Variables

A variable is just an alias/handle to a value. The value can be anything understood by python

Example:

# an integer
x = 1
# a string
y = 'Hello World!'
# a boolean
z = True
# list of ...
a = [0, 1, 2]
b = ['a', 'b']

Syntax

Python uses identation to define blocks, where other proogramming language often use curly brackets, e.g.:

in c:

while (i<10) {
  j += il
}
// block ends

in python:

while i<10:
    j += 10
# block ends

Functions

When you need to repeat common behaviour you are better of defining a function, just like it would be in mathematics. A function can return something ot do no return anything but doing something implictly.

Examples:

def squared(x):
    return x*x

result = squared(2)
print result

def prefix_print(value):
    print 'My value:', value

prefix_print('Hello')

Statements

Often you find you will want to do something conditionally. For this you can use if statements.

Example:

a = 1
if a == 1:
    print 'Match'
else:

    print 'No match'

To apply a function to a range of values you can use for or while

Example:

i = 0
while i < 10:
    print i
    i +=1

for i in [0, 1, 2]:
    print i

Objects

Objects are basically values with certain attributes, which are specific to that type of the object. For example strings in python have attribute functions which can perform operations on the string:

x = 'Test me'
print x.upper()