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Zero to Python Hero - Part 1/10: A Beginner guide to Python programming

• Rajesh
• June 22, 2025June 28, 2025
• 0

What is Python? Why Use It?

Python is a high, simple and readable level programming language that is known to be powerful. Python was designed by Guido van Rossum and published in 1991; it focuses on the readability of the code using clean syntax and indentation.

Key Features:

• Easy to Learn: We can find out that the syntax of Python is quite simple and quite similar to English, so it is a perfect language to start with. It is not too strenuous and takes the simplest of words and clear formatting so that new programmers can learn it fast.
• Versatile: Python is a general-purpose language and therefore it has a wide range of application in different fields. As Python is flexible and powerful, it can be used in: creating websites using Flask and Django, data analysis with Pandas, make machine learning models with TensorFlow or PyTorch, and automation scripts.
• Open Source: Python is free of charge animation- download, use and distribute it. It is made in OSI-accepted open-source license, making it ready to everyone to assist in its development and enhancement. Its transparency has assisted it to develop one of the greatest communities in programming
• Extensive Libraries: Python offers a large library and framework collection that reduces time and efforts. To do numerical calculations, we have NumPy and SciPy; to analyze data, we have Pandas; to do machine learning, we have Scikit-learn and TensorFlow; to develop a web application, we have Flask and Django and many others.

Why Use Python?

• Cross-platform Compatibility: Python is easily executed in all well-known operating systems such as Windows, macOS as well as Linux. Write your code in one way, and it is possible to execute it in platforms with little alterations.
• Ideal for Both Beginners and Professionals: The ease of Python language syntax combined with the sophistication of the libraries and frameworks in the language has made it an excellent choice both to learn and to use as a professional developer or researcher in an advanced field such as machine learning and data science.
• Excellent Community Support: The community of Python is large in the world. Having a bug you cannot get out of or not being able to find a more appropriate means of doing something, websites like Stack Overflow, GitHub, Reddit, or a documentation will offer you a load of all that help.
• Integration with Other Languages:Python is capable of being integrated with other languages such as C, C++, and Java with a number of different interfaces and tools. This enables programmers to implement code that is critical to their performance, which is written in a different language, but called in Python.

Installing Python (Windows/Mac/Linux)

For Windows:

1. Visit https://www.python.org/downloads
2. Download the new or latest version (e.g., Python 3.12+)
3. Run the installer and select the box “Add Python to PATH”
4. Click Install Now

For Mac:

1. Python 2.x comes pre-installed. Use Homebrew to install Python 3:

brew install python3

For Linux:

1. Use package managers like apt or yum:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install python3

Verify Installation:

python --version

OR

python3 --version

Running Python Code (Interpreter, VS Code, Jupyter)

1. Python Interpreter (CLI):

python3
>>> print("Hello, World!")

2. Visual Studio Code (VS Code):

• Install VS Code from https://code.visualstudio.com
• Install the Python extension
• Open a .py file and press F5 to run

3. Jupyter Notebook:

• Great for data science and experimentation

pip install notebook
jupyter notebook

Basic Syntax & Code Style (PEP8)

Key Syntax Rules:

• Indentation will be compulsory (spaces 4)
• Case-sensitive language
• The variables are not required to be declared

# Example:
a = 10
b = 20
print(a*b)

PEP8 Guidelines:

• variables and functions should be snake_case
• 79 characters limit
• Use comments and docstrings effectively

Example PEP8 Complaint Code:

def calculate_area(radius):
    """Calculate area of a circle given the radius"""
    pi = 3.14159
    return pi * (radius ** 2)

Comments & Docstrings

Single-line Comments:

# This is a comment

Multi-line Comments (not standard):

”’

This is not a true multi-line comment,

but is often used as one.

”’

Docstrings:

Used for documenting modules, functions, classes, or methods.

def greet(name):
    """Return a greeting message for the user."""
    return f"Hello, {name}!"

Your First Python Program

print("Hello, World!")

# Output
Hello, World!

Explanation:

• print() is a built-in function
• Takes a string and prints to the console

This introduction-level tutorial is only the very beginning of your Python experience. Get started we will explore more in the future articles.

Next Chapter:

Zero to Python Hero – Part 2/10: A Beginner Guide to Python Programming