python_for_a_musician.py

# Made with <3 by Vincent Grato, vgrato@gmail.com

# comments start with a hash symbol (the pound sign)

# comments are not cude, they are a way to address the programmer

'''
you can create multiline comments with something called a Docstring, here it's the three quotes above and a number of lines below


Programming is often more than one language
if I use `these special forward quotes`, I'm doing something in code
if I use `$ command` those quotes with a $ at the front, I'm coding in bash
if I use `>>> something_or_other`, with the >>> at the front, I'm coding in python


!!! if you aren't seeing this file in multiple colors, go get a text editor like sublime or atom or vs code to work in. Syntax highlighting is super important !!!
!! less important, but still nice: rainbow parens, rainbow csv, line numbers !!


python install
==============
ideally already!
    in terminal try:
        `python3`
    if you get something like:

    ```
    Python 3.10.6 (main, Aug 10 2022, 11:40:04) [GCC 11.3.0] on linux
    Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
    >>> 
    ```

you good

    python2 is still floating around. it's enough different to be not guaranteed compatable, but sometimes you can't tell. Try to use 3 these days.

if nothing is installed. Anaconda is a good way to get a working python install


Running Stuff
=============
you can run the file in terminal by `cd`ing into the directory with this file and running:
`$ python3 grammin.py`

I do normally run my programs from the terminal as a command with arguments

there is also something called the Read Eval Print Loop that I use as an exploration tool
from bash
'''


# Variables and data types
# variables are named containers of data that you can read and write to
# there are tons of built in data types and you can import various libraries and of course build whatever custom types you'd need
# some common ones:
variable_names_are_in_snake_case = True
flag = False
undefined_maybe_nil_wu_unask__ = None
an_integer = 12
a_float = 3.14
hello_string = "this is a string of text, obligatory Hello World!"
worth_noting = 3.14 # like, the number of length 3.14
is_not_the_same_as = '3.14' # cuz this one's a string, which has a length of 4 symbols
list_literal = [1, 'abc', 0]
read_only_file_pointer = open('some_file.txt', 'r')
# data types are a complex topic, some languages really care about them, others seem to want to pretend they don't exist
# I think python strikes a happy middle ground, if maybe a little looser than I'd prefer in terms of assuring you're getting what you expect, but this is kind of a nuanced topic
# bottom line, most variables stay one type in the run of a program. There are subtle incompatabilities between data types that are often ambiguous or absurd
# Things like:
# if I have a list ab = [1, 2, 3]
# does it make more sense that `ab + 3` would return [1, 2, 3, 3] appending a three, [1, 2, 3] ignoring cuz three is already a member, or [4, 5, 6], incrementing each element by 3?

# if you tried to run that and got no such flie some_file.txt: `touch some_file.txt` in terminal

# there is another type of variable called a global that is GENERALLY_FROWNED_UPON_BUT_USEFUL_IN_CERTAIN_CONTEXTS
GLOBAL = '/some/config/file/or/binary/or/timezone'
BIG_IN_MEMORY_INDEX = {}

# {} curly braces define a dictionary, also called a hash, map, hashmap or dict
'''
an example:
>>> ab = {}
>>> ab[1] = 'apple'
>>> ab[0] = 'orange'
>>> ab['foo'] = 'bar'
>>> ab
{1: 'apple', 0: 'orange', 'foo': 'bar'}
>>> ab[1]
'apple'
'''

# Quick note on sources for learning
# in the python3 repl, look at the output for:
# >>> help(range)

# This is python's built in documentation system, I reach for it before the internet often

# most of the websites out there that aren't straight docs or stack overflow are hot garbage
#
# really good docs (worth breezing through but don't get bogged down in):
# https://docs.python.org/3/library/intro.html
# https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html
# https://docs.python.org/3/library/constants.html
# https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html
# https://docs.python.org/3/library/exceptions.html

# Trey Hunner's stuff is a genuine echo of what was beautiful about the old web


# check out the builtins:

# range can be used to generate a list
one_to_ten = range(0, 10)

# print(12345, [one_to_ten, True])
# the function print outputs values to the screen, even if they're compound data structures like a list of lists


# There are a lot of good libraries you can import that come standard with python
import argparse # bash is the one true programming language
import itertools # fucking cool
import functools # also cool, but in a harder to use way
import multiprocessing # and then I got bugs. I added concurrency, way faster. But like,
import time # a delightfully philisophical nightmare of a read: falsehoods programmers believe about time
import math # mega calculator
import csv # the one true data type. Effectively a spreadsheet where each row has the same type in a given column. Really important to be able to read and write these as a programmer
import numpy as np # mega mega calculator
import sympy # mega mega calculator, now complete with Math, the programming language
import mingus # music theory mega calculator
import svgwrite # Draw images with mathematical perfection for art at any scale cuz information theory. See: 3blue1brown on youtube
import pymidi # Write playable midi files!
# Most projects are a dozen to a few dozen files imported this way. You can organize functional units that can be dependent on each other's functionality