Python Development with PyDev and Eclipse - Tutorial

1. Overview
1.1. What is Python
Python is an interpreted programming language and claims to be a very effective programming
language. Python was develop by Guido van Rossum.
The name Python is based on the TV show called Monty Python's Flying Circus. During execution
the Python source code is translated into bytecode which is then interpreted by the Python
interpreter. Python source code can also run on the Java Virtual Machine, in this case you are using
Jython.
Key features of Python are:

high-level data types, as for example extensible lists

statement grouping is done by indentation instead of brackets

variable or argument declaration is not necessary

supports for object-orientated, procedural and functional programming style

1.2. Block concept in Python via indentation

Python identify blocks of code by indentation. If you have an if statement and the next line is
indented then it means that this indented block belongs to the if. The Python interpreter supports
either spaces or tabs, e.g. you can not mix both. The most "pythonic" way is to use 4 spaces per
indentation level.
1.3. About this tutorial
This tutorial will first explain how to install Python and the Python plugins for Eclipse. It will then
create a small Python project to show the usage of the plugin. Afterwards the general constructs of
Python are explained.

2. Installation
2.1. Python
Download Python from http://www.python.org. Download the version 3.3.1 or higher of Python. If
you are using Windows you can use the native installer for Python.
2.2. Eclipse Python plugin
The following assume that you have already Eclipse installed. For an installation description of
Eclipse please see Eclipse IDE for Java.

For Python development under Eclipse you can use the PyDev Plugin which is an open source
project. Install PyDev via the Eclipse update manager via the following update site:
http://pydev.org/updates
2.3. Configuration of Eclipse
You also have to maintain in Eclipse the location of your Python installation. Open in the Window
Preference Pydev Interpreter Python menu.

Press the New button and enter the path to python.exe in your Python installation directory. For
Linux and Mac OSX users this is normally /usr/bin/python.

Warning
Note that on MAC OSX the python libraries are not installed by default. Please use Google to find
out, how to install them on a Mac OSX system, the author of this text only uses Linux.
The result should look like the following.

3. Your first Python program in Eclipse

Select File -> New -> Project. Select Pydev -> Pydev Project.

Create a new project with the name "de.vogella.python.first". Select Python version 2.6 and your
interpreter.

Press finish.
Select Window->Open Perspective ->Other. Select the PyDev perspective.

Select the "src" folder of your project, right-click it and select New -> PyDev Modul. Create a
module "FirstModule".

Create the following source code.

'''
Created on 18.06.2009
@author: Lars Vogel
'''
def add(a,b):
return a+b
def addFixedValue(a):
y = 5
return y +a
print add(1,2)
print addFixedValue(1)

Right-click your model and select Run As -> Python run.

Congratulations! You created your first (little) Python modul and ran it!

4. Debugging
Just right-click in the source code and add a breakpoint.

Then select Debug as -> Python Run

You can now inspect and modify the variables in the variables view.

Via the debug buttons (or shortcuts F5, F6, F7, F8) you can move in your program.
You can use F5 / F6, F7 and F8 to step through your coding.
Table 1. Debugging Key bindings
Command Description
F5

Goes to the next step in your program. If the next step is a method / function this
command will jump into the associated code.

F6

F6 will step over the call, e.g. it will call a method / function without entering the
associated code.

F7

F7 will go to the caller of the method/ function. So this will leave the current code and
go to the calling code.

F8

Use F8 to go to the next breakpoint. If no further breakpoint is encountered then the

program will normally run.

You can of course use the ui to debug. The following displays the key bindings for the debug
buttons.

5. Programming in Python
5.1. Comments
The following create a single line comment.
# This is a comment

5.2. Variables
Python provides dynamic typing of its variables, e.g. you do not have to define a type of the
variable Python will take care of this for you.
# This is a text
s= "Lars"
# This is an integer
x = 1
y=4
z=x+y

5.3. Assertions
Python provides assertions. These assertions are always called.
assert(1==2)

5.4. Methods / Functions in Python

Python allows to define methods via the keyword def. As the language is interpreted the methods
need to be defined before using it.
def add(a,b):
return a+b
print add(1,2)

5.5. Loops and if clauses

The following demonstrates a loop the usage of an if-clause.
i = 1
for i in range(1, 10):
if i <= 5 :
print 'Smaller or equal then 5.\n',
else:
print 'Larger then 5.\n',

5.6. String manipulation

Python allows the following String operations.
Table 2.
Operations

Description

len(s)

Returns the length of string s

s[i]

Gets the element on position i in String s, position start with zero

s[-i]

Get the i-tes Sign of the string from behind the string, e.g. -1 returns the last element
in the string

"abcdefg"[0:4] Gets the first 4 elements (abcd)

"abcdefg"[4:] Gets the elements after the first 4 elements (abcd)
`a`+`b` + `c`

Concatenates the int varibles a, b,c, e.g. if a=1, b=2, c=3 then the result is 123.

s.lower()

Result will be s in lower cases

s.upper()

Result will be s in upper cases

s.startswith(t) True, if s startsWith t

s.rstrip()

Removes the end of line sign from the string

For example:
s = "abcdefg"
assert (s[0:4]=="abcd")
assert (s[4:]=="efg")
assert ("abcdefg"[4:0]=="")
assert ("abcdefg"[0:2]=="ab")

5.7. Concatenate strings and numbers

Python does not allow to concatenate a string directly with a number. It requires you to turn the
number first into a string with the str() function.
If you do not use str() you will get "TypeError: cannot concatenate 'str' and 'int' objects".
For example:
print 'this is a text plus a number ' + str(10)

5.8. Lists
Python has good support for lists. See the following example how to create a list, how to access
individual elements or sublists and how to add elements to a list.
'''
Created on 14.09.2010
@author: Lars Vogel
'''
mylist = ["Linux", "Mac OS" , "Windows"]
# Print the first list element
print(mylist[0])
# Print the last element
# Negativ values starts the list from the end
print(mylist[-1])
# Sublist - first and second element
print(mylist[0:2])
# Add elements to the list
mylist.append("Android")
# Print the content of the list
for element in mylist:
print(element)

If you want to remove the duplicates from a list you can use:
mylist = ["Linux", "Linux" , "Windows"]
# remove duplicates from the list
mylist = list(set(mylist))

5.9. Processing files in Python

The following example is contained in the project "de.vogella.python.files".
The following reads a file, strips out the end of line sign and prints each line to the console.
'''
Created on 07.10.2009
@author: Lars Vogel
'''
f = open('c:\\temp\\wave1_new.csv', 'r')
print f
for line in f:
print line.rstrip()
f.close()

The following reads the same file but write the output to another file.
'''
@author: Lars Vogel
'''
f = open('c:\\temp\\wave1_new.csv', 'r')
output = open('c:\\temp\\sql_script.text', 'w')
for line in f:

output.write(line.rstrip() + '\n')
f.close()

5.10. Splitting strings and comparing lists.

The following example is contained in the project "de.vogella.python.files". It reads to files which
contain one long comma separated string. This string is splitted into lists and the lists are compared.
f1 = open('c:\\temp\\launchconfig1.txt', 'r')
s= ""
for line in f1:
s+=line
f1.close()
f2 = open('c:\\temp\\launchconfig2.txt', 'r')
s2= ""
for line in f2:
s2+=line
f2.close()
list1 = s.split(",")
list2 = s2.split(",");
print(len(list1))
print(len(list2))
difference = list(set(list1).difference(set(list2)))
print (difference)

5.11. Writing Python Scripts in Unicode

If you read special non ASCII sign, e.g. , . or , you have to tell Python which character set to
use. Include the following in the first or second line of your script.
# -*- coding: UTF-8 -*-

5.12. Classes in Python

The following is a defined class in Python. Python uses the naming convension __name__ for
internal functions.
Python allows operator overloading, e.g. you can define what the operator + will to for a specific
class.
Table 3.
__init__ Constructor of the class
__str__

The method which is called if print is applied to this object

__add__ + Operator
__mul__ * Operator

The empty object (null) is called None in Python.

class Point:
def __init__(self, x=0, y=0):
self.x = x
self.y = y
def __str__(self):
return "x-value" + str(self.x) + " y-value" + str(self.y)
def __add__(self,other):
p = Point()
p.x = self.x+other.x
p.y = self.y+other.y
return p
p1 = Point(3,4)
p2 = Point(2,3)
print p1
print p1.y
print (p1+p2)

6. Google App Engine

Google offers free hosting of small Python based web application. Please see Google App Engine
development with Python.

7. Support this website

This tutorial is Open Content under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 DE license. Source code in this tutorial
is distributed under the Eclipse Public License. See the vogella License page for details on the terms
of reuse.
Writing and updating these tutorials is a lot of work. If this free community service was helpful, you
can support the cause by giving a tip as well as reporting typos and factual errors.
7.1. Thank you
Please consider a contribution if this article helped you.