Comprehensive Python Cheatsheet

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Monty Python

Contents

    1. Collections:   List, Dictionary, Set, Tuple, Range, Enumerate, Iterator, Generator.
    2. Types:            Type, String, Regular_Exp, Format, Numbers, Combinatorics, Datetime.
    3. Syntax:           Args, Inline, Closure, Decorator, Class, Duck_Types, Enum, Exceptions.
    4. System:          Print, Input, Command_Line_Arguments, Open, Path, Command_Execution.
    5. Data:               CSV, JSON, Pickle, SQLite, Bytes, Struct, Array, MemoryView, Deque.
    6. Advanced:     Threading, Introspection, Metaprograming, Operator, Eval, Coroutine.
    7. Libraries:        Progress_Bar, Plot, Table, Curses, Logging, Scraping, Web, Profile,
                                  NumPy, Image, Audio.

Main

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if __name__ == '__main__':     # Runs main() if file wasn't imported.
main()

List

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<list> = <list>[from_inclusive : to_exclusive : ±step_size]
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<list>.append(<el>)            # Or: <list> += [<el>]
<list>.extend(<collection>) # Or: <list> += <collection>
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<list>.sort()
<list>.reverse()
<list> = sorted(<collection>)
<iter> = reversed(<list>)
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sum_of_elements  = sum(<collection>)
elementwise_sum = [sum(pair) for pair in zip(list_a, list_b)]
sorted_by_second = sorted(<collection>, key=lambda el: el[1])
sorted_by_both = sorted(<collection>, key=lambda el: (el[1], el[0]))
flatter_list = list(itertools.chain.from_iterable(<list>))
product_of_elems = functools.reduce(lambda out, x: out * x, <collection>)
list_of_chars = list(<str>)
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index = <list>.index(<el>)     # Returns index of first occurrence or raises ValueError.
<list>.insert(index, <el>) # Inserts item at index and moves the rest to the right.
<el> = <list>.pop([index]) # Removes and returns item at index or from the end.
<list>.remove(<el>) # Removes first occurrence of item or raises ValueError.
<list>.clear() # Removes all items. Also works on dict and set.

Dictionary

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<view> = <dict>.keys()                          # Coll. of keys that reflects changes.
<view> = <dict>.values() # Coll. of values that reflects changes.
<view> = <dict>.items() # Coll. of key-value tuples.
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value  = <dict>.get(key, default=None)          # Returns default if key does not exist.
value = <dict>.setdefault(key, default=None) # Same, but also adds default to dict.
<dict> = collections.defaultdict(<type>) # Creates a dict with default value of type.
<dict> = collections.defaultdict(lambda: 1) # Creates a dict with default value 1.
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<dict>.update(<dict>)
<dict> = dict(<collection>) # Creates a dict from coll. of key-value pairs.
<dict> = dict(zip(keys, values)) # Creates a dict from two collections.
<dict> = dict.fromkeys(keys [, value]) # Creates a dict from collection of keys.
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value = <dict>.pop(key)                         # Removes item from dictionary.
{k: v for k, v in <dict>.items() if k in keys} # Filters dictionary by keys.

Counter

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>>> from collections import Counter
>>> colors = ['red', 'blue', 'yellow', 'blue', 'red', 'blue']
>>> counter = Counter(colors)
Counter({'blue': 3, 'red': 2, 'yellow': 1})
>>> counter.most_common()[0]
('blue', 3)

Set

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<set> = set()
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<set>.add(<el>)                               # Or: <set> |= {<el>}
<set>.update(<collection>) # Or: <set> |= <set>
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<set>  = <set>.union(<coll.>)                 # Or: <set> | <set>
<set> = <set>.intersection(<coll.>) # Or: <set> & <set>
<set> = <set>.difference(<coll.>) # Or: <set> - <set>
<set> = <set>.symmetric_difference(<coll.>) # Or: <set> ^ <set>
<bool> = <set>.issubset(<coll.>) # Or: <set> <= <set>
<bool> = <set>.issuperset(<coll.>) # Or: <set> >= <set>
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<set>.remove(<el>)                            # Raises KeyError.
<set>.discard(<el>) # Doesn't raise an error.

Frozen Set

  • Is immutable and hashable.
  • That means it can be used as a key in a dictionary or as an element in a set.
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    <frozenset> = frozenset(<collection>)

Tuple

Tuple is an immutable and hashable list.

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<tuple> = ()
<tuple> = (<el>, )
<tuple> = (<el_1>, <el_2>, ...)

Named Tuple

Tuple’s subclass with named elements.

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>>> from collections import namedtuple
>>> Point = namedtuple('Point', 'x y')
>>> p = Point(1, y=2)
Point(x=1, y=2)
>>> p[0]
1
>>> p.x
1
>>> getattr(p, 'y')
2
>>> p._fields # Or: Point._fields
('x', 'y')

Range

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<range> = range(to_exclusive)
<range> = range(from_inclusive, to_exclusive)
<range> = range(from_inclusive, to_exclusive, ±step_size)
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from_inclusive = <range>.start
to_exclusive = <range>.stop

Enumerate

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for i, el in enumerate(<collection> [, i_start]):
...

Iterator

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<iter> = iter(<collection>)                 # Calling `iter(<iter>)` returns unmodified iterator.
<iter> = iter(<function>, to_exclusive) # Sequence of return values until 'to_exclusive'.
<el> = next(<iter> [, default]) # Raises StopIteration or returns 'default' on end.

Itertools

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from itertools import count, repeat, cycle, chain, islice
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<iter> = count(start=0, step=1)             # Returns incremented value endlessly.
<iter> = repeat(<el> [, times]) # Returns element endlessly or 'times' times.
<iter> = cycle(<collection>) # Repeats the sequence indefinitely.
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<iter> = chain(<coll.>, <coll.> [, ...])    # Empties collections in order.
<iter> = chain.from_iterable(<collection>) # Empties collections inside a collection in order.
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<iter> = islice(<collection>, to_exclusive)
<iter> = islice(<collection>, from_inclusive, to_exclusive)
<iter> = islice(<collection>, from_inclusive, to_exclusive, +step_size)

Generator

  • Convenient way to implement the iterator protocol.
  • Any function that contains a yield statement returns a generator object.
  • Generators and iterators are interchangeable.
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def count(start, step):
while True:
yield start
start += step
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>>> counter = count(10, 2)
>>> next(counter), next(counter), next(counter)
(10, 12, 14)

Type

  • Everything is an object.
  • Every object has a type.
  • Type and class are synonymous.
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<type> = type(<el>)                # Or: <el>.__class__
<bool> = isinstance(<el>, <type>) # Or: issubclass(type(<el>), <type>)
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>>> type('a'), 'a'.__class__, str
(<class 'str'>, <class 'str'>, <class 'str'>)

Some types do not have builtin names, so they must be imported:

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from types import FunctionType, MethodType, LambdaType, GeneratorType

ABC

An abstract base class introduces virtual subclasses, that don’t inherit from it but are still recognized by isinstance() and issubclass().

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>>> from collections.abc import Sequence, Collection, Iterable
>>> isinstance([1, 2, 3], Iterable)
True
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+------------------+----------+------------+----------+
| | Sequence | Collection | Iterable |
+------------------+----------+------------+----------+
| list, range, str | yes | yes | yes |
| dict, set | | yes | yes |
| iter | | | yes |
+------------------+----------+------------+----------+
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>>> from numbers import Integral, Rational, Real, Complex, Number
>>> isinstance(123, Number)
True
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+--------------------+----------+----------+------+---------+--------+
| | Integral | Rational | Real | Complex | Number |
+--------------------+----------+----------+------+---------+--------+
| int | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| fractions.Fraction | | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| float | | | yes | yes | yes |
| complex | | | | yes | yes |
+--------------------+----------+----------+------+---------+--------+

String

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<str>  = <str>.strip()                       # Strips all whitespace characters from both ends.
<str> = <str>.strip('<chars>') # Strips all passed characters from both ends.
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<list> = <str>.split()                       # Splits on one or more whitespace characters.
<list> = <str>.split(sep=None, maxsplit=-1) # Splits on 'sep' str at most 'maxsplit' times.
<list> = <str>.splitlines(keepends=False) # Splits on line breaks. Keeps them if 'keepends'.
<str> = <str>.join(<coll_of_strings>) # Joins elements using string as separator.
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<bool> = <sub_str> in <str>                  # Checks if string contains a substring.
<bool> = <str>.startswith(<sub_str>) # Pass tuple of strings for multiple options.
<bool> = <str>.endswith(<sub_str>) # Pass tuple of strings for multiple options.
<int> = <str>.find(<sub_str>) # Returns start index of first match or -1.
<int> = <str>.index(<sub_str>) # Same but raises ValueError.
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<str>  = <str>.replace(old, new [, count])   # Replaces 'old' with 'new' at most 'count' times.
<bool> = <str>.isnumeric() # True if str contains only numeric characters.
<list> = textwrap.wrap(<str>, width) # Nicely breaks string into lines.
  • Also: 'lstrip()', 'rstrip()'.
  • Also: 'lower()', 'upper()', 'capitalize()' and 'title()'.

Char

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<str> = chr(<int>)  # Converts int to unicode char.
<int> = ord(<str>) # Converts unicode char to int.
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>>> ord('0'), ord('9')
(48, 57)
>>> ord('A'), ord('Z')
(65, 90)
>>> ord('a'), ord('z')
(97, 122)

Regex

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import re
<str> = re.sub(<regex>, new, text, count=0) # Substitutes all occurrences.
<list> = re.findall(<regex>, text) # Returns all occurrences.
<list> = re.split(<regex>, text, maxsplit=0) # Use brackets in regex to keep the matches.
<Match> = re.search(<regex>, text) # Searches for first occurrence of pattern.
<Match> = re.match(<regex>, text) # Searches only at the beginning of the text.
<iter> = re.finditer(<regex>, text) # Returns all occurrences as match objects.
  • Argument 'flags=re.IGNORECASE' can be used with all functions.
  • Argument 'flags=re.MULTILINE' makes '^' and '$' match the start/end of each line.
  • Argument 'flags=re.DOTALL' makes dot also accept newline.
  • Use r'\1' or '\\1' for backreference.
  • Use '?' to make an operator non-greedy.

Match Object

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<str>   = <Match>.group()   # Whole match. Also group(0).
<str> = <Match>.group(1) # Part in first bracket.
<tuple> = <Match>.groups() # All bracketed parts.
<int> = <Match>.start() # Start index of a match.
<int> = <Match>.end() # Exclusive end index of a match.

Special Sequences

  • By default digits, whitespaces and alphanumerics from all alphabets are matched, unless 'flags=re.ASCII' argument is used.
  • Use capital letters for negation.
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    '\d' == '[0-9]'             # Digit
    '\s' == '[ \t\n\r\f\v]' # Whitespace
    '\w' == '[a-zA-Z0-9_]' # Alphanumeric

Format

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<str> = f'{<el_1>}, {<el_2>}'
<str> = '{}, {}'.format(<el_1>, <el_2>)

Attributes

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>>> from collections import namedtuple
>>> Person = namedtuple('Person', 'name height')
>>> person = Person('Jean-Luc', 187)
>>> f'{person.height}'
'187'
>>> '{p.height}'.format(p=person)
'187'

General Options

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{<el>:<10}       # '<el>      '
{<el>:^10} # ' <el> '
{<el>:>10} # ' <el>'
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{<el>:.<10}      # '<el>......'
{<el>:>0} # '<el>'

Strings

'!r' calls object’s repr() method, instead of str(), to get a string.

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{'abcde'!r:<10}  # "'abcde'   "
{'abcde':.3} # 'abc'
{'abcde':10.3} # 'abc '

Numbers

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{ 123456:10,}    # '   123,456'
{ 123456:10_} # ' 123_456'
{ 123456:+10} # ' +123456'
{-123456:=10} # '- 123456'
{ 123456: } # ' 123456'
{-123456: } # '-123456'

Floats

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{1.23456:10.3}   # '      1.23'
{1.23456:10.3f} # ' 1.235'
{1.23456:10.3e} # ' 1.235e+00'
{1.23456:10.3%} # ' 123.456%'

Comparison of float presentation types:

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+----------------+----------------+---------------+----------------+-----------------+
| | {<float>} | {<float>:f} | {<float>:e} | {<float>:%} |
+----------------+----------------+---------------+----------------+-----------------+
| 0.000056789 | '5.6789e-05' | '0.000057' | '5.678900e-05' | '0.005679%' |
| 0.00056789 | '0.00056789' | '0.000568' | '5.678900e-04' | '0.056789%' |
| 0.0056789 | '0.0056789' | '0.005679' | '5.678900e-03' | '0.567890%' |
| 0.056789 | '0.056789' | '0.056789' | '5.678900e-02' | '5.678900%' |
| 0.56789 | '0.56789' | '0.567890' | '5.678900e-01' | '56.789000%' |
| 5.6789 | '5.6789' | '5.678900' | '5.678900e+00' | '567.890000%' |
| 56.789 | '56.789' | '56.789000' | '5.678900e+01' | '5678.900000%' |
| 567.89 | '567.89' | '567.890000' | '5.678900e+02' | '56789.000000%' |
+----------------+----------------+---------------+----------------+-----------------+
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+----------------+----------------+---------------+----------------+-----------------+
| | {<float>:.2} | {<float>:.2f} | {<float>:.2e} | {<float>:.2%} |
+----------------+----------------+---------------+----------------+-----------------+
| 0.000056789 | '5.7e-05' | '0.00' | '5.68e-05' | '0.01%' |
| 0.00056789 | '0.00057' | '0.00' | '5.68e-04' | '0.06%' |
| 0.0056789 | '0.0057' | '0.01' | '5.68e-03' | '0.57%' |
| 0.056789 | '0.057' | '0.06' | '5.68e-02' | '5.68%' |
| 0.56789 | '0.57' | '0.57' | '5.68e-01' | '56.79%' |
| 5.6789 | '5.7' | '5.68' | '5.68e+00' | '567.89%' |
| 56.789 | '5.7e+01' | '56.79' | '5.68e+01' | '5678.90%' |
| 567.89 | '5.7e+02' | '567.89' | '5.68e+02' | '56789.00%' |
+----------------+----------------+---------------+----------------+-----------------+

Ints

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{90:c}           # 'Z'
{90:X} # '5A'
{90:b} # '1011010'

Numbers

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<int>      = int(<float/str/bool>)    # Or: math.floor(<float>)
<float> = float(<int/str/bool>)
<complex> = complex(real=0, imag=0) # Or: <real> + <real>j
<Fraction> = fractions.Fraction(numerator=0, denominator=1)
  • 'int(<str>)' and 'float(<str>)' raise ‘ValueError’ on malformed strings.

Basic Functions

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<num>  = pow(<num>, <num>)            # Or: <num> ** <num>
<real> = abs(<num>)
<int> = round(<real>)
<real> = round(<real>, ±ndigits) # `round(126, -1) == 130`

Math

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from math import e, pi, inf, nan
from math import cos, acos, sin, asin, tan, atan, degrees, radians
from math import log, log10, log2

Statistics

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from statistics import mean, median, variance, pvariance, pstdev

Random

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from random import random, randint, choice, shuffle
<float> = random()
<int> = randint(from_inclusive, to_inclusive)
<el> = choice(<list>)
shuffle(<list>)

Bin, Hex

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<int>     = 0b<bin>            # Or: 0x<hex>
<int> = int('0b<bin>', 0) # Or: int('0x<hex>', 0)
<int> = int('<bin>', 2) # Or: int('<hex>', 16)
'0b<bin>' = bin(<int>) # Or: '0x<hex>' = hex(<int>)

Bitwise Operators

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<int>     = <int> & <int>      # And
<int> = <int> | <int> # Or
<int> = <int> ^ <int> # Xor (0 if both bits equal)
<int> = <int> << n_bits # Shift left
<int> = <int> >> n_bits # Shift right
<int> = ~<int> # Compliment (flips bits)

Combinatorics

  • Every function returns an iterator.
  • If you want to print the iterator, you need to pass it to the list() function!
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from itertools import product, combinations, combinations_with_replacement, permutations
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>>> product([0, 1], repeat=3)
[(0, 0, 0), (0, 0, 1), (0, 1, 0), (0, 1, 1),
(1, 0, 0), (1, 0, 1), (1, 1, 0), (1, 1, 1)]
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>>> product('ab', '12')
[('a', '1'), ('a', '2'),
('b', '1'), ('b', '2')]
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>>> combinations('abc', 2)
[('a', 'b'), ('a', 'c'), ('b', 'c')]
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>>> combinations_with_replacement('abc', 2)
[('a', 'a'), ('a', 'b'), ('a', 'c'),
('b', 'b'), ('b', 'c'),
('c', 'c')]
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>>> permutations('abc', 2)
[('a', 'b'), ('a', 'c'),
('b', 'a'), ('b', 'c'),
('c', 'a'), ('c', 'b')]

Datetime

  • Module ‘datetime’ provides ‘date’ <D>, ‘time’ <T>, ‘datetime’ <DT> and ‘timedelta’ <TD> classes. All are immutable and hashable.
  • Time and datetime can be ‘aware’ <a>, meaning they have defined timezone, or ‘naive’ <n>, meaning they don’t.
  • If object is naive it is presumed to be in system’s timezone.
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from datetime import date, time, datetime, timedelta
from dateutil.tz import UTC, tzlocal, gettz

Constructors

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<D>  = date(year, month, day)
<T> = time(hour=0, minute=0, second=0, microsecond=0, tzinfo=None, fold=0)
<DT> = datetime(year, month, day, hour=0, minute=0, second=0, ...)
<TD> = timedelta(days=0, seconds=0, microseconds=0, milliseconds=0,
minutes=0, hours=0, weeks=0)
  • Use '<D/DT>.weekday()' to get the day of the week (Mon == 0).
  • 'fold=1' means second pass in case of time jumping back for one hour.

Now

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<D/DTn>  = D/DT.today()                     # Current local date or naive datetime.
<DTn> = DT.utcnow() # Naive datetime from current UTC time.
<DTa> = DT.now(<tzinfo>) # Aware datetime from current tz time.
  • To extract time use '<DTn>.time()', '<DTa>.time()' or '<DTa>.timetz()'.

Timezone

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<tzinfo> = UTC                              # UTC timezone. London without DST.
<tzinfo> = tzlocal() # Local timezone. Also gettz().
<tzinfo> = gettz('<Cont.>/<City>') # Timezone from 'Continent/City_Name' str.
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<DTa>    = <DT>.astimezone(<tzinfo>)        # Datetime, converted to passed timezone.
<Ta/DTa> = <T/DT>.replace(tzinfo=<tzinfo>) # Unconverted object with new timezone.

Encode

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<D/T/DT> = D/T/DT.fromisoformat('<iso>')    # Object from ISO string.
<DT> = DT.strptime(<str>, '<format>') # Datetime from str, according to format.
<D/DTn> = D/DT.fromordinal(<int>) # D/DTn from days since Christ, at midnight.
<DTn> = DT.fromtimestamp(<real>) # Local time DTn from seconds since Epoch.
<DTa> = DT.fromtimestamp(<real>, <tz.>) # Aware datetime from seconds since Epoch.
  • ISO strings come in following forms: 'YYYY-MM-DD', 'HH:MM:SS.ffffff[±<offset>]', or both separated by 'T'. Offset is formatted as: 'HH:MM'.
  • On Unix systems Epoch is '1970-01-01 00:00 UTC', '1970-01-01 01:00 CET', …

Decode

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<str>    = <D/T/DT>.isoformat()             # ISO string representation.
<str> = <D/T/DT>.strftime('<format>') # Custom string representation.
<int> = <D/DT>.toordinal() # Days since Christ, ignoring time and tz.
<float> = <DTn>.timestamp() # Seconds since Epoch from DTn in local time.
<float> = <DTa>.timestamp() # Seconds since Epoch from DTa.

Format

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>>> from datetime import datetime
>>> dt = datetime.strptime('2015-05-14 23:39:00.00 +0200', '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%f %z')
>>> dt.strftime("%A, %dth of %B '%y, %I:%M%p %Z")
"Thursday, 14th of May '15, 11:39PM UTC+02:00"
  • For abbreviated weekday and month use '%a' and '%b'.
  • When parsing, '%z' also accepts '±HH:MM'.

Arithmetics

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<D/DT>   = <D/DT> ±  <TD>
<TD> = <TD> ± <TD>
<TD> = <TD> */ <real>
<float> = <TD> / <TD>

Arguments

Inside Function Call

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<function>(<positional_args>)                  # f(0, 0)
<function>(<keyword_args>) # f(x=0, y=0)
<function>(<positional_args>, <keyword_args>) # f(0, y=0)

Inside Function Definition

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def f(<nondefault_args>):                      # def f(x, y):
def f(<default_args>): # def f(x=0, y=0):
def f(<nondefault_args>, <default_args>): # def f(x, y=0):

Splat Operator

Inside Function Call

Splat expands a collection into positional arguments, while splatty-splat expands a dictionary into keyword arguments.

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args   = (1, 2)
kwargs = {'x': 3, 'y': 4, 'z': 5}
func(*args, **kwargs)

Is the same as:

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func(1, 2, x=3, y=4, z=5)

Inside Function Definition

Splat combines zero or more positional arguments into a tuple, while splatty-splat combines zero or more keyword arguments into a dictionary.

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def add(*a):
return sum(a)
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>>> add(1, 2, 3)
6
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def f(x, y, z):                # f(x=1, y=2, z=3) | f(1, y=2, z=3) | f(1, 2, z=3) | f(1, 2, 3)
def f(*, x, y, z): # f(x=1, y=2, z=3)
def f(x, *, y, z): # f(x=1, y=2, z=3) | f(1, y=2, z=3)
def f(x, y, *, z): # f(x=1, y=2, z=3) | f(1, y=2, z=3) | f(1, 2, z=3)
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def f(*args):                  # f(1, 2, 3)
def f(x, *args): # f(1, 2, 3)
def f(*args, z): # f(1, 2, z=3)
def f(x, *args, z): # f(1, 2, z=3)
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def f(**kwargs):               # f(x=1, y=2, z=3)
def f(x, **kwargs): # f(x=1, y=2, z=3) | f(1, y=2, z=3)
def f(*, x, **kwargs): # f(x=1, y=2, z=3)
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def f(*args, **kwargs):        # f(x=1, y=2, z=3) | f(1, y=2, z=3) | f(1, 2, z=3) | f(1, 2, 3)
def f(x, *args, **kwargs): # f(x=1, y=2, z=3) | f(1, y=2, z=3) | f(1, 2, z=3) | f(1, 2, 3)
def f(*args, y, **kwargs): # f(x=1, y=2, z=3) | f(1, y=2, z=3)
def f(x, *args, z, **kwargs): # f(x=1, y=2, z=3) | f(1, y=2, z=3) | f(1, 2, z=3)

Other Uses

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<list>  = [*<collection> [, ...]]
<set> = {*<collection> [, ...]}
<tuple> = (*<collection>, [...])
<dict> = {**<dict> [, ...]}
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head, *body, tail = <collection>

Inline

Lambda

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<function> = lambda: <return_value>
<function> = lambda <argument_1>, <argument_2>: <return_value>

Comprehension

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<list> = [i+1 for i in range(10)]                   # [1, 2, ..., 10]
<set> = {i for i in range(10) if i > 5} # {6, 7, 8, 9}
<iter> = (i+5 for i in range(10)) # (5, 6, ..., 14)
<dict> = {i: i*2 for i in range(10)} # {0: 0, 1: 2, ..., 9: 18}
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out = [i+j for i in range(10) for j in range(10)]

Is the same as:

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out = []
for i in range(10):
for j in range(10):
out.append(i+j)

Map, Filter, Reduce

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from functools import reduce
<iter> = map(lambda x: x + 1, range(10)) # (1, 2, ..., 10)
<iter> = filter(lambda x: x > 5, range(10)) # (6, 7, 8, 9)
<int> = reduce(lambda out, x: out + x, range(10)) # 45

Any, All

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<bool> = any(<collection>)                          # False if empty.
<bool> = all(el[1] for el in <collection>) # True if empty.

If - Else

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<expression_if_true> if <condition> else <expression_if_false>
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>>> [a if a else 'zero' for a in (0, 1, 0, 3)]
['zero', 1, 'zero', 3]

Namedtuple, Enum, Dataclass

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from collections import namedtuple
Point = namedtuple('Point', 'x y')
point = Point(0, 0)
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from enum import Enum
Direction = Enum('Direction', 'n e s w')
direction = Direction.n
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from dataclasses import make_dataclass
Creature = make_dataclass('Creature', ['location', 'direction'])
creature = Creature(Point(0, 0), Direction.n)

Closure

We have a closure in Python when:

  • A nested function references a value of its enclosing function and then
  • the enclosing function returns the nested function.
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def get_multiplier(a):
def out(b):
return a * b
return out
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>>> multiply_by_3 = get_multiplier(3)
>>> multiply_by_3(10)
30
  • If multiple nested functions within enclosing function reference the same value, that value gets shared.
  • To dynamically access function’s first free variable use '<function>.__closure__[0].cell_contents'.

Partial

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from functools import partial
<function> = partial(<function> [, <arg_1>, <arg_2>, ...])
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>>> import operator as op
>>> multiply_by_3 = partial(op.mul, 3)
>>> multiply_by_3(10)
30
  • Partial is also useful in cases when a function needs to be passed as an argument, because it enables us to set its arguments beforehand.
  • A few examples being 'defaultdict(<function>)', 'iter(<function>, to_exclusive)' and dataclass’s 'field(default_factory=<function>)'.

Nonlocal

If variable is being assigned to anywhere in the scope, it is regarded as a local variable, unless it is declared as a ‘global’ or a ‘nonlocal’.

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def get_counter():
i = 0
def out():
nonlocal i
i += 1
return i
return out
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>>> counter = get_counter()
>>> counter(), counter(), counter()
(1, 2, 3)

Decorator

A decorator takes a function, adds some functionality and returns it.

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@decorator_name
def function_that_gets_passed_to_decorator():
...

Debugger Example

Decorator that prints function’s name every time it gets called.

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from functools import wraps

def debug(func):
@wraps(func)
def out(*args, **kwargs):
print(func.__name__)
return func(*args, **kwargs)
return out

@debug
def add(x, y):
return x + y
  • Wraps is a helper decorator that copies metadata of function add() to function out().
  • Without it 'add.__name__' would return 'out'.

LRU Cache

Decorator that caches function’s return values. All function’s arguments must be hashable.

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from functools import lru_cache

@lru_cache(maxsize=None)
def fib(n):
return n if n < 2 else fib(n-2) + fib(n-1)
  • Recursion depth is limited to 1000 by default. To increase it use 'sys.setrecursionlimit(<depth>)'.

Parametrized Decorator

A decorator that accepts arguments and returns a normal decorator that accepts a function.

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from functools import wraps

def debug(print_result=False):
def decorator(func):
@wraps(func)
def out(*args, **kwargs):
result = func(*args, **kwargs)
print(func.__name__, result if print_result else '')
return result
return out
return decorator

@debug(print_result=True)
def add(x, y):
return x + y

Class

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class <name>:
def __init__(self, a):
self.a = a
def __repr__(self):
class_name = self.__class__.__name__
return f'{class_name}({self.a!r})'
def __str__(self):
return str(self.a)

@classmethod
def get_class_name(cls):
return cls.__name__
  • Return value of repr() should be unambiguous and of str() readable.
  • If only repr() is defined, it will be also used for str().

Str() use cases:

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print(<el>)
print(f'{<el>}')
raise Exception(<el>)
logging.debug(<el>)
csv.writer(<file>).writerow([<el>])

Repr() use cases:

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print([<el>])
print(f'{<el>!r}')
>>> <el>
loguru.logger.exception()
Z = dataclasses.make_dataclass('Z', ['a']); print(Z(<el>))

Constructor Overloading

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class <name>:
def __init__(self, a=None):
self.a = a

Inheritance

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class Person:
def __init__(self, name, age):
self.name = name
self.age = age

class Employee(Person):
def __init__(self, name, age, staff_num):
super().__init__(name, age)
self.staff_num = staff_num

Multiple Inheritance

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class A: pass
class B: pass
class C(A, B): pass

MRO determines the order in which parent classes are traversed when searching for a method:

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>>> C.mro()
[<class 'C'>, <class 'A'>, <class 'B'>, <class 'object'>]

Property

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class MyClass:
@property
def a(self):
return self._a

@a.setter
def a(self, value):
self._a = value
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>>> el = MyClass()
>>> el.a = 123
>>> el.a
123

Dataclass

Decorator that automatically generates init(), repr() and eq() special methods.

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from dataclasses import dataclass, field

@dataclass(order=False, frozen=False)
class <class_name>:
<attr_name_1>: <type>
<attr_name_2>: <type> = <default_value>
<attr_name_3>: list/dict/set = field(default_factory=list/dict/set)
  • An object can be made sortable with 'order=True' or immutable with 'frozen=True'.
  • Function field() is needed because '<attr_name>: list = []' would make a list that is shared among all instances.
  • Default_factory can be any callable.

Slots

Mechanism that restricts objects to attributes listed in ‘slots’ and significantly reduces their memory footprint.

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class MyClassWithSlots:
__slots__ = ['a']
def __init__(self):
self.a = 1

Copy

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from copy import copy, deepcopy
<object> = copy(<object>)
<object> = deepcopy(<object>)

Duck Types

A duck type is an implicit type that prescribes a set of special methods. Any object that has those methods defined is considered a member of that duck type.

Comparable

  • If eq() method is not overridden, it returns 'id(self) == id(other)', which is the same as 'self is other'.
  • That means all objects compare not equal by default.
  • Only left side object has eq() method called, unless it returns ‘NotImplemented’, in which case the right object is consulted.
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class MyComparable:
def __init__(self, a):
self.a = a
def __eq__(self, other):
if isinstance(other, type(self)):
return self.a == other.a
return NotImplemented

Hashable

  • Hashable object needs both hash() and eq() methods and its hash value should never change.
  • Hashable objects that compare equal must have the same hash value, meaning default hash() that returns 'id(self)' will not do.
  • That is why Python automatically makes classes unhashable if you only implement eq().
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class MyHashable:
def __init__(self, a):
self._a = copy.deepcopy(a)
@property
def a(self):
return self._a
def __eq__(self, other):
if isinstance(other, type(self)):
return self.a == other.a
return NotImplemented
def __hash__(self):
return hash(self.a)

Sortable

  • With ‘total_ordering’ decorator you only need to provide eq() and one of lt(), gt(), le() or ge() special methods.
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    from functools import total_ordering

    @total_ordering
    class MySortable:
    def __init__(self, a):
    self.a = a
    def __eq__(self, other):
    if isinstance(other, type(self)):
    return self.a == other.a
    return NotImplemented
    def __lt__(self, other):
    if isinstance(other, type(self)):
    return self.a < other.a
    return NotImplemented

Iterator

  • Next() should return next item or raise ‘StopIteration’.
  • Iter() should return ‘self’.
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    class Counter:
    def __init__(self):
    self.i = 0
    def __next__(self):
    self.i += 1
    return self.i
    def __iter__(self):
    return self
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>>> counter = Counter()
>>> next(counter), next(counter), next(counter)
(1, 2, 3)

Callable

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class Counter:
def __init__(self):
self.i = 0
def __call__(self):
self.i += 1
return self.i
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>>> counter = Counter()
>>> counter(), counter(), counter()
(1, 2, 3)

Context Manager

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class MyOpen():
def __init__(self, filename):
self.filename = filename
def __enter__(self):
self.file = open(self.filename)
return self.file
def __exit__(self, *args):
self.file.close()
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>>> with open('test.txt', 'w') as file:
... file.write('Hello World!')
>>> with MyOpen('test.txt') as file:
... print(file.read())
Hello World!

List of existing context managers:

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with open('<path>', ...) as file: ...
with wave.open('<path>', ...) as wave_file: ...
with memoryview(<bytes/bytearray/array>) as view: ...
db = sqlite3.connect('<path>'); with db: db.execute('<insert_query>')
lock = threading.RLock(); with lock: ...

Iterable Duck Types

Iterable

  • Only required method is iter(). It should return an iterator of object’s items.
  • Contains() automatically works on any object that has iter() defined.
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    class MyIterable:
    def __init__(self, a):
    self.a = a
    def __iter__(self):
    for el in self.a:
    yield el
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>>> a = MyIterable([1, 2, 3])
>>> iter(a)
<generator object MyIterable.__iter__ at 0x1026c18b8>
>>> 1 in a
True

Collection

  • Only required methods are iter() and len().
  • This cheatsheet actually means '<iterable>' when it uses '<collection>'.
  • I chose not to use the name ‘iterable’ because it sounds scarier and more vague than ‘collection’.
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    class MyCollection:
    def __init__(self, a):
    self.a = a
    def __iter__(self):
    for el in self.a:
    yield el
    def __contains__(self, el):
    return el in self.a
    def __len__(self):
    return len(self.a)

Sequence

  • Only required methods are len() and getitem(), that should return an item at index or raise ‘IndexError’.
  • Iter() and contains() automatically work on any object that has getitem() defined.
  • Reversed() automatically works on any object that has getitem() and len() defined.
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    class MySequence:
    def __init__(self, a):
    self.a = a
    def __iter__(self):
    for el in self.a:
    yield el
    def __contains__(self, el):
    return el in self.a
    def __len__(self):
    return len(self.a)
    def __getitem__(self, i):
    return self.a[i]
    def __reversed__(self):
    return reversed(self.a)

Collections.abc.Sequence

  • It’s a richer interface than the basic sequence.
  • Extending it generates iter(), contains(), reversed(), index(), and count().
  • Unlike 'abc.Iterable' and 'abc.Collection', it is not a duck type. That is why 'issubclass(MySequence, collections.abc.Sequence)' would return ‘False’ even if it had all the methods defined.
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class MyAbcSequence(collections.abc.Sequence):
def __init__(self, a):
self.a = a
def __len__(self):
return len(self.a)
def __getitem__(self, i):
return self.a[i]

Table of required and available special methods:

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+------------+----------+------------+----------+--------------+
| | Iterable | Collection | Sequence | abc.Sequence |
+------------+----------+------------+----------+--------------+
| iter() | REQ | REQ | yes | yes |
| contains() | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| len() | | REQ | REQ | REQ |
| getitem() | | | REQ | REQ |
| reversed() | | | yes | yes |
| index() | | | | yes |
| count() | | | | yes |
+------------+----------+------------+----------+--------------+
  • Other useful ABCs that automatically generate missing methods are: MutableSequence, Set, MutableSet, Mapping and MutableMapping.

Enum

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from enum import Enum, auto

class <enum_name>(Enum):
<member_name_1> = <value_1>
<member_name_2> = <value_2_a>, <value_2_b>
<member_name_3> = auto()

@classmethod
def get_member_names(cls):
return [a.name for a in cls.__members__.values()]
  • If there are no numeric values before auto(), it returns 1.
  • Otherwise it returns an increment of last numeric value.
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<member> = <enum>.<member_name>
<member> = <enum>['<member_name>']
<member> = <enum>(<value>)
name = <member>.name
value = <member>.value
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list_of_members = list(<enum>)
member_names = [a.name for a in <enum>]
member_values = [a.value for a in <enum>]
random_member = random.choice(list(<enum>))

Inline

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Cutlery = Enum('Cutlery', ['fork', 'knife', 'spoon'])
Cutlery = Enum('Cutlery', 'fork knife spoon')
Cutlery = Enum('Cutlery', {'fork': 1, 'knife': 2, 'spoon': 3})

Functions can not be values, so they must be wrapped:

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from functools import partial
LogicOp = Enum('LogicOp', {'AND': partial(lambda l, r: l and r),
'OR' : partial(lambda l, r: l or r)})
  • Another solution in this particular case, is to use 'and_' and 'or_' functions from module Operator.

Exceptions

Basic Example

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try:
<code>
except <exception>:
<code>

Complex Example

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try:
<code_1>
except <exception_a>:
<code_2_a>
except <exception_b>:
<code_2_b>
else:
<code_2_c>
finally:
<code_3>

Catching Exceptions

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except <exception>:
except <exception> as <name>:
except (<exception_1>, <exception_2>, ...):
except (<exception_1>, <exception_2>, ...) as <name>:
  • Also catches subclasses of the exception.

Raising Exceptions

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raise <exception>
raise <exception>()
raise <exception>(<el>)
raise <exception>(<el_1>, <el_2>, ...)

Useful built-in exceptions:

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raise ValueError('Argument is of right type but inappropriate value!')
raise TypeError('Argument is of wrong type!')
raise RuntimeError('None of above!')

Re-raising caught exception:

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except <exception>:
<code>
raise

Common Built-in Exceptions

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BaseException
+-- SystemExit # Raised by the sys.exit() function.
+-- KeyboardInterrupt # Raised when the user hits the interrupt key.
+-- Exception # User-defined exceptions should be derived from this class.
+-- StopIteration # Raised by next() when run on an empty iterator.
+-- ArithmeticError # Base class for arithmetic errors.
| +-- ZeroDivisionError # Raised when dividing by zero.
+-- AttributeError # Raised when an attribute is missing.
+-- EOFError # Raised by input() when it hits end-of-file condition.
+-- LookupError # Raised when a look-up on sequence or dict fails.
| +-- IndexError # Raised when a sequence index is out of range.
| +-- KeyError # Raised when a dictionary key is not found.
+-- NameError # Raised when a variable name is not found.
+-- OSError # Failures such as “file not found” or “disk full”.
| +-- FileNotFoundError # When a file or directory is requested but doesn't exist.
+-- RuntimeError # Raised by errors that don't fall in other categories.
| +-- RecursionError # Raised when the the maximum recursion depth is exceeded.
+-- TypeError # Raised when an argument is of wrong type.
+-- ValueError # When an argument is of right type but inappropriate value.
+-- UnicodeError # Raised when encoding/decoding strings from/to bytes fails.

User-defined Exceptions

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class MyError(Exception):
pass

class MyInputError(MyError):
pass

Print

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print(<el_1>, ..., sep=' ', end='\n', file=sys.stdout, flush=False)
  • Use 'file=sys.stderr' for errors.
  • Use 'flush=True' to forcibly flush the stream.

Pretty Print

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>>> from pprint import pprint
>>> pprint(dir())
['__annotations__',
'__builtins__',
'__doc__', ...]

Input

  • Reads a line from user input or pipe if present.
  • Trailing newline gets stripped.
  • Prompt string is printed to the standard output before reading input.
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<str> = input(prompt=None)

Prints lines until EOF:

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while True:
try:
print(input())
except EOFError:
break

Command Line Arguments

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import sys
script_name = sys.argv[0]
arguments = sys.argv[1:]

Argparse

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from argparse import ArgumentParser, FileType
p = ArgumentParser(description=<str>)
p.add_argument('-<short_name>', '--<name>', action='store_true') # Flag
p.add_argument('-<short_name>', '--<name>', type=<type>) # Option
p.add_argument('<name>', type=<type>, nargs=1) # Argument
p.add_argument('<name>', type=<type>, nargs='+') # Arguments
args = p.parse_args()
value = args.<name>
  • Use 'help=<str>' for argument description.
  • Use 'type=FileType(<mode>)' for files.

Open

Opens a file and returns a corresponding file object.

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<file> = open('<path>', mode='r', encoding=None, newline=None)
  • 'encoding=None' means default encoding is used, which is platform dependent. Best practice is to use 'encoding="utf-8"' whenever possible.
  • 'newline=None' means all different end of line combinations are converted to ‘\n’ on read, while on write all ‘\n’ characters are converted to system’s default line separator.
  • 'newline=""' means no conversions take place, but lines are still broken by readline() on either ‘\n’, ‘\r’ or ‘\r\n’.

Modes

  • 'r' - Read (default).
  • 'w' - Write (truncate).
  • 'x' - Write or fail if the file already exists.
  • 'a' - Append.
  • 'w+' - Read and write (truncate).
  • 'r+' - Read and write from the start.
  • 'a+' - Read and write from the end.
  • 't' - Text mode (default).
  • 'b' - Binary mode.

Exceptions

  • 'FileNotFoundError' can be risen when reading with 'r' or 'r+'.
  • 'FileExistsError' can be risen when writing with 'x'.
  • 'IsADirectoryError' and 'PermissionError' can be risen by any.
  • 'OSError' is the parent class of all listed exceptions.

File

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<file>.seek(0)                      # Moves to the start of the file.
<file>.seek(offset) # Moves 'offset' chars/bytes from the start.
<file>.seek(0, 2) # Moves to the end of the file.
<bin_file>.seek(±offset, <anchor>) # Anchor: 0 start, 1 current pos., 2 end.
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<str/bytes> = <file>.read(size=-1)  # Reads 'size' chars/bytes or until EOF.
<str/bytes> = <file>.readline() # Returns a line or empty string on EOF.
<list> = <file>.readlines() # Returns a list of lines or empty list.
<str/bytes> = next(<file>) # Returns a line using buffer. Do not mix.
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<file>.write(<str/bytes>)           # Writes a string or bytes object.
<file>.writelines(<coll.>) # Writes a coll. of strings or bytes objects.
<file>.flush() # Flushes write buffer.
  • Methods do not add or strip trailing newlines, even writelines().

Read Text from File

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def read_file(filename):
with open(filename, encoding='utf-8') as file:
return file.readlines()

Write Text to File

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def write_to_file(filename, text):
with open(filename, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as file:
file.write(text)

Path

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from os import path, listdir
from glob import glob
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<bool> = path.exists('<path>')
<bool> = path.isfile('<path>')
<bool> = path.isdir('<path>')
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<list> = listdir('<path>')         # List of filenames located at 'path'.
<list> = glob('<pattern>') # Filenames matching the wildcard pattern.

Pathlib

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from pathlib import Path
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cwd    = Path()
<Path> = Path('<path>' [, '<path>', <Path>, ...])
<Path> = <Path> / '<dir>' / '<file>'
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<bool> = <Path>.exists()
<bool> = <Path>.is_file()
<bool> = <Path>.is_dir()
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<iter> = <Path>.iterdir()          # Iterator of filenames located at path.
<iter> = <Path>.glob('<pattern>') # Filenames matching the wildcard pattern.
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<str>  = str(<Path>)               # Returns path as a string.
<tup.> = <Path>.parts # Returns all components as strings.
<Path> = <Path>.resolve() # Returns absolute Path without symlinks.
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<str>  = <Path>.name               # Final component.
<str> = <Path>.stem # Final component without extension.
<str> = <Path>.suffix # Final component's extension.
<Path> = <Path>.parent # Path without final component.

Command Execution

Files and Directories Commands

  • Paths can be either strings or Path objects.
  • All exceptions are either ‘OSError’ or its subclasses.
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import os
os.chdir(<path>) # Changes the current working directory.
<str> = os.getcwd() # Returns current working directory.
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os.remove(<path>)                 # Deletes the file.
os.rmdir(<path>) # Deletes empty directory.
shutil.rmtree(<path>) # Deletes an entire directory tree.
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os.rename(from, to)               # Renames the file or directory.
os.replace(from, to) # Same, but overwrites 'to' if it exists.
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os.mkdir(<path>, mode=0o777)      # Creates a directory.
<iter> = os.scandir(path='.') # Returns os.DirEntry objects located at path.

DirEntry:

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<str>  = <DirEntry>.name          # Final component of the path.
<str> = <DirEntry>.path # Path with final component.
<Path> = Path(<DirEntry>) # Path object.
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<bool> = <DirEntry>.is_file()
<bool> = <DirEntry>.is_dir()
<bool> = <DirEntry>.is_symlink()

Shell Commands

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import os
<str> = os.popen('<shell_command>').read()

Using subprocess:

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>>> import subprocess, shlex
>>> a = subprocess.run(shlex.split('ls -a'), stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
>>> a.stdout
b'.\n..\nfile1.txt\nfile2.txt\n'
>>> a.returncode
0

CSV

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import csv
<reader> = csv.reader(<file>, dialect='excel', delimiter=',')
<list> = next(<reader>) # Returns a row as list of strings.
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<writer> = csv.writer(<file>, dialect='excel', delimiter=',')
<writer>.writerow(<collection>) # Encodes objects using `str(<el>)`.
<writer>.writerows(<coll_of_coll>)
  • File must be opened with 'newline=""' argument, or newlines embedded inside quoted fields will not be interpreted correctly!

Parameters

  • 'dialect' - Master parameter that sets the default values.
  • 'delimiter' - A one-character string used to separate fields.
  • 'quotechar' - Character for quoting fields that contain special characters.
  • 'doublequote' - Whether quotechars inside fields get doubled or escaped.
  • 'skipinitialspace' - Whether whitespace after delimiter gets stripped.
  • 'lineterminator' - How does writer terminate lines.
  • 'quoting' - Controls the amount of quoting: 0 - as necessary, 1 - all.
  • 'escapechar' - Character for escaping quotechar if doublequote is false.

Dialects

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+------------------+-----------+-----------+--------------+
| | excel | excel_tab | unix_dialect |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+--------------+
| delimiter | ',' | '\t' | ',' |
| quotechar | '"' | '"' | '"' |
| doublequote | True | True | True |
| skipinitialspace | False | False | False |
| lineterminator | '\r\n' | '\r\n' | '\n' |
| quoting | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| escapechar | None | None | None |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+--------------+

Read Rows from CSV File

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def read_csv_file(filename):
with open(filename, encoding='utf-8', newline='') as file:
return csv.reader(file)

Write Rows to CSV File

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def write_to_csv_file(filename, rows):
with open(filename, 'w', encoding='utf-8', newline='') as file:
writer = csv.writer(file)
writer.writerows(rows)

JSON

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import json
<str> = json.dumps(<object>, ensure_ascii=True, indent=None)
<object> = json.loads(<str>)

Read Object from JSON File

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def read_json_file(filename):
with open(filename, encoding='utf-8') as file:
return json.load(file)

Write Object to JSON File

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def write_to_json_file(filename, an_object):
with open(filename, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as file:
json.dump(an_object, file, ensure_ascii=False, indent=2)

Pickle

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import pickle
<bytes> = pickle.dumps(<object>)
<object> = pickle.loads(<bytes>)

Read Object from File

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def read_pickle_file(filename):
with open(filename, 'rb') as file:
return pickle.load(file)

Write Object to File

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def write_to_pickle_file(filename, an_object):
with open(filename, 'wb') as file:
pickle.dump(an_object, file)

SQLite

Server-less database engine that stores each database into separate file.

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import sqlite3
db = sqlite3.connect('<path>') # Also ':memory:'.
...
db.close()
  • New database will be created if path doesn’t exist.

Read

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cursor = db.execute('<query>')
if cursor:
<tuple> = cursor.fetchone() # First row.
<list> = cursor.fetchall() # Remaining rows.
  • Returned values can be of type str, int, float, bytes or None.

Write

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db.execute('<query>')
db.commit()

Placeholders

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db.execute('<query>', <list/tuple>)           # Replaces '?'s in query with values.
db.execute('<query>', <dict/namedtuple>) # Replaces ':<key>'s with values.
db.executemany('<query>', <coll_of_above>) # Runs execute() many times.
  • Passed values can be of type str, int, float, bytes, None, bool, datetime.date or datetime.datetme.

MySQL

Has a very similar interface, with differences listed below.

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# $ pip3 install mysql-connector
from mysql import connector
db = connector.connect(host=<str>, user=<str>, password=<str>, database=<str>)
cursor = db.cursor()
cursor.execute('<query>') # Connector doesn't have execute method.
cursor.execute('<query>', <list/tuple>) # Replaces '%s's in query with values.
cursor.execute('<query>', <dict/namedtuple>) # Replaces '%(<key>)s's with values.

Bytes

Bytes object is an immutable sequence of single bytes. Mutable version is called ‘bytearray’.

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<bytes> = b'<str>'                       # Only accepts ASCII characters and \x00 - \xff.
<int> = <bytes>[<index>] # Returns int in range from 0 to 255.
<bytes> = <bytes>[<slice>] # Returns bytes even if it has only one element.
<bytes> = <bytes>.join(<coll_of_bytes>) # Joins elements using bytes object as separator.

Encode

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<bytes> = <str>.encode('utf-8')          # Or: bytes(<str>, 'utf-8')
<bytes> = bytes(<coll_of_ints>) # Ints must be in range from 0 to 255.
<bytes> = <int>.to_bytes(<length>, byteorder='big|little', signed=False)
<bytes> = bytes.fromhex('<hex>')

Decode

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<str>   = <bytes>.decode('utf-8')        # Or: str(<bytes>, 'utf-8')
<list> = list(<bytes>) # Returns ints in range from 0 to 255.
<int> = int.from_bytes(<bytes>, byteorder='big|little', signed=False)
'<hex>' = <bytes>.hex()

Read Bytes from File

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def read_bytes(filename):
with open(filename, 'rb') as file:
return file.read()

Write Bytes to File

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def write_bytes(filename, bytes_obj):
with open(filename, 'wb') as file:
file.write(bytes_obj)

Struct

  • Module that performs conversions between a sequence of numbers and a C struct, represented as a Python bytes object.
  • Machine’s native type sizes and byte order are used by default.
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from struct import pack, unpack, iter_unpack, calcsize
<bytes> = pack('<format>', <num_1> [, <num_2>, ...])
<tuple> = unpack('<format>', <bytes>)
<tuples> = iter_unpack('<format>', <bytes>)

Example

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>>> pack('>hhl', 1, 2, 3)
b'\x00\x01\x00\x02\x00\x00\x00\x03'
>>> unpack('>hhl', b'\x00\x01\x00\x02\x00\x00\x00\x03')
(1, 2, 3)
>>> calcsize('>hhl')
8

Format

For standard sizes start format string with:

  • '=' - native byte order
  • '<' - little-endian
  • '>' - big-endian

Integer types. Use capital letter for unsigned type. Standard sizes are in brackets:

  • 'x' - pad byte
  • 'b' - char (1)
  • 'h' - short (2)
  • 'i' - int (4)
  • 'l' - long (4)
  • 'q' - long long (8)

Floating point types:

  • 'f' - float (4)
  • 'd' - double (8)

Array

List that can only hold numbers of predefined type. Available types and their sizes in bytes are listed above.

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from array import array
<array> = array('<typecode>' [, <collection>])

Memory View

Used for accessing the internal data of an object that supports the buffer protocol.

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<memoryview> = memoryview(<bytes> / <bytearray> / <array>)
<memoryview>.release()

Deque

A thread-safe list with efficient appends and pops from either side. Pronounced “deck”.

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from collections import deque
<deque> = deque(<collection>, maxlen=None)
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<deque>.appendleft(<el>)
<el> = <deque>.popleft()
<deque>.extendleft(<collection>) # Collection gets reversed.
<deque>.rotate(n=1) # Rotates elements to the right.
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>>> a = deque([1, 2, 3], maxlen=3)
>>> a.append(4)
[2, 3, 4]
>>> a.appendleft(5)
[5, 2, 3]
>>> a.insert(1, 6)
IndexError: deque already at its maximum size

Threading

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from threading import Thread, RLock

Thread

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thread = Thread(target=<function>, args=(<first_arg>, ))
thread.start()
...
thread.join()

Lock

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lock = RLock()
lock.acquire()
...
lock.release()

Or:

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lock = RLock()
with lock:
...

Introspection

Inspecting code at runtime.

Variables

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<list> = dir()      # Names of variables in current scope.
<dict> = locals() # Dict of local variables. Also vars().
<dict> = globals() # Dict of global variables.

Attributes

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<dict> = vars(<object>)
<bool> = hasattr(<object>, '<attr_name>')
value = getattr(<object>, '<attr_name>')
setattr(<object>, '<attr_name>', value)

Parameters

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from inspect import signature
<sig> = signature(<function>)
no_of_params = len(<sig>.parameters)
param_names = list(<sig>.parameters.keys())

Metaprograming

Code that generates code.

Type

Type is the root class. If only passed an object it returns its type (class). Otherwise it creates a new class.

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<class> = type(<class_name>, <parents_tuple>, <attributes_dict>)
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>>> Z = type('Z', (), {'a': 'abcde', 'b': 12345})
>>> z = Z()

Meta Class

Class that creates class.

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def my_meta_class(name, parents, attrs):
attrs['a'] = 'abcde'
return type(name, parents, attrs)

Or:

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class MyMetaClass(type):
def __new__(cls, name, parents, attrs):
attrs['a'] = 'abcde'
return type.__new__(cls, name, parents, attrs)
  • New() is a class method that gets called before init(). If it returns an instance of its class, then that instance gets passed to init() as a ‘self’ argument.
  • It receives the same arguments as init(), except for the first one that specifies the desired class of returned instance ('MyMetaClass' in our case).
  • New() can also be called directly, usually from a new() method of a child class (def __new__(cls): return super().__new__(cls)), in which case init() is not called.

Metaclass Attribute

Right before a class is created it checks if it has metaclass defined. If not, it recursively checks if any of his parents has it defined and eventually comes to type().

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class MyClass(metaclass=MyMetaClass):
b = 12345
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>>> MyClass.a, MyClass.b
('abcde', 12345)

Type Diagram

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type(MyClass)     == MyMetaClass  # MyClass is an instance of MyMetaClass.
type(MyMetaClass) == type # MyMetaClass is an instance of type.
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+---------+-------------+
| Classes | Metaclasses |
+---------+-------------|
| MyClass > MyMetaClass |
| | v |
| object ---> type <+ |
| | ^ +---+ |
| str -------+ |
+---------+-------------+

Inheritance Diagram

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MyClass.__base__     == object    # MyClass is a subclass of object.
MyMetaClass.__base__ == type # MyMetaClass is a subclass of type.
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+---------+-------------+
| Classes | Metaclasses |
+---------+-------------|
| MyClass | MyMetaClass |
| v | v |
| object <--- type |
| ^ | |
| str | |
+---------+-------------+

Operator

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from operator import add, sub, mul, truediv, floordiv, mod, pow, neg, abs
from operator import eq, ne, lt, le, gt, ge
from operator import and_, or_, not_
from operator import itemgetter, attrgetter, methodcaller
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import operator as op
sorted_by_second = sorted(<collection>, key=op.itemgetter(1))
sorted_by_both = sorted(<collection>, key=op.itemgetter(1, 0))
product_of_elems = functools.reduce(op.mul, <collection>)
LogicOp = enum.Enum('LogicOp', {'AND': op.and_, 'OR' : op.or_})
last_el = op.methodcaller('pop')(<list>)

Eval

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>>> from ast import literal_eval
>>> literal_eval('1 + 2')
3
>>> literal_eval('[1, 2, 3]')
[1, 2, 3]
>>> literal_eval('abs(1)')
ValueError: malformed node or string

Coroutine

  • Similar to generator, but generator pulls data through the pipe with iteration, while coroutine pushes data into the pipeline with send().
  • Coroutines provide more powerful data routing possibilities than iterators.
  • If you build a collection of simple data processing components, you can glue them together into complex arrangements of pipes, branches, merging, etc.

Helper Decorator

  • All coroutines must be “primed” by first calling next().
  • Remembering to call next() is easy to forget.
  • Solved by wrapping coroutines with a decorator:
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def coroutine(func):
def out(*args, **kwargs):
cr = func(*args, **kwargs)
next(cr)
return cr
return out

Pipeline Example

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def reader(target):
for i in range(10):
target.send(i)
target.close()

@coroutine
def adder(target):
while True:
value = (yield)
target.send(value + 100)

@coroutine
def printer():
while True:
value = (yield)
print(value)

reader(adder(printer())) # 100, 101, ..., 109



Libraries

Progress Bar

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# $ pip3 install tqdm
from tqdm import tqdm
from time import sleep
for i in tqdm([1, 2, 3]):
sleep(0.2)
for i in tqdm(range(100)):
sleep(0.02)

Plot

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# $ pip3 install matplotlib
from matplotlib import pyplot
pyplot.plot(<data_1> [, <data_2>, ...]) # Or: hist(<data>).
pyplot.savefig(<filename>)
pyplot.show()
pyplot.clf() # Clears figure.

Table

Prints a CSV file as an ASCII table:

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# $ pip3 install tabulate
from tabulate import tabulate
import csv
with open(<filename>, encoding='utf-8', newline='') as file:
lines = csv.reader(file)
headers = [header.title() for header in next(lines)]
table = tabulate(lines, headers)
print(table)

Curses

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from curses import wrapper, ascii

def main():
wrapper(draw)

def draw(screen):
screen.clear()
screen.addstr(0, 0, 'Press ESC to quit.')
while screen.getch() != ascii.ESC:
pass

def get_border(screen):
from collections import namedtuple
P = namedtuple('P', 'y x')
height, width = screen.getmaxyx()
return P(height-1, width-1)

if __name__ == '__main__':
main()

Logging

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# $ pip3 install loguru
from loguru import logger
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logger.add('debug_{time}.log', colorize=True)  # Connects a log file.
logger.add('error_{time}.log', level='ERROR') # Another file for errors or higher.
logger.<level>('A logging message.')
  • Levels: 'debug', 'info', 'success', 'warning', 'error', 'critical'.

Exceptions

Error description, stack trace and values of variables are appended automatically.

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try:
...
except <exception>:
logger.exception('An error happened.')

Rotation

Argument that sets a condition when a new log file is created.

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rotation=<int>|<datetime.timedelta>|<datetime.time>|<str>
  • '<int>' - Max file size in bytes.
  • '<timedelta>' - Max age of a file.
  • '<time>' - Time of day.
  • '<str>' - Any of above as a string: '100 MB', '1 month', 'monday at 12:00', …

Retention

Sets a condition which old log files are deleted.

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retention=<int>|<datetime.timedelta>|<str>
  • '<int>' - Max number of files.
  • '<timedelta>' - Max age of a file.
  • '<str>' - Max age as a string: '1 week, 3 days', '2 months', …

Scraping

Scrapes and prints Python’s URL and version number from Wikipedia:

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# $ pip3 install requests beautifulsoup4
import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
url = 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(programming_language)'
page = requests.get(url)
doc = BeautifulSoup(page.text, 'html.parser')
table = doc.find('table', class_='infobox vevent')
rows = table.find_all('tr')
link = rows[11].find('a')['href']
ver = rows[6].find('div').text.split()[0]
print(link, ver)

Web

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# $ pip3 install bottle
from bottle import run, route, post, template, request, response
import json

Run

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run(host='localhost', port=8080)
run(host='0.0.0.0', port=80, server='cherrypy')

Static Request

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@route('/img/<image>')
def send_image(image):
return static_file(image, 'images/', mimetype='image/png')

Dynamic Request

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@route('/<sport>')
def send_page(sport):
return template('<h1>{{title}}</h1>', title=sport)

REST Request

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@post('/odds/<sport>')
def odds_handler(sport):
team = request.forms.get('team')
home_odds, away_odds = 2.44, 3.29
response.headers['Content-Type'] = 'application/json'
response.headers['Cache-Control'] = 'no-cache'
return json.dumps([team, home_odds, away_odds])

Test:

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# $ pip3 install requests
>>> import requests
>>> url = 'http://localhost:8080/odds/football'
>>> data = {'team': 'arsenal f.c.'}
>>> response = requests.post(url, data=data)
>>> response.json()
['arsenal f.c.', 2.44, 3.29]

Profile

Basic

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from time import time
start_time = time() # Seconds since Epoch.
...
duration = time() - start_time

High Performance

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from time import perf_counter as pc
start_time = pc() # Seconds since restart.
...
duration = pc() - start_time

Timing a Snippet

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>>> from timeit import timeit
>>> timeit('"-".join(str(a) for a in range(100))',
... number=10000, globals=globals(), setup='pass')
0.34986

Line Profiler

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# $ pip3 install line_profiler
@profile
def main():
a = [*range(10000)]
b = {*range(10000)}
main()

Usage:

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$ kernprof -lv test.py
Line # Hits Time Per Hit % Time Line Contents
==============================================================
1 @profile
2 def main():
3 1 1128.0 1128.0 27.4 a = [*range(10000)]
4 1 2994.0 2994.0 72.6 b = {*range(10000)}

Call Graph

Generates a PNG image of a call graph with highlighted bottlenecks:

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# $ pip3 install pycallgraph
from pycallgraph import output, PyCallGraph
from datetime import datetime
time_str = datetime.now().strftime('%Y%m%d%H%M%S')
filename = f'profile-{time_str}.png'
drawer = output.GraphvizOutput(output_file=filename)
with PyCallGraph(drawer):
<code_to_be_profiled>

NumPy

Array manipulation mini language. Can run up to one hundred times faster than equivalent Python code.

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# $ pip3 install numpy
import numpy as np
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<array> = np.array(<list>)
<array> = np.arange(from_inclusive, to_exclusive, ±step_size)
<array> = np.ones(<shape>)
<array> = np.random.randint(from_inclusive, to_exclusive, <shape>)
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<array>.shape = <shape>
<view> = <array>.reshape(<shape>)
<view> = np.broadcast_to(<array>, <shape>)
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<array> = <array>.sum(axis)
indexes = <array>.argmin(axis)
  • Shape is a tuple of dimension sizes.
  • Axis is an index of dimension that gets collapsed. Leftmost dimension has index 0.

Indexing

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<el>       = <2d_array>[0, 0]        # First element.
<1d_view> = <2d_array>[0] # First row.
<1d_view> = <2d_array>[:, 0] # First column. Also [..., 0].
<3d_view> = <2d_array>[None, :, :] # Expanded by dimension of size 1.
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<1d_array> = <2d_array>[<1d_row_indexes>, <1d_column_indexes>]
<2d_array> = <2d_array>[<2d_row_indexes>, <2d_column_indexes>]
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<2d_bools> = <2d_array> > 0
<1d_array> = <2d_array>[<2d_bools>]
  • If row and column indexes differ in shape, they are combined with broadcasting.

Broadcasting

Broadcasting is a set of rules by which NumPy functions operate on arrays of different sizes and/or dimensions.

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left  = [[0.1], [0.6], [0.8]]  # Shape: (3, 1)
right = [ 0.1 , 0.6 , 0.8 ] # Shape: (3)

1. If array shapes differ in length, left-pad the shorter shape with ones:

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left  = [[0.1], [0.6], [0.8]]  # Shape: (3, 1)
right = [[0.1 , 0.6 , 0.8]] # Shape: (1, 3) <- !

2. If any dimensions differ in size, expand the ones that have size 1 by duplicating their elements:

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left  = [[0.1, 0.1, 0.1], [0.6, 0.6, 0.6], [0.8, 0.8, 0.8]]  # Shape: (3, 3) <- !
right = [[0.1, 0.6, 0.8], [0.1, 0.6, 0.8], [0.1, 0.6, 0.8]] # Shape: (3, 3) <- !

3. If neither non-matching dimension has size 1, rise an error.

Example

For each point returns index of its nearest point ([0.1, 0.6, 0.8] => [1, 2, 1]):

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>>> points = np.array([0.1, 0.6, 0.8])
[ 0.1, 0.6, 0.8]
>>> wrapped_points = points.reshape(3, 1)
[[ 0.1],
[ 0.6],
[ 0.8]]
>>> distances = wrapped_points - points
[[ 0. , -0.5, -0.7],
[ 0.5, 0. , -0.2],
[ 0.7, 0.2, 0. ]]
>>> distances = np.abs(distances)
[[ 0. , 0.5, 0.7],
[ 0.5, 0. , 0.2],
[ 0.7, 0.2, 0. ]]
>>> i = np.arange(3)
[0, 1, 2]
>>> distances[i, i] = np.inf
[[ inf, 0.5, 0.7],
[ 0.5, inf, 0.2],
[ 0.7, 0.2, inf]]
>>> distances.argmin(1)
[1, 2, 1]

Image

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# $ pip3 install pillow
from PIL import Image

Creates a PNG image of a rainbow gradient:

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width  = 100
height = 100
size = width * height
pixels = [255 * i/size for i in range(size)]

img = Image.new('HSV', (width, height))
img.putdata([(int(a), 255, 255) for a in pixels])
img.convert(mode='RGB').save('test.png')

Adds noise to a PNG image:

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from random import randint
add_noise = lambda value: max(0, min(255, value + randint(-20, 20)))
img = Image.open('test.png').convert(mode='HSV')
img.putdata([(add_noise(h), s, v) for h, s, v in img.getdata()])
img.convert(mode='RGB').save('test.png')

Modes

  • '1' - 1-bit pixels, black and white, stored with one pixel per byte.
  • 'L' - 8-bit pixels, greyscale.
  • 'RGB' - 3x8-bit pixels, true color.
  • 'RGBA' - 4x8-bit pixels, true color with transparency mask.
  • 'HSV' - 3x8-bit pixels, Hue, Saturation, Value color space.

Audio

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import wave
from struct import pack, iter_unpack

Read Frames from WAV File

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def read_wav_file(filename):
with wave.open(filename, 'rb') as wf:
frames = wf.readframes(wf.getnframes())
return [a[0] for a in iter_unpack('<h', frames)]

Write Frames to WAV File

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def write_to_wav_file(filename, frames_int, mono=True):
frames_short = (pack('<h', a) for a in frames_int)
with wave.open(filename, 'wb') as wf:
wf.setnchannels(1 if mono else 2)
wf.setsampwidth(2)
wf.setframerate(44100)
wf.writeframes(b''.join(frames_short))

Examples

Saves a sine wave to a mono WAV file:

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from math import pi, sin
frames_f = (sin(i * 2 * pi * 440 / 44100) for i in range(100000))
frames_i = (int(a * 30000) for a in frames_f)
write_to_wav_file('test.wav', frames_i)

Adds noise to a mono WAV file:

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from random import randint
add_noise = lambda value: max(-32768, min(32767, value + randint(-500, 500)))
frames_i = (add_noise(a) for a in read_wav_file('test.wav'))
write_to_wav_file('test.wav', frames_i)

Synthesizer

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# $ pip3 install simpleaudio
import simpleaudio, math, struct
from itertools import chain, repeat
F = 44100
P1 = '71♪,69,,71♪,66,,62♪,66,,59♪,,,'
P2 = '71♪,73,,74♪,73,,74,,71,,73♪,71,,73,,69,,71♪,69,,71,,67,,71♪,,,'
get_pause = lambda seconds: repeat(0, int(seconds * F))
sin_f = lambda i, hz: math.sin(i * 2 * math.pi * hz / F)
get_wave = lambda hz, seconds: (sin_f(i, hz) for i in range(int(seconds * F)))
get_hz = lambda key: 8.176 * 2 ** (int(key) / 12)
parse_note = lambda note: (get_hz(note[:2]), 0.25 if '♪' in note else 0.125)
get_frames = lambda note: get_wave(*parse_note(note)) if note else get_pause(0.125)
frames_f = chain.from_iterable(get_frames(n) for n in f'{P1}{P1}{P2}'.split(','))
frames_b = b''.join(struct.pack('<h', int(f * 30000)) for f in frames_f)
simpleaudio.play_buffer(frames_b, 1, 2, F)

Basic Script Template

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#!/usr/bin/env python3
#
# Usage: .py
#

from collections import namedtuple
from dataclasses import make_dataclass
from enum import Enum
import re
import sys


def main():
pass


###
## UTIL
#

def read_file(filename):
with open(filename, encoding='utf-8') as file:
return file.readlines()


if __name__ == '__main__':
main()