Python

Python, like any other programming language, has variables and all the standard control structures. We will go though Python’s basic data and control structures that support procedural programming. Then we will explore how to use arrays, followed by file input and output.

A few list of changes in Python 3.x that differs from Python 2.x

• The print function syntax now looks like any other function, e.g., print("Hello").
• The division operator uses floating point division, even when both the numerator and denominator are integers.
• Using raise to raise an exception has a new syntax.
• Dictionary methods keys and values no longer return lists. Neither does range. To make lists out of the return values, use the list function.
• Dictionaries no longer have the has_key method. Test instead for key in dict (where key is the key of interest and dict is your dictionary object). Note that if a value in your dictionary is the same as key, the membership testing will not return True.
• Relative imports (i.e., importing a module in the current directory) require the use of . in front of the module name.
• The version of NumPy generally installed with Python 3.x has a function ndim that gives the number of dimensions of an array, rather than rank.