Les De Shay's Articles
Les/Orion is a small-time programmer looking to make it to the big leagues. He fuels his interest in programming by picking up a new computing language whenever he can (so far having picked up Bash, VBS, and others), but the first spark and the nitro in his tank will always be Python
Recursive File and Directory Manipulation in Python (Part 3)
In Part 2 of this series we expanded our file-searching script to be able to search for multiple file extensions under a tree, and to write the results (all paths to files of matching extensions found) to a log file. Now that we’ve come to the final part of the series, we’ll add more functionality […]
Read MoreEncoding and Decoding Strings (in Python 3.x)
In our other article, Encoding and Decoding Strings (in Python 2.x), we looked at how Python 2.x works with string encoding. Here we will look at encoding and decoding strings in Python 3.x, and how it is different. Encoding/Decoding Strings in Python 3.x vs Python 2.x Many things in Python 2.x did not change very […]
Read MoreRecursive File and Directory Manipulation in Python (Part 2)
In Part 1 we looked at how to use the os.path.walk and os.walk methods to find and list files of a certain extension under a directory tree. The former function is only present in the Python 2.x, and the latter is available in both Python 2.x and Python 3.x. As we saw in the previous […]
Read MoreLambda Function Syntax (Inline Functions) in Python
Python’s syntax is relatively convenient and easy to work with, but aside from the basic structure of the language Python is also sprinkled with small syntax structures that make certain tasks especially convenient. The lambda keyword/function construct is one of these, where the creators call it “syntactical candy”. Here we’ll examine how to use them. To understand the lambda keyword/function and their […]
Read MoreHow to Sort Python Dictionaries by Key or Value
Note: If you want to sort a list, tuple or object in Python, checkout this article: How to Sort a List or Tuple in Python The dict (dictionary) class object in Python is a very versatile and useful container type, able to store a collection of values and retrieve them via keys. The values can be objects of any type […]
Read MoreRecursive File and Directory Manipulation in Python (Part 1)
If you are looking to utilize Python to manipulate your directory tree or files on your system, there are many tools to help, including Python’s standard os module. The following is a simple/basic recipe to assist with finding certain files on your system by file extension. If you have had the experience of “losing” a […]
Read MoreIntroduction to Python’s TkInter
At some point in your Python experience, you might want to create a program with a graphical user interface or GUI (pronounced “gooey” by most). Many toolkits for Python exist to accomplish this, including Python’s own native GUI library, TkInter. Setting up GUIs in Tkinter isn’t complicated, though in the end it depends on the […]
Read MoreReading and Writing to Files in Python
Manipulating files is an essential aspect of scripting in Python, and luckily for us, the process isn’t complicated. The built-in open function is the preferred method for reading files of any type, and probably all you’ll ever need to use. Let’s first demonstrate how to use this method on a simple text file. For clarity, […]
Read MorePython Lists and Tuples
Overview of Python Lists and Tuples Two of the most commonly used built-in data types in Python are the list and the tuple. Lists and tuples are part of the group of sequence data types—in other words, lists and tuples store one or more objects or values in a specific order. The objects stored in […]
Read MorePython Dictionary
The Python Dictionary (dict): An Overview Among the built-in Python data types is a very versatile type called a dictionary. The dictionary is similar to lists and tuples because they act as storage units for other objects or variables you’ve created. Dictionaries are different from lists and tuples because the group of objects they hold […]
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