Python Basics I

Question 1

What are the six basic types of data structures in Python?

Answer 1

1. Numbers
2. Strings
3. Lists
4. Sets
5. Tuples
6. Dictionaries

Question 2

What does a list look like?

Answer 2

It is a list of objects separated by commas and enclosed with square brackets.
[1,2,3] [1,2,’cow’]

Question 3

How do you create a sublist (A list from an existing list)

Answer 3

Use slice notation, for example,
[1,2,3,4][1:3]
The interval specified is closed on the left, and open on the right

Question 4

What is a Python Variable?

Answer 4

It is a container for storing data values. For example, x = [1,2,3,4]

Question 5

How could you extract one element of a list?

Answer 5

Use square brackets to index the list, for example [1,2,3,4][0] would extract the zeroth element, (The indexing is zero based) you could also have done x[0]

Question 6

How can you change the value of one element of a list?

Answer 6

Identify it with indexing, then use an assignment statement to set the value,
x[0] = 10
x is now equal to [10, 2, 3,4]

Question 7

How do you form a set? (i.e. what does a set look like?)

Answer 7

Collection of objects in braces.
{1,2,’squirrel’}

Question 8

What is the fundamental difference between a list and a set?

Answer 8

The elements in a list do not need to be distinct, but they are distinct in a set.
For example, these two lists are not equal: [1,1] and [1], but these two sets are equal {1} and {1,1}

Question 9

What is a nested list?

Answer 9

A list, one of whose elements is a list.
For example [1,2,[3,4]]

Question 10

How do you embed a variable inside of a string?

Answer 10

By using braces {} and the .format method. For example
‘This is var1 {} and this is var2 {}’.format(‘Hello’, ‘World’)
returns,
‘This is var1 Hello and this is var2 World’