Intermediate Programming with Python: Glossary

Modules are simply Python files.

To use code from a module, it has to be imported.

The import command is used to import code from a module.

There are different ways to import from a module. Select the appropriate method based on the required effect.

Files are opened with the open() function.

The open() function returns a file object.

Files need to be closed when they are no longer required by your program.

The close() method of the file object closes a file.

The with statement provides an elegant and safe way to automatically close your files.

Data can be read from text files a line at a time by the readline() file object method.

If you want to process each line of a text file in order, then iteration is useful.

Data can be written to a file with the write() file object method.

Patterns are common and repeatable recipes for common problems. The text file sequential processing pattern is simple, robust and efficient.

Python scripts are plain text files, usually with the .py extension.

You execute Python scripts at the command-line with the Python interpreter.

Values are displayed using the print function.

Comments are indicated with #. Anything between the # and the end of the line is ignored.

Using command-line arguments can make your programs easier to use and reuse.

__name__ is a string containing the module name.

For files directly executed by Python, __name__ gets the special value “main”, indicating that this is the main file.

The if __name__ == "__main__" expression prevents code from running when the module is being imported.