Getting Started with Python Coding

Python is an easy-to-learn, powerful programming language. It has clear, readable syntax and is used in a wide range of applications, from web development to data science. Python is a great place to begin if you’re just starting with coding.

Installing Python

You’ll first need to install Python on your computer. There are two main options:

• Python 3 (recommended) — The latest major version of Python. You can download the installer from python.org.
• Python 2 — The previous version. Still widely used, but Python 3 is the future.

Installing Python is as simple as running the installer and clicking through the screens. Make sure to add Python to your PATH so you can run it from any folder.

Hello World

The classic first program to write is “Hello World!”. Open a file named hello.py and enter:

print(“Hello, World!”)

Save the file and run it from the command line:

python hello.py

You’ll see the output:

Hello, World!

The print() function displays text on the screen.

Variables

You can store data in variables:

name = “John”

age = 30

print(name)

print(age)

Output:

John

30

Variable names are case-sensitive. Follow these naming rules:

• Letters, numbers, and underscores
• Start with a letter or underscore
• No spaces

String Operations

Strings can be concatenated with the + operator:

first_name = “John”

last_name = “Doe”

full_name = first_name + “ “ + last_name

print(full_name) # John Doe

Strings can be multiplied:

print(“Hello” * 5)

# HelloHelloHelloHelloHello

Comments

Use # for comments. Anything after # till the end of the line is ignored:

# This is a comment

print(“Hello”) # Another comment

That covers the basics! Keep practicing by writing more Python programs.

Using Python in Web Development

Here are some ways you can use Python for web development:

1. Django — Django is a powerful Python web framework. It makes it fast and easy to develop database-driven websites and web apps. With Django, you can:

• Build the backend of a website (handle requests, interface with a database)
• Create admin interfaces automatically
• Handle user authentication, sessions, etc.

2. Flask — Flask is a micro web framework. It’s lightweight and easy to get started with. You can:

• Create simple APIs
• Build prototypes fast
• Handle request and response objects

3. Web Scraping — You can use Python libraries like Beautiful Soup and Requests to scrape data from websites. This is useful for:

• Collecting public data
• Competitive analysis
• Research

4. Frameworks — Other Python web frameworks you can use:

• Pyramid
• web2py
• Bottle

5. CGI/WSGI — You can write Python scripts to interface with web servers using Common Gateway Interface (CGI) or Web Server Gateway Interface (WSGI).

6. Libraries — Useful Python libraries for web development:

• Jinja (templating)
• SQLAlchemy (ORM)
• lxml (XML parsing)

7. Web Services — Expose data and logic as web services using libraries like:

• Flask RESTful
• Django REST framework

Python is a great language for anything from simple web scrapers all the way up to large-scale web applications, thanks to its many libraries and frameworks.