When publishing my Python textbook for the first time, figuring out how to convert a simple PDF file to epub3 cost me hours. Especially if you’ve got a lot of graphics (or code) in your PDF, it’s not so simple. Fortunately, I ran into the great program PDF Mate (which is free in the basic … Read more
Every Python programmer has its own skill level with respect to Knowledge of the programming language and syntax Ability to solve problems Speed of code understanding Knowledge of algorithms and code complexity Ability to select appropriate data structures. Although it is challenging to aggregate these skills into a single number that quantifies the degree of … Read more
The zip() function takes a number of iterables and aggregates them to a single one by combining the i-th values of each iterable into a tuple. For example, zip together lists [1, 2, 3] and [4, 5, 6] to [(1,4), (2,5), (3,6)]. You can unzip this list of tuples by calling zip(*list) using the unpacking … Read more
My freelancer course member Pratyush wants to improve learning efficiency in Python. He asked me the question: “how can I accelerate the pace of my problem-solving mind?” Focus first and foremost on reading and writing massive amounts of code. It’s that simple. Maximize the time you are looking at source code, and improvement will come … Read more
The for/else and while/else statements are not syntax errors in Python. They have the following meaning: The else branch executes if the loop terminates naturally because the loop condition isn’t met anymore. You may ask: isn’t this always the case? No! You can also have a “forced” termination from within the loop body using the … Read more
This guide is a conceptual view on how to start your career as a data scientist–and on which skills you should focus. Here are the three most important steps recommended in the video: Learn Python basics (link to free Python crash course on this blog). Learn NumPy (link to free NumPy tutorial on this blog). … Read more
Recursion is a powerful tool in your coding toolbox. Understanding it is a key skill on your path to mastery. This article gives you a thorough introduction to this important computer science concept. What is Recursion? Stephen Hawking used a concise explanation: “to understand recursion, one must first understand recursion.” Recursion is a concept in … Read more
Python Representation Error: This article explains why floating-point arithmetic can lead you astray in Python. Floating-point arithmetic cannot represent some numbers precisely. While many people think it’s a bug, it’s actually not. Have a look at the following code snippet: In the code snippet, you have assumed that the number 0.1 actually represents the decimal … Read more