Overview of Pre-defined Functions

Let us get an overview of Pre-defined Functions using Python. We will go through the details related to string manipulation, date manipulation, numeric functions etc.

  • All the programming languages have robust pre-defined functions.

  • Pre-defined function means the function which is available out of the box.

  • We can leverage these functions to add key functionalities required as part of our application.

  • As part of our applications, typically we read the data from databases or files. Also data is typically passed as part of requests (REST APIs)

  • Once data is read from databases or files, we process the data. This is where the pre-defined functions comes handy.

  • After data is processed, either we save the data back to database or files or provide responses to requests such as REST API requests.

  • Even though there are thousands of pre-defined functions as part of Python as well as Python based libraries, let us explore most common ones to begin with.

    • Numeric Functions

    • String Manipulation Functions

    • Date Manipulation Functions

  • Here are the examples of users data that is read from files

    • CSV (Text File) - ‘1,123 456 789,Scott,Tiger,1989-08-15,+1 415 891 9002,Forrest City,Texas,75063’

    • JSON - {“id”: 1, “uniq_id”: “123 456 789”, “first_name”: “Scott”, “last_name”: “Tiger”, “dob”: “1989-08-15”, “contact_no”: “+1 415 891 9002”, “city”: “Forrest City”, “state”: “Texas”, “zip”: 75063}

  • We also use JSON as part of REST API requests and responses.

  • We will use above data to explore the functions that are available as part of Python.