Python Basics (Syntax, Types, Control Flow)

Context: FIT1043_MOC · the language fundamentals of Python · precede pandas · lab: 30_Projects/FIT1043_Labs/Week1-Python-Basics.ipynb Problem it solves: assign variables, use the core types, and branch/loop in Python.

Quick Revision

• 🎯 Trigger: any Python snippet ➔ assign with =, pick a type (number/string/list), branch/loop with if/for.
• ⚡ Key Constraint: list indexing is 0-based; remove() deletes the first matching value, del/index deletes by position.

🔧 Minimal Working Example

currentYear = 2019                 # number
s = 'Welcome to FIT1043'           # string
print(s + ' in ' + str(currentYear))   # concat needs str()
 
lst = []                           # list
lst.append(1); lst.append('hi')    # grow
lst[0]                             # index (0-based) -> 1
len(lst)                          # 2

Expected output: the concatenated string; lst = [1, 'hi']; len = 2.

• Arithmetic ➔ + - * /, ** (power), % (modulo); "ab"*3 repeats a string.
• Types ➔ number, string (str() to convert), list (ordered, mutable).
• List ops ➔ append(x) add; remove(v) drop first value v; del lst[i] drop by index; lst[i] access (0-based); len(lst).
• Conditions ➔ == / !=; if … : / else :; membership x in [a, b].
• Packages ➔ !pip install name (once), then import name.

🔀 Variations

• Input + dynamic year ➔ avoid hard-coding: import datetime; now = datetime.datetime.now(); now.year - int(input('age: ')).
• Membership branch ➔ if currentYear in [2019, 2018]: ... tests several values at once.

✍️ Practice

Practice 1: Ask for a birth year and print the person's age using the current year (not a hard-coded 2019).

Reference solution

import datetime
now = datetime.datetime.now()
birth = int(input('Please enter your birth year: '))
print('You are', now.year - birth)

• Key move: datetime.now().year makes it dynamic; int() converts the string from input().

⚠️ Common Mistakes

• 💡 remove(v) ≠ del lst[i] ➔ remove deletes the first element equal to v; del/indexing deletes by position.
• 💡 input() returns a string ➔ wrap with int()/float() before arithmetic; and concatenation needs str() on numbers.