There seem to be three kinds of Python developers: those unaware of type hints or have no opinion, ones that embrace them, and others who have an allergic reaction at the mention of them. Python is famously a dynamically typed language, but there are advantages to adding type hints to your code. This week on the show, we have Luciano Ramalho to discuss his recent talk titled, “Type hints, protocols, and good sense.” Luciano was not a fan of type hints. He’s only recently come around to their pot...
Dec 03, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 88
Have you wanted to work with RSS feeds in Python? Maybe you’re looking for a new project to build for your portfolio that uses Django, unit tests, and custom commands. This week on the show, we have Real Python author Ricky White to talk about his recent step-by-step project titled, “Build a Content Aggregator in Python.” Ricky has been authoring the Real Python interview series for several years and was formerly our Community Manager. He talks about what inspired him to create this project and ...
Nov 19, 2021•58 min•Ep. 87
Do you remember the One Laptop Per Child program? What went wrong, and what can we learn from the program’s failure? What are the potential pitfalls of charismatic technology, and how can we avoid them when introducing students to programming? This week on the show, former guest Al Sweigart and author Morgan Ames are here to talk about her book “The Charisma Machine - The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop per Child.” We discuss the OLPC program and how idealized visions of our programming ba...
Nov 12, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 86
Are you getting the most out of the Django framework? It’s a powerful web framework if you’re not interested in reinventing the wheel. Django includes a useful template system with inheritance for composing reusable HTML. This week on the show, we have previous guest and Real Python author Christopher Trudeau to talk about his recent articles and courses about Django. Christopher explains how Django templates help you avoid rewriting large portions of HTML for your web applications. His first ar...
Nov 05, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 85
Have you wanted to generate PDFs from your Python project? Many of the current libraries require designing the document down at the pixel level. Would you be interested in a tool that lets you specify the page layout while it handles the specific details of laying out the text? This week on the show, we talk with Joris Schellekens about his library for creating and manipulating PDFs named borb. borb is a pure Python library that can read, write and manipulate PDFs. You can use it to build fillab...
Oct 29, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 84
Are you interested in sharing your Python project with the broader world? Would you like to make it easily installable using pip? How do you create Python packages that share your code in a scalable and maintainable way? This week on the show, Real Python author and former guest Dane Hillard returns to talk about his new book, “Publishing Python Packages.” Dane shares his research into creating Python packages. We talk about the tools, techniques, and potential pitfalls of publishing your packag...
Oct 22, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 83
Earlier this year, the Python Software Foundation announced the creation of the Developer in Residence role. The first Visionary Sponsors of the PSF have provided funding for this new role for one year. What development responsibilities does this job address? This week on the show, we talk to previous guest Łukasz Langa about becoming the first CPython Developer in Residence. We talk about how the first months in this role are shaping up. Łukasz discusses the need to address the backlog of open ...
Oct 15, 2021•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 82
Python 3.10 is here! This week on the show, two former guests and Real Python authors return to talk about the new version. Geir Arne Hjelle’s article was posted to the site Monday, and it’s titled “Python 3.10: Cool New Features for You to Try”. Christopher Trudeau’s video course came out on Tuesday, and it covers the topics from the article with multiple visual examples of Python 3.10 code. Geir Arne and Christopher worked together to create code examples of the new features used in both. We t...
Oct 08, 2021•54 min•Ep. 81
Have you wanted to create a Python application that goes further than a command-line interface? You would like it to have a friendly interface but don’t want to make a GUI (Graphical User Interface) or web application. Maybe a TUI (Text User Interface)would be a perfect fit for the project. This week on the show, we have Will McGugan to talk about his projects Textual and Rich. Rich is a Python library for writing rich text to the terminal with color and style. It’s a great tool if you want to d...
Oct 01, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 80
Where are you along the path of learning Python? Do you feel like you’re making progress? What are ways you can put the learning path into a more precise focus? This week on the show, we talk with previous guest Martin Breuss about his recent article “How Long Does It Take to Learn Python?” Martin discusses methods for measuring your progress and the various reasons for learning the language. We talk about how different backgrounds will affect your approach. We also suggest resources to help you...
Sep 24, 2021•56 min•Ep. 79
Are you a visual learner? Does it help to have programming concepts shared with concrete examples and images? Would you like to see if your child might be interested in programming? This week on the show, we talk with author Shari Eskenas about her books, “A Day in Code - Python: Learn to Code in Python Through an Illustrated Story” and “Learn Python Through Nursery Rhymes & Fairy Tales.” We talk about the books and what inspired her to bring programming to picture books. Shari discusses her...
Sep 17, 2021•48 min•Ep. 78
Are you a beginner or intermediate Python programmer who has made it through some of the fundamentals? Have you tried to tackle a big project but got stuck and frustrated? Completing some small projects might be the answer. This week on the show, we have author Al Sweigart and talk about his new book, “The Big Book of Small Python Projects.” We discuss the advantages of sometimes thinking small in terms of Python programs. We talk about completing projects and the benefits of manually copying co...
Sep 10, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 77
How well do you know Python’s math module? Maybe you’ve used a few of the constants or arithmetic functions. You may be surprised by the amount of functionality hiding within this built-in library, and perhaps you don’t need to reach for an additional outside library. This week on the show, David Amos is back, and he’s brought another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects. We discuss a recent video course about the math module. David shares a recent article about implementing efficient...
Sep 03, 2021•50 min•Ep. 76
Can you make a version of Python that fits within the memory constraints of a microcontroller and have it still feel like Python? That is the intention behind CircuitPython. This week on the show, we have Scott Shawcroft, who is the project lead for CircuitPython. We talk about all things CircuitPython. While working with the language on several projects I have developed many of my own questions to ask Scott. Scott answers my questions about boot loaders, packages, the bundle, and bluetooth low ...
Aug 27, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 75
Have you started to use Python’s assignment expression in your code? Maybe you have heard them called the walrus operator. Now that the controversy over the introduction in Python 3.8 has settled down, how can you use assignment expressions effectively in your code? This week on the show, David Amos is back, and he’s brought another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects. David shares a recent article by previous guest Brett Cannon about what to do if you botch a release to PyPI. It’s a...
Aug 20, 2021•58 min•Ep. 74
How do you define open source software? What are the challenges an open source project and maintainers face? How do maintainers receive financial, legal, security, or other types of help? This week on the show, we have Josh Simmons from Tidelift and the Open Source Initiative to help answer these questions. Josh does open source ecosystem strategy for Tidelift. We talk about what Tidelift is and how they support maintainers. We also discuss the types of support maintainers need and the barriers ...
Aug 13, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 73
Have you heard of FastAPI? An application programming interface is vital to make your software accessible to users across the internet. FastAPI is an excellent option for quickly creating a web API that implements best practices. This week on the show, David Amos is back, and he’s brought another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects. We share an introduction to FastAPI written by the framework’s author, Sebastián Ramírez. The goal behind the article is to get you started creating prod...
Aug 06, 2021•46 min•Ep. 72
Are you still sprinkling print statements throughout your code while writing it? Print statements are often clunky and offer only a limited view of the state of your code. Have you thought there must be a better way? This week on the show, we have Nina Zakharenko to discuss her conference talk titled “Goodbye Print, Hello Debugger.” We talk about how to get started debugging your code by adding a single keyword. Nina discusses the differences between debugging on the command line vs using the to...
Jul 30, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 71
How is Python being used today, and what can you do with the language? Do you want to develop software, dive into data science and math, automate parts of your job and digital life, or work with electronics? This week on the show, David Amos is back, and he’s brought another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects. We talk about a Real Python article that covers the incredible variety of ways you can use Python. David shares an article about the pythonic way to count objects using the Co...
Jul 23, 2021•57 min•Ep. 70
Do you wonder what the future may hold for the Python language? Are there speed improvements coming soon? What if you could be in the room while the core developers discuss Python’s future? This week on the show, we have Joanna Jablonski, who was invited to the Python Language Summit 2021 as a journalist to summarize and document the event. A small group of core developers from the Python community gather to work toward a healthy future for the language. Through presentations and group discussio...
Jul 16, 2021•58 min•Ep. 69
Are you ready to expand your Python knowledge into the intermediate to advanced territory? What tools are awaiting your discovery inside Python’s functools module? This week on the show, David Amos is back, and he’s brought another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects. We discuss an article about the functools module, which adds functionality for caching, function overloading, better definitions for decorated functions, and more. David talks about a new Real Python article about worki...
Jul 09, 2021•55 min•Ep. 68
How well do you know your software supply chain? When you PIP install a package, what steps can you take to minimize the risk of installing something malicious? This week on the show, we have Dustin Ingram, a director of the Python Software Foundation (PSF) and a maintainer of the Python Package Index (PyPI). We talk about Dustin’s PyCon 2021 talk titled “Secure Software Supply Chains for Python”. Dustin shares the types of attacks you should be aware of and how you can make your supply chain mo...
Jul 02, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 67
Are you ready to practice your Python skills some more? There is a new set of practice problems prepared for you to tackle, and this time they’re based on working with CSV files. This week on the show, David Amos is back, and he’s brought another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects. David shares an article about functional programming with a focus on the “filter” function. The tutorial covers how to process an iterable and extract the items that satisfy a given condition. It also cov...
Jun 25, 2021•56 min•Ep. 66
The popularity of Python is continuing to grow Developers across the globe are embracing the language. How is Python being used in all of these different countries? How does an organization like the Python Software Foundation (PSF) work toward the goals in its mission statement for supporting and growing this international community? This week on the show, we have Marlene Mhangami, a PSF board member and part of the Diversity and Inclusion Work Group. Marlene lives in Zimbabwe on the continent o...
Jun 18, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 65
Are you looking for an in-depth data science project to practice your skills on? Perhaps you would like to add new tools to your Python web development projects instead? This week on the show, David Amos is back, and he’s brought another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects. David shares an article about how to go about detecting deforestation from satellite images. He covers how a data science team built a machine learning (ML) solution to do just that, using FastAI for the modeling ...
Jun 11, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 64
What if you could create an application and deploy it to the web with just Python? Wouldn’t it be nice to skip the additional full-stack development steps of learning three different languages in addition to Python? That’s the idea behind Anvil. This week on the show, we have Meredydd Luff, co-founder of Anvil. We talk about the history of Anvil and how the founders wanted to simplify web app creation. We discuss their choice to make the project open source and how it benefited the project’s dev...
Jun 04, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 63
How do you know you’re using the correct data structure for your Python project? There are so many built into Python and even more that are importable from the collections module. This week on the show, David Amos is back, and he’s brought another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects. We discuss a recent three-part video course on selecting the ideal data structure. Along with comparing the types of dictionaries, data records, arrays, stacks, and more, David covers a recent Real Pytho...
May 28, 2021•49 min•Ep. 62
Would you move your data science project from a laptop to the cloud? Would you also like to have snapshots of your project saved along the way so that you can go back in time or share the state of your project with another team member? This week on the show, we have Savin Goyal from Netflix. Savin is the technical lead for machine learning infrastructure at Netflix. He joins us to talk about Metaflow, an open-source tool to simplify building, managing, and scaling data science projects. Metaflow...
May 21, 2021•59 min•Ep. 61
Did you know the Python Software Foundation is hiring! With the recent support of three Visionary Sponsors, the PSF has been able to open positions for a developer-in-residence and a Python packaging project manager. Real Python now has a monthly Python news article. Frequent guest of the show, David Amos compiles and summarizes the biggest Python news from the past month. This week on the show, David Amos is back, and he’s brought another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects. We disc...
May 14, 2021•55 min•Ep. 60
Are you interested in learning more about Django? Would you like to meet other professionals and learn how they are using Django? DjangoCon Europe 2021 is virtual this year, and you can join in from anywhere in the world. This week on the show, we have Miguel Magalhães and David Vaz, two of the organizers of the conference. We discuss what makes DjangoCon Europe unique. David and Miguel talk about how they got involved and how the conference passes between different countries. They also cover th...
May 07, 2021•54 min•Ep. 59
