Intermediate Python; Selected Topics

Python has become one of the most popular general purpose programming languages over the last decade. Regardless of your interests in programming, Python is a great choice. The language is used at scale to power everything from from web applications to bioinformatics.

This course is designed for people who already know the basics, specifically:

• Basic Python syntax rules
• Data types
• Control flow and looping
• Functions
• Using, installing, and managing libraries

And give those programmers a more powerful toolkit for building useful Python applications that are larger, more maintainable, more efficient, and more interesting. We will cover...

• The use of argparse for better CLI tools and scripts.
• Many details about classes and Object Oriented Programming, for larger applications.
• Useful tools and features like iterators, generators, and decorators.
• Testing with unittest and pytest
• Making web requests synchronously and asynchronously.
• Proper use of logging.
• Building a simple web server.

Setup & Installation

• Install python if needed (likely not, but sometimes)
  • www.python.org/download
  • The latest stable version is suggested.
  • Anything before Python 3.7 is too old.
• Install an IDE or good text editor.
  • Visual Studio Code is a good starting point if you don't already have a preference.
  • https://code.visualstudio.com/
  • Install the Python extension if you go this route https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-python.python
  • Because we are asked frequently: NO! Jupyter Notebook is not an acceptable IDE for this class.
• Some lessons will require the use of 3rd party libraries...
  • See 00_venv_and_setup for advice on creating a virtual environment and installing some such packages.
  • For the brave, foolish, and lazy: pip install requests aiohttp fastapi pytest
  • If you take the class from Teb's Lab there will be a setup day where you can get help installing these.

Advice For Instructors

• The suggested order of the material is clearly denoted in the filenames.
• Each folder is designed to be done in a single two-hour session.
• Demonstrations work best while using the debugger to step through the code line by line.
• Exercises are designed such that some students will need additional time after class to complete them, but they should be expected to start in class.
• The general flow is for these materials is:
  • Review the solution from the previous session
  • Demonstration of new concepts (with micro-exercises)
  • Longer Exercise
  • Repeat

Advice For Self Study Students

• The demonstration sections are written with knowledgeable instructors in mind, and might not contain all the information you'd need to complete an exercise.
  • Consider doing additional research, there are many Python tutorials out there!
    • I especially love the ones by Real Python
    • Free Code Camp also has a lot of great Python tutorials.
  • Get help from a friend, social network, or elsewhere (Teb's Lab contact information is on our website... I do typically answer emails from students).
  • Try to look at the solutions only as a last resort.

License

All of the material in this repository is dedicated to the public domain. See the LICENSE file for more details.

Support Free Curricula and Teb's Lab

These materials were created by Teb's Lab. We maintain several open source curriculum repositories, all with public domain dedications. Browse our repos on Github, or our website or click here to arrange a training from Teb's Lab.