Advanced Guide to Python 3 Programming

 Undergraduate Topics in Computer Science Series Editor Ian Mackie, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK Advisory Editors Samson Abramsky, Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK Chris Hankin, Department of Computing, Imperial College London, London, UK Dexter C. Kozen, Department of Computer Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA Andrew Pitts, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK Hanne Riis Nielson , Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark Steven S. Skiena, Department of Computer Science, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA Iain Stewart, Department of Computer Science, Science Labs, University of Durham, Durham, UK Mike Hinchey, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland ‘Undergraduate Topics in Computer Science’ (UTiCS) delivers high-quality instructional content for undergraduates studying in all areas of computing and information science. From core foundational and theoretical material to final-year topics and applications, UTiCS books take a fresh, concise, and modern approach and are ideal for self-study or for a one- or two-semester course. The texts are all authored by established experts in their fields, reviewed by an international advisory board, and contain numerous examples and problems, many of which include fully worked solutions. The UTiCS concept relies on high-quality, concise books in softback format, and generally a maximum of 275–300 pages. For undergraduate textbooks that are likely to be longer, more expository, Springer continues to offer the highly regarded Texts in Computer Science series, to which we refer potential authors. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/7592 John Hunt Advanced Guide to Python 3 Programming 123 John Hunt Marshfield Midmarsh Technology Ltd. Chippenham, Wiltshire, UK ISSN 1863-7310 ISSN 2197-1781 (electronic) Undergraduate Topics in Computer Science ISBN 978-3-030-25942-6 ISBN 978-3-030-25943-3 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25943-3 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland For Denise, my wife. Preface Some of the key aspects of this book are: 1. It assumes knowledge of Python 3 and of concepts such as functions, classes, protocols, Abstract Base Classes, decorators, iterables, collection types (such as List and Tuple) etc. 2. However, the book assumes very little knowledge or experience of the topics presented. 3. The book is divided into eight topic areas; Computer graphics, Games, Testing, File Input/Output, Database Access, Logging, Concurrency and Parallelism and Network Programming. 4. Each topic in the book has an introductory chapter followed by chapters that delve into that topic. 5. The book includes exercises at the end of most chapters. 6. All code examples (and exercise solutions) are provided on line in a GitHub repository. Chapter Organisation Each chapter has a brief introduction, the main body of the chapter, followed by a list of online references that can be used for further reading. Following this there is typically an Exercises section that lists one or more exercises that build on the skills you will have learnt in that chapter. Sample solutions to the exercises are available in a GitHub repository that supports this book.