Starting Out with Python: International Edition

In Starting Out with Python®, Second Edition Tony Gaddis’ evenly-paced, accessible coverage introduces students to the basics of programming and prepares them to transition into more complicated languages. Python, an easy-to-learn and increasingly popular object-oriented language, allows readers to become comfortable with the fundamentals of programming without the troublesome syntax that can be challenging for novices. With the knowledge acquired using Python, students gain confidence in their skills and learn to recognize the logic behind developing high-quality programs. Starting Out with Python discusses control structures, functions, arrays, and pointers before objects and classes. As with all Gaddis texts, clear and easy-to-read code listings, concise and practical real-world examples, detail-oriented explanations, and an abundance of exercises appear in every chapter. This text is intended for a one-semester introductory programming course for students with limited programming experience.

Table of Contents:
Preface xi Chapter 1 Introduction to Computers and Programming 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Hardware and Software 2 1.3 How Computers Store Data 8 1.4 How a Program Works 13 1.5 Using Python 20 Chapter 2 Input, Processing, and Output 31 2.1 Designing a Program 31 2.2 Input, Processing, and Output 35 2.3 Displaying Output with the print Function 36 2.4 Comments 39 2.5 Variables 40 2.6 Reading Input from the Keyboard 49 2.7 Performing Calculations 53 2.8 More About Data Output 65 Chapter 3 Simple Functions 81 3.1 Introduction to Functions 81 3.2 Defining and Calling a Function 83 3.3 Designing a Program to Use Functions 89 3.4 Local Variables 95 3.5 Passing Arguments to Functions 97 3.6 Global Variables and Global Constants 107 Chapter 4 Decision Structures and Boolean Logic 117 4.1 The if Statement 117 4.2 The if-else Statement 125 4.3 Comparing Strings 130 4.4 Nested Decision Structures and the if-elif-else Statement 134 4.5 Logical Operators 142 4.6 Boolean Variables 149 Chapter 5 Repetition Structures 157 5.1 Introduction to Repetition Structures 157 5.2 The while Loop: a Condition-Controlled Loop 158 5.3 The for Loop: a Count-Controlled Loop 167 5.4 Calculating a Running Total 179 5.5 Sentinels 182 5.6 Input Validation Loops 185 5.7 Nested Loops 190 Chapter 6 Value-Returning Functions and Modules 203 6.1 Introduction to Value-Returning Functions: Generating Random Numbers 203 6.2 Writing Your Own Value-Returning Functions 214 6.3 The math Module 225 6.4 Storing Functions in Modules 228 Chapter 7 Files and Exceptions 239 7.1 Introduction to File Input and Output 239 7.2 Using Loops to Process Files 256 7.3 Processing Records 263 7.4 Exceptions 276 Chapter 8 Lists and Tuples 295 8.1 Sequences 295 8.2 Introduction to Lists 295 8.3 List Slicing 303 8.4 Finding Items in Lists with the in Operator 306 8.5 List Methods and Useful Built-in Functions 307 8.6 Copying Lists 314 8.7 Processing Lists 316 8.8 Two-Dimensional Lists 328 8.9 Tuples 332 Chapter 9 More About Strings 341 9.1 Basic String Operations 341 9.2 String Slicing 349 9.3 Testing, Searching, and Manipulating Strings 353 Chapter 10 Dictionaries and Sets 371 10.1 Dictionaries 371 10.2 Sets 394 10.3 Serializing Objects 406 Chapter 11 Classes and Object-Oriented Programming 421 11.1 Procedural and Object-Oriented Programming 421 11.2 Classes 425 11.3 Working with Instances 442 11.4 Techniques for Designing Classes 464 Chapter 12 Inheritance 483 12.1 Introduction to Inheritance 483 12.2 Polymorphism 498 Chapter 13 Recursion 509 13.1 Introduction to Recursion 509 13.2 Problem Solving with Recursion 512 13.3 Examples of Recursive Algorithms 516 Chapter 14 GUI Programming 529 14.1 Graphical User Interfaces 529 14.2 Using the tkinter Module 531 14.3 Display Text with Label Widgets 534 14.4 Organizing Widgets with Frames 537 14.5 Button Widgets and Info Dialog Boxes 540 14.6 Getting Input with the Entry Widget 543 14.7 Using Labels as Output Fields 546 14.8 Radio Buttons and Check Buttons 554 Appendix A Installing Python 567 Appendix B Introduction to IDLE 569 Appendix C The ASCII Character Set 577 Appendix D Answers to Checkpoints 579 Index 595