Python Intro 00.ipynb

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    "# Preliminary words\n",
    "\n",
    "* **main goals:** knowledge transfer + having fun 😜\n",
    "* this will probably turn out to be several sessions, not just one ...\n",
    "* **interrupt me, if I am going too fast and tell me to slow down!**\n",
    "* **please speak up if you have a question** or if you don't understand some concept I am talking about\n",
    "* this may not sound very technical at the beginning, because I want to get you set up with your own Python and we need to lean a few basics of the user interface you will use to talk to Python\n",
    "* **this is meant to be interactive**, I encourage you to follow along, try stuff yourself or ask for concrete experiments or for explanations of behavior you observe\n",
    "* that said: **there will be notes** ... e.g. what you see on screen now; in the form of of the Jupyter notebooks and Markdown documentation ... even code examples\n",
    "* I **may gloss over certain details** at the beginning for brevity"
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    "# Python: some facts\n",
    "\n",
    "* Brief history:\n",
    "    * 1989 Dutch programmer [Guido van Rossum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guido_van_Rossum) creates Python\n",
    "    * 1991 First public release of Python: 0.9.0\n",
    "    * 1994 Python 1.0 released\n",
    "    * 2000 Python 2.0 released with features such as list comprehensions and Unicode support\n",
    "    * 2008 Python 3.0 released; _backwards-incompatible_ with certain \"bridges\"\n",
    "    * 2020 Python 2.x reaches end of life; plenty of Python code is still stuck on 2.x\n",
    "* The \"canonical\" implementation is [CPython](https://python.org) (C, because it's written in C)\n",
    "    * Alternative implementations exist: IronPython (.NET), Jython (JVM), PyPy (JITted), MicroPython (for microcontrollers), ...\n",
    "* _This_ will focus on CPython\n",
    "* Python comes \"batteries included\"\n",
    "    * There is a comprehensive \"standard library\" providing all sorts of amenities to those writing Python\n",
    "* Python is used in serious software products, e.g. Dropbox\n",
    "    * Python's original author and former \"benevolent dictator for life\" (BDFL) Guido van Rossum used to work for Dropbox, now works for Microsoft\n",
    "* The name Python alludes to the British comedy troupe Monty Python\n",
    "    * Many Python code samples include references to Monty Python sketches\n",
    "    * The IDE (editor) shipping with Python is called IDLE after Eric Idle, a member of the troupe\n",
    "    * The Python logo sports the corresponding reptile"
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    "# What to expect\n",
    "\n",
    "* Introduction **not just for developers**\n",
    "    * Peleg previously did a \"Python for C++ developers\" ... _this_ is not a repeat, although certain elements will of course _also_ appear here\n",
    "* We will **focus on Python 3.10 and newer**\n",
    "    * If questions come up about older versions, including 2.x I'll try to address them, but it's been a while since I moved from 2.x to 3.x\n",
    "    * Some of the code examples may not work on older Python versions, e.g. `match`/`case`\n",
    "* While I am fairly fluent, please don't expect me to know _everything_ by heart; as is often the case my knowledge is based on those parts I used in practice\n",
    "* Developers knowing any other programming language _will_ have a head start, but **our speed will be adjusted to non-developers as needed!**\n",
    "    * This means that we will introduce some very basic concepts at the beginning to get going, then **reuse the acquired knowledge and apply it in other areas**\n",
    "* **What can I use this for?**\n",
    "    * **automation** of daily tasks (compare to formulas in Excel/spreadsheet cells or macros)\n",
    "    * sifting through text, mutating or otherwise **processing text**\n",
    "        * if you participated in my regular expression introduction (or will participate in a future repetition) this can be applied almost 1:1\n",
    "    * generally **data analysis** (not a focus here, but I'll provide some pointers)\n",
    "    * **[automating/scripting of software](https://wiki.python.org/moin/AppsWithPythonScripting)**\n",
    "        * Autodesk Maya, Blender (3D modeling)\n",
    "        * GIMP (graphics manipulation)\n",
    "        * Sublime Text (an editor)\n",
    "        * ArcGIS, QGIS (GIS software)\n",
    "        * certain home automation\n",
    "    * understanding Conan, if you're a C/C++ developer ... or meson if you deal with meson-based builds\n",
    "    * ... and much more\n"
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