COMPILE TIME AND RUNTIME CODE CHECKING

Python performs some compile-time checking, but most checks (including type, name, and so forth) are deferred until code execution. Consequently, if your Python code references a user-defined function that that does not exist, the code will compile successfully. In fact, the code will fail with an exception only when the code execution path references the nonexistent function.

As a simple example, consider the following Python function myFunc that references the nonexistent function called DoesNotExist:

def myFunc(x):

    if x == 3:

        print(DoesNotExist(x))

    else:

        print('x: ',x)

The preceding code will only fail when the myFunc function is passed the value 3, after which Python raises an error.

You should now have an understanding of some basic concepts, such as how to use the Python interpreter and how to launch your custom Python modules. The next section discusses primitive data types in Python.