Exploring IPython's Interactive Computing Features

Introduction

IPython is a command line interactive shell for Python. It provides some features for interactive computing, such as advanced introspection, rich media, and a powerful history mechanism.

In this lab, we will explore some of the basic features of IPython, including the use of magic commands, tab completion, and using the built-in help system.

Please note that if you are asked to open a Python shell in other labs or challenges in LabEx, do not use the IPython shell, it will not pass the step detection.

Achievements

• IPython

Skills Graph

Starting the IPython Shell

To start the IPython shell, simply open a terminal and type ipython. You should see something like the following:

In [1]:

This is the IPython prompt, and it indicates that IPython is ready to accept commands.

Basic Operations

Let's start by performing some basic arithmetic operations. Type the following at the IPython prompt:

In [1]: 2 + 2
Out[1]: 4

You should see the result of the calculation, 4, displayed on the next line. You can also use standard mathematical operators, such as -, *, and /.

Variables and Assignment

In IPython, you can create variables and assign values to them using the = operator. For example:

In [1]: x = 5
In [2]: y = 6
In [3]: x + y
Out[3]: 11

IPython provides tab completion, which can save you a lot of typing. For example, if you type x. and then press the tab key, IPython will display a list of all the methods and attributes of the x object. This can be useful for discovering the methods available on an object, or for quickly typing the name of a long object.

Magic Commands

If you want to run bash commands from within IPython, you can prefix them with an exclamation mark (!).

In [1]: !echo 'print("Hello IPython")' >> hello.py

IPython provides many "magic commands" that are not part of the Python language but are specific to IPython. Magic commands are prefixed with a % character.

For example, the %run magic command allows you to run a Python script from within IPython.

In [2]: %run hello.py
Hello IPython

Build-in Help System

IPython provides a built-in help system that allows you to easily access the documentation for a given object. To access the documentation for an object, simply type ? after the object's name.

In [1]: len?

This will display the documentation for the len function.

Summary

In this lab, we have covered some of the basic features of IPython, including basic arithmetic operations, variables and assignments, tab completion, magic commands, and the built-in help system. IPython is a powerful tool for interactive computing, and we encourage you to explore it further on your own.