Plotting and Programming in Python

Key Points

Running and Quitting
  • Python programs are plain text files.

  • Use the Jupyter Notebook for editing and running Python.

  • The Notebook has Command and Edit modes.

  • Use the keyboard and mouse to select and edit cells.

  • The Notebook will turn Markdown into pretty-printed documentation.

  • Markdown does most of what HTML does.

Variables and Assignment
  • Use variables to store values.

  • Use print to display values.

  • Variables persist between cells.

  • Variables must be created before they are used.

  • Variables can be used in calculations.

  • Use an index to get a single character from a string.

  • Use a slice to get a substring.

  • Use the built-in function len to find the length of a string.

  • Python is case-sensitive.

  • Use meaningful variable names.

Data Types and Type Conversion
  • Every value has a type.

  • Use the built-in function type to find the type of a value.

  • Types control what operations can be done on values.

  • Strings can be added and multiplied.

  • Strings have a length (but numbers don’t).

  • Must convert numbers to strings or vice versa when operating on them.

  • Can mix integers and floats freely in operations.

  • Variables only change value when something is assigned to them.

Built-in Functions and Help
  • Use comments to add documentation to programs.

  • A function may take zero or more arguments.

  • Commonly-used built-in functions include max, min, and round.

  • Functions may only work for certain (combinations of) arguments.

  • Functions may have default values for some arguments.

  • Use the built-in function help to get help for a function.

  • The Jupyter Notebook has two ways to get help.

  • Every function returns something.

  • Python reports a syntax error when it can’t understand the source of a program.

  • Python reports a runtime error when something goes wrong while a program is executing.

  • Fix syntax errors by reading the source code, and runtime errors by tracing the program’s execution.

Lists
  • A list stores many values in a single structure.

  • Use an item’s index to fetch it from a list.

  • Lists’ values can be replaced by assigning to them.

  • Appending items to a list lengthens it.

  • Use del to remove items from a list entirely.

  • The empty list contains no values.

  • Lists may contain values of different types.

  • Character strings can be indexed like lists.

  • Character strings are immutable.

  • Indexing beyond the end of the collection is an error.

Tuples & Dictionaries
  • A tuple is a list that can never be changed.

  • Use an item’s index to fetch it from a tuple.

  • Dictionaries are lists in which the semantic meaning of each entry is more important than its order.

  • New entries can be added to an existing dictionary by assignment.

  • Dictionary keys are unique - only one item can exist per key

  • Use del to remove items from a list entirely

  • You can access all the keys and all the values of a dictionary

  • Collections (lists, tuples, dictionaries) may be nested arbitrarily

  • Code clarity & maintainability should guide choice of collection type

Libraries
  • Most of the power of a programming language is in its libraries.

  • A program must import a library module in order to use it.

  • Use help to learn about the contents of a library module.

  • Import specific items from a library to shorten programs.

  • Create an alias for a library when importing it to shorten programs.

Reading Tabular Data into DataFrames
  • Use the Pandas library to do statistics on tabular data.

  • Use index_col to specify that a column’s values should be used as row headings.

  • Use DataFrame.info to find out more about a dataframe.

  • The DataFrame.columns variable stores information about the dataframe’s columns.

  • Use DataFrame.T to transpose a dataframe.

  • Use DataFrame.describe to get summary statistics about data.

Plotting
  • matplotlib is the most widely used scientific plotting library in Python.

  • Plot data directly from a Pandas dataframe.

  • Select and transform data, then plot it.

  • Many styles of plot are available.

  • Can plot many sets of data together.

Writing Functions
  • Break programs down into functions to make them easier to understand.

  • Define a function using def with a name, parameters, and a block of code.

  • Defining a function does not run it.

  • Arguments in call are matched to parameters in definition.

  • Functions may return a result to their caller using return.

For Loops
  • A for loop executes commands once for each value in a collection.

  • The first line of the for loop must end with a colon, and the body must be indented.

  • Indentation is always meaningful in Python.

  • A for loop is made up of a collection, a loop variable, and a body.

  • Loop variables can be called anything (but it is strongly advised to have a meaningful name to the looping variable).

  • The body of a loop can contain many statements.

  • Use range to iterate over a sequence of numbers.

  • The Accumulator pattern turns many values into one.

Conditionals
  • Use if statements to control whether or not a block of code is executed.

  • Conditionals are often used inside loops.

  • Use else to execute a block of code when an if condition is not true.

  • Use elif to specify additional tests.

  • Conditions are tested once, in order.

  • Create a table showing variables’ values to trace a program’s execution.

Wrap-Up Exercise
  • Use skills together.

Pandas DataFrames
  • Use DataFrame.iloc[..., ...] to select values by integer location.

  • Use : on its own to mean all columns or all rows.

  • Select multiple columns or rows using DataFrame.loc and a named slice.

  • Result of slicing can be used in further operations.

  • Use comparisons to select data based on value.

  • Select values or NaN using a Boolean mask.

Command-Line Programs
  • The sys library connects a Python program to the system it is running on.

Defensive Programming
  • Avoid silent failures.

  • Avoid esoteric output when a program fails.

Refactoring
  • Refactoring makes code more modular, easier to read, and easier to understand.

  • Refactoring requires one to consdier future implications and generally enables others to use your code more easily.

Running Scripts and Importing
  • The __name__ variable allows us to know whether the file is being imported or run as a script.

Programming Style
  • Follow standard Python style in your code.

  • Use docstrings to provide online help.

Wrap-Up
  • Python supports a large community within and outwith research.

FIXME: more reference material.

Glossary

FIXME: glossary.