miku / pythonpath

Path to Python

Diving into Python.

• 1: Language Basics
• 2: Multiparadigmatic programming (imperative, OO, functional)
• 3: Working with data (files, web, JSON)
• 4: Tabular data with Pandas (pandas, csv, plotting)

Schedule

Day 1

• How Python views the world
  • ExecutionModes.md
  • notebooks/python_world_view.ipynb
• Language features
  • notebooks/intro/01.ipynb
  • notebooks/intro/02.ipynb
  • notebooks/intro/03.ipynb

Day 2

• Language Features
  • notebooks/intro/04.ipynb
  • notebooks/intro/05.ipynb
  • notebooks/intro/06.ipynb
  • notebooks/intro/07.ipynb
  • notebooks/Exceptions.ipynb
• Python I/O and serializations
  • notebooks/IO.ipynb
• Project lifecycle
  • Using uv
• Additional Python Topics
  • notebooks/Collections.ipynb
  • notebooks/Generators.ipynb
  • notebooks/Decorators.ipynb
  • notebooks/FunctionalAspects.ipynb
  • notebooks/TypeHintsOverview.ipynb
• Python data munging
  • notebooks/HelloNumpy.ipynb
  • notebooks/HelloPandas.ipynb
  • notebooks/Pandas/01_Pandas_Basic_Access.ipynb
  • notebooks/Pandas/02_Pandas_Reading_Excel.ipynb
  • notebooks/Pandas/03_Pandas_Aggregations.ipynb
  • notebooks/Pandas/04_Pandas_Basic_Plotting.ipynb

Running Python:

• example web application

Extra:

• notebooks/DataModelOverview.ipynb, ...

Examples:

• [notebooks/Pandas/13 Pandas Example - Geolocations.ipynb](notebooks/Pandas/13 Pandas Example - Geolocations.ipynb) (MUKA)
• [notebooks/Pandas/14 Pandas Example - Learning about Weather with DWD.ipynb](notebooks/Pandas/14 Pandas Example - Learning about Weather with DWD.ipynb)
• [notebooks/Pandas/15 Pandas Example - Used Cars.ipynb](notebooks/Pandas/15 Pandas Example - Used Cars.ipynb)

Example (just rendered, data is now 404):

• https://github.com/miku/sundaypython/blob/master/notebooks/04%20Working%20with%20CSV.ipynb

---

Mode of operation

We will look at different contexts:

• many data structures and approaches can be tried out in a REPL
• research, experiments in notebooks
• automating tasks with scripts

Python Background

• 1991-02-21 (more than 33 years ago, about 19 years after C)
• open source, dynamically typed, interpreted language with a major implementation ("cpython")
• large code fissure between 2006 (PEP-3000) and 2020 ("Sunsetting Python 2")
• de-facto language for the convenience layer in scienfitic computing, on the rise (tiobe), Heise: Und der Sieger ist - Python (2022), blueprint for new developments (like Mojo)
• many popular libraries (top 20 packages are downloaded about 210M per days, or 5.8B times per month, or 2250 "installs" per second)

$ python -c 'import pandas as pd;print(pd.read_html("https://pypistats.org/top")[1][2].sum())'
213946761

$ python -c 'import pandas as pd;print(pd.read_html("https://pypistats.org/top")[3][2].sum())'
5833512800

• Python is a "glue language" - in many ways
• Python has a few downsides ("deployment" and "packaging", requires more discipline in my experience to write robust code)

Python Eras

• 1990s: scripting
• 2000s: scientific computing
• 2010s: data science (also "web")
• 2020s: ML/AI (as a guess)

Snapshot as of 2024-01-16

About 630 KLOC C, plus a standard library of about 900 KLOC Python, plus documentation, tutorials, etc.

===============================================================================
 Language            Files        Lines         Code     Comments       Blanks
===============================================================================
...
 C                     409       550295       430438        64500        55357
 C Header              537       237280       200351        14728        22201
...
 Python               1893       912977       736017        59248       117712
 ReStructuredText      802       411335       292093            0       119242
...
===============================================================================
 Total                4210      2339000      1771030       246934       321036
===============================================================================

Installation Options

• Linux Distributions come with Python installed (on Ubuntu, there is "python-is-python3", cf. AU1296790
• Installation on Windows
• On most linux distributions, you will already have Python installed
• On macOS, there is a homebrew version: https://docs.brew.sh/Homebrew-and-Python