IndianTechnoEra: Core Syntax | Basics of Python Developer

Python Basics: Core Syntax

A comprehensive guide to Python's fundamental building blocks

Table of Contents

• 1. Variables and Data Types
• 2. Operators and Expressions
• 3. Conditions and Loops
• 4. Type Casting
• 5. Exception Handling
• 6. Input/Output Basics
• 7. String Formatting
• 8. Docstrings & Comments
• 9. Python's Execution Model

1. Variables and Data Types

Variable Basics

Variables in Python are names that refer to objects in memory. Python uses dynamic typing, meaning variable types are determined at runtime.

Variable naming rules and conventions

• Must start with a letter or underscore
• Can contain letters, numbers, and underscores
• Case-sensitive
• Use snake_case by convention (e.g., my_variable)
• Avoid Python keywords (like if, for, etc.)

# Valid variable names
age = 25
user_name = "Alice"
_is_admin = False
MAX_RETRIES = 3

Dynamic typing vs static typing

Python uses duck typing ("if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck") where type checking happens at runtime.

x = 10      # x is an integer
x = "hello" # now x is a string
x = [1, 2]  # now x is a list

type() and isinstance()

Use these functions to check types:

print(type(42))         # <class 'int'>
print(isinstance(3.14, float))  # True

Variable scope

Python has three scopes:

• Local: Inside the current function
• Nonlocal: In enclosing functions (but not global)
• Global: At the module level

x = "global"  # Global scope

def outer():
    x = "nonlocal"
    
    def inner():
        nonlocal x  # Refers to x in outer()
        x = "changed"
    inner()
    print(x)  # "changed"

outer()
print(x)  # "global"

Primitive Data Types

Python's built-in primitive types:

Type	Description	Example
int	Integer of unlimited size	42, -7, 0
float	Floating-point number	3.14, -0.001
bool	Boolean value	True, False
str	Unicode string	"hello", 'world'
complex	Complex number	3+4j
NoneType	Represents absence of value	None

Composite Data Types

Python's built-in container types:

Type	Mutable	Ordered	Description	Example
list	Yes	Yes	Ordered sequence of items	[1, 2, 3]
tuple	No	Yes	Immutable sequence	(1, 2, 3)
dict	Yes	No (Python 3.7+: insertion order)	Key-value mapping	{"a": 1, "b": 2}
set	Yes	No	Unordered collection of unique items	{1, 2, 3}
frozenset	No	No	Immutable set	frozenset({1, 2, 3})

Advanced Topics

Immutable vs Mutable Objects

Immutable objects (int, float, str, tuple, frozenset) cannot be changed after creation. Mutable objects (list, dict, set) can be modified.

# Immutable example
x = "hello"
y = x  # Both point to same string
x += " world"  # Creates new string, x now points to it
print(y)  # "hello" (unchanged)

# Mutable example
a = [1, 2]
b = a  # Both reference same list
a.append(3)  # Modifies the list in place
print(b)  # [1, 2, 3] (changed)

Memory Management

Use id() to get memory address and sys.getsizeof() to check object size:

import sys

x = 42
print(id(x))  # Memory address
print(sys.getsizeof(x))  # Size in bytes

Type Hints (PEP 484)

Python supports optional type annotations:

def greet(name: str) -> str:
    return f"Hello, {name}"

# Variable annotations
count: int = 0

Note: Type hints don't enforce types at runtime but are useful for documentation and static type checkers like mypy.

2. Operators and Expressions

Arithmetic Operators

Operator	Description	Example
+	Addition	3 + 2 → 5
-	Subtraction	5 - 2 → 3
*	Multiplication	3 * 4 → 12
/	Division (float)	10 / 3 → 3.333...
//	Floor division	10 // 3 → 3
%	Modulus (remainder)	10 % 3 → 1
**	Exponentiation	2 ** 3 → 8

Augmented Assignment

Combine operation and assignment:

x = 5
x += 3  # Equivalent to x = x + 3
x *= 2  # Equivalent to x = x * 2

Comparison Operators

Operator	Description	Example
==	Equal to	5 == 5 → True
!=	Not equal to	5 != 3 → True
>	Greater than	5 > 3 → True
<	Less than	5 < 3 → False
>=	Greater than or equal to	5 >= 5 → True
<=	Less than or equal to	5 <= 3 → False

Chained Comparisons

Python allows chaining comparison operators:

# Traditional way
if x > 1 and x < 10:
    print("Between 1 and 10")

# Chained comparison
if 1 < x < 10:
    print("Between 1 and 10")

Logical Operators

Operator	Description	Example
and	Both conditions must be true	True and False → False
or	At least one condition must be true	True or False → True
not	Negates the condition	not True → False

Truthy vs Falsy Values

In Python, the following evaluate to False:

• None
• False
• Zero of any numeric type: 0, 0.0, 0j
• Empty sequences: "", (), []
• Empty mappings: {}
• Objects with __bool__() returning False or __len__() returning 0

if not []:
    print("Empty list is falsy")

Bitwise Operators

Operator	Description	Example
&	Bitwise AND	5 & 3 → 1
|	Bitwise OR	5 | 3 → 7
^	Bitwise XOR	5 ^ 3 → 6
~	Bitwise NOT	~5 → -6
<<	Left shift	5 << 1 → 10
>>	Right shift	5 >> 1 → 2

Membership & Identity Operators

Operator	Description	Example
in	Membership test	"a" in ["a", "b"] → True
not in	Negative membership test	"c" not in ["a", "b"] → True
is	Identity test (same object)	x is y
is not	Negative identity test	x is not y

Important: is checks for object identity (same memory address), while == checks for equality (same value).

Operator Overloading

Python allows operators to have different meanings for user-defined classes using special methods:

Operator	Method
+	__add__
-	__sub__
*	__mul__
==	__eq__
<	__lt__

class Vector:
    def __init__(self, x, y):
        self.x = x
        self.y = y
        
    def __add__(self, other):
        return Vector(self.x + other.x, self.y + other.y)
    
    def __repr__(self):
        return f"Vector({self.x}, {self.y})"

v1 = Vector(1, 2)
v2 = Vector(3, 4)
print(v1 + v2)  # Vector(4, 6)

3. Conditions and Loops

Conditional Statements

if, elif, else

age = 18

if age < 13:
    print("Child")
elif age < 18:
    print("Teenager")
else:
    print("Adult")

Ternary Operator

Compact conditional expression:

# Traditional if-else
if x > 0:
    result = "positive"
else:
    result = "non-positive"

# Ternary equivalent
result = "positive" if x > 0 else "non-positive"

match-case (Python 3.10+)

Structural pattern matching:

def handle_command(command):
    match command.split():
        case ["quit"]:
            print("Quitting...")
        case ["go", direction]:
            print(f"Going {direction}")
        case ["drop", *items]:
            print(f"Dropping {', '.join(items)}")
        case _:
            print("Unknown command")

Loops

for loops

Iterate over sequences or any iterable:

# Iterating through a list
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
for fruit in fruits:
    print(fruit)

# Using range()
for i in range(5):  # 0 to 4
    print(i)

# With dictionary
person = {"name": "Alice", "age": 25}
for key, value in person.items():
    print(f"{key}: {value}")

while loops

Execute while condition is true:

count = 0
while count < 5:
    print(count)
    count += 1

Loop Control

Statement	Description
break	Exit the loop immediately
continue	Skip to next iteration
pass	Do nothing (placeholder)

for num in range(10):
    if num % 2 == 0:
        continue  # Skip even numbers
    if num > 7:
        break    # Stop after 7
    print(num)

else clause in loops

The else block executes if the loop completes normally (no break):

for n in range(2, 10):
    for x in range(2, n):
        if n % x == 0:
            print(f"{n} equals {x} * {n//x}")
            break
    else:
        print(f"{n} is a prime number")

Iteration Tools

Function	Description	Example
enumerate()	Get index and value	for i, val in enumerate(lst):
zip()	Iterate multiple sequences	for a, b in zip(lst1, lst2):
reversed()	Reverse iteration	for x in reversed(lst):
sorted()	Iterate in sorted order	for x in sorted(lst):

Comprehensions

List comprehensions

# Traditional approach
squares = []
for x in range(10):
    squares.append(x**2)

# List comprehension
squares = [x**2 for x in range(10)]

# With condition
even_squares = [x**2 for x in range(10) if x % 2 == 0]

Dict comprehensions

# Create dictionary of squares
squares = {x: x**2 for x in range(5)}
# {0: 0, 1: 1, 2: 4, 3: 9, 4: 16}

Set comprehensions

unique_lengths = {len(x) for x in ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]}
# {5, 6}

Generator expressions

Memory-efficient alternative to list comprehensions:

# List comprehension (creates list)
sum_of_squares = sum([x**2 for x in range(1000000)])

# Generator expression (no list created)
sum_of_squares = sum(x**2 for x in range(1000000))

4. Type Casting

Implicit vs Explicit Casting

Python performs implicit type conversion in some cases:

# Integer + float → float
result = 3 + 4.5  # 7.5 (float)

# Boolean + integer → integer
result = True + 5  # 6 (True becomes 1)

Explicit casting uses constructor functions:

int("42")       # 42 (string to integer)
float("3.14")   # 3.14 (string to float)
str(100)        # "100" (integer to string)
bool(0)         # False (integer to boolean)

Common Conversions

Conversion	Example
String to number	int("42"), float("3.14")
Number to string	str(100)
Sequence conversions	tuple([1, 2, 3]), list("hello")
Dict to list	list({"a": 1, "b": 2}.items())

Edge Cases & Pitfalls

Handling ValueError

try:
    num = int("abc")
except ValueError:
    print("Invalid integer")

Lossy conversions

pi = 3.14159
int(pi)  # 3 (decimal part truncated)

Boolean casting rules

All values are truthy except:

• None
• False
• Zero numeric values: 0, 0.0, 0j
• Empty sequences/collections: "", (), [], {}, set()

5. Exception Handling

Basic Try-Except

try:
    result = 10 / 0
except ZeroDivisionError:
    print("Cannot divide by zero")
else:
    print("Division successful")
finally:
    print("This always executes")

Common Built-in Exceptions

Exception	Description
ValueError	Invalid value (e.g., int("abc"))
TypeError	Invalid operation for type (e.g., "a" + 1)
IndexError	Sequence index out of range
KeyError	Dictionary key not found
ZeroDivisionError	Division by zero
FileNotFoundError	File doesn't exist

Advanced Topics

Custom Exceptions

class InvalidEmailError(Exception):
    """Raised when email format is invalid"""
    pass

def validate_email(email):
    if "@" not in email:
        raise InvalidEmailError("Email must contain @")

try:
    validate_email("user.example.com")
except InvalidEmailError as e:
    print(f"Error: {e}")

Exception Chaining

try:
    open("nonexistent.txt")
except FileNotFoundError as e:
    raise RuntimeError("Failed to open file") from e

assert Statements

For debugging and internal consistency checks:

def calculate_average(numbers):
    assert len(numbers) > 0, "List cannot be empty"
    return sum(numbers) / len(numbers)

Context Managers (with blocks)

# Automatically closes file after block
with open("file.txt") as f:
    content = f.read()

Logging & Debugging

logging module

import logging

logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

try:
    1 / 0
except ZeroDivisionError:
    logger.exception("Division by zero error")

traceback module

import traceback

try:
    1 / 0
except:
    traceback.print_exc()  # Prints full traceback

6. Input/Output Basics

Console I/O

print() function

print("Hello", "World", sep=", ")  # Hello, World
print("No newline", end="")  # Prints without newline

input() function

name = input("Enter your name: ")
print(f"Hello, {name}")

File I/O

Opening files

Mode	Description
'r'	Read (default)
'w'	Write (truncates existing)
'a'	Append
'x'	Exclusive creation (fails if exists)
'b'	Binary mode
't'	Text mode (default)
'+'	Updating (read/write)

Reading files

# Using context manager (recommended)
with open("file.txt", "r") as f:
    content = f.read()  # Read entire file
    lines = f.readlines()  # Read as list of lines
    line = f.readline()  # Read single line
    
    # Iterate line by line (memory efficient)
    for line in f:
        print(line.strip())

Writing files

with open("output.txt", "w") as f:
    f.write("Line 1\n")
    f.write("Line 2\n")
    f.writelines(["Line 3\n", "Line 4\n"])

7. String Formatting

Methods

f-strings (Python 3.6+)

name = "Alice"
age = 25
print(f"My name is {name} and I'm {age} years old")

# Expressions inside f-strings
print(f"Next year I'll be {age + 1}")

.format() method

"Hello, {}. You are {} years old".format("Alice", 25)
"Coordinates: {latitude}, {longitude}".format(latitude="37.24N", longitude="115.81W")

% formatting (legacy)

"Hello, %s. You are %d years old" % ("Alice", 25)

Advanced Formatting

Format specifiers

# Number formatting
print(f"Pi: {3.1415926535:.2f}")  # Pi: 3.14

# Alignment
print(f"{"left":<10}")   # left      
print(f"{"right":>10}")  #      right
print(f"{"center":^10}") #  center  

# Number bases
print(f"255 in hex: {255:#x}")  # 0xff
print(f"255 in binary: {255:b}")  # 11111111

Multiline strings

long_text = """This is a
multi-line string
that spans several lines"""

# With f-strings
name = "Alice"
message = f"""Dear {name},
Thank you for your order.
We'll ship it soon."""

8. Docstrings & Comments

Docstrings

Multi-line documentation strings (following PEP 257):

def calculate_area(width, height):
    """Calculate the area of a rectangle.
    
    Args:
        width (float): The width of the rectangle
        height (float): The height of the rectangle
        
    Returns:
        float: The area of the rectangle
    """
    return width * height

Accessing docstrings

print(calculate_area.__doc__)
help(calculate_area)

Comments

Single-line comments start with #:

# This is a single-line comment
x = 5  # Inline comment

PEP 8 Guidelines:

• Use docstrings for public modules, functions, classes, and methods
• Keep comments up-to-date when code changes
• Comments should explain why, not what (code should be self-documenting)
• Use complete sentences in docstrings

9. Python's Execution Model

Script vs. Module

The special __name__ variable determines how a file is being used:

# my_module.py
def main():
    print("This is the main function")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Executed when run directly
    main()
else:
    # Executed when imported
    print("Module imported")

Bytecode Compilation

Python compiles source code (.py) to bytecode (.pyc) for faster execution.

Namespaces and Scope

Python uses namespaces to organize variables:

• Local: Inside the current function
• Enclosing: For nested functions
• Global: At the module level
• Built-in: Python's built-in names

x = "global"

def outer():
    x = "outer"
    
    def inner():
        nonlocal x  # Refers to x in outer()
        x = "inner"
    inner()
    print(x)  # "inner"

outer()
print(x)  # "global"