We have over 100 questions on Python programming basics that will help you with different levels of expertise to get the most out of our blog.
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1. What are the benefits of using Python?
Ans: The benefits of using Python are-
- Easy to learn and use: Python has a simple and straightforward syntax, making it easy for beginners to pick up and understand.
- Versatile: Python can be used for a wide range of tasks, such as web development, data analysis, machine learning, and scientific computing.
- Large community: Python has a large and active community, which means a wealth of resources, libraries, and modules available for developers to use.
- Cross-platform: Python can run on various operating systems, such as Windows, Mac, and Linux, making it a versatile choice for development.
- Plenty of libraries: Python has a vast collection of libraries such as NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, Scikit-learn, Tensorflow, Pytorch, etc., which makes it a go-to choice for data science, machine learning, and other scientific computing tasks.
2. What are decorators in Python?
Ans: In Python, a decorator is a design pattern to extend the functionality of a function or a class without modifying its code. A special kind of callable object represents decorators; usually, functions invoked as a function with a single argument, the function, or the class to be decorated. The returned value is then used as the decorated function or class. Decorators are applied to functions or methods by prefixing the function or method definition with the decorator's name and an "@" symbol.
3. What is PEP 8, and why is it important?
PEP stands for Python Enhancement Proposal. PEP 8 is a set of coding guidelines for the Python programming language. It was written by Guido van Rossum, the creator of Python, and is officially recognized as the style guide for Python code.
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PEP 8 provides guidelines on how to format code, including indentation, whitespace, naming conventions, and commenting, to make Python code more consistent and easy to read. This can improve collaboration and make it easier for new developers to get up to speed on a project.
4. What is Scope in Python?
In Python, scope refers to the portion of the code where a variable can be accessed. There are two types of scope: global and local.
A global variable is a variable that is defined outside of any function or class and can be accessed from anywhere in the code. For example, a variable defined at the top level of a script or module is a global variable.
On the other hand, a local variable is a variable that is defined inside a function or class and can only be accessed within that function or class. For example, a variable defined inside a function is a local variable.
In Python, the interpreter will first look for a local variable with that name when a variable is accessed. If it can't find one, it will look for a global variable with that name.
If a variable is defined inside a function or class and outside, the local variable will take precedence over the global variable.
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A variable defined inside a function or class is said to have a local scope, and a variable defined outside of a function or class is declared to have a global scope.
In Python, we can use the global keyword to indicate that a variable is a global variable. Also, the non-local keyword can indicate that a variable is non-local, meaning it belongs to the nearest enclosing scope that is not global.
5. What is the use of self in Python?
Self in Python refers to the instance of the class used to access the attributes and methods of the class. It is a convention to use 'self' as the name of the first parameter of a class method, which allows the method to access the attributes and methods of the class.
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6. What are unit tests in Python?
Unit tests in Python are automated tests that check the functionality of individual units of code, such as functions and methods. They are used to ensure that the code works as intended and catch any bugs or errors before deployment. Python provides a unit test module which is a built-in library to write and run unit tests, it also provides a way to organize the test cases into test suites. Unit tests are an important part of software development and can help improve the code's quality and maintainability.
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7. How do you copy an object in Python?
In Python, the assignment statement (= operator) does not copy objects. Instead, it links the existing object and the target variable name. We need to use the copy module to create copies of an object in Python. Moreover, there are two ways to create copies for the given object using the copy module −
Shallow Copy Shallow copy: The copy module in Python provides the copy() function, which creates a shallow copy of an object. A shallow copy is a copy of the object that references the same underlying data as the original object.
Deep Copy The copy module also provides the deepcopy() function, which creates a deep copy of an object. A deep copy creates a new copy of the object that is completely independent of the original object, including any nested objects.
Slicing: For immutable sequences like string, tuple, and range, you can create a new copy by slicing the entire sequence.
The ‘copy’ module in Python is mainly used for copying mutable objects like lists and dictionaries, and the = operator is used to copy immutable objects like strings, integers, etc.
8. What is PYTHONPATH in Python?
PYTHONPATH is an environment variable in Python that is used to specify the location of Python modules. When Python looks for modules to import, it will search through the directories listed in the PYTHONPATH variable. They can contain one or more directories, separated by a colon on Linux or macOS and a semicolon on Windows. Each directory specified in the PYTHONPATH variable is searched in order, until a matching module is found.
For example, let's say you have a Python module called "mymodule" in the directory "/path/to/mymodule". To make this module importable by Python, you would need to add "/path/to" to the PYTHONPATH variable.
You can set the PYTHONPATH variable in several ways:
- In the command line before running your Python script:
export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:/path/to - In the Python script itself: i
mport sys; sys.path.append("/path/to") - By adding the path to the environment variable in your operating system settings.
Conclusion
These are few of the most important Python concepts and questions that interviewer might ask you. If you're a python programmer preparing for your next interview in 2023, you should checkout 6 ways to help brush your python programming skills.
