Chapter 3. The Quick Python overview

The purpose of this chapter is to give you a basic feeling for the syntax, semantics, capabilities, and philosophy of the Python language. It has been designed to provide you an initial perspective or conceptual framework on which you’ll be able to add details as you encounter them in the rest of the book.

On an initial read, you needn’t be concerned about working through and understanding the details of the code segments. You’ll be doing fine if you pick up a bit of an idea about what’s being done. The subsequent chapters walk you through the specifics of these features and don’t assume previous knowledge. You can always return to this chapter and work through the examples in the appropriate sections as a review after you’ve read the later chapters.

3.1. Python synopsis

Python has several built-in data types, such as integers, floats, complex numbers, strings, lists, tuples, dictionaries, and file objects. These data types can be manipulated using language operators, built-in functions, library functions, or a data type’s own methods.

3.2. Built-in data types

3.3. Control flow structures

3.4. Module creation

3.5. Object-oriented programming

Summary