# 5 Simple Python Coding Challenges For Beginners ### 1\. Regular Expressions in Python Objective: To understand and implement regular expressions in Python to match and extract specific patterns from a given string. Instructions: * Use the `re` module in Python to implement regular expressions * Write a function called `extract_phone_numbers(string)` that takes in a string and returns a list of all the phone numbers present in the string in the format (XXX) XXX-XXXX * Write a function called `extract_email_addresses(string)` that takes in a string and returns a list of all the email addresses present in the string. * Write a function called `replace_email_addresses(string, replacement)` that takes in a string and a replacement string and replaces all email addresses in the given string with the replacement string. * Use the provided test cases to test your functions Example: ```javascript string = "Please contact info@example.com for assistance. Phone: (123) 456-7890 or (111) 222-3333" print(extract_phone_numbers(string)) # Output: ['(123) 456-7890', '(111) 222-3333'] print(extract_email_addresses(string)) # Output: ['info@example.com'] print(replace_email_addresses(string, "REPLACED")) # Output: "Please contact REPLACED for assistance. Phone: (123) 456-7890 or (111) 222-3333" ``` Note: * Phone numbers and email addresses can appear in any order and more than once in the provided string. * Phone numbers may or may not have spaces or dashes in between digits. * Email addresses may or may not have .com, .edu, .gov, etc. * Be mindful of edge cases Hint: * Phone number regex pattern: "(?\\d{3})?\[-.\\s\]?\\d{3}\[-.\\s\]?\\d{4}" * Email address regex pattern: "\[a-zA-Z0-9.\_%+-\]+@\[a-zA-Z0-9.-\]+.\[a-zA-Z\]{2,}" Submission: * Create a python file named `coding_challenge.py` and paste your functions and test cases inside. * Zip the python file and submit. ### **2\. File Handling - Books Manager** Create a program that reads in a CSV file containing information about books (title, author, ISBN, and price), and then allows the user to search for books by author, ISBN, or price range. * Step 1: Create a function that takes a file name as an argument and reads in the contents of the file as a list of dictionaries, with each dictionary representing a book and containing keys for title, author, ISBN, and price. * Step 2: Create a function that takes an author's name as an argument and returns a list of all books written by that author. * Step 3: Create a function that takes an ISBN as an argument and returns the title and price of the book with that ISBN. * Step 4: Create a function that takes a minimum and maximum price as arguments and returns a list of all books within that price range. * Step 5: Use the functions from steps 2-4 in a user interface that allows the user to search for books by author, ISBN, or price range. * Bonus: Add the ability for the user to add new books to the CSV file. ### **3\. File Handling and Dictionaries** Create a program that reads a text file containing a list of names and addresses, and then organizes the information into a dictionary. 1. Begin by creating a function called "parse\_file" that takes in a file path as an argument. 2. Use the open() function to open the file and read its contents into a variable called "file\_contents". 3. Split the contents of the file by newline characters to create a list of strings, where each string represents a line from the file. 4. Iterate through the list of strings and split each line by commas to create a list of lists, where each sublist represents the name and address of a person. 5. Create an empty dictionary called "address\_book". 6. Iterate through the list of lists and use the first element of each sublist as the key, and the second element as the value, and add them to the "address\_book" dictionary. 7. Return the "address\_book" dictionary. 8. Test the function by calling it with the file path of a sample file and print the returned dictionary to the console. **Example file contents(you can add more on your own):** John Smith, 123 Main Street, Anytown USA Jane Doe, 456 Park Avenue, Anytown USA Bob Johnson, 789 Elm Street, Anytown USA **Example output:** {'John Smith': '123 Main Street, Anytown USA', 'Jane Doe': '456 Park Avenue, Anytown USA', 'Bob Johnson': '789 Elm Street, Anytown USA'} ### **4\. Coding Challenge**: Python Lists and Tuples **Objective:** To test the candidate's knowledge of Python Lists and Tuples, and their ability to manipulate and extract information from them. Instructions: * Create a Python script that performs the following tasks: 1. Create a list of integers called `numbers` with the following values: \[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10\] 2. Create a tuple of strings called `words` with the following values: ("hello", "world", "python", "coding", "bootcamp") 3. Use the `numbers` list and the `words` tuple to create a new list called `result` which contains the following values: \[1, "hello", 2, "world", 3, "python", 4, "coding", 5, "bootcamp", 6, 7, 8, 9, 10\] 4. Use the `result` list to extract the following sublists: * The sublist containing the values from index 2 to index 5 * The sublist containing the last 5 elements of the `result` list 1. Use the `result` list to extract the following elements: * The element at index 4 * The element at the last index of the `result` list 1. Use the `result` list to count the number of occurrences of the string "python" 2. Use the `result` list to determine if the integer 3 is present in the list 3. Use the `result` list to remove the element at index 4 4. Use the `result` list to insert the string "programming" at index 6 5. Use the `result` list to sort the list in ascending order 6. Use the `result` list to reverse the order of the elements in the list 7. Use the `result` list to convert it to a tuple called `final_tuple` * The script should be well-organized and commented on and should include appropriate error handling. * The script should be submitted as a single .py file. Evaluation Criteria: * The script successfully performs all the tasks outlined in the instructions * The script is well-organized, commented, and includes appropriate error handling * The script demonstrates a clear understanding of Python Lists and Tuples and their manipulation ## 5\. "Smart Budget Tracker" Objective: Create a Python program that tracks a user's expenses and generates reports on their spending habits. Requirements: * User should be able to input different expenses with categories (e.g. food, transportation, entertainment, etc.) * User should be able to view their expenses and the total amount spent in each category * User should be able to view their overall spending and the total amount saved * The program should provide a monthly spending report and an annual report * The program should be able to suggest a budget for each category based on the user's expenses Skills required: * Basic knowledge of Python programming * Understanding of data structures (lists, dictionaries) * Ability to use classes and objects in Python * Understanding of file operations (read and write to a file) * Ability to use built-in Python libraries such as csv and date time. This project will challenge students to apply their knowledge of Python to real-world problems and help them learn how to structure a complex program while implementing various data structures and algorithms. Good luck!