Loops, Function, Tuples, Lists and Dictionary in Python

Background​​ 

Loops in Python:

• The 'while' loop​​ 

a = 0​​ 

while a <​​ 10:​​ 

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ a = a + 1​​ 

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ print a​​ 

• The 'for' loop​​ 

for i in range(1, 5):

 print i​​ 

for i in range(1, 5):​​ 

print i​​ 

else:​​ 

print 'The for loop is over'​​ 

Functions:

• How to call a function?

function_name(parameters)

Code Example ​​ - Using a function

a =​​ multiplybytwo(70)

The computer would actually see this:

a=140​​ 

• Define a Function?

def function_name(parameter_1,parameter_2):

{this is the code in the function}

return {value (e.g. text or number) to return to the main program}

• range()​​ Function:

If you do need to iterate over a sequence of numbers, the built-in function​​ range()​​ comes in handy. It generates lists containing arithmetic​​ progressions:

>>> range(10) [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]​​ 

It is possible to let the range start at another number, or to specify a different increment (even negative; sometimes this is called the ‘step’):

>>> range(5, 10)​​ 

[5, 6, 7, 8, 9]​​ 

>>> range(0,​​ 10, 3)​​ 

[0, 3, 6, 9]​​ 

>>> range(-10, -100, -30)​​ 

[-10, -40, -70]​​ 

Lists:

Lists​​ are what they seem - a list of values. Each one of them is numbered, starting from zero. You can remove values from the list, and add new values to the end. Example: Your many cats' names.​​ Compound data types, used to group together other values. The most versatile is the list, which can be written as a list of comma-separated values (items) between square brackets. List items need not all have the same type

cats = ['Tom', 'Snappy', 'Kitty', 'Jessie', 'Chester']

print cats[2]

cats.append('Catherine')

#Remove your 2nd cat, Snappy. Woe is you.

del cats[1]

Compound datatype:

>>>​​ a = ['spam', 'eggs', 100, 1234]

>>> a[1:-1]

['eggs', 100]

>>> a[:2] + ['bacon', 2*2]

['spam', 'eggs', 'bacon', 4]

>>> 3*a[:3] + ['Boo!']

['spam', 'eggs', 100, 'spam', 'eggs', 100, 'spam', 'eggs', 100, 'Boo!']

>>> a= ['spam', 'eggs', 100, 1234]

>>> a[2] =​​ a[2] + 23

>>> a

['spam', 'eggs', 123, 1234]

Replace some items:

... a[0:2] = [1, 12]

>>> a

[1, 12, 123, 1234]

Remove some:

... a[0:2] = []

>>> a

[123, 1234]

Clear the list: replace all items with an empty list:

>>>​​ a[:] = []

>>> a

[]

Length of list:

>>> a = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']

>>> len(a)

4

Nest lists:

>>> q = [2, 3]

>>> p = [1, q, 4]

>>> len(p)

3

>>> p[1]

[2, 3]

Functions of lists:

list.append(x): ​​​​ Add an item to the end of the list; equivalent to a[len(a):] =​​ [x].

list.extend(L):​​ Extend the list by appending all the items in the given list;equivalent to a[len(a):] = L.

list.insert(i, x):​​ Insert an item at a given position. The first argument is the index of the element before which to insert, so a.insert(0, x)​​ inserts at the front of the list, and a.insert(len(a), x) is equivalent to a.append(x).

list.remove(x): ​​ Remove the first item from the list whose value is x. It is an error if there is no such item.

list.pop([i]):​​ Remove the item at the given position in​​ the list, and return it. If no index is specified, a.pop() removes and returns the last item in the list.

list.count(x):​​ Return the number of times x appears in the list.

list.sort():​​ Sort the items of the list, in place.

list.reverse():​​ Reverse the elements of the list, in place.

Tuples:

Tuples​​ are just like lists, but you can't change their values. Again, each value is numbered starting from zero, for easy reference. Example: the names of the months of the year.​​ 

months = ('January' , 'February', 'March',​​ 'April', 'May', 'June', 'July', 'August', 'September', 'October', 'November', ' December’)

>>>​​ basket = ['apple', 'orange', 'apple', 'pear', 'orange', 'banana']

>>> fruit = set(basket) ​​ # create a set without duplicates

>>> fruit

set(['orange', 'pear', 'apple', 'banana'])

>>> 'orange' in fruit  ​​​​ # fast membership testing

True

>>> 'crabgrass' in fruit

False

Dictionaries:

Dictionaries​​ are similar to what their name suggests - a dictionary. In a dictionary, you have an 'index' of words, and for each of them a definition.​​ 

In python, the word is called a 'key', and the definition a 'value'. The values in a dictionary aren't numbered - they aren't in any specific order, either - the key does the same thing.

You can add, remove, and modify the values in dictionaries. Example: telephone book.​​ 

phonebook = { 'ali':8806336, 'omer':6784346,'shoaib':7658344,​​ 'saad':1122345 }

#Add the person '' to the phonebook:

phonebook['waqas'] = 1234567

# Remove the person '' to the phonebook:

del phonebook['shoaib']

 ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​ 

 ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​ phonebook = {'Andrew Parson':8806336, \

'Emily Everett':6784346, 'Peter​​ Power':7658344, \

'Lewis Lame':1122345}

#Add the person 'Gingerbread Man' to the phonebook:

phonebook['Gingerbread Man'] = 1234567

#Delete the person 'Gingerbread Man' to the phonebook:

del phonebook['Andrew Parson']

Task 1

Write a program of​​ simple calculator program. Follow the steps below,

• Declare and define a function name Menu which displays a list of choices for user such as addition, subtraction, multiplication etc. It takes the choice from user as an input and return.

• Define and declare​​ a separate function for each choice.

• In the main body of the program call respective function depending on user’s choice.

• Program should not terminate till user chooses last option that is “Quit”.

Task 2

Write a method to calculate Fibonacci Series up to​​ ‘n’ points. After calculating the series, the method should return to the main.

Task 3

Write a program to calculate factorial of a number entered by user.

Task 4

Write a program that lets the user enter in some English text, then convert the text to Pig-latin.

Task 5​​ 

Splits the string |text| by whitespace and returns two things as a pair: the set of words that occur the maximum number of times, and their count, i.e. (set of words that occur the most number of times, that maximum number/count) You might find it useful to use collections. Counter().​​