Adventures in Machine Learning

Mastering Python: A Comprehensive Guide to Built-in Functions

Built-in functions are one of the most essential components of the Python programming language. These foundational features are pre-defined in the Python interpreter and are readily available for use by developers.

They provide a wide range of functionalities, from simple mathematical operations to complex string manipulations to file read and write operations. This article aims to provide an overview of built-in functions and examples of popular built-in functions used in Python programming.

Definition of Built-in Functions

Built-in functions can be defined as pre-defined functions in a programming language that are available to the programmer without requiring any additional setup or installation. These functions are part of the standard library and do not need to be explicitly imported to be used in a program.

Python has a vast collection of built-in functions that are available to the users for various tasks such as generating random numbers or converting data types.

Examples of Built-in Functions

Python provides a variety of built-in functions, some of them being:

  • Abs: The abs() function returns the absolute value of the given number, which is the positive value of the number without considering its sign. For example, the absolute value of -10 is 10.
  • Aiter: The aiter() function returns an iterator object. This function operates on an asynchronous iterable and returns an asynchronous iterator.
  • All: The all() function checks if all elements in an iterable are true or if the object is empty. If all elements are true or the object is empty, then it returns True.
  • Any: The any() function checks if any element in an iterable is true. If there is at least one element that is true, then it returns True.
  • If the iterable is empty, it returns False. Ascii: The ascii() function returns a string containing a printable representation of an object.
  • This method uses the escape sequences for non-ASCII characters.

Examples of Built-in Functions

Some more examples of built-in functions used in Python programming are:

  • Bin: The bin() function returns the binary representation of an integer.
  • It takes an integer as input and returns a binary string with the prefix 0b. Bool: The bool() function returns the Boolean value of an object.
  • For instance, if the object is empty, the bool() function returns false. Bytearray: The bytearray() function returns a mutable bytes object.
  • The method returns an array of bytes that can be changed. Bytes: The bytes() function returns an immutable bytes object.
  • The method returns an array of bytes that cannot be changed. Callable: The callable() function checks whether the given object can be called.
  • If it is callable, it returns True, otherwise, it returns False.

Examples of Built-in Functions (continued)

The following are some more examples of built-in functions in Python programming:

  • Chr: The chr() function returns the character that corresponds to the given Unicode code point. It takes an integer as input and returns the corresponding character.
  • Classmethod: The classmethod() function returns a class method for the given function. It is a built-in function that receives a function as an argument and returns the class method wrapped around it.
  • Compile: The compile() function compiles the source code into a code object that can be executed by exec() or eval() functions. Complex: The complex() function returns a complex number from two given arguments that represent the real and imaginary parts of the number.
  • If one argument is provided, it is taken as the real part, and the imaginary part is set to 0. Delattr: The delattr() function deletes an attribute from an object if present.
  • It takes two parameters, the object and the attribute name.

Conclusion

Built-in functions have made programming in Python more straightforward and efficient. These functions provide developers with a pre-defined set of functionalities to perform tasks like mathematical operations, data type conversions, etc.

The Python language has a vast library of built-in functions that developers can leverage while building their applications without needing additional setup or installation. By using these functions, developers can code more efficiently and improve the overall quality of their code.

3) More Examples of Built-in Functions (Continued)

In this section, we will discuss more built-in functions in Python programming, their functionalities, and how to use them.

Dict

The dict() function in Python returns a dictionary. Users can pass different types of arguments to dict() to create a dictionary.

Users can pass a sequence of key-value pairs, each as a tuple, to the dict(). Alternatively, if only the keys are passed as arguments, a dictionary with None values is generated for each key.

The dict() function can also take keyword arguments to create a new dictionary.

Dir

The dir() function returns a sorted list of names contained in an object. If the object passed to the dir() function is empty, it will return the list of names available in the current local scope.

Divmod

The divmod() function in Python takes two arguments and returns a tuple containing the quotient and remainder when the first argument is divided by the second argument. This function returns two integers; the first being the product obtained through the division operation, while the second is the remainder of the two numbers that are divided.

Enumerate

The enumerate() function returns an iterator that pairs up the elements of an iterable along with their index. This is helpful when trying to loop through a list or a range of integers and you also need the index.

Eval

The eval() function in Python is used to evaluate a string as a Python expression. The expression can include variables, literals, and operators.

It is important to note that this function is highly insecure, as any code passed as a string to eval() will be executed as code, including malicious code. Therefore, extreme caution should be exercised when using this function.

Filter

The filter() function in Python filters out the elements from an iterable, which do not pass a particular condition (function). The syntax of the filter() method is filter(function, iterable).

The function is called for each element in the iterable, and it returns a new iterable containing only the elements where the function evaluates to True.

Float

The float() function converts a given value to a floating-point number. The value can be an integer, a string, or even a different float.

If the value is a string, it should represent a valid floating-point number. If the value cannot be converted to a floating-point number, a ValueError is raised.

Format

The format() method in Python constructs and returns a formatted string. The syntax of format() method is "string".format(args).

Frozenset

The frozenset() function returns a new frozenset object, which is an immutable set – meaning once the set is set, elements cannot be added or deleted. The function can take an iterable object as input and returns a new frozenset object containing the iteration’s elements.

Getattr

The getattr() function returns the value of the named attribute of an object. It takes two arguments as inputs; the first argument being the object, while the second argument specifies the name of the attribute that the function needs to retrieve.

4) More Examples of Built-in Functions (Continued)

In this section, we will discuss the remaining built-in functions in Python programming, their functionalities, and how to use them.

Globals

The globals() function returns all global variables in the current context, which means the ones that can be accessed anywhere without explicitly importing them.

Hasattr

The hasattr() function in Python takes an object and a string as inputs and returns True if the object has an attribute with the given name; otherwise, it returns False. The hasattr() function is used to check if an object has a specific attribute or not.

Hash

The hash() function returns the hash value of the object. The hash value is an integer that is used by the built-in hash table to quickly compare dictionary keys.

Help

The help() function in Python is a built-in function that returns help information for objects specified in the argument list. Users can use the help() function to get detailed information about any object that is part of the Python standard library.

Hex

The hex() function converts an integer number to a lowercase hexadecimal string prefixed with 0x.. If the input value is not an integer, raise a TypeError.

Id

The id() function returns an integer that represents the memory address of an object. This function is commonly used to distinguish between objects with the same value but different memory locations.

Input

The input() function in Python is used to take input from the user. The function reads a line of text from standard input and returns it as a string.

The string that the input() function returns is stripped of whitespace at both ends.

Int

The int() function can be used to convert a string to an integer value. It also has a different way of representing integers in different bases/radix.

The syntax of the int() function is int(x, base=10).

Isinstance

The isinstance() function in Python is used to determine if an object is an instance of a specified class or an object of a subclass thereof. The syntax of the isinstance() method is isinstance(object, classinfo)

Conclusion

Built-in functions in Python are an essential part of the language and provide a wide range of functionalities to developers. By using built-in functions, developers can write more efficient and effective Python code.

Some of the popular built-in functions include enumerate(), divmod(), and eval(). Python’s standard library provides a vast range of built-in functions, and it’s crucial to understand what each function does and how to use it to enhance our programs.

5) Conclusion and Recap of Built-in Functions

In this article, we explored the concept of built-in functions in Python programming. Built-in functions are essential because they provide a wide range of functionalities that not only make programming more efficient, but also simplify complex calculations.

By using these functions, developers are able to implement complex computations and calculations in fewer lines of code, and with greater accuracy. We discussed several examples of built-in functions and their functionalities, including abs(), all(), any(), chr(), divmod(), eval(), filter(), format(), frozenset(), getattr(), globals(), hash(), hex(), id(), input(), int(), isinstance(), and many more.

The built-in functions provided by Python programming serve as a foundation for developers, and knowing how to use them is a foundational skill for programming in Python. Additionally, these built-in functions often provide more efficient solutions to solve complex problems rather than creating our own functions.

One fundamental aspect of using built-in functions is understanding their parameters and return types, as well as knowing how to use the function appropriately. Therefore, it is recommended that developers should read the documentation of each built-in function to understand their capabilities fully.

Built-in functions are used in most Python programs and projects, which makes them an essential aspect of the language. Python provides a vast range of built-in functions that help in enhancing the functionality of the code.

Accordingly, every developer should understand the use and implementation of these built-in functions to make their programming experience more efficient. In conclusion, this article provides a comprehensive overview of built-in functions in Python programming.

It highlights the importance of built-in functions and showcases popular examples of these functions, along with discussions of their functionalities. By knowing how to use these built-in functions, developers can streamline their code and make coding in Python more efficient.

Therefore, it is recommended that every developer should take time to learn about the many built-in functions provided by Python programming. Overall, this article highlights the importance of using built-in functions in Python programming.

Built-in functions simplify complex calculations, reduce code redundancy, and improve coding efficiency. Through exploring a wide range of Python’s built-in functions such as abs(), int(), input(), and hash() among others, it is evident that using these functions is fundamental in advancing Python programming skills.

As a concluding thought, it is essential that developers should embrace the use and implementation of built-in functions in Python, as they not only improve the quality of code, but they also facilitate efficient code development.

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