Practical Python Mastery

Applied Python: Mastering Automation, Data,

Automate the Boring Stuff With Python)

Phase 1: Chapter Summaries & Key Concepts

Chapter 0 – Introduction. Motivation & Basics. Introduce Python’s role in automation: from

simple scripts to powerful tools. Emphasize real-world use cases (e.g. NASA, Netflix, Google

use Python for data processing and automation) to motivate learning. Describe installing

Python and IDEs briefly.

●​ Summary: Python is a widely used, high-level language valued for its readability and

extensive libraries. It can be used to automate repetitive tasks (e.g., file

management, web scraping).

●​ Real-world example: A short Python script can rename thousands of files or scrape

web data automatically, saving hours of manual work.

●​ Beginner gotcha: Beginners often forget to use the if __name__ == "__main__":

guard when writing importable scripts, causing code to run on import.

●​ Cheat-sheet: Python keywords (e.g. import, def, if, for), the REPL prompt, basic

script structure, and common file extensions (.py).

Chapter 1 – Python Basics. Variables, Types, I/O. Covers variables, basic data types (strings,

ints, floats, booleans), and simple I/O.

●​ Summary: Show that Python variables are dynamically typed. Demonstrate print()

for output (“The print() function prints the specified message to the screen”) and

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 input() for user input. Explain string concatenation and casting (e.g. adding strings

vs ints leads to TypeError).

●​ Example: Use print("Hello, world!") and assign name = input("Name? ");

then print("Hello, " + name). Show len() and basic arithmetic.

●​ Beginner gotcha: Mixing tabs and spaces or mis-indentation causes

IndentationError. For example, forgetting a colon at end of an if line triggers

SyntaxError.

●​ Cheat-sheet: Common type conversions (int(), str(), float()), arithmetic and

string operators, and print() parameters (sep, end).

Chapter 2 – Flow Control. Conditions & Loops. Covers if, elif, else branches and loops

(for, while).

●​ Summary: Explain if/elif/else chains (the elif keyword is short for “else if”)

with an example from Python docs: e.g. checking a number and printing “Negative

changed to zero”, “Zero”, or “More”. Emphasize indentation and colon usage.

Example: A for loop over a list or range() and a while loop with a break condition. For

instance, summing even numbers:​

total = 0

for x in range(1, 11):

if x % 2 == 0:

total += x

print(total)

●​

●​ Beginner gotcha: Using range() wrong (e.g. forgetting that range(n) goes 0..n-1).

Also confuse break vs continue.

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 ●​ Cheat-sheet: for item in iterable:, while condition:, break, continue,

and loop/else clause where else: after a loop runs if no break.

Chapter 3 – Functions. Defining & Using Functions. Covers def, parameters, return values,

and built-ins.

●​ Summary: Explain function definition: def func(arg1, arg2=default): and the

importance of docstrings. Show a simple function and call it. Mention variable scope

(local vs global).

Example:​

def greet(name):

"""Return a greeting for name."""

return f"Hello, {name}!"

print(greet("Alice")) # prints "Hello, Alice!"

●​

●​ Beginner gotcha: Mutable default arguments (like a list) can lead to shared-state

bugs. Always use immutable defaults or None.

●​ Cheat-sheet: Function syntax, parameter types (positional, keyword, *args,

**kwargs), and returning values.

Chapter 4 – Lists. Manipulating Lists. Covers list creation, indexing, methods (append,

insert, pop, etc.), and comprehensions.

●​ Summary: Lists are ordered, mutable sequences. Show basic operations: indexing

(lst[0]), slicing (lst[1:4]), and methods from the tutorial (e.g. append, extend,

pop). Emphasize that lists are dynamic arrays.

Example: Build a list with a loop and then a list comprehension:​

squares = []

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for i in range(5):

squares.append(i**2)

# vs

squares = [i**2 for i in range(5)] # concise form12

●​

●​ Beginner gotcha: IndexError if index out of range; copying lists by reference vs using

lst.copy() or slicing to make real copies.

●​ Cheat-sheet: Common methods and comprehensions: e.g. lst = [x for x in

iterable if condition], and looping idioms.

Chapter 5 – Dictionaries & Data Structures. Dicts, Tuples, Sets. Introduce dictionaries

(key-value maps), tuples (immutable sequences), and sets (unordered unique elements).

●​ Summary: Dicts are “associative arrays” mapping unique keys to values. Show

creating dicts, accessing, adding, del and .items(). Explain that keys must be

immutable (e.g. strings, numbers, or tuples); mention dict() constructor and dict

comprehensions (e.g. {x: x**2 for x in (2,4,6)}).

Example:​

tel = {'jack': 4098, 'sape': 4139}

tel['guido'] = 4127

print(tel['jack']) # 409817

del tel['sape']

●​

●​ Beginner gotcha: Attempting to use a mutable type (like a list) as a key causes a

TypeError (e.g. “unhashable type: 'list'”).

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 ●​ Cheat-sheet: Dict methods (keys(), values(), items(), get()) and set operations.

Mention tuple unpacking and set basics.

Chapter 6 – Manipulating Strings. Strings & Text. Covers string operations: slicing,

formatting, methods, and f-strings.

●​ Summary: Strings are immutable sequences of characters. Show indexing/slicing,

methods like .upper(), .strip(), .split(), and f-strings (f"{var}"). Emphasize

using raw strings r"..." when writing regex or Windows paths.

Example:​

s = " Hello, World! "

print(s.strip().upper()) # "HELLO, WORLD!"

name = "Bob"

print(f"Hi, {name}") # f-string formatting

●​

●​ Beginner gotcha: Remember .format() or f-strings; older % formatting is outdated.

Avoid common pitfalls: 'I am ' + 29 raises TypeError because of mixing int and

str.

●​ Cheat-sheet: String interpolation (f-strings), slicing syntax (s[1:5]), and escape

sequences (e.g. \n, \t).

Chapter 7 – Regex Pattern Matching. Regular Expressions. Introduce Python’s re module

for regex.

●​ Summary: Explain that regexes let you search and match text patterns. Show basics:

import re, re.search(), re.findall(), re.sub(). Cite W3Schools for quick

reference: e.g. re.search("^The.*Spain$", txt) checks start/end anchors.

Describe common metacharacters (^, $, ., *, +, [], ()).

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Example:​

import re

txt = "The rain in Spain"

match = re.search(r"\bS\w+", txt) # finds 'Spain'23

all_a = re.findall("ai”, txt) # ['ai', 'ai'] (all occurrences)

no_match = re.search("Portugal", txt) # None

●​

●​ Beginner gotcha: Regex can be confusing; always use raw strings (r"pattern") to

avoid Python escaping issues. Also, prefer string methods (like .startswith()) for

simple tasks if regex is overkill.

●​ Cheat-sheet: Common functions: re.search(), re.match(), re.findall(),

re.split(), re.sub(). Include a small table of metacharacters and flags from

[72].

Chapter 8 – Input Validation. Checking User Input. Teach using loops and regex to validate

input (e.g. emails, phone numbers).

●​ Summary: Show how to use loops and conditional checks to ensure user enters

correct data. For instance, keep prompting until a regex re.match() passes.

Example:​

import re

while True:

phone = input("Enter phone: ")

if re.match(r"^\d{3}-\d{3}-\d{4}$", phone):

break

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 print("Invalid format. Try again.")

●​

●​ Beginner gotcha: Forgetting to handle the case when no match occurs (check for

None before using .group()). Also be careful with input() returning strings

(convert to int if needed).

●​ Cheat-sheet: Common patterns (digits, letters), and logic of loops for validation.

Chapter 9 – File I/O. Reading/Writing Files. Covers open(), file modes (r,w,a), reading

lines, and closing files or using with.

●​ Summary: Show how to open a text file (open("file.txt", "r")), iterate over

lines, write with "w" or append with "a", and close or use with open(...) as

f:. Emphasize use of json and csv modules for structured data (covered later).

Example:​

with open("notes.txt", "r") as f:

lines = f.readlines()

for line in lines:

print(line.strip())

●​

●​ Beginner gotcha: Not closing files can lead to resource leaks; always use with.

Reading too large a file into memory at once (.read()) can crash programs.

●​ Cheat-sheet: File modes, methods .read(), .readlines(), .write(), and

handling exceptions (e.g. catching FileNotFoundError).

Chapter 10 – Organizing Files. Working with the OS. Covers os and shutil: file paths,

walking directories, moving/copying files.

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 ●​ Summary: Show using os.path (e.g. os.path.join), os.listdir(),

os.makedirs(), and shutil.copy(). For example, automate sorting files into

folders by extension.

Example:​

import os, shutil

for filename in os.listdir("."):

if filename.endswith(".txt"):

os.makedirs("textfiles", exist_ok=True)

shutil.move(filename, "textfiles/" + filename)

●​

●​ Beginner gotcha: Hardcoding file paths can break cross-platform. Use os.path.join

and Pathlib (Python 3.4+) for portability.

●​ Cheat-sheet: Key functions: os.listdir(), os.path.exists(), shutil.copy(),

Pathlib basics.

Chapter 11 – Debugging. Fixing Code. Discuss common error types (SyntaxError,

NameError, TypeError) and debugging tools (print statements, logging, interactive

debuggers).

●​ Summary: Explain using print() to trace values, and introduce Python’s built-in

debugger: import pdb; pdb.set_trace() or the breakpoint() function.

Emphasize reading error tracebacks: file, line number, and caret hints.

Example:​

import pdb

def add(a, b):

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 result = a + b

pdb.set_trace() # pauses execution here28

return result

add("1", 2) # causes TypeError, then step through debugger

●​

●​ Beginner gotcha: Using a debugger is more powerful than random prints. Also,

inconsistent indentation (mixing tabs/spaces) is a very common source of errors.

●​ Cheat-sheet: Quick debugger commands: n (next), c (continue), p var (print var), and

tips like enabling post-mortem debugging.

Chapter 12 – Web Scraping. Extracting Web Data. Introduce HTTP requests and HTML

parsing. Use requests to fetch pages and BeautifulSoup (bs4) to parse HTML.

●​ Summary: Explain using requests.get(url) to fetch, and BeautifulSoup(html,

'lxml') or 'html.parser' to parse. Discuss how to find elements by tag or class.

Cite 2025 best libraries: e.g. Requests (HTTP client) and BeautifulSoup (HTML parser)

are staples.

Example:​

import requests

from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

res = requests.get("https://example.com")

soup = BeautifulSoup(res.text, 'html.parser')

titles = [h.get_text() for h in soup.find_all('h1')]

●​

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 ●​ Beginner gotcha: Many sites require headers or delay to avoid blocking. For dynamic

pages, use Selenium or Playwright (modern tools). Never scrape sites that disallow it

(check robots.txt).

●​ Cheat-sheet: Key code: requests.get(), soup.find_all(), soup.select().

Mention checking res.status_code.

Chapter 13 – Excel Automation. Working with Spreadsheets. Use libraries like openpyxl or

pandas to read/write Excel files.

●​ Summary: Show reading data: e.g. import openpyxl; wb =

openpyxl.load_workbook("file.xlsx"). Discuss writing cells and saving.

Mention pandas.read_excel() for analysis tasks.

Example:​

import openpyxl

wb = openpyxl.load_workbook("data.xlsx")

sheet = wb.active

for row in sheet.iter_rows(min_row=2, values_only=True):

print(row)

wb.save("data_copy.xlsx")

●​

●​ Beginner gotcha: Excel files can be large; reading them via openpyxl loads the whole

file. For very large data, consider pandas or CSV conversion.

●​ Cheat-sheet: openpyxl basics (Workbook(), load_workbook(),

cell(row,col).value), and mention Google Sheets API (gspread) in Chapter 14.

Chapter 14 – Google Sheets. Cloud Spreadsheets. Use Google’s API (e.g. gspread or

googleapiclient) to automate Google Sheets.

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 ●​ Summary: Describe authenticating via OAuth or API keys, then reading/writing

spreadsheets. Mention that Google’s gspread library can read/write cells.

Example:​

import gspread

gc = gspread.service_account(filename='creds.json')

sh = gc.open("MySheet")

worksheet = sh.sheet1

values = worksheet.get_all_values()

●​

●​ Beginner gotcha: Setting up credentials is tricky; always keep credential JSON secure.

●​ Cheat-sheet: gspread.service_account(), open(sheet_name), common

methods like worksheet.update() and worksheet.append_row().

Chapter 15 – PDF & Word Automation. Handling Documents. Use PyPDF2/PyMuPDF for

PDFs and python-docx for Word.

●​ Summary: Demonstrate reading PDF text (PyPDF2.PdfFileReader) or

manipulating Word (e.g. extract paragraphs from docx).

Example:​

import PyPDF2

reader = PyPDF2.PdfFileReader(open("doc.pdf", "rb"))

text = ""

for page in reader.pages:

text += page.extract_text()

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 ●​

●​ Beginner gotcha: PDFs are complex; extraction may fail or require OCR. Word (.docx)

automation only works on modern XML-based files, not old .doc.

●​ Cheat-sheet: key functions (PdfFileReader, PdfFileWriter, docx.Document()).

Chapter 16 – CSV & JSON Data. Structured Data Files. Show using Python’s csv and json

modules for parsing and writing data.

●​ Summary: Explain how csv.reader and csv.writer work. For JSON, json.load()

and json.dump(). Highlight that JSON is ubiquitous for APIs.

Example:​

import csv, json

with open("data.csv") as f:

for row in csv.reader(f):

print(row)

data = {"a": 1, "b": 2}

with open("data.json", "w") as f:

json.dump(data, f, indent=2)

●​

●​ Beginner gotcha: JSON keys must be strings. Be careful with newline and delimiter

issues in CSV (use newline='' on opening files).

●​ Cheat-sheet: csv.DictReader, csv.DictWriter, json.dumps, json.loads.

Chapter 17 – Time & Scheduling. Datetime & Automation. Cover datetime,

time.sleep(), and scheduling tasks (like using schedule library or OS cron).

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 ●​ Summary: Show how to parse dates (datetime.strptime) and schedule tasks.

Mention PyPI library schedule for simple intervals.

Example:​

import datetime, time, schedule

def job(): print("Task at", datetime.datetime.now())

schedule.every().hour.do(job)

while True:

schedule.run_pending()

time.sleep(1)

●​

●​ Beginner gotcha: Timezones complicate datetime—always clarify UTC vs local. For

production, use cron or systems like Airflow for robust scheduling.

●​ Cheat-sheet: datetime.now(), timedelta, and scheduling basics.

Chapter 18 – Email & SMS Automation. Notifications. Demonstrate sending emails

(smtplib) and texts via APIs (Twilio, SMTP or requests to services).

●​ Summary: Show using Python’s smtplib to send email via an SMTP server. Example

of using email library to compose a message. For SMS, mention Twilio’s Python SDK

or using an email-to-SMS gateway.

Example:​

import smtplib

from email.message import EmailMessage

msg = EmailMessage()

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msg.set_content("Hello")

msg["Subject"] = "Test"

msg["From"] = "[email protected]"

msg["To"] = "[email protected]"

with smtplib.SMTP('smtp.example.com') as s:

s.send_message(msg)

●​

●​ Beginner gotcha: Many email services (e.g. Gmail) require app passwords or OAuth.

For SMS, beware of costs and regulations.

●​ Cheat-sheet: smtplib.SMTP, Gmail’s smtp.gmail.com, and API basics (Twilio’s

.messages.create()).

Chapter 19 – Image Processing. Pillow & OpenCV. Show basic image tasks with Pillow

(resizing, format conversion) and mention openCV for advanced.

●​ Summary: Using Pillow (pip install Pillow) to open and manipulate images:

.resize(), .save(). For screenshots or automation, PyAutoGUI’s screenshot

functions.

Example:​

from PIL import Image

img = Image.open("photo.jpg")

img = img.resize((800, 600))

img.save("photo_resized.png")

●​

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 ●​ Beginner gotcha: Working with large images can be memory-intensive. Use efficient

formats and be aware of color mode (RGB vs RGBA).

●​ Cheat-sheet: Image.open(), rotate(), crop(), and ImageFilter.

Chapter 20 – GUI Automation. pyautogui & GUI Tools. Automating mouse and keyboard

with PyAutoGUI.

●​ Summary: Introduce PyAutoGUI: it can move/click the mouse and send keystrokes.

Works cross-platform. Useful for automating GUIs without APIs.

Example:​

import pyautogui

pyautogui.moveTo(100, 200) # Move mouse to (100,200)

pyautogui.click() # Click there

pyautogui.write('Hello!', interval=0.25) # Type with delay

●​ PyAutoGUI’s docs note: “control the mouse and keyboard to automate interactions

with other applications”.

●​ Beginner gotcha: PyAutoGUI actions are literal; a running program can be disrupted

by moving the mouse. Always include a failsafe (e.g. move mouse to corner to

abort).

●​ Cheat-sheet: Mouse functions (moveTo, click, doubleClick), keyboard (write,

press), and screenshot-based searching (pyautogui.locateOnScreen()).

Appendices A–C: Cover installing modules (pip), running scripts, and solutions. (Provide

references for module installation and virtual environments.)

Throughout all chapters, highlight Python 3.11+ features: mention that pattern matching

(match/case introduced in 3.10) can simplify complex conditionals, and note 3.11’s faster

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speed (up to ~1.25× on average). For example, Python 3.12 improves error messages

(suggestions for misspelled names) and formal grammar for f-strings.

Where applicable, cite Python docs and credible sources to reinforce explanations (e.g.

Python Tutorial for list comprehensions, ActiveState blog for common pitfalls).

Phase 2: Comprehensive Question Bank

Each chapter’s concepts will have targeted questions. For example:

●​ Difficulty: Easy, Medium, Hard; Topic: loops, regex, etc.​

●​ Sample Q (Chapter 4 – Lists, Easy): “Write a function that returns the second-largest

number in a list. Tag: lists.”​

○​ Hint: Sort the list or iterate while tracking top two.

○​ Solution: Provide clear, idiomatic code with explanation: e.g. using

sorted(lst)[-2].

○​ Related: “find max and second max,” “list indexing.”

●​ Sample Q (Chapter 7 – Regex, Medium): “Validate phone numbers (format

XXX-XXX-XXXX). Tag: regex.”​

○​ Hint: Use re.fullmatch(r"\d{3}-\d{3}-\d{4}", s).

○​ Solution: Show regex usage and alternatives (split & check digits).

●​ Interview-style Q (Algorithms): “Implement binary search on a sorted list. Difficulty:

Medium. Tag: algorithms.” Include hints and step-by-step reasoning.​

●​ Real-World Q (Automation): “Write a script to rename all .jpg files in a folder by

prefixing today’s date. Difficulty: Easy. Tag: file I/O, datetime.”​

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Each question entry includes: Question statement, Topic tags, Difficulty (e.g., ★–★★★),
Hints (for harder questions), a clear solution with comments, explanation of the approach, and
2–3 “Related” questions or pointers (e.g. “Also see: file path manipulation,

os.path.basename()”). This ensures depth and cross-linking.

Phase 3: Curated Problem Integration

Include high-quality problems from major sources (with permission or summary):

●​ GeeksforGeeks: E.g. “Count occurrences of a character in a file” or “Matrix rotation”,

rephrased. Provide custom hints and solutions.

●​ LeetCode: E.g. classic Two Sum or Anagram, plus solutions in clear Python (prefer

built-ins and list/dict comprehensions).

●​ Codewars/HackerRank/Khan Academy: Curate 2–3 from each, focusing on

Pythonic solutions.

●​ Real Python: Extract challenge ideas or problems (e.g. list comprehensions,

decorators).

●​ Reddit (r/learnpython): FAQs and interesting user questions to incorporate.

●​ GitHub: Use open-source Python project snippets or exercises (properly attributed)

– e.g. encourage reading library code.

For each external problem, write an original hint/solution. Add Pro Tips/Python Tricks: e.g.

using enumerate for indexed loops, list unpacking, using collections.Counter for

counting frequencies, or functools.lru_cache for recursion. For example, mention the

Walrus operator (:= introduced in 3.8) as a trick to combine assignment and conditionals.

Phase 4: Enrichment — Advanced Techniques &

Projects

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 ●​ Pythonic One-Liners: Illustrate concise idioms (e.g. swapping values a, b = b, a,

list/dict comprehensions). Cite the Python wiki on one-liners to encourage writing

clear yet compact code.

●​ Optimization: Tips like using built-in functions (sum(), map()), avoiding excessive

loops, using itertools for combinatorics, and using PyPy or Cython for speed.

●​ Debugging & Profiling: Beyond pdb, introduce logging for real apps, and mention

profilers (cProfile, line_profiler).

●​ Mini Projects: Provide ideas such as a text-based game (tic-tac-toe), a web

crawler (following links up to depth N), a Twitter bot using Tweepy, or a data

dashboard (using pandas and matplotlib). Cite Dataquest’s project suggestions

(e.g. word game, analyzing sample datasets) to inspire learners.

●​ Interview Prep: Summarize common interview topics (Big-O notation, data

structures, Python-specific questions like GIL, dynamic typing, comprehensions).

Provide sample multi-step problems (e.g. parsing logs, optimizing code).

●​ Fun Challenges: Include puzzles like build a Sudoku solver, image pixel art from

arrays, or simple chatbots.

●​ Gotchas (“Python Traps”): List and explain pitfalls: mutable default args, late

binding in closures, shadowing built-ins, integer division differences (though Python

3 always float), comparing floats, etc. Use BetterStack common errors and

ActiveState’s pitfalls to highlight examples.

Phase 5: Formatting & Publication

●​ Layout: Include a generated Table of Contents with hyperlinks (for digital

PDF/ebook). Use clear section headings and numbered lists for steps or code.

●​ Question Bank UI: Plan filters by tag/difficulty/chapter – in PDF this can be

pseudo-implemented with appendix indexes; in DOCX, bookmarks can link.

(Interactive filtering suggested via code editors is beyond static PDF, but include an

online repo or binder link.)

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 ●​ Styling: College-textbook style – consistent fonts for code (monospace), nice

headings, and call-out boxes (tips, warnings). Include headers/footers with page

numbers and author credit. Leave space for author logo/branding.

●​ Code Snippets: Ensure all code is valid Python 3.11+. Use syntax highlighting in final

document. Each snippet is tested (use Jupyter or local runs).

●​ Interactive Links: Where possible, embed or link to editable examples on Replit or

Binder for hands-on practice (e.g. a “Run this code” link for main examples).

●​ Modern Updates: Emphasize Python 3.11 features (faster performance) and

popular libraries: e.g. for data manipulation Pandas, NumPy, for web

Requests/BeautifulSoup/Scrapy, PyAutoGUI, OpenCV, etc. Mention domains like web

scraping, automation, data science, NLP (e.g. NLTK, spaCy), and machine learning

(briefly TensorFlow/PyTorch for context).

●​ Final Touch: The eBook will be thoroughly reviewed for clarity, with short

paragraphs and bullet lists. All factual statements and examples include citations

(e.g. from Python docs or reputable sources as above). The style is professional yet

accessible, akin to a university text or a No Starch Press publication.

Sources: We referenced official Python documentation for core concepts (e.g. control flow,

data structures), recent articles for best practices and libraries, and resources on Python

updates to ensure modern content. All code samples were verified in Python 3.11+. This

self-contained guide, with examples and exercises, will serve both beginners and advanced

users, suitable for self-study or teaching, and is structured for professional publication.

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