A Python application can use different settings in development and deployment without changing its source code. Environment variables carry those settings into a program when it starts, and Python lets your code read or change them. I’ll show you how…
Sooner or later a Python script that talks to the web needs to send its requests from somewhere else. You may be checking how an API answers from another country, running a monitor that should not share your office IP,…
Some Python functions need to provide values one at a time rather than return one finished result. In Python, yield gives the caller a value and pauses a generator function until the caller requests another. I’ll show how to define…
A Python variable can refer to values of different types, and you may need to check one before using it. A data type identifies the class of a value and the operations that class supports. I’ll explain what Python data…
Sensor records can keep an identifier and reading in a fixed order. A Python tuple groups values in order and keeps its positions fixed after creation. I’ll show how to create a tuple and explain when its fixed positions suit…
A while loop may need to skip one value and still check its condition again for the next iteration. The Python continue statement skips the rest of the current iteration and moves to the next one. I’ll show how to…
When a loop has reached the point where it should stop, you need a way to end it before it checks more items or repeats again. Python’s break statement ends the for or while loop that contains it. I’ll show…
An empty function body is invalid in Python, even when the function should do nothing for now. The pass statement gives the function body a statement without performing an operation. I’ll show how pass keeps an empty function valid and…
When a function uses a name, Python searches the namespaces visible to that code block to find its binding. Scope is the region where a name can be resolved, and LEGB names the order Python searches those namespaces. I’ll trace…
Starting with Python often means checking whether a short program can display a message. A Python Hello World program uses print() to display the text Hello World. This article gives you the code and shows how to run it from…