2766] Optional and named parameters to Python functions/methods - (2010-05-15)
  [2718] Python - access to variables in the outer scope - (2010-04-12)
  [2520] Global and Enable - two misused words! - (2009-11-30)
  [2506] Good example of recursion in Python - analyse an RSS feed - (2009-11-18)
  [2481] Sample code with errors in it on our web site - (2009-10-29)
  [2440] Optional parameters to Python functions - (2009-10-07)
  [2439] Multiple returns from a function in Python - (2009-10-06)
  [2011] Conversion of OSI grid references to Eastings and Northings - (2009-01-28)
  [1879] Dynamic code - Python - (2008-11-11)
  [1871] Optional and named parameters in Python - (2008-11-05)
  [1870] What to do with a huge crop of apples - (2008-11-04)
  [1869] Anonymous functions (lambdas) and map in Python - (2008-11-04)
  [1790] Sharing variables with functions, but keeping them local too - Python - (2008-09-09)
  [1784] Global - Tcl, PHP, Python - (2008-09-03)
  [1464] Python Script - easy examples of lots of basics - (2007-12-08)
  [1202] Returning multiple values from a function (Perl, PHP, Python) - (2007-05-24)
  [1163] A better alternative to cutting and pasting code - (2007-04-26)
  [1134] Function / method parameters with * and ** in Python - (2007-04-04)
  [959] It's the 1st, not the 1nd 1rd or 1th. - (2006-12-01)
  [949] Sludge off the mountain, and Python and PHP - (2006-11-27)
  [913] Python - A list of methods - (2006-11-03)
  [912] Recursion in Python - (2006-11-02)
  [900] Python - function v method - (2006-10-20)
  [821] Dynamic functions and names - Python - (2006-08-03)
  [775] Do not duplicate your code - (2006-06-23)
  [749] Cottage industry or production line data handling methods - (2006-06-07)
  [745] Python modules. The distribution, The Cheese Shop and the Vaults of Parnassus. - (2006-06-05)
  [668] Python - block insets help with documentation - (2006-04-04)
  [561] Python's Generator functions - (2006-01-11)
  [418] Difference between import and from in Python - (2005-08-18)
  [386] What is a callback? - (2005-07-22)
  [340] Code and code maintainance efficiency - (2005-06-08)
  [308] Call by name v call by value - (2005-05-11)
  [303] Lambdas in Python - (2005-05-06)
  [294] Python generator functions, lambdas, and iterators - (2005-04-28)
  [105] Distance Learning - (2004-10-31)
  [96] Variable Scope - (2004-10-22)

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3D graphics - web site usage - simple matplotlib and python example
Copying - duplicating data, or just adding a name? Perl and Python compared
A river in Melksham is not just for boaters.
Python - some common questions answered in code examples
Arrays v Lists - what is the difference, why use one or the other
Matplotlib - graphing in Python - teaching examples
Loading and saving data - Python / numpy
What are numpy and scipy?
Oddballs in Plymouth