CyberAces Module3-Python 2 Flow

Welcome to the Module 3, System Administration.
In this sub-section we'll be

discussing Python. In this session we'll discuss flow control in Python.
This training material was originally developed to help students, teachers, and
mentors prepare for the Cyber Aces Online Competition. This module focuses on the
basics of system administration and scripting. . This session is part of Module 3,
System Administration. This module is split into three sections, Bash, PowerShell, and
Python. In this session, we will continue our examination of Python.
The three modules of Cyber Aces Online are Operating Systems, Networking, and
System Administration.
For more information about the Cyber Aces program, please visit the Cyber Aces
website at https://CyberAces.org/.
Is this section, you will be introduced to flow control in Python.
4
The information here is the same as with Bash.

= Assignment
+ Plus
- Subtraction
* Multiplication
/ Division
** Exponent
% Mod (remainder)
+= Plus-equal (increment)
-= Minus-equal (decrement)
*= Times-equal (self multiply)
/= Slash-equal
%= Mod-equal
5
The comparison operators are shown here:

== Equals
!= Not equals
<> Not equals (similar to !=)
> Greater than
< Less than
>= Greater than or equal to
<= Less than or equal to
in True if value is list or tuple
not in Inverse of in
and Logical AND
or Logical OR
not Logical NOT
We can execute code based some condition using an "if" statement. We can do a
simple statement like this:
if x == 0:
print('x is zero')
We can have two options with this code:
if x == 0:
print('x is zero')
else:
print('unknown condition')
Or a more complex statement like this:
if x == 0:
print('x is zero')
elif x >= 1 and x < 10:
print('x is a single digit')
elif x > 10 and x < 100:
print('x is two digits')
else:
print('unknown condition')
The indention of each portion should be consistent. Some developers uses spaces (2,
3, 4, 5, 8) and some use tabs (just one) for each level of indention. The choice of tabs
and spaces (and further, the number of spaces) is a hotly contested topic in the
development community. What really matters is consistency in a development
project. Space People and Tab People both agree that if you mix tabs and spaces you
are a terrible person.
We use loops to perform an action a number of times. There are two types of loops
in Python, the while loop and the for loop.
The while loop will execute code while a condition is true. The for loop is used to loop
a predetermined number of times, such as with a counter or over a list (or tuple).
Inside the loop there are special statements to control execution. The break
statement is used to leave the entire loop. The continue statement is used to skip the
current iteration, perform the test condition (if applicable) and then go to the next
iteration.
We can use the for loop with a counter. The range function will give us a serious of
numbers. The range statement can be used to give a simple range as shown above.
>>> for i in range(3):
... print(i)
...
0
1
2
We can also define the start, the stopping number, and step (increment) for each
iteration. We could even use a negative number.
>>> for i in range(4, 10, 2):
... print(i)
...
4
6
8
We can also iterate over a list, tuple or other sequence of objects.
>>> weekdays = ['mon', 'tues', 'wed', 'thurs', 'fri']
>>> for day in weekdays:
... print(day)
...
mon
tues
wed
thurs
fri
The while loop will run as long as the test condition is true. In this loop, we start with
the number 1 and double it as long as it is less than 128.
>>> n = 1
>>> while n < 128:
... print(n)
... n *= 2
...
1
2
4
8
16
32
64
128
Most programs will take some sort of input. To accept keyboard input we use the
input() function. The code below will take input from the user and print
"Excellent!" if the user enters "y" followed by the enter key.
x = input('Do you like Python? y/n ')
if x == 'y':
print('Excellent!')
Python doesn't have an unguarded loop since the while loop checks the condition on
entry. To prevent multiple input and condition checks you will often see code like this:
while True:
x = input('Pick a number between 1 and 100: ')
if x.isdigit() and int(x) >= 1 and int(x) <= 100:
break
If we did this without the infinite loop we would have to do something like this:
if not (x.isdigit() and int(x) >= 1 and int(x) <= 100):
while not(x.isdigit() and int(x)>=1 and int(x) <=100):
As you can see, there are multiple checks and multiple input requests which is more
prone to mistakes.
The "continue" will skip the rest of the code in the current iteration and jump back to
the top of the loop. If it were a while loop the condition would be checked before
execution. The code below demonstrates the usage of "continue".
>>> for letter in 'python':
... if letter == 'h':
... continue
... print(letter)
...
p
y
t
o
n
Using what you've learned here so far, write Python that does the following:
• Asks the user if they like Python
• Only accepts "y" or "n" as input
• If "y", then print "Excellent"
• If "n", then print "Sorry"
One possible answer is shown here:
while True:
a = input('Do you like Python? y/n ')
if a == 'y':
print('Excellent')
break
elif a == 'n':
print('Sorry')
break
else:
print('Invalid input')
We've completed the discussion of flow control in Python. In the next session, we'll
discuss reusing code in scripts and functions.

CyberAces Module3-Python 2 Flow

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CyberAces Module3-Python 2 Flow

Uploaded by

Welcome to the Module 3, System Administration.

In this sub-section we'll be

The information here is the same as with Bash.

The comparison operators are shown here:

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