Data Science Python Programming Syllabus

Python Programming syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Python Programming in Data Science, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Introduction to Python

   3 topics

   • History of Python
     • Guido van Rossum
     • Python 2 vs Python 3
   • Installation
     • Downloading Python
     • Setting up the Environment
     • Using IDEs and Text Editors
   • Basic Syntax
     • Hello World Program
     • Indentation
     • Comments
2. 2

   Data Types and Variables

   3 topics

   • Primitive Data Types
     • Integers
     • Floats
     • Strings
     • Booleans
   • Complex Data Types
     • Lists
     • Tuples
     • Dictionaries
     • Sets
   • Variable Assignment
     • Dynamic Typing
     • Multiple Assignment
     • Variable Scope
3. 3

   Control Flow

   2 topics

   • Conditional Statements
     • if Statements
     • else Statements
     • elif Statements
     • Nested Conditions
   • Loops
     • for Loops
     • while Loops
     • Nested Loops
     • Loop Control Statements
4. 4

   Functions

   2 topics

   • Defining Functions
     • Function Syntax
     • Parameters and Arguments
     • Return Values
   • Advanced Function Concepts
     • Lambda Functions
     • Recursive Functions
     • Decorators
5. 5

   Modules and Packages

   3 topics

   • Standard Library
     • Importing Modules
     • Commonly Used Modules
   • Creating Modules
     • Writing a Module
     • Importing from a Module
   • Packages
     • Creating a Package
     • Using __init__.py
6. 6

   File Handling

   3 topics

   • Reading Files
     • Open Function
     • Read Methods
   • Writing Files
     • Write Methods
     • Append Methods
   • Working with File Paths
     • os Module
     • Pathlib Module
7. 7

   Error and Exception Handling

   3 topics

   • Understanding Exceptions
     • Common Exceptions
     • Exception Hierarchy
   • Handling Exceptions
     • try and except
     • else and finally
   • Raising Exceptions
     • Using raise
     • Custom Exceptions
8. 8

   Object-Oriented Programming

   5 topics

   • Classes and Objects
     • Defining Classes
     • Creating Objects
   • Class Attributes and Methods
     • Instance Attributes
     • Class Attributes
     • Methods
   • Inheritance
     • Base and Derived Classes
     • Method Overriding
   • Polymorphism
     • Polymorphic Methods
     • Operator Overloading
   • Encapsulation
     • Private and Protected Members
     • Getters and Setters
9. 9

   Data Science

   6 topics

   • NumPy
   • Pandas
   • SciPy
   • Matplotlib
   • Seaborn
   • Plotly

Python Programming flashcards for Data Science

25 of 73 cards from the Python Programming deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. In what year was Python first released, and who created it?

   Python was first released in 1991 by Guido van Rossum.

2. After what was the Python language named?

   It was named after the British comedy group Monty Python's Flying Circus, not the snake.

3. What role did Guido van Rossum hold in the Python community, and what is it called?

   He was the BDFL (Benevolent Dictator For Life), the final decision-maker on the language, until he stepped down in 2018.

4. What are the two major Python versions, and which is current and supported?

   Python 2 and Python 3. Python 3 is current; Python 2 reached end-of-life on January 1, 2020, and is no longer supported.

5. What is 'The Zen of Python' and how do you display it?

   It is a collection of 19 guiding aphorisms for writing Python code, displayed by running import this.

6. What command verifies that Python is installed and shows its version?

   python --version (or python3 --version), which prints the installed version number.

7. What is pip in the Python ecosystem?

   pip is Python's standard package installer, used to install and manage third-party packages from PyPI (e.g., pip install requests).

8. What is a Python virtual environment and what command creates one?

   An isolated directory with its own Python interpreter and packages, keeping project dependencies separate. Created with python -m venv myenv.

9. What is the interactive Python interpreter (REPL)?

   REPL stands for Read-Eval-Print Loop; it executes statements one at a time interactively, started by typing python at the command line.

10. How does Python define code blocks instead of using braces?

    Python uses indentation (whitespace), conventionally 4 spaces, to delimit code blocks; consistent indentation is mandatory.

11. What are the two ways to write comments in Python?

    Single-line comments start with #; multi-line text is often written as a triple-quoted string ('''...''' or """...""").

12. What is the difference between a statement and an expression in Python?

    An expression evaluates to a value (e.g., $2 + 3$); a statement performs an action (e.g., an assignment or if-statement) and may not produce a value.

13. What function outputs text to the console, and what function reads user input?

    print() displays output; input() reads a line from the user and always returns it as a string.

14. List Python's four primitive (basic) data types.

    int (integers), float (decimals), str (strings), and bool (booleans True/False).

15. What is the difference between an int and a float in Python?

    int is a whole number of unlimited precision (e.g., 5); float is a floating-point decimal number (e.g., 5.0), stored as a 64-bit double.

16. What two values does the bool type hold, and what integers do they equal?

    True and False; True equals $1$ and False equals $0$ when used numerically.

17. What is the special type representing 'no value' in Python?

    NoneType, whose single value is None, representing the absence of a value.

18. How do you find the data type of a value in Python?

    Use the built-in type() function, e.g., type(5) returns <class 'int'>.

19. Name the four most common complex (collection) data types in Python.

    list, tuple, dict (dictionary), and set.

20. What is the key difference between a list and a tuple?

    A list is mutable (changeable) and uses square brackets []; a tuple is immutable (unchangeable) and uses parentheses ().

21. What is a Python dictionary and how is it written?

    A mutable, unordered collection of key-value pairs written with curly braces, e.g., {'name': 'Ann', 'age': 30}; keys must be unique and hashable.

22. What distinguishes a set from a list in Python?

    A set is an unordered collection of unique elements (no duplicates) written with curly braces {} or set(); it does not support indexing.

23. What is indexing, and what index refers to the first and last element of a sequence?

    Indexing accesses an element by position; index 0 is the first element and index -1 is the last element.

24. What does the slice my_list[1:4] return?

    Elements at indices 1, 2, and 3 (the stop index 4 is excluded).

25. What is the syntax for assigning a variable in Python?

    variable_name = value; no type declaration is needed because Python is dynamically typed.

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