COMPUTER SCIENCE
code 30424 a.y. 2018-19
Lesson 15
Expanding Python capabilities: the libraries
SEDIN
IT Education Services Center
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Objectives of the lesson
Use the standard Python library and some useful extensions to
create interaction between Python and other tools such as: Excel,
a web browser etc.
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The modules
• All programming languages can be enriched by extensions in order to execute
specialized additional functionalities
• In Python, additional functionalities come as modules: these are files acting
as containers, grouping useful functionalities by the topic they relate to
• Some are part of the basic Python installation, and we already met some
examples as math, turtle and copy
• Modules can be organized in libraries or «packages»
• Modules installed by default with Python make up the Python standard library
• There are many custom modules available for the most diverse purposes
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Standard and custom modules
Modules
Standard Custom
Installation
Import
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Importing modules
Assuming a module is installed, in order to use it we need to import it into the
program's running session.
Invoking a functionality of a module without having imported it, raise an error
message:
The command we need is import, which also allows to import different
modules at the same time:
N.B.: importing is valid only for the current session!
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The dir function
The dir command shows the list of the loaded modules (those always
available in Python, and those loaded in the current session):
The same command also allows listing the functions and classes offered from
a specified module:
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The help function on modules
As already seen for
functions and other objects,
you can also use the help to
get information about
modules:
Or on specific functions
they contain:
The help function can only be used if the module has been imported
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The help function on modules
Standard
Library
Custom
modules
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Modules from the standard library
We are going now to explore some other modules from the standard library,
showing some examples:
• os (to interact with the Operating System)
• random (to generate random numbers)
• webbrowser (to open web pages in the browser)
• smtplib (to send emails)
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os module
It is a Python module to interact with the Operating System, quite useful to
inspect and manipulate files and folders.
Some functions:
os.listdir([path])
Returns a list with names of files and folders available in the folder specified as argument
os.path.join(path,filename)
Returns the complete path of a file in the specified folder
os.path.isfile(path)
Returns True if the path is referring to a file, False otherwise
https://docs.python.org/3/library/os.html
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os module: example
The os module allows accessing the folder structure on the storage device,
obtaining the list of the elements in each folder and processing their
attributes:
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random module
Allows generating random numbers, with some useful functions:
random.random()
Returns a random decimal number between 0 and 1
random.randint(min, max)
Returns a random integer number between min and max
random.choice([list])
Returns a random element from given list
random.randrange(min,max,step)
Returns a random integer between min and max with step increase
https://docs.python.org/3/library/random.html
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webbrowser module
Allows opening a URL in the browser.
The relevant function is:
webbrowser.open(URL)
Which asks the browser to open URL
example
import webbrowser
webbrowser.open('www.unibocconi.eu')
https://docs.python.org/3/library/webbrowser.html
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smtplib module
Allows sending email from Python.
Relevant functions:
smtplib.SMTP_SSL('address', port)
Returns an object representing a network connection done with the SMTP_SSL protocol
with the port of the server indicated as address
login('username', ’password’ )
Method of the above object which authenticates on a server with given credentials
https://docs.python.org/3/library/smtplib.html
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smtplib module: example
The smtplib module allows connecting to and authenticating on a server
and delivering an email message.
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Custom modules
Specialized modules, innovating or for niche audience, must be installed by
every user.
Where to find them?
PyPI - the Python Package Index is the official site collecting and categorizing
most of the available modules
There is a wide choice on web sites offering information and download of
modules. For instance UsefulModules: a list of the most popular Python
modules (aimed at a beginners’ audience) categorized by reference topic
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Installing custom modules
To use a custom module it is necessary to download it and install it
following the instructions, or simply running pip install modulename from
the command line of the operating system:
• Write cmd in the search box of the Windows menu (in MacOS, open the
Terminal application)
• In the command line, we write
pip install modulename
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Installing the modules for the lecture
We install now the modules we will need for the lesson:
• pyperclip
• openpyxl
• requests
• matplotlib
(it is a package: we will use its pyplot module)
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pyperclip module
Allows the copy and paste functionalities:
pyperclip.copy('text to copy')
Copies the argument to the clipboard
pasted = pyperclip.paste()
Returns the content of the paste command as a string
https://github.com/asweigart/pyperclip
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pyperclip module: example
In this example we use pyperclip and webbrowser to perform a search in
Google Maps through Python:
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openpyxl module
Allows reading and writing Excel files. Some relevant commands:
wb = openpyxl.load_workbook('filename.xlsx’)
Opens the Excel workbook given as argument and returns it as an object (wb in this example)
xlws = wb[‘worksheetname']
Opens a worksheet contained in wb and returns it as an object (named xlws in the example)
xlws.cell(x,y).value
Returns the value of the cell at coordinates x,y of the worksheet xlws
https://openpyxl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/
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openpyxl module example
We can see openpyxl in action, to read data from an Excel worksheet:
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requests module
Allows Python to interacting directly with the Web, automating some
operations.
Relevant functions:
page = requests.get(URL)
Opens the web address specified as URL argument and downloads its content
page.text
Returns as a text the HTML content of the downloaded page
http://docs.python-requests.org/en/master/
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requests module: example
This program extracts the HTML code from the Bocconi home page:
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matplotlib.pyplot module
The pyplot module from the matplotlib library is a powerful library for 2D
graphics which allows charting scatter plots, histograms, spectrograms, bar
graphs and much more.
For instance:
matplotlib.pyplot.plot (X, Y, formats)
Draws on a cartesian plot the values from X and Y (these shall be lists of values).
The formats argument has a syntax to control the appearance of charts: e.g. '-' to draw a
continuous line, 'o' for circles, 'g' for green.
https://matplotlib.org
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matplotlib.pyplot module: example
Example of a basic line plot:
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Tools we learnt with today’s lesson
• Understand the logic of modules usage and the concept of code modularity
• Understand how to include the use of modules in our own code
• Understand how to install modules in our own working environment
• Know how to explore the available modules and use the documentation
• Get to know some of the most used modules of the standard library
• Know the main external modules and know how and where to find others in
order to fulfil our own studying and professional needs
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Files of the lesson
In the zip file 30424 ENG - 30 - Lesson 15.zip you will find these files:
• 30424 lesson 15 slides.pdf: these slides
• .py files with examples shown during the lesson
• 30424 lesson 15 exercises.zip: exercises on the content of the lesson
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Book references
Learning Python:
Chapter 11
(except paragraphs 11.2.5, 11.2.10, 11.2.11, 11.2.12, 11.2.13, 11.2.14, 11.2.15, 11.5)
Documentation of the modules (see url on each slide)
Assignment:
Exercises of lesson 15
