DS 1501: Programming for Data Science

Lecture 02: Variables and Simple Data types

Dr. Md Saddam Hossain Mukta

Associate Professor & Undergraduate Program
Coordinator
Department of CSE, UIU
Email: [email protected]
Outlines
● Python variables
● Naming a variable
● String
● Whitespace
● Error with string
● Numbers
Running a hello_world.py
● print("Hello Python world!")

● When you run the file hello_world.py, the ending .py indicates
that the file is a Python program.

● Your editor then runs the file through the Python interpreter

● When the interpreter sees the word print, it prints to the

screen whatever is inside the parentheses
Variables
■ Let’s try using a variable

message = "Hello Python world!"

print(message)

● Hello Python world!

● We’ve added a variable named message. Every variable holds a value, which is the
information associated with that variable.
● Adding a variable makes a little more work for the Python interpreter.
● When it processes the first line, it associates the text “Hello Python world!”
● When it reaches the second line, it prints the value associated with message to the
screen.
Variables (contd.)
message = "Hello Python world!"

print(message)

message = "Hello Python Crash Course world!"

print(message)

Hello Python world!

Hello Python Crash Course world!

You can change the value of a variable in your program at any time, and Python will always keep
track of its current value.
Naming and Using Variables
● Variable names can contain only letters, numbers, and underscores. For instance,
you can call a variable message_1 but not 1_message.
● Spaces are not allowed in variable names, but underscores can be used to separate
words in variable names.
● greeting_message works, but greeting message will cause errors.
● Avoid using Python keywords and function names as variable names such as def,
else, elif, continue, etc.
● Variable names should be short but descriptive. For example, name is better than n,
student_name is better than s_n, and name_length is better than
length_of_persons_name
Name Errors When Using Variables
● We’ll write some code that generates an error on purpose.

message = "Hello Python Crash Course reader!"

print(mesage)

● The interpreter provides a traceback when a program cannot run successfully. A

traceback is a record of where the interpreter ran into trouble when trying to execute
your code.
An error occurs in line 2 of the file
Traceback (most recent call last): Hello_world.py

File "hello_world.py", line 2, in <module> The interpreter shows this line to help us spot
print(mesage) the error quickly

NameError: name 'mesage' is not defined tells us what kind of error it found
Strings
● A string is simply a series of characters. Anything inside quotes is considered a string
in Python, and you can use single or double quotes around your strings like this

"This is a string."
'This is also a string.'
● This flexibility allows you to use quotes and apostrophes within your strings:

message="I like jack's preference"

msg='He told- "I am fine"'
Changing Case in a String with Methods
● You can do with strings is change the case of the words in a string.
name = "ada lovelace"
print(name.title())

Ada Lovelace

● The method title() appears after the variable in the print() statement.
● A method is an action that Python can perform on a piece of data. The dot (.) after
name in name.title() tells Python to make the title() method act on the variable name.
● Every method is followed by a set of parentheses, because methods often need
additional information to do their work.
● The title() function doesn’t need any additional information, so its parentheses are
empty.
Changing Case in a String with Methods
name ="Ada Lovelace"
print(name.upper())
print(name.lower())

ADA LOVELACE
ada lovelace

● The lower() method is particularly useful for storing data.

● Many times you convert strings to lowercase before storing them.
Combining or Concatenating Strings
● It’s often useful to combine strings.
● For example, you might want to store a first name and a last name in separate
variables, and then combine them when you want to display someone’s full name:
first_name = "ada"
last_name = "lovelace"
full_name = first_name + " " + last_name
print(full_name)
● Python uses the plus symbol (+) to combine strings
● Output is:
ada lovelace
● You can use concatenation to compose complete messages
print("Hello, " + full_name.title() + "!")

Hello, Ada Lovelace!

Combining or Concatenating Strings
● You can use concatenation to compose a message and then store the entire
message in a variable:
first_name = "ada"
last_name = "lovelace"
full_name = first_name + " " + last_name
message = "Hello, " + full_name.title() + "!"
print(message)
Adding Whitespace to Strings with Tabs or Newlines
● whitespace refers to any nonprinting character
● For example, spaces, tabs, and end-of-line symbols
print("Languages:\nPython\nC\nJavaScript")
Languages:
Python
C
JavaScript

print("Languages:\n\tPython\n\tC\n\tJavaScript")
Languages:
Python
C
JavaScript
Stripping Whitespace
● Extra whitespace can be confusing in your programs. To programmers 'python' and
'python ' look pretty much the same.
● But to a program, they are two different strings. Python detects the extra space in
'python ' and considers it significant unless you tell it otherwise.
● It’s important to think about whitespace, because often you’ll want to compare two
strings to determine whether they are the same.
● For example, one important instance might involve checking people’s usernames
when they log in to a website.
● Fortunately, Python makes it easy to eliminate extraneous whitespace from data that
people enter.
Stripping Whitespace
● Python can look for extra whitespace on the right and left sides of a string. To ensure
that no whitespace exists at the right end of a string, use the rstrip() method.
favorite_language = 'python '
print(favorite_language.rstrip())
● you can see the space at the end of the value v. When the rstrip() method acts on
the variable favorite_language, this extra space is removed. But it is a temporary
solution.
● To remove the whitespace from the string permanently, you have to store the
stripped value back into the variable:
>>>favorite_language = 'python '
>>>favorite_language = favorite_language.rstrip()
>>>favorite_language
'python'
Stripping Whitespace
● You can also strip whitespace from the left side of a string using the lstrip() method
or strip whitespace from both sides at once using strip():
>>> favorite_language = ' python '
>>> favorite_language.rstrip()
' python'
>>> favorite_language.lstrip()
'python '
>>> favorite_language.strip()
'python'

● Experimenting with these stripping functions can help you become familiar with
manipulating strings.
● In the real world, these stripping functions are used most often to clean up user input
before it’s stored in a program.
Syntax Errors with Strings
● A syntax error occurs when Python doesn’t recognize a section of your program as
valid Python code.
● If you use an apostrophe within single quotes, you’ll produce an error.
message = 'One of Python's strengths is its diverse community.'
print(message)

File "apostrophe.py", line 1

message = 'One of Python's strengths is its diverse community.'
^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

● Experimenting with these stripping functions can help you become familiar with
manipulating strings.
● In the real world, these stripping functions are used most often to clean up user input
before it’s stored in a program.
Numbers (i.e., Integers)
● Numbers are used quite often in programming to keep score in games, represent
data in visualizations, store information in web applications
● You can add (+), subtract (-), multiply (*), and divide (/) integers in Python.
>>> 2 + 3
5
>>> 3 - 2
1
>>> 2 * 3
6
>>> 3 / 2
1.5
● Python uses two multiplication symbols to represent exponents
>>> 3 ** 2
9
>>> 3 ** 3
27
Operator Precedence
● Python supports the order of operations too, so you can use multiple operations in
one expression.
● You can also use parentheses to modify the order of operations so Python can
evaluate your expression in the order you specify.

>>> 2 + 3*4
14
>>> (2 + 3) * 4
20
Floats
● Python calls any number with a decimal point a float. This term is used in most
programming languages, and it refers to the fact that a decimal point can appear at
any position in a number.
>>> 0.1 + 0.1
0.2
>>> 2 * 0.1
0.2
● But be aware that you can sometimes get an arbitrary number of decimal places in
your answer:
>>> 0.2 + 0.1
0.30000000000000004
Errors with the str() Function
● Sometimes you will want to use a variable’s value within a message

age = 23
message = "Happy " + age + "rd Birthday!"
print(message)

● But if you run this code, you’ll see that it generates an error

Traceback (most recent call last):

File "birthday.py", line 2, in <module>
message = "Happy " + age + "rd Birthday!"
u TypeError: Can't convert 'int' object to str implicitly

● This is a type error. It means Python can’t recognize the kind of information you’re
using.
Errors with the str() Function
● When you use integers within strings like this, you need to specify explicitly that you
want Python to use the integer as a string of characters.
●
age = 23
message = "Happy " + str(age) + "rd Birthday!"
print(message)
Integers in Python 2
● Python 2 returns a slightly different result when you divide two integers:

>>> python2.7
>>> 3 / 2
1

● Instead of 1.5, Python returns 1. Division of integers in Python 2 results in an integer

with the remainder truncated. Note that the result is not a rounded integer; the
remainder is simply omitted.
● To avoid this behavior in Python 2, make sure that at least one of the numbers is a
float

>>> 3.0 / 2
1.5
Comments
● Comments are an extremely useful feature in most programming languages.
● As your programs become longer and more complicated, you should add notes
within your programs that describe your overall approach to the problem you’re
solving.
● A comment allows you to write notes in English within your programs.
● The hash mark (#) indicates a comment
# Say hello to everyone.
print("Hello Python people!")

● Python ignores the first line and executes the second line.

Hello Python people!

Thank you