Stay ConnectedThe Pybites Podcast is a podcast about Python Development, Career and Mindset skills.
Hosted by the Co-Founders, Bob Belderbos and Julian Sequeira, this podcast is for anyone interested in Python and looking for tips, tricks and concepts related to Career + Mindset.
For more information on Pybites, visit us at https://pybit.es and connect with us on LinkedIn:
Julian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliansequeira/
Bob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbelderbos/
Copyright: © 2024 Pybites Podcast
What happens when a professional dancer trades it in for a keyboard? Join us as we uncover the incredible journey of Sara Moad, who went from being a professional dancer to managing tech solutions as a Solutions Architect at Sydney Airport.
Her transition wasn't just about switching careers; it was about embracing change, self-belief, and the profound impact of soft skills cultivated in teaching children. Sara shares her story of stepping into the tech world during the COVID-19 pandemic, inspired by friends and fuelled by a yearning for fresh challenges.
Sara's path is sprinkled with invaluable insights for anyone dreaming of a tech career. She shows how personality and empathy, honed through years of teaching dance, have been her greatest allies on this new stage. Her involvement with the Girls Programming Network is a testament to her belief in inclusivity in tech, as she passionately teaches Python and champions the importance of community support. With Sara, we explore how to overcome imposter syndrome and the power of connecting with those around us to find our footing in unfamiliar territory.
For those feeling the itch to transition, Sara offers more than inspiration—she provides a roadmap. From setting short-term goals to exploring personal projects, her advice is about aligning your career with your passions. She emphasises leveraging networks and communication to uncover opportunities and shares anecdotes about how hobbies like playing Dungeons & Dragons can bolster skills vital in tech.
Sara's story is a celebration of discovering joy in building tech solutions that resonate with one's own experiences and interests.
Links:
Chapters:
0:00 - From Dance to Python
4:50 - Transitioning Careers in Tech
15:19 - Navigating the Tech Transition
19:42 - Building Confidence and Finding Career Paths
33:10 - Exploring Perspectives in Tech Education
This week, we’re joined by Dan Dresser, who shares how he re-built his trading app in Rust, see also his community win post:
Wrote a Trading App in Rust
We dive into the app's purpose, the performance challenges he encountered, and how Rust became the best solution for increasing performance demands.
Dan shares the complexities / hurdles he faced in the process, his mindset for pushing through when stuck, and valuable tips for learning Rust.
We wrap up with two cool book recommendations. I (Bob) got a lot out of this conversation, and I hope you do too.
Enjoy and thanks for tuning in!
Links:
- Connect with Dan on LinkedIn
- Join our Circle community and connect with him there
- Pybites Rust exercises (WIP)
- Pybites coaching (ad segment)
- Rust book tip
- Non-tech book tip
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:04 Dan's trading background
03:25 Win of the week
05:00 Trading app, goal and scaling
09:40 Audience / automating an existing process
11:25 Lessons learned - writing async code
13:30 The importance starting small
16:40 Getting stuck + mindset to persist
20:30 The v2 rewrite, when and why?
24:00 Why Rust? Learning tips
28:35 How Rust boosted the app's performance
32:05 Pybites coaching ad segment
32:35 Rust transition and impact of performance
38:04 Additional Rust learning tips / exercises
40:40 Final CTA / non-coding activities
41:30 Book tips: Zero to production in Rust / Frostbite
43:32 Wrap up / outro
Who isn’t using Ruff for its blazing speed? Who hasn’t yet tried uv to make project management seamless and fast?
What goes into building these tools, managing their increasing popularity + community of adopters?
Hear from the creator himself, Charlie Marsh, as he shares insights on designing fast, ergonomic Python tooling that elevates the developer experience. 😍 📈
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:45 Charlie's background
03:32 2 reasons to work on new Python tooling
07:10 Inspiration from Rust / Cargo
11:00 Thinking about software design (uv)
15:00 uv's two use cases (low vs high level)
17:15 Balancing feedback vs roadmap while being nice
23:00 How shipping evolved
24:28 Managing open source + quality / testing tooling
32:31 Pybites coaching ad segment
32:57 Astral's vision / what's coming (type checking 🎉)
37:50 Support Conda? uv can be embedded
39:53 What helped you to learn Rust (build!)
45:25 Book tip, CTA and how to reach out
49:12 Wrap / outro
Reach out to Charlie on X or LinkedIn.
Join our Python developer community
Take your Python dev skills to the next level? Join our coaching program
Welcome back to the Pybites Podcast! This week, Julian talks with Tanner Martin, a Python developer and valued graduate and community member of our Pybites Developer Mindset (PDM) program.
In this episode, Tanner shares insights on productivity, mindset, and personal growth.
He reflects on his journey to transform his productivity approach, reduce anxiety through weekly planning, and embrace self-kindness.
Tanner and Julian also dive into strategies for setting priorities, managing time, balancing personal and professional life, and share book recommendations.
Plus, hear about Tanner's current project with his coach Robin in the PDM program.
Whether you’re a developer or simply looking for ways to improve your time management, this episode offers practical tips for achieving more with less stress.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:15 Meet Tanner
03:06 Wins of the week
05:08 Tanner's productivity before PDM
08:18 Applying Pybites productivity course lessons
11:18 How to manage productivity in a corporate environment
13:40 How do you manage priorities?
16:16 What about sound habits?
18:20 PDM coaching ad segment
18:50 Planning, tracking and managing distractions
23:20 Impact for Tanner of increased productivity
26:30 What are you building in PDM?
29:08 Rapid fire productivity tips
32:13 Book tips
35:20 Reach out to Tanner
36:15 Wrap + outro
Book tip:
- Extreme Ownership
Reach out to Tanner:
- On Circle
- On LinkedIn
Do you want to seriously upskill in Python and as a developer? Check out our PDM program
Welcome back to the Pybites podcast! Today we have some really exciting news: we’ve just launched our brand-new coding platform!
Check it out here.
After nearly 7 years and almost 50K sign-ups on v1 (codechalleng.es), the design started to show its age. That’s why we did a complete overhaul to create our new 2.0 platform. It's faster, cleaner, more responsive, and more affordable.
In this episode, Bob and Julian discuss why v2 is such a big improvement, the motivation behind the rewrite, behind-the-scenes insights into how it all came together, some technical challenges we faced, and one of our most exciting new features: parity pricing (pricing in your local currency based on where you live).
Enjoy, and we hope to see you coding more Python with us on the new platform!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:00 PyBites Platform 2.0!
02:46 Platform’s history
05:10 How v2 came about: ruthless minimalism
08:10 Why v2 is faster and more responsive
12:02 Challenges of migrating from v1 to v2
14:20 Seamless design improvements
17:40 Parity pricing: making it more affordable
24:05 Humble bundles now available on v2
25:00 Roadmap and Julian’s use of GitHub Issues!
27:44 Wrap up
Don’t forget to join our Python developer community
And feel free to reach out to us with any feedback or questions on Circle or LinkedIn:
- Bob: Circle / LinkedIn
- Julian: Circle / LinkedIn
Thanks for listening, and we’ll be back next week!
"The sooner you make your first five thousand mistakes, the sooner you will be able to correct them." - The Natural Way to Draw - Kimon Nicoliades
Jeff Haemer’s career spans over five decades, and in this episode, he openly talks about his continuous passion for learning and solving interesting problems.
We talk about his experience teaching computer science with almost no prior knowledge, his love for Unix, how he landed a job at Twitter in his late sixties, and why he believes networking is key to landing jobs.
Jeff also generously shared his list of books he keeps going back to for inspiration and wisdom.
If you’ve ever felt stuck or uncertain in your tech career, Jeff’s journey will inspire you to take bold steps, embrace failure and adopt a persistent mindset to succeed at work and in life.
Reach out to Jeff or us if you like this conversation, thanks for listening.
- Jeffrey Haemer
- Pybites community
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction, welcome Jeff
03:33 Wins: learning Rust / Pybites Rust platform
08:10 Jeff’s journey: from punch cards to modern programming
16:20 Random luck vs being prepared (networking!)
20:04 What's great about Unix, what makes it timeless?
25:05 How to learn and making engaging presentations
29:21 Persistent mindset, embracing failure (it's inevitable!)
33:37 PDM ad segment
34:02 Jeff's favorite books
44:11 Practical SW dev vs book learning
46:35 Wrap up and CTA
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Jeff's reading list:
* Current audiobooks
- J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter y La Piedra Filosofal
- Robert Galbraith's The Ink Black Heart
* Paper
- The Living Talmud
- Edward Frenkel Love and Math
- Tulsi Gabbard For Love of Country
* Daily Reads
- Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic
- The Holy Bible
* PDM books (useful advice + inspiration)
- Kimon Nicoliades, The Natural Way to Draw
- Eric Temple Bell, Men of Mathematics - There is no one, true path.
- John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (I recommend All Minus One, which is just Mill's arguments on free speech, and only about 30 pages).
- Plutarch, Life of Caesar - Caesar was assassinated; when I read this, I was amazed that he lived long enough to get assassinated.
- Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn - “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.” – Ernest Hemingway)
- Bob Drury & Tom Clavin, The Last Stand of Fox Company - Marines
- Jim Watson, The Double Helix
- Kernighan & Plauger, Software Tools (not "... in Pascal") - Perhaps the best practical book ev
Welcome back everybody! This week we have another exciting podcast episode, this time with Claudio Jolowicz, well known for his "Hypermodern Python" article series which he recently turned into a book.
We dive into what Hypermodern Python means, uv's current quick rise, Nox, 80/20 tooling for (beginner) Python devs, Rust, mindset, and last but not least, some good book tips.
We hope you enjoy this interview with Claudio and make sure to check out his great materials.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro episode
01:42 Intro Claudio
02:44 Music background
04:21 Hypermodern Python
08:20 uv rapid develment
10:20 Making uv default tool
12:56 Nox for local CI
15:20 Hypermodern Python, the book
19:57 80/20 tooling for beginners
22:37 PDM ad segment
23:03 uv making it easier
25:02 Cloudflare and Rust
27:33 Developer mindset and persistence
30:23 Book tips
32:25 Design patterns and TDD
33:40 Monkeypatching and dependency injection
37:12 Final CTA and wrap up
Links:
- Hypermodern Python article series
- Hypermodern Python book
- NOX vs TOX – WHAT are they for & HOW do you CHOOSE? 🐍
- Harry Percival's Stop using mocks video
- Book tip #1 - The Manager's Path by Camille Fournier
- Book tip #2 - Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppmann
- Book tip #3 - Architecture Patterns with Python by Harry Percival and Bob Gregory
- Claudio's GitHub and X
In this episode, we reconnect with the Pixi team after our last conversation in November 2023 to dive back into the world of Python packaging, with a special focus on the latest advancements in Pixi.
Joining us are Tim and Ruben, both of whom bring their unique expertise in robotics and game development. Ruben shares his experience contributing to conda-forge, pixi and Python package management in general.
We explore recent enhancements to Pixi, including its integration with VS Code, the evolution of pyproject.toml support, and the addition of PyPI dependency resolution along with Conda.
We also discuss the current state of Pixi for enterprises, touching on its readiness for production and enterprise-specific features like package registries.
The conversation also delves into how pixi resolves issues reported by the community, such as platform-specific Pixi.lock file regeneration - and how developers can contribute to the open source ecosystem.
Finally, we look ahead to the future, discussing the team's vision for Python packaging over the next one to five years.
Tune in for a deep dive into the present and future of Python packaging, packed with personal stories and expert insights.
--
Links:
- Prefix-dev
- Add pixi as an workflow/package manager PR
- Our PDM coaching program
In this episode Bob chats with David Hewitt, passionate Python and Rust programmer, core maintainer of PyO3, and part of the Pydantic team.
PyO3 lets you write a native Python module in Rust, or to embed Python in a Rust binary. David shares his journey of getting involved and how this tool set helps Python programmers integrate with Rust more easily.
We talk about how PyO3 helped the Pydantic v2 Rust integration, how to design for a great developer experience, the mindset of dealing with complex issues, PyPI getting more packages with Rust, how to best learn Rust and more.
Enjoy and let us know when you give PyO3 (and maturin) a try ...
Reach out to David:
https://github.com/davidhewitt
(additional social media links there)
Ad segment: Pybites PDM coaching program:
https://pybit.es/catalogue/the-pdm-program/
Join our community:
https://pybites.circle.so
A brief description for the time being for episode 168:
In this episode Julian interviews Joao Pedro Chaib (JP), a Software Engineer based in Sydney, Australia. JP achieved what so many people dream of every day: transitioning from another industry into the Tech Industry, all while moving countries!
Listen to JP's story where he shares the journey, the many mindset hurdles that he overcame along the way, and tips for others looking to make this change. As always, mindset plays a BIG part!
If you'd like to follow JP you can catch him here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joao-pedro-chaib-39839915a/
Instagram: @jotachaib
Github: https://github.com/jpchaib
Learn more about _nology, the company that supported JP on his journey in Sydney: https://nology.io/
Join the Pybites Community here: https://pybites.circle.so
Learn more about Pybites' Coaching here: https://pybit.es
In this episode Blaise Pabon shares his experience joining a Code Reading Club and how it helped him improve as a developer.
He hosted one in PDM last week and it was a cool experience, a great exercise to better read unfamiliar code and to learn from each other in a group setting.
Enjoy this insightful conversation with Blaise ...
Resources:
Code Reading Club website
Felienne Hermans' work:
- The Programmer's Brain (also discussed with AJ here)
- Code Reading Club
Connect with Blaise:
- Pybites Community
- LinkedIn
- GitHub
- Fosstodon
Ad segment: PDM developer coaching program.
In our new podcast episode we explore the importance of asking for help and pushing through the fear in order to do so.
We delve into how sharing your expertise can create valuable reciprocal relationships and emphasize the benefits of asking questions, especially for junior developers.
We share personal anecdotes, highlighting how overcoming fear and leveraging your network can propel your career forward, in all professional endeavors really.
As usual we also talk about wins and books.
Join our Python Community here
Join our flagship coaching PDM program here
Welcome back to our Pybites podcast. In this exciting episode we talk again with Kelly Schuster-Paredes about teaching Python, Pycon's education summit, how we are all learners and teachers, AI in education and for learning, how coding / programming skills evolve your brain far beyond their initial aim, exciting tech trends, mindset, wins and books. Phew that is a whole lot so make sure you tune in and get inspired!
Welcome back to the Pybites podcast. In this exciting episode, we reconnect with Kelly Schuster-Paredes to discuss the dynamic world of teaching Python.
We delve into PyCon's education summit, the dual roles of learners and teachers, and the transformative power of AI in education.
Discover how coding skills can evolve your brain, explore the latest tech trends, and gain insights into the right mindset for developers.
Plus, Kelly shares her recent wins and book recommendations. There's a lot to unpack in this episode, so tune in and get inspired!
---
Teaching Python podcast
Book tip: Artificial Artifacts
Reach out to Kelly:
- X
- LinkedIn
Welcome back to the Pybites podcast! This week, we delve into six common pitfalls that Python developers face and offer insights on how to gain control and influence in your programming career.
Tune in for tips on networking, continuous learning, developing good habits, showcasing your work, bouncing back from failed interviews, and the importance of community.
Check out our PDM coaching
If you're more beginner, check out PDI first
Join our Pybites Community
Rust:
- Exercises
- Bob's blog
Kids book tip:
- The Anxious Generation
Join our community here
Become a better developer through our coaching
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Join host Bob as he sits down with Andrew Farr, a seasoned data engineer, to explore his career trajectories, triumphs, and challenges.
In this episode, Andrew shares his recent transition from the US to the UK, landing a new data job, and the daily grind of becoming a data engineer.
From adopting a growth mindset to honing his Python skills, Andrew reveals the secrets behind his success. Dive deep into his passion for data analysis, content creation, and the importance of self-promotion in the tech industry.
But it's not all about code. Discover Andrew's diverse interests beyond the screen, from photography to historical conservation projects. Join us as we uncover the importance of continuous learning, non-coding activities, and the encouragement needed to pursue your dreams in the world of tech.
Tune in for invaluable insights, practical advice, and a dose of inspiration to fuel your own data journey.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro snippet and music
01:00 Andrew Farr intro and win of the week
02:25 Experience of new job
03:18 1% per day improvement compounding
03:56 Only compare to your yesterday's self
04:36 Python journey and mindset
07:08 Always be coding + PDM challenge mindset
09:00 What fascinates you about data?
10:32 Some of your data projects (link with history)
12:25 Sharing work and current projects
14:07 PDM ad segment
14:33 Newsletter and consistency
15:34 How do you come up with interesting ideas
17:30 Critical thinking and the data analyst mindset
19:10 Importance of online presence for a developer
20:05 Does it become easier over time?
21:16 Additional mindset tips / selling yourself
23:15 Influence of non-coding skills
25:07 Book tips
26:42 Final shout-out / piece of advice
27:51 Wrap out and outro music
Andrew's LinkedIn and newsletter
Books:
- Elizabeth's Spymaster
- Data Engineering with Google Cloud Platform
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Subscribe here to not miss any future episode! 🐍 💡 📈
Ad segment: PDM, become a more capable and confident developer in 12 weeks 💪 - more info
In this episode we share our experience + takeaways from attending Pycon US 2024.
* correction: where Bob said "Hablemos Español" he actually referred to: http://hablemospython.dev
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Join our Python community here.
---
Books:
- Scarecrow
- Four Thousand Weeks
- Algorithms
- Build a Large Language Model (From Scratch)
In this episode of the Pybites Podcast, hosts Bob Belderbos dives into the essential components you need for a successful public Python project on GitHub.
From organizing your code and creating a standout README.md to setting up automated tests and ensuring your project is contribution-friendly, he covers everything to help you build a robust and collaborative Python project.
Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting out, these tips will enhance your project's usability, maintainability, and community engagement.
Join the discussion and learn how to set a solid foundation for your open-source projects ...
Mentioned / related links:
- Starting a Python project - poetry, pip-tools, git + GitHub, package or not?
- Using pip-tools to manage Python dependencies
- Increase Python code quality with pre-commit
- How to handle environment variables in Python
- How to test a Python project against multiple versions using tox
- What are Makefiles and why + how to use them in your Python projects
Join our Pybites Community for free here
We coach people with their Python, developer and mindset skills, more info here.
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This week we have an exciting interview with Pydantic's creator Samuel Colvin.
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NOTE that it's best to watch this episode on YouTube, because Samuel demos Pydantic's new Logfire product as well as a bit of FastUI. 💡 💪 😍
---
Delving into the origins, Samuel shares with us how Pydantic was conceived to streamline data validation, drawing inspiration from similar tools but quickly exceeding expectations in popularity and adoption. 📈
Samuel touches on the monumental speed improvements in version 2, achieved by incorporating Rust, shares insights into the transition of Pydantic into a company and its future vision. We also touch upon front-end development for which he developed another library called FastUI. 😎
And last but not least Samuel demos Pydantic's new exciting Logfire product that was just released. 💡 😍
Chapters:
00:00 Intro Samuel
01:57 Win of the week
02:23 Pydantic framework and company backstory
05:10 FastAPI's part in Pydantic's grow
06:20 Adapting to framework dependencies
07:50 Making Pydantic faster with Rust
12:15 Learning Rust or not as a Python dev
14:16 Pydantic as a company
15:46 Open source ideas vs business requirements
17:20 Introducing Pydantic Logfire
19:15 Live demo (YouTube)
25:12 Resource / energy measuring with Logfire
26:41 Pydantic's vision for the next years
29:46 Doing front-end with FastUI (short demo)
31:13 Using FastUI at Pydantic and the team
33:56 Pybites ad
34:12 FastUI vs Streamlit for fast prototyping
36:46 Key skills for Python devs / open source in 2024
38:10 Work life balance / build things as a customer
41:00: Advice for entrepreneurial minded developers
42:48 Hobbies / interests outside of work
43:26 Podcast recommendation
43:50 Wrap up and outro
Links:
- Check out Pydantic Logfire here
- Reach out to Samuel on X
- Pybites Ad segment: The PDM Program
---
Connect with us on LinkedIn:
- Julian
- Bob
And to get our weekly developer / mindset emails, sign up here.
Join our Community for free here
Get your personal coach here
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In this episode Julian speaks with Luis Palacios, an IT Analyst and aspiring Cloud Architect.
What makes this conversation extra special is that Luis shares his journey from a traditionally "blue collar", labour intensive role, to his first job in I.T. Full disclaimer: he achieved this after completing our PDM Program.
Luis shares how learning Python and Mindset skills built his confidence such that he was able to apply for his first tech role and then continue pushing through the complexities and challenges that came with it.
This really reinforces one of our current messages to folks that Python makes coding accessible to everyone. It doesn't matter who you are, or what industry you're in, Python can help you achieve your goals!
Enjoy!
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction episode and Luis
03:22 Luis' career journey
06:58 PDM takeaways, mindset and building confidence
09:21 From custodian to IT analyst
14:23 Favorite helpdesk experiences and networking
16:58 Python coding, side projects and LLMs
21:16 2 mindset tips
24:58 Importance of podcasts for learning
27:58 What's next?
30:56 Final piece of advice / takeaway
32:06 Book tip: Wiring the Winning Organization
34:10 Wrap up / outro
Links:
- Reach out to Luis on LinkedIn
- Book tip: Wiring the Winning Organization
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Connect with us on LinkedIn:
- Julian
- Bob
And to get our weekly developer / mindset emails, sign up here
Join our Community for free here
Get your personal coach here
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In this episode, Bob and Julian explore the challenges of being laid off and discuss strategies for adopting the right mindset to effectively navigate this difficult phase. They provide practical advice on taking decisive action and continuing to build a meaningful career.
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:11 - Wins: veterans program and Pybites AI
07:04 - Lay off experience Julian
14:09 - Lean on your network and be proactive with your career
18:00 - Books
20:20 - Wrap and outro
---
Links:
- Books tip : Factfulness by Hans Rosling / The Power of Meaning by Emily Esfahani Smith
- Grow as a Python developer in record time with our PDM coaching program
- Pybites merch: https://pybites.bigcartel.com/
- Pybites Podcast: The Gift of Time: https://www.pybitespodcast.com/1501156/10769416-073-the-gift-of-time
---
Connect with us on LinkedIn:
- Julian
- Bob
And to get our weekly developer / mindset emails, sign up here
Join our Community for free here.
Get your personal coach, check out our coaching options here.
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🎶 Dive into the intriguing journey of Christopher Bailey, video tutorial producer at Real Python, host of their weekly podcast, and an advocate for learning and teaching Python. 🐍 😍
In this episode Christopher shares his unique path from music to programming, illustrating how his passions for music, education, and coding have intertwined to shape his career in tech.
From early coding fascinations and playing in a band to becoming a key figure in Python education, discover how Christopher's diverse background and persistent learning mindset have propelled him through an inspiring transition into the world of technology.
We also delve into Python industry trends that excite him and what's next on his learning radar, along with a win of the week + book recommendation.
Join us for a captivating discussion on the intersections of code, music, and education with Christopher Bailey, and discover how embracing diverse experiences can enrich your tech journey. 🚀
Check out The Real Python Podcast hosted by Christopher here.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:00 Christopher Bailey intro and win of the week
03:47 Background and career progression
13:12 Real Python work and how to stay technical
17:10 Mindset of learning, music and teaching influence
21:20 Immersive learning, deliberate practice and building for others
26:12 How to get unstuck when coding and dealing with perfectionism
29:39 Python trends and what to learn next
36:40 Books
39:15 Wrap up and outro
Book tip:
- The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
Reach out to Christopher:
- LinkedIn
- Fosstodon
- X
- Pybites Circle
---
Grow as a Python developer in record time - check out our PDM coaching program
---
Connect with us on LinkedIn:
Julian
Bob
And to get our weekly developer / mindset emails, sign up here.
This episode features a discussion with Louise Oprel, a cloud advocate, on her career journey and experiences with networking, mentoring, and personal growth.
Louise and Bob share insights into developing the right mindset for success and overcoming challenges through small, consistent actions like volunteering, reading, and daily reflection.
Practical tips are provided for using technology to connect with others, gain experience through events, and unlock one's potential through mentoring.
Links:
- Follow Louise on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louiseoprel/
- Connect with her in our community: https://pybites.circle.so/
Join us as we journey through Django, open source, and PyCon conferences with special guest Paolo Melchiorre.
We explore Django's evolution, the impact of open source, and the vibrant atmosphere of PyCons.
Paolo shares his developer odyssey, offering personal insights and experiences from the tech world. Don't miss this insightful episode on the heart of Python development and community collaboration.
Chapters:
00:00 Podcast intro
00:47 Intro Paolo, how did you get into python and open source
03:47 What do you like about Django
05:34 Django and Pelican contributions
09:17 Getting into open source through Pycon sprints
10:31 Coaching Django girls and teaching
12:44 Your role / work at 20tab
15:33 Handling complex issues and problem solving
18:47 AI tools vs Stack Overflow (and articles)
19:47 Python / Django / web trends
21:27 Front-end and HTMX
22:37 Rust based tools
23:52 The importance of mindset for developers
26:02 Book recommendations
27:47 Pycon Italia shoutout and how to reach out
30:04 Wrap up
Links:
- Follow Paolo on Mastodon
- Check out his blog
- Connect with him in our community
- Pycon Italia
Books:
- Fluent Python
- Django by Example
In this episode coach Hugh sits down with Julian, co-founder of Pybites, to delve into the heart of what makes Pybites more than just about Python.
Julian shares the triumphs and trials of building Pybites, highlighting the significant milestones from the first subscriber to facing the tech industry's fast-paced and evolving landscape. 💡
More than coding, Julian emphasizes the critical role of mindset in overcoming obstacles and achieving growth, not only within Python but in personal and professional realms. 📈
With insights into Pybites' vision for the future, innovative initiatives for veterans, and efforts to introduce coding to school-aged children, this episode illuminates how Pybites champions a comprehensive approach to learning and development, rooted in perseverance, community, and adopting a growth mindset. 😍
Links:
- Pybites platform
- Podcast Episode Featuring Isaac Smith
- PDM program
- Book tip: Quiet by Susan Cain
- Join our Python developer community here
This week we interview Mike Fiedler, the PyPI Safety & Security Engineer at the Python Software Foundation (PSF).
We discuss the importance of security within the Python ecosystem and offering practical advice for Python developers to enhance their security awareness.
Highlights include a deep dive into PyPI security measures, the challenges of securing the Python ecosystem, tips for Python developers, and Mike's journey to his current and previous (DevOps) roles, emphasizing the blend of technical skills and mindset needed to tackle security and solving challenges problems effectively.
Enjoy this episode with Mike Fiedler!
Chapters:
00:00 Show intro
01:20 Intro to audience and stateless testing win
08:24 Transition into PyPI security and current role
17:43 Challenging securing the Python ecosystem
24:48 Tips for Python devs to be more security aware
27:18 PDM ad segment
27:44 Security tips cont'd
33:16 Solving a puzzling problem in production (mindset)
39:40 Psychological safe workplaces / blame vs accountability
44:18 Security trends, how to prepare, and resources
48:05 Books and wrap up
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Pybites ad segment: apply for Python coaching here.
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Show links:
- pytest-randomly
- pytest-socket
- Brian Okken's pytest content
- PyPI blog
- Trusted Publishers
- 2FA Required for PyPI
- git annotate
- Asimov Robot series
- Silo
- CPython 3.12.2 is SBOM-ified
- Trail of Bits blog
- Fastly blog
- Disaster recovery for Consul clusters (now this exists!)
- Bandit
- Pre-commit
Reach out to Mike here.
And we're back, Julian and Bob this time!
We're hearing some people being worried about AI and its impact on developer roles, even to the extent of being skeptical to move in or keep progressing into our field.
Hence we thought it would be good timing to discuss the current state of AI tools, their strengths + weaknesses, and how to effectively use them.
We don't think they will replace us developers because in this episode we come to the conclusion that so much in software development is (and will be) human.
We hope that our perspective will better help you navigate and use these tools. We think we live in exciting times and by embracing AI tools you really can create an edge for yourself.
We also have some exciting Pybites updates for you, books and more ... enjoy!
And don't forget to join our community and join the discussion.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:18 Wins / community / podcasts
07:44 We heard some worries about AI
08:56 Thoughts on ChatGPT for coding
10:52 It's not there yet
12:35 Looking a bit more under the covers
17:10 What it means for coding jobs
20:40 Shedding a mindset light on current fear
23:20 The productivity gains are real!
25:10 Julian's AI Utopia moment
27:13 Bob's pessimist counter balance (LOL)
27:30 Takeaway and adopting a growth mindset
28:42 Data privacy aspect
30:04 GPT4 vs 3.5
31:00 AI tools give you an edge (and reduces tutorial paralysis)
32:50 Join the discussion
33:25 Nerding out on books, book stories and series
39:15 Wrap up, Pycon 2024
This week on the Pybites Podcast, join Robin and Bob as they sit down with the remarkably skilled Marcelo Trylesinski, a distinguished software engineer currently working at Pydantic.
Not only is Marcelo a key maintainer for Uvicorn and Starlette, he's also recognized as a FastAPI Expert, a title earned through his meticulous dedication to resolving GitHub issues and contributing to the open-source community.
In our conversation, we dive into Marcelo's unique journey, uncovering the disciplined routine of issue resolution that propelled him to become a prolific open-source maintainer and a beacon of expertise in the FastAPI world.
Marcelo shares insights into his pivotal moment of joining Pydantic, his ongoing contributions, and the mindset that drives his success as a developer.
Beyond the technical, we explore what it means to be a valuable open-source contributor and the broader impacts of such work.
From his initial steps into the realm of Pydantic to his current endeavors, Marcelo's story is one of passion, perseverance, and the power of a positive developer mindset.
This episode is packed with valuable takeaways for anyone looking to make their mark in open source or to deepen their understanding of FastAPI and beyond.
Prepare to be inspired by this engaging conversation, offering a glimpse into the life of a developer who's truly mastered the art of open source contribution, one issue at a time.
---
Chapters:
00:00 Intro + win of the week
02:52 How did you become the FastAPI expert?
06:55 Learning frameworks through solving issues
10:30 Building up a habit of practice
12:05 How did you land a job at Pydantic?
13:40 GitHub + contributions a track record
15:12 Current Pydantic work
16:35 Zen's "there should be one obvious way" in open source
20:00 How to implement an admin page in FastAPI?
22:40 What does Starlette do in FastAPI?
23:20 Mindset and productivity as a developer
27:17 The ideal open source developer interaction
29:10 Use PRs to comment (document), not code
29:56 What are you reading / listening
31:28 Final piece of advice / using issues vs PRs
34:20 Learn GitHub repos by turning on notifications
35:35 Wrap and outro music
---
Reach out to Marcelo on X, GitHub and LinkedIn.
Follow his YouTube Channel: The FastAPI Expert
Mentioned talk: What does Starlette really do for FastAPI?
Book tip: The Medieval World
This week on the podcast, we're thrilled to welcome Steve Lott, a seasoned software developer and author whose mantra is turning coffee into code since 1978.
Steve has penned several influential books, including "Mastering Object-Oriented Python," "Modern Python Cookbook," and "Functional Python Programming," drawing from his vast experience since the early days when computers were a rare and costly venture.
In this episode, we dive deep into Steve's approach to writing about Python, uncovering his research process and how he infuses fun into his personal side projects.
Steve shares his insights on the evolving landscape of Python, the importance of hands-on learning through real-world projects, and the unparalleled impact of the Python community on developers worldwide.
But there's more to Steve than just code. As a "technomad," Steve has mastered the art of living on a boat, embracing the nomadic lifestyle while staying connected to the tech world. We explore the unique benefits and challenges of his life at sea, from the freedom it offers to the distinctive perspective it brings to his work and life philosophy.
Steve's belief in the power of stories — “Don’t come home until you have a story.” — shines throughout our conversation. This episode is packed with stories from his adventures both in front of the keyboard as well as from his nomad lifestyle (we even talk language accents).
Join us for this fascinating journey with Steve Lott, where coding meets adventure, and learn how embracing the unconventional can lead to a fulfilling and storied life. We're sure you'll walk away inspired, perhaps even considering how you can live life more fully.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro podcast and guest + win of the week
03:20 Python writing process
06:01 Book research process: answer questions and understanding underlying issues
11:05 Personal side-projects and keeping it fun
16:14 Future of Python
19:20 Teaching through real-world projects and related tooling & skills
23:00 Impact of the Python community, the best Python "feature"
29:07 Being a "technomad", living on a boat, and learning about different cultures
35:50 Mindset tips for developers
39:14 False assumptions and proper troubleshooting
44:50 Book tips and reading books out loud
48:50 Wrap up, Circle and book unittesting
51:44 Outro music
Reach out to Steve:
- Mastodon
- Blog | books
- Pybites community, join here
Learn how Pybites can help you succeed in your Python journey 🐍 💪
Join our Python Developer Community for free here 🌐👋
---
Welcome back to our podcast, where we delve into extraordinary journeys of transformation and achievement.
This week, we're thrilled to feature Jacob Moyers, a friend of Julian from the AWS Data Centre days, who's here to share his remarkable transition from mechanical engineering to Cyber Security, paralleled by his success in powerlifting.
Jacob’s story is a testament to setting ambitious goals and achieving them with grit and perseverance, offering profound lessons for Python developers.
His journey from novice to expert, in both his career and personal passions, mirrors the path many of you navigate in coding - starting from scratch, facing challenges head-on, and thriving through persistence and continuous learning.
Most importantly, Jacob’s experiences underscore the power of persistence, the value of networking, and creative problem-solving.
These lessons are invaluable, whether you're debugging code or striving for personal bests.
We hope his story inspires your own Python endeavors.
Enjoy the episode and share how Jacob's journey inspires you in our community post.
We look forward to your thoughts!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro snippet + music
00:51 Julian intro
03:00 Who is
04:26 Work experience
06:44 Current cybersecurity role
10:20 How did you manage to go from 0 experience?
14:30 Disagree with your current mindset / improve 1% a day
17:30 Wide ranging inspiration / connecting things
19:25 Benefit of immersive learning
21:30 The importance of networking
24:50 Ad segment
25:25 Luck vs putting in the effort
26:55 Overcoming certain fears
29:00 Applying this mindset to other areas in life
31:00 Jacob's weight lifting journey
35:30 Disagree with yourself to progress
37:50 Working with coaches and mitigating injuries
41:00 You often only see the successes, not the failures
41:50 Being creative getting around hurdles (covid)
48:40 Coaching works really well for Python as well
50:00 Parting words / piece of advice
52:00 Wrap up and outro music
---
Links:
- Reach out to Jacob on LinkedIn
- Mentioned article
---
Transitioning into tech and programming?
Check out our PDI coaching program.
---
To get our weekly developer / mindset emails, sign up for free here💡
Join our Python Developer Community for free 🐍🌐👋
---
🎙️ In this podcast episode, we're excited to dive into the world of Python with the remarkable Will McGugan!
As the mastermind behind the Rich library and the founder of Textualize, Will has significantly impacted the Python community.
In this episode we explore the journey and insights of this prolific open-source Python developer.
👨💻 From his initial steps into Python to the creation of Rich and Textual, Will shares the motivations and challenges that led to these widely-used tools.
We delve into the intriguing comparison between web and terminal apps, uncovering Will's favorite features in his libraries.
💡 Ever wondered how experts tackle complex problems or balance coding with business?
Will sheds light on these aspects, offering valuable advice for aspiring developers, including the importance of not fearing to publish your code.
🚀 Beyond coding, learn about the transition from hobby to business with Textualize, and how Will manages a team of developers amid coding and business challenges.
Discover his tips for maintaining a sound work-life balance and managing the workload of open-source projects.
🔮 What's next for Will and his projects? And what are his side hobbies, passions, book recommendations, and thoughts on AI's rapid evolution in coding?
🎵 Don't miss this insightful conversation filled with Python, tech insight, personal stories which will surely inspire you.
Enjoy! 🐍💻🌟
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:28 Will intro
01:57 Win of the week
02:48 How did you get into Python
04:44 What do you like about Python
06:04 What made you create Rich and Textual
09:20 Web vs terminal apps
11:02 Favorite library features
11:46 How you approach complex problems
14:32 Don't be afraid of publishing your code
15:43 Ad segment
16:26 Textualize - from hobby to business
17:55 Managing a team of developers
18:50 Coding vs business challenges
20:40 Coding (unlike business) you can brute force
21:58 Advice for sound work-life balance
24:12 Managing the open source work load
25:21 What's coming next?
26:45 Side hobbies / passions and how they inspire you
28:12 Book recommendation, tech books and JIT learning
30:18 ChatGPT for coding and AI's rapid evolution
32:26 Final call to action and how to reach out
33:42 Outro music
🔗 Check out Will's work at Textualize
📘 For a unique fiction recommendation, explore "Interview with the Vampire"
📢 Connect with Will on X, Fosstodon, and GitHub
---
To get our weekly developer / mindset emails, sign up for free here 📈
Welcome back to the Pybites podcast! In this exciting episode, we delve into the world of cloud computing and personal growth with the remarkable Chris Williams, a renowned AWS Hero and "cloud therapist."
Discover Chris's unique approach to demystifying cloud technology and how he uses his skills to solve complex problems in this field. We'll explore:
- The fascinating role of a "cloud therapist" applied to challenges in cloud computing.
- Chris’s insights on effective communication and his top tips for mastering this skill.
- The mindset that has propelled Chris to success and how you can adopt it.
- The power and importance of being open to vulnerability and admitting when you’re wrong.
- Insights from the vBrownBag show and how it's shaping tech discussions.
- Chris's journey as an AWS Hero and what it means for tech professionals.
- The impact of AI and latest tech trends on our world, and how Chris uses it for coding.
- Chris also shares a cool personal hobby and book tip.
Don’t miss this engaging discussion and Chris’s final piece of invaluable advice. And if you like what you hear, remember to like, subscribe and share this episode with fellow tech enthusiasts!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro podcast
01:30 Intro Chris Williams
02:51 Win of the week
04:21 Cloud therapist
07:20 Communication
09:00 Crucial mindset
13:15 Communication resource (tip)
15:21 Willingness to be wrong
15:59 Pybites ad segment
16:43 AWS hero
18:40 vBrownBag podcast
21:56 Unexpected benefit of show
23:45 Mentoring advice
27:30 Tech trends and AI
29:45 Using AI for coding
32:00 Digital photography
33:32 Books - Deep work
37:50 Final piece of advice
39:00 Wrap up / outro
Links:
- vBrownBag
- Reach out to Chris:
- on X
- on LinkedIn
- Make 2024 your breakthrough year with Python, check out our 1:1 coaching.
Grow your Python + developer + mindset skills with our weekly emails
---
In this podcast episode we talk with Armin Ronacher, open source developer, creator of Flask and principle architect at Sentry.
Armin shares his personal journey in open-source development, providing valuable insights into maintaining backward compatibility with Flask and his current involvement.
He opens up about the complexities of open-source management and his experience with Rust.
The discussion also touches upon practical strategies for tackling challenging problems and getting unstuck, offering a glimpse into Armin's approach to building large-scale projects.
Armin candidly discusses handling feedback and imposter syndrome, his stance on type hints in Python, and his vision for his legacy in the tech world.
This episode is sprinkled with practical tips, including an interesting book recommendation and reflections on the nuances of human interaction, especially in online communities.
A must-listen for developers / people working in tech, because it's not just about technical insights but also about the human aspects of software development.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro episode
01:33 Intro Armin, Sentry and GitHub handle
05:58 State of Flask and your involvement
10:25 Flask's backwards compatibility and focus
17:57 Open source and the business side
24:00 Your experience with Rust
29:37 How do you tackle difficult problems / get unstuck
31:06 Pybites ad segment / coaching
32:50 How did you manage to build those big projects
36:12 Dealing with feedback and imposter syndrome
41:00 Armin's take on type hints
44:55 What do you want your legacy to be
47:12 Book tip: The Coddling of the American Mind
51:20 Trickiness of human interaction (e.g. on issue trackers)
54:24 Wrap up
55:22 Outro music
---
Follow Armin on X and on GitHub
Grow your Python + developer + mindset skills with our weekly emails
---
Happy 2024! And welcome back to our Pybites podcast. 🐍 😍
In this episode we take the opportunity of this timing of the year: New Year's resolutions.
If you like them or not, it's a good time to pause and reflect. 💡
To challenge our current approach. 💪
To look around and see what we need to tweak and optimize to be successful this year. 📈
We talk about goal setting, attention/focus, persistence and the compound effect. 🔥
We hope the lessons we share in this episode turns you into a more effective developer this year. 😎
---
To accelerate your career as a Python developer 🐍, join PDM and in 12 weeks you will come out as a more confident developer adding tangible high profile projects to your portfolio that will up your chances for success in the field. 📈
Check it out here
Welcome back to the Pybites podcast. In this episode we have Cassandra Babilya back to talk about changing jobs + pivoting careers.
She shares personal stories, practical advice as well as her Career Change Checklist which we highly encourage you go through over the upcoming holidays ...
We hope this episode helps you reflect on your current career and make changes where necessary. Good luck!
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction episode and topic
02:44 Welcome back Cassandra + introduction
04:04 Overview of "Make Work Suck Less"
07:22 Career change checklist intro
07:50 The job cycle
10:40 3 stressful things about jobs changes
14:00 Preparation and knowledge
15:50 3 types of job changes
20:35 Personal career pivot story
22:55 Stress and burnout, things take time
24:20 Julian's career pivot
26:24 Ad segment
27:07 Reflect on what you want / don't want
31:30 Mindset shift and new habits
34:10 Goals in the context of job change
38:28 Checklist highlights
41:18 Networking / connecting on LinkedIn
45:40 Presenting skills
47:40 Go through the Career change checklist
49:00 What are you reading? / Book tips
53:00 Wrap up / final words
55:30 Outro music
Links mentioned in the Episode:
- Cassandra's Career Change Checklist
- Cassandra's Make Work Suck Less website
- Cassandra's LinkedIn
- Julian's LinkedIn
- Bob's LinkedIn
Join us in this intriguing podcast episode where we delve into the world of Python with Łukasz Langa, a key figure in the Python community.
This episode, packed with technical insights and personal anecdotes, covers a range of topics from Łukasz's groundbreaking work with Python to his musical journey. Enjoy!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:53 Guest intro + win of the week
05:27 Łukasz' new podcast core.py
06:22 Black - what inspired you + how does it work
12:30 Is its success thanks to a lack of config?
17:00 About code line length
18:07 Challenge of getting default options right
22:00 Comparing to JS Prettier
23:44 Using project.toml and the day Black broke pip
24:30 PDM ad segment
25:36 How to say No when people request features
27:50 Using AST to double-check accuracy
29:20 Indenting docstrings
31:19 Challenges maintaining Black and noticeable open source contributions
40:00 Some features you're particularly proud of
41:10 Maintaining a single file for a long time and emoji (unicode) support
45:20 Your music background + influence on your development work
48:04 What are you reading: Hypermedia Systems + The Guitar Circle
52:00 Where to reach out to Łukasz + final shoutout
54:48 Outro music
Links:
- Łukasz website
- Connect with Łukasz on X
- core.py - Pablo Galindo and Łukasz Langa's new Python podcast
Books:
- Hypermedia Systems
- The Guitar Circle
Ad segment:
- The PDM program
---
Connect with us on LinkedIn: Julian | Bob
And to get our weekly developer / mindset emails, sign up here.
This week we have Will Frey back on the show. We talk about Will's transition into coach for our Pybites Developer Mindset program.
Will shares his journey with Python, his recent move to South Korea, and the joy of welcoming his first child.
We also delve into Python's technical aspects like Will's passion for the type hint system (also central to his previous episode #82) and his practical application of generator expressions in a project refactoring, involving XML and CSV files.
He also discusses upcoming Python developments, including improvements to the type system and the potential removal of the global interpreter lock (GIL).
Throughout the episode, Will offers insights into software design principles and strategies for overcoming coding challenges (mindset!), blending personal experiences with technical expertise.
Enjoy!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro snippet and music
00:50 Episode intro
01:50 Will Frey intro and win of the week
03:38 Experience becoming Pybites coach
04:28 Will’s generator refactoring
08:50 Interesting Python trends
10:38 PDM coaching ad segment
11:20 Spoiler for next episode
12:04 ML/data learning - Algebra-Driven Design book
13:44 More design / architecture resou
15:10 Python’s freedom (and therefor responsibility)
16:05 More books
16:42 Mindset for getting unstuck when coding
20:00 Wrap up
20:30 Outro music
Links:
- Connect with Will on LinkedIn
- Generator gist code
- Will's previous episode about type hints
- The dictionary dispatch pattern
- Book tip: Algebra-Driven Design
- Brandon Rhodes' Python Design Patterns guide
---
Grow as a Python developer in record time - check out our PDM coaching program
Connect with us on LinkedIn:
Julian | Bob
And to get our weekly developer / mindset emails, sign up here
In our new podcast episode, we chat with Wolf Vollprecht, the creator of Pixi, a groundbreaking package manager merging Poetry and Conda's approaches.
Discover how Pixi leverages Conda Forge's open-source community for robust package management.
Wolf takes us behind the scenes, explaining Pixi's technical innovations, seamless Pip integration, and project-specific Pixi toml configurations.
Learn why developing Pixi in public and collaborating with other package managers like Rye are key to its success.
Get ready for an insightful journey into the future of Python package management with Pixi.
And as always, we discuss wins and books as well.
---
Get started with Pixi here.
Connect with Wolf here.
Notable book: Loved
In this week's podcast episode we tune into a PDM Mindset Hacking call where Julian offers the group some valuable tips when it comes to negotiating your salary when applying for jobs.
These tips will help you determine what your worth is and better negotiate as a professional developer.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:59 Preparation, do your research
03:30 Have your portfolio ready
04:13 Know your worth
05:58 What do you need?
08:20 Good prep instills confidence
09:40 Other benefits and perks
10:46 Advocate for yourself based on evidence
12:45 Understanding the role you’re going for
13:50 Know where to stop
14:30 70% is prep
14:55 Wrap up
Our coaching goes beyond only tech + Python; we also coach people on mindset, which often is the missing piece to unlock new levels in their developer careers. 💡
For more information, check out our PDM program.
---
Connect with us on LinkedIn:
Julian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliansequeira/
Bob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbelderbos/
---
Learn how Pybites can help you succeed in your Python journey 🐍 💪
Join our Python Developer Community for free 🌐👋
This week we talk with Adam Johnson, Python developer / consultant, Django steering counsel member and prolific book author.
We start off with some wins, then we dive into his new Boost your Git DX book.
We also discuss:
• Adam's focus on DX or "developer experience" in his books.
• State of Python tooling.
• Future of Django + Htmx / front-end dev.
• Open source projects motivation and tips for (aspiring) contributors.
• Tips to diversify one's skill set and contribute as a Python developer.
• Technical blogging.
• Book / resource recommendations.
Links & Resources:
- Get Adam's Boost Your Git DX book
- Reach out to Adam on X
- Djangocon US 2023
- django-watchfiles
- time-machine
- Pelican for blogging
- If Books Could Kill podcast
- Mentioned Jim Hodapp podcast episode
- Be Useful (new Arnold book)
Episode Chapters:
00:00 Intro snippet and music
00:47 Episode and guest intro
02:05 Wins of the week (django-watchfiles plugin)
05:04 New Boost your Git DX book
07:26 New tips, even for experienced developers
07:55 Git keep or ignore files
08:57 Your focus on DX (developer experience) in your books
12:32 Code quality and current state of Python tooling
14:40 Future of Django ecosystem and Htmx
16:46 Front-end development
18:00 Motivation for Open source projects
19:37 time-machine, an alternative for Freezegun
20:18 Advice for budding maintainers
21:20 Experience of contributing to git
22:40 Ran into git stash bug because of producing content
23:38 Tips for developers to diversify skill set and contribute
24:42 Using Pelican for your tech blog + note taking
25:55 Believe in yourself / imposter syndrome
27:30 Book pricing
28:20 Book / resource recommendations
29:40 Wrap up and outro music
Welcome back to the Pybites Podcast. We've been teasing this for a while, and it's finally here: our Python Developer Certificates.
They're not just shiny badges. They're the real deal, representing solid Python skills, experience with frameworks like Django/FastAPI, debugging, testing, professional developer workflow / collaboration, deployment, and so much more (see assessment criteria below).
Unlike other theoretical (rote learning) certifications ours cover MVP-ready + deployed projects. In this episode we talk about our vision with this and address some common concerns like pricing, time commitment, how long they are valid for, and more.
As our programs and certifications are so unique and individualized, if interested in this, we encourage you to hop on a call with us to further discuss how this can help you in your career.
Links:
- Certification homepage
- PCPD-A (associate)
- PCPD-P (professional)
- Assessment criteria
- Books us in for a call
Books mentioned:
- Steal Like an Artist
- War and Peace
- The Courage to Be Disliked
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:27 Announcing Pybites developer certification
02:38 What?! Pybites do certifications? How ours is different
04:30 Different certificates and our vision
06:22 Assessment criteria, we emulate a real developer environment
08:22 Our certificates are timeless, they don't expire
09:58 Why did we make this? Industry and our people want this!
13:14 It's an add-on to PDM
14:33 Some concerns and questions people might have
17:25 This is very unique and individualized, get on a call
20:46 Books - Austin Kleon, War and Peace, Courage to be Disliked
24:14 Wrap up and outro
This week PDM coaches Hugh + Ryan talk with David Cramer, Co-founder and CTO of Sentry!
They delve into the journey of Sentry and its rise as an essential tool for developers.
David highlights how Sentry's developer-first approach significantly contributed to its growth.
They touch upon community-centric decisions and the emphasis Sentry places on giving back.
The discussion also ventures into the synergy between Sentry and Python and the attributes they prioritize when hiring.
This episode is a treasure trove of insights for anyone in the tech industry.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
03:00 Wins of week
06:32 What is Sentry?
09:37 Growth of Sentry + developer centered
14:20 Top down decisions + giving back
18:24 Industry events and branding
21:18 Sentry and Python synergies
24:50 Htmx developments and Python features
27:19 Attracting talent in Sentry
31:10 Valuable attributes of people you hire
34:43 Pairing app and infrastructure metrics
41:06 "Blade runner concept" to debugging production system
41:46 Key message / insight / final thought for audience
45:48 What do you do in your free time?
47:20 Books & videos tips: Cal Newport + YT construction content
49:48 Wrap up and resources
50:36 Outro music
Links and resources:
- Check out Sentry here
- David Cramer on LinkedIn
- Factorio game
- Blade runner movie
In this episode, we delve deep into the nuances of developer job hunting in 2023. The job market landscape has evolved, making persistence and resilience key virtues for any aspiring developer. We shed light on why you shouldn't limit your search to just the top tech firms and how exploring opportunities in smaller yet innovative startups can be a game-changer.
Additionally, we touch on the diverse advantages of Python in various roles and underscore the indispensability of a positive mindset. Whether you're a seasoned developer or a newbie, our tips are sure to guide you in your job-hunting journey.
Links & Resources:
- Ace Your Coding Interview
- Join Our Vibrant Community
- 1:1 Career Coaching (Including CV/Portfolio/Resume Reviews)
Episode Chapters:
00:00:00: Introduction & Trip Update
00:01:55: Job Hunting Challenges in 2023
00:02:47: The Myth of Overnight Success
00:04:30: Importance of Portfolio, GitHub & Resume
00:05:28: Leveraging Our Platform for Project Building
00:06:12: Social Media Engagement - Especially LinkedIn
00:07:58: The Power of Networking & Showing Genuine Interest
00:08:36: Benefits of Joining Our Community
00:09:22: Cultivating a Resilient Mindset
00:10:58: Broadening Job Search Horizons Beyond FAANG
00:12:38: Transition - Heading to Lunch
00:13:13: Wrap-up & Community Invitations
00:13:55: Light-hearted Outtake
---
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For a dose of weekly developer insights and mindset hacks, sign up here
In our new podcast episode, recorded in Córdoba, Spain, we talk about programming certifications and how they might not represent real developer skills.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:01 Wins
02:57 About programmer certifications
04:14 Concern 1. Do they stand the test of time?
06:52 Concern 2. Theory, where is the implementation?
09:35 Anther practical example of seeking ability over certificate
12:00 Wrap up, why it's important to show your skills!
13:30 Pybites is going to address this gap :)
14:20 Wrapping up, how the Spain road trip is going
15:42 Outro music
Stay tuned for our new certifications that will prove that you have tangible skills that a real world Python developer is expected to have these days.
And/or already join one of our coaching programs to be ready when we launch them (our certificates will be backward compatible!)
In this podcast episode we talk with Tony Roberts, creator of PyXLL (pronounced "pixel").
We dive into the backstory of this Python Excel Add-in, why he built it, features, success stories, the business side of things, and also how it compares to Microsoft's recently announced Python in Excel integration.
And of course as always there are wins + books 🎉
Get ready for the fascinating world of Python + Excel integration ...
Chapters:
00:00 Intro snippet and music
00:44 Guest intro and background
02:40 Wins of the week
05:06 PyXLL backstory
08:50 Market validation
10:44 Main features and advantages
12:30 The use of decorators
14:30 A cool PyXLL success story
16:16 Where does the Python code live?
18:33 Lessons from running PyXLL as a business
21:56 Scaling and automation
25:00 What's next and MS Python Excel integration
30:27 Books
32:56 Wrap up
33:34 Outro music
---
Get PyXLL here - PYBITES10 will get your 10% off the first year
Mentioned books:
- Freestyle unlocked (about kayaking)
- The Creative Act: A Way of Being
Connect with Tony:
- On LinkedIn
- In our Circle Community
This week Robin Beer - one of our coaches - interviews Will Raphaelson, Principal Product Manager at Prefect. 😍
They talk about his use of Python, Prefect as a tool and its philosophy, open source + business and Marvin AI. 🐍 💪
And of course they share cool wins and books they are reading. 💡
All in all an insightful chat that hopefully will leave you inspired to go check out these cool new Python tools ... 😎
Chapters:
00:00 Intro snippet
00:11 Intro music
00:31 Introduction guests + topics
01:32 Welcome Will, do you have a win of the week?
04:12 Go to meet ups
04:37 How do you leverage Python as a product manager?
07:12 Python as a quick prototyping language
08:14 What is Prefect and its philosophy?
10:56 Robin's experience with Prefect
12:26 How has Prefect evolved over time?
15:54 Orchestrators and observability
18:02 A practical example of an orchestrated flow
21:21 How Prefect handles failures in a flow?
23:24 Open source and business, how to combine them?
27:45 Tips for starting a open source business?
31:05 Rationale vs emotion in making product decisions
34:12 Marvin AI and its relation with Prefect
38:01 Marvin AI is a nice way to start with Python
40:16 Recommended books
43:02 Wrap up
43:55 Outro music
Connect with Will on LinkedIn.
Prefect product links:
- Prefect
- Marvin AI
Mentioned article:
- 28 Dags Later by Stephen Bailey
Books mentioned:
- The Precipice
- Fundamentals of Data Engineering by Joe Reis
This week Hugh Tipping interviews Bob Belderbos about how he manages to get so much content produced on a weekly basis.
They discuss daily routines, the content planning process, tools, content quality assurance, how to avoid burnout and more general tips.
Enjoy and hopefully it helps you put more content out there yourself and be more productive overall!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro music
00:21 Intro of our host Hugh and topic
01:30 Typical Pybites day
03:30 Taking breaks
04:10 Setting boundaries
04:45 Content planning process
05:53 Pybites Organic content tool + reviewing process
07:00 GitHub issues, Kanban, and feedback as input
09:34 Tools for creating content
11:20 IronScribe for transcriptions and video clippings
13:40 Ad segment: Pybites Productivity Course
14:46 JIT (just in time) learning
15:58 How to ensure the quality of the content
17:05 Shift in code clinics / making mistakes live coding
18:50 Dropping perfectionism
20:00 More confidence == more fluency
20:35 How to avoid burnout - take breaks (diffused mind)
22:35 Learn to say no / shiny new object syndrome
23:40 Read and embrace deep work
24:00 Always be learning / stay curious, capture ideas
25:10 Reduce friction / automations
25:40 Talk with other people / get feedback
26:30 Always keep coding
27:50 Set realistic goals, don't be too hard on yourself
29:15 Wrap up, ask us further questions ...
30:32 Outro music
Resources:
- Deep Work by Cal Newport
- Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule by Paul Graham
Hosted by Hugh Tipping.
Check out our Pybites Productivity Course here.
This week we talk about code smells. 💡
Code smells are characteristics in the code that might indicate deeper issues or potential problems. While they're not necessarily bugs, they can be a sign of poor code quality or maintainability issues. 😱
We distilled 15 common smells ranging from generic programming to Python specific issues. We hope it will make your more conscious of your code as well as code you'll review. 🐍 💪
If you have any feedback, hit us up on:
- LinkedIn
- X
- Email
(Also for any podcast topic requests ...)
Mentioned Dictionary Dispatch Pattern video
And to write cleaner, more maintainable code, in the context of (complex) real world applications, check out our 1:1 coaching options.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro music
00:20 What are code smells?
01:11 1. Long functions or classes
01:46 2. Duplicated code
02:25 3. Data Clumps
03:13 4. Using the global space
03:52 5. Magic numbers
04:38 6. Primitive obsession
05:06 7. Overusing comments
06:23 8. Too deep nesting
07:36 9. Switch statement or long if-elif-elif-else chains
08:41 10. Too deep inheritance
09:45 11. Dead code
10:21 12. Misusing (nested) listcomps
11:03 13. Single letter variable names
12:03 14. Mutable Default Arguments
13:05 15. Error Silencing
14:04 Wrap up
14:56 Outro music
Thanks for tuning in as always 🙏 and next week we'll be back with a brand new episode ... 🎧
In this episode, we delve into the groundbreaking integration of Python within Microsoft Excel and its transformative impact on non-tech professions. 💪📈
Discover how this evolution empowers professionals across diverse fields and the dynamic opportunities it presents for career advancement.
We also shine a spotlight on the achievements of people through our Pybites Developer Initialization (PDI) program, illustrating how it's shaping the next generation of Python enthusiasts 🐍 😍
Celebrate with us as Python broadens its horizons. 🎧🎉
Chapters:
00:00 Intro music
00:55 Wins (productivity / mindset)
03:58 Python is getting even bigger and is for everyone 📈
06:00 Excel chose Python 😍 / non-techie people adopting Python
08:18 How can we help? Pybites Developer Initialization (PDI)
09:07 The kind of people that join PDI and their results
12:37 Some amazing PDI wins
15:28 Spread the word: who can benefit from Python in their career?
17:08 AI tools becoming more pervasive
17:45 Books (The Carbon Almanac + The Four Agreements)
19:30 Wrap up: thank you + homepage update
20:34 Next episode hint
21:00 Outro music
--
Seeking a career pivot with Python? Facing challenges as a beginner or bridging the initial developer gap?
Discover our Pybites Developer Initialization (PDI) - a 6-week immersive journey.
Transition from novice to confident coder with hands-on guidance and dedicated 1:1 mentorship.
---
Books:
- The Four Agreements
- The Carbon Almanac
Other links:
- Why weekly wins tracking matters
Thanks for tuning in every week and we'll be back next week with a fresh new episode ...
In this podcast episode we talk about the significance of building real-world Python applications.
Bob highlights the importance of breaking away from tutorial paralysis and creating genuine software solutions to understand and confront real-world complexities.
He also emphasizes the career benefits of showcasing tangible Python projects on your portfolio / GitHub / resume.
As an actionable step, listeners are introduced to the Pybites Portfolio Assessment tool.
Through a fictional character, Alex, listeners are guided on how to use the tool identifying their passions, strengths, weaknesses, and ultimately leverage Python to realize their goals through real world app building.
Take the assessment here (your submission will be emailed to Pybites). If you go the manual pen + paper route, then just send it via emial - good luck!
In this episode of the Pybites podcast, we dive into the power of stepping back from the daily grind, whether that's coding or career-focused 🧘
Drawing insights from Julian's month-long trip to Canada, we discuss how disconnecting can provide clarity and inspiration for personal growth, and how it can inform decisions in our professional journeys 💡
And of course there are the books we're reading 📚
Join us for a journey of reflection, discovery, and a touch of humor 😎
---
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:46 Welcome back (re-introducing) Julian!
01:58 Wins of the week
03:10 Julian's break
06:20 Lessons learned from the break
08:00 Trip reflections
11:34 Reflect on your career
13:22 Hint what's to come
14:40 Holidays no deadlines
15:07 Favorite part of the trip
17:15 Pybites on the road
18:05 Books / what we're reading
20:50 Stoicism
21:30 Wrap up + thanks
22:22 Outro music
---
Books:
- Deep work
- Siddhartha
- The Carbon Almanac
---
Related article:
- The Importance of Disconnecting as a Developer
In this new podcast episode we are excited to have Chris May back to delve deeper into the intricacies of refactoring.
We talk about the significance of the Flocking Rules, a set of guidelines derived from "99 Bottles of OOP" by Sandi Metz and Katrina Owen.
These rules provide developers with a systematic approach to refine their code by focusing on recognizing similarities, identifying minimal differences, and making straightforward changes.
We also talk about the importance of taking small, incremental steps in refactoring, ensuring code health while mitigating the risks of accumulating technical debt. We reference some useful resources along the way.
Last but not least, we talk about the book Chris recommended last time (episode 119): Building a Second Brain, and how it helps him stay organized and be more productive.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:20 Chris May and refactoring topic intro
01:10 25% ratio refactoring
02:14 Flocking rules (99 bottles of OOP)
05:30 Continuously managing technical debt / Slack channel
06:14 Why the flocking rules are great + 99 bottles backstory
08:30 Code towards a design pattern vs go with the flow
09:57 First draft - we often don't know the design upfront
10:37 Python Design Patterns resource by Brandon Rhodes
12:32 Take the smallest possible steps when refactoring
13:57 Advantages of taking small steps
15:18 'Building a second brain' book and how it works for you
19:10 Obsidian as favorite note taking tool
20:02 More inspiration and stories from the book
22:16 Check out Refactoring Toolkit + how to reach out + thanks
23:44 Outro
Resources:
- 99 bottles of OOP book
- Python Design Patterns
- Building a second brain
- Chris' Refactoring Toolkit
- Previous episode with Chris
Reach out to Chris:
- Website
- Mastodon
- Twitter
- LinkedIn
- Pybites Community (we have a dedicated #refactoring channel 😍)
This is the third and last mindset series episode with Alejandro Briceño.
In this episode we talk about the Pygmalion Effect. What is it and what impact it can have in the work place and on people's performance.
Alejandro also shares his 3 favorite mindset books. Enjoy!
Chapter:
00:00 Intro episode
00:46 Intro guest + topic
01:18 What is the Pygmalion Effect + its impact?
02:40 A practical work example
03:50 Positive feedback = Pygmalion rise / code reviews
04:52 How to use the Pygmalion Effect in our daily lives?
06:37 The role of communication / interpersonal relations
07:57 Toxicity in the workplace
10:02 Are there tools to implement this?
11:07 How can we manage other people's expectations
12:28 Be yourself / authentic (you cannot control others)
13:03 Personal story where the Pygmalion Effect helped you
15:30 It's all about mindset
16:33 Favorite books and resources (Goleman, Ferriss, Factfulness)
20:28 How do you measure mindset?
21:54 Wrap up and thanks
22:46 Outro
Books:
- Emotional Intelligence
- The 4-Hour Work Week
- Factfulness
Join our Pybites Community
Reach out to Alejandro:
- LinkedIn
- Pybites community
Previous episodes in this series:
- #124 - Building Confidence and Overcoming Challenges by Using Positive Self-Talk
- #125 - The Importance of Having a Growth Mindset
Today part II with Alejandro Briceño joining us to talk about growth mindset.
What does it mean, why is it so important and how has it been extremely helpful in Alejandro's career?
Enjoy!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:29 What does it mean to have a growth mindset?
03:00 Things take time
05:06 Personal vs professional development
06:58 Being curious
08:03 Strategies to cultivate a growth mindset
10:23 Join the Pybites Community / commitment to code
11:05 How a growth mindset can help with setbacks?
13:00 You learn more from failures
13:50 Personal success story / public speaking
17:20 Getting out of your comfort zone
18:10 Next episode ...
18:30 Wrap up
18:56 Outro
Previous episode: #124 about positive self-talk
Reach out to Alejandro:
- LinkedIn
- Pybites community
In this episode we are joined by Alejandro Briceño, a chemical engineer turned HR professional and innovation consultant.
We delve into the power of positive self-talk and its impact on facing challenges and fostering a growth mindset.
We discuss the importance of reframing negative thoughts, practicing self-compassion, and surrounding yourself with supportive and motivating individuals.
Alejandro shares personal experiences where positive self-talk played a crucial role in making important life decisions.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro snippet and music
00:40 Introducing a mindset 3-parter
01:21 Intro guest and topic
02:35 Alejandro's background and working with people
06:07 What do you do day to day
07:05 Teaching other people soft skills
09:00 Importance of positive self-talk
10:50 Carol Dweck and fixed vs growth mindset
11:20 You might not even be aware
12:30 Positive self affirmations
13:55 Strategies to foster positive self-talk
16:06 Using a wins file / brag wall
16:35 Being too hard on yourself
17:55 Overcome difficulties maintaining a positive internal dialogue
20:43 Tim Ferriss information diet
22:25 Positive self-talk impact on well-being
24:14 Personal experiences with positive self-talk
26:12 Wrap up + what's coming in next episode
26:43 Outro music
Reach out to Alejandro:
- LinkedIn
- Pybites community
Next week we continue talking with Alejandro about having a growth mindset ...
This week we talk with James Dycus about his journey from teacher to Python software developer.
We talk about his background as a teacher and how het got into Python.
How he joined our PDM program a few months ago and the amazing growth he has experienced since by building out a mature real world application using Django 🐍
We talk about the idea behind his app, something he always wanted to build and now has accomplished, a functional MVP on the brink of being officially launched 🎉
The app (product) addresses an important need in society: supporting men with mental struggles, a problem James deeply cares about 😍
We're proud how James has grown in PDM with us and how he has built out this cool project earning the skills + confidence to pivot into a developer, an inspiring story 🔥
Last but not least we discuss some inspirational books related to mindset + self development.
Enjoy this episode with James!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro snippet + music
01:08 Episode and guest intro
02:30 Intro James to the audience
06:00 Inspiration by Sean (Teaching Python podcast)
08:50 James PDM journey and app / idea he built out with us
14:20 The benefit of building one big complex app / project
17:20 ChatGPT and becoming resourceful after the fundamentals
19:10 Name of the app: Bonded Brotherhood
21:00 Next steps with the app (product)
22:40 The value of having a real world project in your porfolio
24:50 Python in the real world + living in fortunate times
26:53 Book tip #1: The Discovery of Being (Rollo May)
29:04 Book tip #2: Man's Search For Meaning
30:10 Book tip #3: How to Think Like a Roman Emperor
31:10 Wrap up and thanks
32:27 Outro music
Reach out to James on LinkedIn.
Books mentioned.
- The Discovery of Being
- Man's Search For Meaning
- How to Think Like a Roman Emperor
Check out the PDM program here.
In this podcast episode, Robert Young, the director of an analytical chemistry lab at New Mexico State University, shares his unique journey from being a lawyer to becoming a chemist and a Python programmer.
He explains how his passion for environmental causes led him to study chemical analysis and mass spectrometry, initially focusing on the breakdown of endocrine disrupting chemicals in the environment.
Robert discusses the challenges of analyzing complex data sets with thousands of molecules and how he learned to use Python and FastAPI to make the analysis more efficient.
He also introduces his current project, studying Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), also known as Forever Chemicals, which do not degrade easily and have adverse health effects.
Robert's goal was to develop an app using FastAPI +that SQLModel that allows non-programmers to explore PFAS data and filter molecules based on specific criteria.
A goal he achieved with us in our Pybites Developer Mindset (PDM) program in which he got this app done (MVP status), enhanced his coding skills, and found a supportive community.
He mentions the guidance he received from his coach in architectural design, project planning, and best practices for developer collaboration.
Robert plans to deploy his app soon and hopes to involve more contributors in the future.
Last but not least, Robert's project showcases the power of Python, FastAPI, and PDM in solving real-world scientific challenges (Forever Chemicals!) and making data analysis accessible to a broader audience.
Enjoy our interview with Robert Young!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro snippet and music
00:42 Guest and episode intro
01:20 Introducing Robert Young
04:08 Current research field
08:12 PFAS or "forever chemicals"
09:05 The effects of PFAS
12:00 PDM journey and PFAS project
16:36 FastAPI + SQLModel
19:44 Other wins and takeaways from project + PDM
23:24 Tutorial paralysis / Pybites approach
24:50 Using same approach for new tech / next steps app
28:28 How to reach out to Robert
30:00 Book: Manufacturing Consensus
32:00 How do we good information (social media)
35:00 Thanks for joining us today
35:33 Outro music
Links:
- Reach out to Robert via email
- PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances)
- EPA website
- ECHA website
- Australian government website
- SERDP podcast (sponsors of Robert's PFAS research)
- Book mentioned: Manufacturing Consensus
- The PDM program
This week we have Emily Wilcock on the show, recruitment manager and Pybites career coach 😍
Emily delves into a topic close to her heart: navigating the job search journey after a redundancy. She was affected herself by a recent layoff and has distilled 7 practical tips that helped her, and will help you, get back on track faster.
Summary of Emily's 7 tips:
1) After been laid off, take a break to reset.
2) Make the most of your job search time.
3) Seek a support group.
4) Your CV! Get feedback, use "outplacement" + friends / family.
5) LinkedIn: post + leverage your wider network.
6) Always be networking.
7) Interview prep / practice.
Of course, there are cool wins + books too :)
Enjoy!
---
Chapters:
00:00 Intro snippet
00:22 Intro music
00:46 Julian episode intro
02:35 Introducing Emily and topic of the episode
05:56 Wins of the week
07:33 Tips from Emily who was affected by redundancy
08:15 1. Take a break, take some time to reset
10:42 2. Make the most of the time when you search for a job
13:33 3. Have a support group around you
17:48 4. Work on your CV (practical tips!)
21:09 Tip: use a brag sheet!
22:04 5. LinkedIn: use it! + some tips
27:18 6. Always be networking
31:05 7. Interview prep / practice
35:00 Wrap up and thanks
36:10 Books
38:46 Reach out to Emily
39:40 Outro music
---
Books:
- STFU
- Cosmos
Reach out to Emily on LinkedIn or on Pybites.
This week we talk with Sambhavi Dhanabalan about productivity as a developer. She shares 11 tips from her experience: 3 around planning and 8 generic tips.
We also talk about her background, wins and a book she's reading.
Enjoy this insightful conversation with Sambhavi. We're sure that if you follow her tips, you will make strides in your productivity as a Python developer!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro fragment, don't sit on a bug
00:22 Intro music
00:47 Episode and guest intro, meet Sambhavi
01:30 Sambhavi's background
02:53 Round of wins
03:55 Brand building and sharing your work
04:33 Topic intro: productivity tips
05:33 Why did you write this article?
07:30 P for Planning ... #1 - Create a weekly planner
09:32 #2 - Use Github/Gitlab project
11:48 #3 - Review your planned work
13:46 Reviewing tactics using your calendar
15:17 P for Productivity ... #1 - Deep focus time
17:57 #2 - Pomodoro technique
19:58 #3 - Walk for 30 minutes
21:47 #4 - Spend not more than 30 minutes on a bug/issue
23:55 Team leaders, protect your people from this
24:25 #5 - Use GitHub CoPilot, if there is an option
27:30 #6 - Integrate git in your IDE (VS Code)
29:47 #7 - Timebox a few tasks (not directly related to work)
31:47 #8 - Wind off time (prevent burnout)
33:55 Reach out to Sambhavi if this helped
34:24 Book tip: Four Thousand Weeks (Oliver Burkeman)
36:05 Thanks, final words and wrap up
37:18 Outro music
Links:
- Sambhavi's article
- Reach out to Sambhavi on LinkedIn
- Recommended book: Four Thousand Weeks
- Our PDM coaching program
- Our Pybites Productivity course
Thanks for listening and we'll be back next week with a fresh new episode ...
In this episode we talk with Chris May, Python developer and coach, about his background and passion for refactoring.
This turned into a beautiful love letter 💌 to refactoring and we think you should take notice, because adopting the mindset he teaches will improve your code. A lot!
Enjoy and as always reach out if you have any feedback, including direct refactoring questions to us, on Slack and/or to Chris (contact details below).
Chapters:
00:00 Intro snippet and intro music
00:41 Episode / guest intro
01:28 Who is Chris May? (and how we met)
02:53 What do you and how did you get into Python
05:22 Link between creativity and programming
06:30 How did you get to into refactoring (3 quotes)
08:05 Slatkin's quote about devs spending 50% refactoring
09:10 Software as a craftsmanship / ROI of refactoring
11:06 Cunningham's quote / idea about simplifying
13:11 Working in smaller increments
13:42 Schlawak's quote about making refactoring a habit
15:15 Chris' PyTexas talk / the power of refactoring
17:12 The need of having a test suite
18:19 PDM ad segment
19:30 Being pragmatic about testing / approval test
22:22 About Chris' Refactoring Toolkit (Obsidian vault)
25:05 The importance of mindset for a developer
27:20 Software has to be malleable, change is constant
27:48 Books - Building a second brain
28:50 Note taking / GitHub issues (productivity tools)
30:30 Final shout-out / how to connect with Chris
32:00 Thanks + wrap up (there will be a part II ...)
33:48 Outro music
---
Links / resources:
- Chris' PyTexas talk: Improving code without losing your mind
- Refactoring Toolkit
- Mentioned Book: Building a Second Brain
Reach out to Chris:
- Website
- Mastodon
- Twitter
- LinkedIn
- Pybites Community
Pybites coaching: The PDM program
In this podcast episode, Julian interviews Isaac Smit, a former member of the US Navy and current program manager at Amazon.
He discusses the challenges faced by veterans in the workplace and how we can support them better.
Isaac highlights two main difficulties veterans encounter: dealing with ambiguity and managing invisible disabilities like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The transition from a highly structured military environment to a more ambiguous corporate setting can be challenging for veterans.
Additionally, the invisible disabilities that many veterans have may affect their cognitive abilities, including memory, and it's important for us as colleagues and managers to provide understanding and support.
Throughout the podcast, it becomes apparent that building trust with veterans and understanding them is crucial. It's important to offer assistance, be patient, and create an inclusive environment where veterans feel comfortable.
As employers and colleagues, we can be more supportive by acknowledging the sacrifices veterans have made, expressing gratitude for their service, and being open to conversations about their experiences (although not triggering them explicitly).
Moreover, as managers, we should be aware of the potential performance challenges veterans may face due to their disabilities and provide necessary support while respecting their privacy.
Expect a special, thought provoking episode and we are grateful for Isaac sharing openly about his experience and giving valuable tips.
As always there are wins and interesting books as well ...
Connect with Isaac on LinkedIn.
Books mentioned:
- The Untethered Soul
- The Art of War
Chapters:
00:00 Intro episode
02:44 Intro guest + topic
03:22 Wins
05:10 Isaac's background + leadership development work
09:00 Veterans moving into the corporate world
14:00 Effects of PTSD
17:40 Challenges for veteran family members
22:00 Civil job interview challenges for veterans
24:22 Tips for supporting veterans in the workplace
25:10 Provide structure for the work
26:20 Have empathy (e.g. for veterans with PTSD)
29:33 How can managers help?
32:34 Patience and acknowledgement of sacrifice
38:00 Watch out for triggers
41:10 Books (The Untethered Soul / The Art of War)
45:30 Wrap up and thanks
47:17 Outro
Thanks for listening and we'll be back next week.
Welcome back to the Pybites podcast! Today we hone in on the concept of "Enough", which we read about in the book "Psychology of Money" - chapter 3, titled "Never Enough".
We discuss what this means and relate it back to the Python developer journey and life in general, giving tips how to find the balance (which can be challenging).
As usual we also share Pybites wins + books we are reading.
Enjoy and reach out if you have feedback or want to hear us talk about any topic specifically.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:16 The compound effect / podcast backstory
02:24 Wins
06:47 What's enough? (Psychology of Money book)
09:12 Is it a moving target?
10:55 Quotes from the book
12:53 Don't compare yourself to others
13:50 Focus on internals / "enough" in fitness
14:50 Linking it to the developer journey / wins file
15:30 Give yourself space to make decisions
15:50 How does this rhyme with our "what's next?"
17:40 Extra Fabulous Comics (linked) 🤣
18:19 Books
22:50 Share your reading on our Slack or Pybites Books 💡
23:16 Teasers upcoming episodes
23:50 Thank you! 🙏
24:09 Outro
Extra Fabulous Comics regarding "enough" in fitness / bodybuilding (this sums it up pretty well lol)
Pybites Podcast reading list
Thank for listening!
In this insightful conversation with software developer, PDM-er, and entrepreneur Charles Carriere, we delve into his journey of launching personal projects, overcoming imposter syndrome, and mastering Python.
He shares his experience of creating a Django app in our PDM program around fusion energy, aggregating and summarizing (using AI!) articles, and his future plan of creating a job board on the site as well. Super cool!
He emphasizes the importance of launching projects, big or small, to truly understand what you're doing and to learn from each challenge.
He also discusses his experience with ChatGPT and how it has proved to be a beneficial tool in his coding process.
Finally, the conversation also covers the significance of working with a coach for accountability and key insights. It provided Charles with crucial guidance, focus, and structure to bring his project to completion and properly develop software.
Last but not least we talk about the invaluable mindset side of things.
We hope you enjoy this rich conversation with Charles.
Links:
- Charles' Twitter
- Aggregator site / project: Fusion Chronicles
- He is also in our Pybites community Slack
- Check out our PDM program
Mentioned books:
- Influence
- Agency
- Ryan Holiday's books, for example Obstacle is the Way
Neal Stephenson books:
- Termination shock
- Snow crash
- Cryptonomicon
- Walter Isaacson bios (Elon Musk bio is coming out ...)
Thanks for listening / watching and we'll be back next week ...
In this podcast episode, Peter Lynch, a software developer, discusses his journey into web development and his entrepreneurial interests.
He shares his experience of transitioning from a corporate job to pursuing his passion for building his own projects.
Peter emphasizes the importance of networking and building connections in finding job opportunities.
He also highlights the need to embrace discomfort and continuously challenge oneself for personal and professional growth.
Additionally, Peter talks about his side projects and the motivation behind them, including his iOS app that generates Apple Watch faces using AI.
He encourages others to take action, follow their dreams, and not be afraid to try different ideas, iterating and learning along the way.
Overall, Peter's story serves as an inspiration for aspiring developers and entrepreneurs to pursue their goals and find fulfilment in their work.
Apps:
- Watch Face App
- Domain Name Smash
Learn more about Peter
- Peter's website
Book Peter is reading:
- The Mom Test
Previous episode with Peter:
- #018 - High Risk Mindset: Going From Marketer to Developer
Pybites Coaching
- The PDM program
In this podcast episode we discuss 9 tips to build confidence as a developer, drawing from our own experience + coaching 100+ (aspiring) Python developers.
We cover the importance of starting with small, achievable projects, breaking down complex problems into smaller tasks, and practicing regularly.
Additionally, we emphasize the need for a strong mindset and learning from mistakes, as well as celebrating small victories and reflecting on personal progress.
To further improve, we suggest contributing to open source, building a portfolio, and seeking guidance and support through coaching.
As usual, we also discuss our wins and books we're reading 😍
Links:
- Our coding platform
- Our PDM coaching program
- Hop on a 15 minute strategy call with us
- Pybites search tool
- Pybites Open Source org
- Article + dedicated podcast episode about the comparison game
- Join our Pybites Community
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Books:
- The Psychology of Money
- Dead Simple Python
- The Brothers Karamazov
Thanks for listening and we'll be back next week ...
He's back! Django by Example book author Antonio Melé 😍
Not only that, we did this interview in person at a cafeteria on the beach 🏖
In this episode he shares his 10 favorite Django plugins 💪 💡
1. Django Debug Toolbar
2. Django REST Framework
3. Django Channels
4. Django Celery
5. Django Extensions
6. Django allauth and social-auth
7. Django Import Export
8. Django Sentry
9. Django Easy Thumbnails / Imagekit
10. Django-parler
Of course we also asked him what he's reading at the moment:
- Nudge
Connect with Antonio:
- LinkedIn
- Pybites Slack
Antonio's previous Pybites podcast episode is number 89
And last but not least, get Antonio's epic Django book, you won't regret it!
Welcome back to our podcast. In today's episode we go fully "data driven". We held our first annual survey a month ago and we got some amazing feedback.
We summarize it in this episode and share some exciting projects we're planning in and working on (we also like to ask ourselves and our clients, "What's next?").
Thank you everybody for the great feedback and stay tuned for some cool new stuff soon ...
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:05 Pybites survey 2023
02:10 Participation
02:45 How do people find us?
03:23 How often do people use our website
04:00 Our Slack Community
05:22 Main Python resources for people
06:55 Coaching in the Python space
08:10 Satisfaction rate (Bob singing)
09:50 Pushing more tech content / YouTube
12:00 Other feedback to highlight
12:38 Percentage people recommending us 🙏
13:28 How can we improve?
15:00 Balancing tutorial paralysis vs short practical content 💪
15:40 Beginner (PDM bridging) coaching product
17:08 Diversity @ Pybites
18:00 ML coach joining us 🎉
19:15 We'll be doing AMA sessions
20:38 Coding platform feature request + upgrading exercises to 3.10
22:48 Books (not planned but we did!)
24:50 Thanks for all your feedback 🙏
25:37 Outro
---
Links:
- Join our community
- Check out our coaching
- Pybites reading list
- Is PDM a bit overwhelming for you? Let us know if you're interested in mentioned beginner coaching product we're building.
Enjoy and hit us up on our Slack if you have any feedback.
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Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:28 Wins
07:05 Julian interviews Bob about his ChatGpt use
12:08 Julian doing a British accent lol
12:30 Bob gives another practical example of using ChatGpt
14:26 Julian on the fear of these tools and becoming obsolete
16:39 Books + Cassandra - "Make work suck less" - shoutout
20:50 Next episode and outro
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Prompt engineering resource
In this week’s episode we talk with Dane about packaging and the rich ecosystem of Python tooling.
Dane is the author of Publishing Python Packages, a new Manning book that just came out. In our conversation we dive into some of the specific challenges and opportunities that come with packaging Python code.
One of the things that we discuss is the backstory behind Dane’s book on packaging. Dane talks about how he scratched his own itch by open sourcing some packaging code that he had developed at work. He then began to explore some of the patterns and practices around packaging that worked really well. His passion for helping other people distribute their code was also a strong motivator.
We also talk about where people struggle with packaging, and how some of the perceptions around packaging come from the history and diversity of tooling in the Python ecosystem. However, Dane points out that there is a more extensible architecture now, which has turned into more of a plugin-like architecture.
Dane then dives into some specific topics from his book, including the debate between using a src vs flat directory structure, the benefits of using a pyproject.toml file as a unified way of specifying dependencies and tooling, and how a tool like tox (or nox) is invaluable for orchestrating all the tooling around Python package management.
We also discuss some of the challenges around dependency hell, and some tips for managing this more effectively. Dane talks about the importance of using Github Actions as a way of automating CI/CD workflows, and how this can be a big time saver, particularly when the amount of projects you’re maintaining adds up.
Finally, we touch on the community aspect of packaging, and some tips for open source maintainers and contributors. Dane shares some of the unexpected things he learned from writing his book, as well as some advice for keeping up with the Python ecosystem and trends in the tech space.
Overall, we really enjoyed producing this episode. It offers a wealth of insights into the world of packaging in Python and we’re grateful for Dane sharing all these practical tips + advice with our audience and we’re sure it will help you improve your packaging workflows.
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You can get 35% off on ALL Manning products in all formats using this code: podpybites23
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Links:
Reach out to Dane:
Books mentioned:
Related packaging Pybites podcast:
Welcome back to the Pybites Podcast. This week we have a follow up to episode 101 in which we spoke about being in control in these difficult times of corporate layoffs.
In this episode we talk about the importance of the people around you, because remember, you are the “average of the 5 people with whom you hang out the most”. Leverage these 5 important people in your life, especially now!
Next we move onto the concept of having a “personal board” or “circle of advisors”, a second group of people that might not be necessarily be part of the “big 5”, but who you go to for specific advice / areas of life.
A great resource that can help you with building this circle of advisors is this Harvard Business Review article: Forget Mentors — You Should Build a Circle of Advisers
Lastly on this topic, we give some networking tips on how to find these kind of people that can positively influence your life.
We also share some cool wins and books we’re enjoying.
Links:
- Join our Slack community
- Pybites career 15 min chat
Books of the week:
- A Brief History of Time
- Montaigne’s Essays
Enjoy and next week we'll be back with another episode.
Welcome back to our podcast. In this week's episode we look at Python packaging.
---
As stated in the intro, it's recommended to watch this episode on YouTube.
---
I was teaching this on our weekly PDM Code Clinic call and we ended up building quite a useful Pybites Open Source tool.
Introducing pybites-search, a command line tool to search our content (articles, Bite exercises, podcast episodes, youtube videos and tips).
We look at how to build a package and some of the code + design that went into pybites-search and how open sourcing this is a double win: our PDM bot project can leverage it and people can now contribute to this project.
Hope you enjoy this episode and comment your thoughts below as well as preferences for more Python / Developer / Mindset content. Thanks for watching.
Links / resources:
Welcome back to the podcast. Today we share 8 tips in response to a question that we were tagged on @ Twitter.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:54 Wins
5:46 Quoting the question / intro topic
7:18 1. Communication is everything
8:54 2. Deliberate practice
10:06 3. Adopt a growth mindset
12:12 4. Be a generalist
15:03 5. Focus on the compound movements
16:32 6. Know the business domain you are in
19:00 7. Share your work / teach others
22:32 8. Do a bit of networking every single week
27:08 Summary of the 8 tips
28:02 Books
30:14 Thanks for all your feedback 😍 🙏
33:00 Outro
Pybites Flashcards
PDM program
Mentioned books:
- Mindset
- Peak
- Grit
- 177 mental toughness secrets
- The obstacle is the way
- Range
- Domain-driven design
- All books from the podcasts
And last but not least thanks for all your feedback 😍🙏
You can reach out to us through our Slack or send an email to info at pybit dot es.
Welcome back to the Pybites podcast. This week we have a very special guest: Blaise Pabon.
We talk about his background in software development, how he started with Python and his journey with us in PDM.
We also pick his brains about why Python is such a great language, the importance of open source and his active role in it, including a myriad of developer communities he takes part in.
Lastly, we talk about the books we're currently reading.
Links:
- Vitrina: a portfolio development kit for DevOps
- Boston Python hosts several online meetings a week
- The mother of all (web) demo apps
- Cucumberbdd New contributors ensemble programming sessions
- Reach out to Blaise: blaise at gmail dot com | Slack
Books:
- Antifragile
- The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea series)
- How to write
This week we have Jim Hodapp on our podcast.
We talk about his career journey going from software engineer + manager to full-time developer coach, some of the tactics he uses with his clients, and why coaching is a powerful tool for software engineers.
Then we pivot to a more technical discussion about Rust, his passion for the language, why it's an interesting language to consider, also for Python developers, and to his developer community Rust Never Sleeps.
We hope you enjoy this interview and that it inspires (and challenges) you to keep learning new things and expand your horizons.
Links:
- Jim's website
- Embedded Rust WiFi crate for RP2040 microcontrollers
- Rust web application to monitor home ambient air conditions
- Jim's coaching/Rust community
- Connect with Jim: Pybites / Twitter / LinkedIn
- Mentioned books: The Staff Engineer’s Path / Thich Nhat Hanh Essential Writings / The School of Life
Welcome back to the Pybites podcast! This week we have an inspirational talk with our special guest Cassandra Babilya! We talk about the importance of finding value and purpose in your work.
We talk about:
- Considering your life purpose.
- Your professional values and your personal values.
- How do you identify that something is wrong at work.
We discuss the effects that being disengaged with your work can have on your physical and mental well-being. The key point being to really pay attention to you "bio-feedback":
- Are you exhausted all the time?
- Are you getting sick more often?
- Is your mental health suffering?
To get started on analysing your situation and making those first steps toward change, we ask you four questions (grab a pen and paper!):
1. Do you feel a disconnect between your personal values and your professional values?
2. The last time you jumped out of bed excited for the day, what were you going to do that day?
3. What do people often come to you for help with?
4. What's missing when you're not in the room?
Start small; identify where you are today and identify one thing that you can do today that will bring you closer to where you want to be.
Connect with Cassandra:
- LinkedIn
- Website
- Instagram
- Newsletter
Welcome back to the Pybites podcast. This week we have an inspirational chat with Juanjo:
- How he started his programming journey and what passionates him about this craft.
- How he fell in love with Python.
- How he overcame tutorial paralysis.
- How PDM helped him improve his skills and how the positive effect it's having on his daily work and moving forward.
- How important succeeding as a developer is for him.
- How he coped with imposter syndrome as he grew as a developer.
- Tips for people aspiring to become software developers who want to make a greater impact using Python.
- The importance of choosing a good community as your support system towards your goal.
"Harness the power of the long term achievements by focusing on the short term actions"
We also celebrate wins and share what we're reading (books linked below).
Links:
- PDM program
- Connect with Juanjo on LinkedIn or Slack
Books:
- Dynamic Economic Systems
- Why Stock Markets Crash
- Crafting Test-Driven Software with Python
Find your strength! We hope you enjoy this episode and reach out if you have any feedback: info@pybit.es
Welcome back to the Pybites podcast. This week we have a wonderful chat with Michael Knott.
We talk about the most valuable things about Michael's Python journey, including what he achieved through our PDM program.
We talk about:
- Michael's work as a fitness coach and how he got into Python as a tool to automate repetitive tasks in his daily work.
- How he improved his Python and developer skills in PDM with us.
- What challenges he faced when started his programmer journey.
- Some really cool technologies he has learned and applied in his apps so far.
- How the things he learned with us are positively impacting his craft.
- How he gained confidence in spite of feeling imposter syndrome (e.g. getting his code out there).
- And ... (as usual) how important the mindset side turned out to be.
We also celebrate wins and share what we're reading (book links below).
Links:
- The PDM program (Michael's ISSF Scraper is featured under the projects section!)
- Julian's Flask Udemy course
Books:
- Still Life (fiction)
- Practices of the Python Pro (SW best practices)
- Publishing Python Packages (new!)
- The Dream of Europe (history)
- Find Your Strength (productivity)
We hope you enjoy this episode and reach out if you have any feedback: info@pybit.es
To reach out to Michael, you can do so:
- On LinkedIn
- On Twitter
- On our Slack
Welcome back to the Pybites podcast!
This week we talk about:
-How to see opportunity through difficulties.
-How to react if everything is not going your way.
-How to be strong in a difficult situation.
-How to stay in control in every situation.
Most people are going through hardships but how can we surpass these circumstances and challenges in our ways?
5 tips to stay in control and reduce stress, because we think that there is a lot you actually can control.
1. Working on your skills
2. Build your network.
3. Double down on productivity.
4. Watch your health + well-being.
5. Adopt a positive mindset.
It is hard to get out of any uncomfortable situation, but it is also hard if you choose to stay in it.
Always choose your hard.
Books:
- The Digital Nomad Handbook
- The Creative Act
- Our growing Pybites podcast book list (created on Pybites Books, our favorite reading tracker and one of our first Django sites we built)
Feedback / live podcast request - email us: info@pybit.es
Enjoy and next week we’ll have a fresh new episode for you.
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Do you know enough Python to be dangerous but you don’t dare call yourself a developer?
And you want that to change, taking your skills to the next level to land a better job, upgrade your career, earn more freedom and give back to society?
We achieve these things for people we work with in our PDM program. Check it out here.
We're back with... episode 100! 🎉
In this episode we highlight our favorite moments from the show:
- How to Say no!
- Being your Authentic Self with Hannah Kook
- Practical Django with Antonio Mele
- Tutorial Paralysis
- Only compare yourself to your yesterday's self
+ 5 more valuable mindset and developer lessons.
Next we have a ask from you dear listener, please send us your favorite episode and/or how what you've learned from us has helped you on your Python + career journey ... Send it to info@pybit.es
The people with the 3 most original stories will win some really cool swag (from our store)
Next up we give you tips to make 2023 life-changing:
- Identify with your skill and/or goal
- Use the time audit tool often. Consistently track yourself because you will go off the rails.
- What SYSTEMS do you put in place? (Mentioned email turned into article)
- Focus on what you can control.
- Are you failing enough?
- Be assertive. Speak up. Ask for what you want.
- Seek coaching if you want to grow more rapidly
Thanks for listening and here's to another 100 episodes!
If you're serious about taking your Python + developer (+ mindset) skills to the next level this year, join our PDM program here.
Happy New Year and welcome back to the Pybites podcast.
This week Julian and Bob talk about setting goals for this year 2023:
- How to set your goals this year.
- When and where you begin to setting your goals
- How to set realistic goals that are achievable and sustainable.
- How to set goals you can control.
- How to love the process towards your goals.
- What actions should you take to enable you to reach your goals.
- How goal-setting processes can help you find purpose and meaning in your life.
-The importance of small steps with consistency.
Recommended books:
- Atomic Habits
- Pybites podcast reading list
Mentioned video course:
- Practical Productivity With PyBites
Join our Pybites Slack Community here.
This week we talk with Kristen Kehrer about her journey as a data scientist, developer advocate and content creator.
We dive into how she got into DS and what excites her about the field.
We talk about her developer relations work at Comet ML, her journey from R to Python, and some really cool data projects she has developed lately (scratching her own itch).
For example the school bus one will blow your mind :)
Next we move onto the importance of content creation and growing an audience (building your brand) as a developer.
We talk about Kristen's content creation process, how to stay consistent and how she found success on LinkedIn, but also leverages Reddit.
Then we touch upon imposter syndrome. Kristen shares her perspective on how to better cope with it.
And last but not least, Kristen shares some resources to get up2speed with the data science side of Python.
Mentioned / recommended books:
- The Business Value of Developer Relations
- Weapons of Math Destruction
Connect with Kristen on LinkedIn.
Feedback + ideas for our show? Email us or join the #podcast channel on our Slack.
Welcome back to the Pybites podcast. This week we have Andrew McLeod on the show to talk about mindfulness.
We talk about:
- Mindfulness as it applies to the tech industry and why it’s important to humanise tech.
- How mindfulness humanises.
- How to be more aware of different parts of the body - as opposed to only thought.
- The trap of trying to use mindfulness to fix problems that require action (eg mindfulness will make you aware you are hungry, it won’t resolve the issue)
- How mindfulness can help with emotional intelligence (including in the context of code reviewing).
- How mindfulness and emotional intelligence can help relating with peers and improve team performance.
Books:
- The Miracle Of Mindfulness
- Chief Joy Officer
- McMindfulness
Courses:
- MBSR course with certification
- MBSR course (without certification - free)
- A significantly longer course, both of these teachers are excellent
Other resources:
- The guy that 'brought mindfulness to the west'
- Tara Brach's work
- Mindful code reviews: part 1 and part 2
We hope you enjoy this episode!
To reach out to Andrew, you can do so:
- On LinkedIn
- On our Slack
- On Instagram
Welcome back to our Pybites podcast. This week we talk about Loving the journey to your goal.
We center our discussion about:
1. Setting Goals.
2. What can you do and how can you love the process?
3. Have that Confidence and discipline to achieve your goal. And self control to learn the routine and make it a habit to maintain.
4. Choose how to respond in every situation (If you missed something today don’t be disappointed, because it’s an opportunity to learn and do more).
5. Embrace difficult situations. it only means that you’re getting closer to your goal.
6. Celebrating small wins and how far you are towards your goal.
A dedicated mindset episode where we also share new Pybites / personal wins and what we’re currently reading.
Links:
– Our productivity course is still going strong impacting people’s lives around the globe.
– Our growing Pybites podcast book list (created on Pybites Books, our favorite reading tracker and one of our first Django sites we built).
Enjoy and next week we’ll have a fresh new episode for you.
Do you know enough Python to be dangerous but you don’t dare call yourself a developer?
And you want that to change, taking your skills to the next level to land a better job, upgrade your career, earn more freedom and give back to society?
We achieve these things for people we work with in our PDM program.
Check it out here and join our next related LIVE training in our Facebook group.
This week we talk with Yujian, software developer and entrepreneur.
We dive into:
- His background.
- Why he uses Python and the switch from Java.
- His core Python focus these days + cool side projects he's maintaining.
- How entrepreneurship is fundamentally different from software engineering.
- His viral post on certificates vs the reality of looking things up as a programmer.
- Book tips (The hard things about hard things, The startup of you and Grit).
- And of course the importance of mindset as a developer (we cannot leave out the Julian question right?!)
Enjoy this episode and connect with Yujian on LinkedIn or on our Slack.
Other mentioned links:
- His PyNLP-lib opensource project
- His PythonAlgos blog
- The Text API
Welcome back to our Pybites podcast. This week we talk about the relatively stressful times we live in and hence the need to focus on what YOU can control.
We center our discussion around 5 tips:
1. Setting boundaries.
2. At work ask for personal development time to skill up.
3. Ask for more responsibility where appropriate (but don't burn yourself out).
4. Choose how to respond to situations (it's high stress out there at the moment, but you don't have to be).
5. Focus on what's important to you, that is "roles" you have in life.
A dedicated mindset episode where we also share new Pybites / personal wins and what we're currently reading.
Links:
- Our productivity course is still going strong impacting people's lives around the globe.
- Our growing Pybites podcast book list (created on Pybites Books, our favorite reading tracker and one of our first Django sites we built)
Enjoy and next week we'll have a fresh new episode for you.
You can watch this episode on YouTube here.
---
Do you know enough Python to be dangerous but you don't dare call yourself a developer?
And you want that to change, taking your skills to the next level to land a better job, upgrade your career, earn more freedom and give back to society?
We achieve these things for people we work with in our PDM program.
Check it out here and join our next related LIVE training in our Facebook group.
---
In this episode we talk with none other than Sean Tibor from the Teaching Python podcast.
Did you know he recently made an important career switch from teacher to developer?
You'll hear his inspiring story on how he's grown as a developer, what helped him get there (for example his teaching experience), mindset (of course!), and how his team is currently expanding.
Enjoy!
Links:
- Teaching Python podcast
- Sean on Twitter
- Sean on LinkedIn
- Mondelēz International job postings
- The Missing README book
Today we talk about luck and how it relates to career success.
It annoys the heck out of us when people say about successful people "oh they were just lucky".
Sure luck has a role, but often it's the consistent hard work (discipline) that put those people into the position to become lucky.
So we dedicated this episode to this and share how you can "get lucky" as a developer which basically means you have to put in the work. Simple advice, but asking yourself the honest question: are you doing this enough?
As usual, we also relate this to the mindset it takes. And lastly, we also share what we're reading.
By the way, this is the first time we do the podcast on YouTube so you can see us and comment. Please do so, because we produce this show for you, so your feedback is invaluable - thanks!
Happy listening / watching!
Relevant links:
This week we welcome Hugh Tipping, our newest Pybites Developer Mindset (PDM) Coach, to the podcast!
These 34 minutes are packed full of inspiration and insight into Hugh's motivations as a coach.
Hugh shares his thoughts on many of the concepts that we actually address within PDM so if you've been wondering what it's like, this is a great one to listen to.
You can follow Hugh here:
https://linktr.ee/htipping
Books Mentioned:
Hugh: Cal Newport - Deep Work
Hugh: Cal Newport - So Good They Can't Ignore You
Julian: Cal Newport - Digital Minimalism
Bob: Chad Fowler - The Passionate Programmer
This week we have Russell Helmstedter (@rhelmstedter) on the show to talk about a book about learning that will blow your mind: Learn Better
We talk through the six facets of learning the book discusses:
... and link them back to Pybites, specifically our platform.
Expect a lot of useful tips that will increase the important meta skill of learning which will of course help you become a better developer as well!
Links / resources:
- The article that got Russell on this book
- Learn Better book
- Russell's extensive notes (kudos, thanks!)
- Our platform that embraces a lot of what's discussed in the book.
- Peak, the book on deliberate practice, and mentioned Ericsson's article / study
- What is Zettelkasten? It's a note taking system - related Pybites article
This week we have Antonio Melé on the show, CTO & co-founder at Nucoro and author of Django 4 by Example.
We talk about:
- His day to day at Nucoro.
- Why he chose Django as a web framework and how he uses it at the company.
- What inspired him to write a highly practical (dense) book on Django.
- Some challenges he faced (and faces) with writing a "colossal" Django book :)
- Tips on learning new (complex) technologies.
- What adjacent skills are most important for the Django developer.
- Class based vs function based views? (Yes, we had to ask him haha)
- And more ... Enjoy!
Mentioned stoic book Antonio is reading: How to Be a Stoic
You can get Antonio's book here - seriously, get it! You will learn a lot!
You can reach out to Antonio via LinkedIn or our community.
The job hunt is on! With so many people looking to change things up with work, whether it be a new role, a new company, remote work - you name it - we decided it was time to talk a little about the Job Hunt.
This week, I.T veteran and long-standing Pybites Community Member, Rhys Powell joins me (Julian!) to share some tips around searching and applying for jobs these days.
Rhys brings a wealth of experience from both sides of the fence as someone seeking a change in I.T and also as the Hiring Manager.
In this casual, fun and lively discussion, Rhys shares his tips on:
If you'd like to follow Rhys, and we 100% recommend you do, you can find him in the following places. Totally check out his Twitch, it's one of my favourite ways to wind down after hosting the Mindset call in PDM!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhyspowell/
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/bleachin74
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bleachin
Links from this episode:
This week we have Tonya Sims on the show to talk about her journey from athlete / basketball player to Python Developer Advocate / DevRel and entrepreneur.
We talk about how she combines sports with Python, her business of helping parents of aspiring athlete kids and (of course) the unstoppable developer mindset.
We hope you'll enjoy this episode and feel free to reach out to Tonya on Twitter or in our Pybites Community.
Links:
- Deepgram - Automated Speech Recognition (ASR)
- Mentioned talk: Faceoff Fun with Python Frameworks: FastAPI vs Flask 2.0
- Mentioned Quiet book by Susan Cain
Naming things is hard! Hence in this episode we want to help you a bit with that and share 10 tips how to do this better so you will write more readable and meaningful variable names. Enjoy!
Check out mentioned Pybites Developer Mindset program here. Having you build apps end-to-end and getting expert developer code reviews has been an eye-opener for people, invaluable. Apply right there if interested.
Welcome back to another podcast episode. In this one we answer a question that was asked by Shreyas:
I would love to listen to how you and Julian manage your lives in terms of day time jobs + PyBites + families! I know you touch upon it a few times in the few podcasts I’ve covered so far, but would love the strategical details!
We provide some useful / practical tips how we manage our busy schedules, maintain a healthy balance and overall get a ton of things done every single week.
For much more on this, check out our Productivity Course:
The Pybites Productivity Course didn't just give me momentary motivation to be more productive, it provided actual tools and actionable steps to improving my productivity and maintaining it. The goal setting module was a game changer for me! I feel like I am more efficient now and better prepared to take any lapses of motivation I experience.
- Adam D
Book of the week: Losing My Virginity (Richard Branson)
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Two more things:
1) Please ask us a question -> Pybites podcast inspiration + feedback form
2) Come join us for our next live developer training the 12th of September 2022 -> sign up here.
--
As always, thanks for listening and we'll be back next week!
This week we talk with AJ Kerrigan (Twitter / LinkedIn) about Felienne Hermans' The Programmer's Brain, an important book we recommend every developer should read (at least once).
Structure:
After quickly discussing the gist of the book, we dive into some of the concepts it teaches:
- Chunkability: for faster reading and comprehension of code.
- Germane load: the work required to encode thoughts to long-term memory, and the value of "worked examples".
- Semantic wave: needing to oscillate (as a teacher) between abstract and concrete as you learn.
- Cognitive dimensions of codebases and tradeoffs in code you write and tools you use.
- Practicing code reading (Code Reading Clubs): entry points and use of a debugger.
Useful links:
- PyBites #082 on type hints
- A Case Study in Refactoring Python
- CodeTour
- Annotated Underscore.js Source Code
- Inception Layers and Interruptability
- Many More Much Smaller Steps
- Code Reading Club
- Writing Excuses
- Pybites platform (check out the forums!)
- And a special shoutout to the Teaching Python podcast as well.
- Book AJ is reading: An Unintended Voyage (complete Pybites podcast reading list)
This week we talk about gratitude.
Why? We spotted a trend that people are not saying thanks enough. We often suppose things are "just" working, forgetting that there is actually a lot of work involved to keep things running smoothly.
Expressing gratitude takes relatively little effort, yet it can have a big impact on the motivation of others, even their lives.
We hope you enjoy this episode and don't forget to practice gratitude (even if it's only in your own journal, it can boost your happiness).
Bob & Julian
Links:
- For mindset and career tips, subscribe here.
- To become a better skilled, confident developer, check out our PDM program.
- Our previous podcast episodes are here.
- To provide us any feedback or share topics you'd like to hear discuss: send us an email.
This week we have Will Frey on the podcast: ML engineer, Python "knowledge dictionary" and type hints fan & geek.
We talk about his background, how he learns / keeps up with Python's fast moving ecosystem and of course we look at Python's type hints in-depth: why care and some of his favorite tricks.
We hope you enjoy this episode.
Links:
- typing docs
- mypy docs
- PEP 484 - Type Hints
- PEP 483 - Theory of Type Hints
- PEP 526 - Syntax for Variable Annotations
- PEP 544 - Protocols: Structural subtyping (static duck typing)
- PEP 561 - Distributing and Packaging Type Information
- typing notes (unmentioned, but useful)
- grep.app
(We told you, he lives and breathes this stuff haha)
This week we talk about boundaries (again), specially at work.
How can it be that 12 hour days are becoming the norm?
This has to stop!
And it's insidious, because the extra work always seems to sneak in!
First we look at where we think this is coming from.
Then we offer some practical tips we've learned over the years that will have you better manage this.
Books we're reading:
- The missing Readme
- Robust Python (type hints)
- The Insider's Guide to Culture Change
- They are part of our Podcast reading list.
If you struggle with boundaries, get a copy of our Productivity course, you won't regret it because implementing what you learn there will save you at least 1-2 hours daily!
And to combine these type of career skills with highly specialized Python + dev skills, come talk to us how our approach / coaching can turn you into a well rounded developer faster.
This week Bob and Pybites Coach, Robin Beer, interview Sebastián Ramirez, the creator of FastAPI, Typer and SQLModel.
We talk about:
- What he is currently working on.
- How to balance the large amount of opportunities in his space (open source developer productivity tips).
- The process of designing new libraries that are the glue between other ones.
- The feeling of never being enough as a developer (the more you know the more you don't know).
- His perfect developer setup.
- How to work back from the "best developer experience" / working on documentation in tandem with the code (we came to call "documentation driven development").
- Future vision (work and Python).
- And more ...
We hope you enjoy this episode. After listening to this episode:
- Go check out Sebastián's work.
- Follow him on Twitter.
- Go code our free FastAPI learning path: 10 exercises that teach you the ins and outs of this beautiful framework.
- Stay tuned for our new Typer and SQLModel learning paths ...
This week, we have Robin back on the show to talk about how he has grown as a Python developer with the startup ACCURE and as mentor at PDM.
ACCURE Battery Intelligence GmbH uses cloud computing to make batteries more safe, reliable and sustainable and has grown 10x from 4 to more than 40 ACCURIANs in less than 2 years.
Robin shares insights on challenges along the way and his passion to grow python skills both with ACCURE and PDM.
Enjoy and feel free to reach out to Robin and ACCURE below!
Links:
- Robin's Twitter
- Robin is a PDM coach now
- ACCURE Careers
- Severin Ryberg about how ACCURE leverages Scheduled Scaling with Dask and Argo Workflows
- Previous episode Robin was on
- He is also in our Slack Community
- PDM for Business offer
- Pybites Podcast Reading List
Welcome back to our podcast.
It's easy to get stuck in your own bubble. Julian travelled to the other side of the planet and came to realize that it's easy to get carried away by the hustle and grind of the day to day.
In this episode we reflect on that and talk about 5 axioms Julian found online about what it means to be rich:
1. You want to get rid of the alarm clock.
2. You want to leisurely spend time with people you love.
3. You want to stop worrying about the rent/mortgage or whether you can buy healthy food.
4. You want to be able to help.
5. You want to do more of what you love.
We think these are awesome to strive towards and what they all have in common is having more freedom / control in your life, something becoming a remote (nomad) developer can give you.
We hope this helps you pause and reflect from time to time to keep the bigger picture in mind. Enjoy and stay tuned for some amazing guests in the coming episodes ...
What are we reading? Check out our Pybites Podcast Reading List.
---
Having projects to show managers is a game-changer. I have been able to skip 1 round of tech interview questions at one company and a live coding session at another just because I had projects to share and show. It makes interviewing so much easier and makes me feel more confident.
if you're not a fan of the show, it's Jason's fault. If you're a fan of the show, it's Jason's fault.
This week the man that gave us the golden tip to start a podcast, Jason Wattier.
Jason tells us what he does in his day to day, which nicely segues into networking as an important skill he leveraged throughout his career.
Be ready for some great tips and overall a fun conversation with a long time friend and member of the Pybites community (which you can join here: https://pybit.es/community/).
Books we're reading:
- Jason: Effective pandas + Don't trust your gut
- Bob: The magic of thinking big
- Julian: Harvard Business Review
- Networking related book: Give and Take
- We added all the books mentioned on our podcast to this reading list.
Reach out to Jason on Twitter, LinkedIn or on our Slack.
Jason also wrote an article on our blog about Pycon:
You don’t need to be a Pro @ Python to crack the code of Pycon
Please send us any feedback or ideas to info@pybit.es - thanks for listening!
This week we have Christo back on the show to talk about his experience in the data engineering field.
He shares some valuable tips how to become a more effective data engineer which, surprisingly or not, increasingly requires a well-rounded Python developer skill set.
Enjoy and feel free to reach out to Christo below ...
Christo's website:
https://www.christoolivier.com
Christo is a PDM coach now, check it out:
https://pybit.es/catalogue/the-pdm-program/
Previous episode Christo was on:
https://www.pybitespodcast.com/1501156/8005574-013-the-mindset-of-a-developer
He is also in our Slack community:
http://pybit.es/community/
Welcome back to another Pybites podcast episode. In this episode we talk about common pitfalls you want to avoid when becoming a Python developer:
Pitfall #1: Tutorial paralysis
Pitfall #2: Improper sequencing
Pitfall #3: Obsessing over Pythonic code
Pitfall #4: Going on your own for too long
... after that we look at the 80/20 (aka "Pareto") to focus on to become a well-rounded Python developer:
80/20 Rule #1: Work on bigger projects
80/20 Rule #2: Build a portfolio
80/20 Rule #3: Work with experienced developers
80/20 Rule #4: Become a content provider
---
If this resonates with you and you want to better your career as a Pythonista, book us in for a career chat: https://go.oncehub.com/pybites
Thanks for listening, Any feedback, write us an email to info@pybit.es
We'll be back next week!
**The official Pybites T-Shirt**
This week we talk about an important topic: how to prevent yourself as a programmer from getting into tunnel vision when coding.
We have a nice practical example we'll share how we hit this last week (and many times more for that matter) in one of our solutions and also relate it to similar experience people go through when working with us.
You have to take a step back from time to time ("creating space") to think about the bigger picture design.
We hope it helps you and prepares you better when you hit this issue which (as we like to say) can be insidious.
Pybites merch store (t-shirts, mugs and stickers):
https://pybit.es/shop/
PDM (Pybites Developer Mindset) program:
https://pybit.es/catalogue/the-pdm-program/
Related episodes:
- Getting unstuck with your code
- Sunk cost bias
Books we're reading:
- Fluent Python 2nd ed
- The Secret Commonwealth
- All books mentioned on our podcast
Thanks for listening, for any feedback hit us up via email: info@pybit.es
In this episode we talk about the gift of time.
Are you intentional in how you spend time with people?
We talk about several advantages, why it's so important for your career, personal growth and life / well being.
And the best thing: it takes relatively little effort and time if you know how to manage it well productivity wise.
Enjoy and ping us if you have preferred topics you want to hear us discuss on our podcast - thanks!
Books mentioned:
Made to Stick
Test-Driven Development with Python
Pybites Podcast reading list:
https://pybitesbooks.com/lists/pybites-podcast
Join our Slack here:
https://pybit.es/community/
Dedicated podcast channel:
https://pybites.slack.com/archives/CMQ796HQQ
More information about our PDM program:
https://pybit.es/catalogue/the-pdm-program/
Whether you like it or not we are emotional species so you have to manage your motivation, it's not a given!
In this week's podcast we feature two segments from our productivity course: motivation and procrastination.
We teach you various techniques to keep your motivation high:
- Desire breathes motivation.
- Go back to your goals regularly.
- Visualise your future self.
- Get an accountability partner.
- Respect your bio (sleep, diet, exercise).
- Work with people that are one or two steps ahead of you.
Then we talk about the Procrastination monster that ruins that good momentum you built up.
In this section we see why procrastination happens:
- We procrastinate on things that make us feel uncomfortable.
- It will affect our long term success and you might not realise it instantly, e.g. eat unhealthily one day and nothing happens, do it for 10 years and it will cause disaster.
- The good news though is that procrastination can be beaten:
Focus on the longer term goals, remember why they’re important to you:
- Every step you take now will pay dividends later (what’s the opportunity cost of not doing it?)
- Build the habit of doing just a little bit of hard work before the pleasure (use the Pomodoro technique)
- Eat the “ugliest frog” first (Brian Tracy) or do some “easy” work to gain momentum.
- Control your environment and work / life balance (when at work, work, when at play, play)
Enjoy and if you struggle with productivity yourself, check out our course which sole aim is to win you time back, every single day:
Here is what Rev. Kelly Smith has to say about the course:
The productivity course is a great help because it focuses on cross-discipline skills. We all face the same struggles with distractions, motivation, procrastination, and wanting to get things just right, i.e. perfectionism. You have the opportunity to learn from Bob and Julian who have studied respected authors on productivity. What they do in the course is condense what they have learned and applied successfully to their own lives, and share it with you in a series of warm, friendly, and concise videos.
I highly recommend the course. If you are looking to accomplish more, or perhaps aren’t sure what your next steps are in work, or you just want to be home with your wife and kids. Check it out, there is some wonderful and practical wisdom that benefits not just programmers, but people from all walks of life.
Finally here is mentioned Pybites podcast reading list:
This week we talk about a "taboo" topic: the pursuit of chasing the bigger paycheque. We reflect on the (hidden) cost of this and what to take into consideration. As usual, we also share some cool wins and books we're reading.
Join our Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/pybites
- Live training coming in a few weeks ...
What we're reading:
Create Space, Blockchain Revolution, Refactoring 2nd ed, Brief Answers to the Big Questions
(Here is a complete reading list of all books we've mentioned on the podcast)
And a special shout-out to Brian Okken's Python Testing with pytest, Second Edition which we reviewed and thoroughly enjoyed. Great work Brian!
Thanks for listening, for any feedback email us at info@pybit.es
To hear the latest from Pybites, subscribe to our friends list here:
https://pybit.es/friends/
In this episode we tell the story about Pybites CMS, our new powertool we use to better streamline our business.
We tell why we built it, how it was an opportunity for Julian to brush up his coding skills, how we applied the PDM philosophy of learning by building, scratching your own itch.
Join our Facebook group here (live training coming soon!): https://www.facebook.com/groups/pybites
And if you want to take your Python and dev skills to the next level, check out our PDM coaching program here:
https://pybit.es/catalogue/the-pdm-program/
We could not find the mentioned article about shipping fast, but we certainly have spoken about this before, here are some additional resources:
https://pybit.es/pareto/
https://www.pybitespodcast.com/1501156/9135351-040-ship-your-code
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6925359287103844352/
Thanks for listening, for any feedback email us at info@pybit.es
To hear the latest from Pybites, subscribe to our friends list here:
https://pybit.es/friends/
How much deep work do you get done on a typical work day?
In our case, we thought plenty.
It turns out that lately it's been less and less.
As the authors of Practical Productivity with PyBites this came as quite a shock!
But as you'll learn in this episode, productivity is insidious.
You can be well on track with your goals, focus and habits, but then gradually, things start to slide, and before you know it you're completely off-track.
In this episode we talk about how we became aware of this and provide you with some tips to help you get back on track, that is how to increase your daily amount of deep work.
Mentioned resources:
- Create Space book
- Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule - Paul Graham
- Deep work book by Cal Newport (a staple! Also check out his other books)
- Insightful article: The Importance of Deep Work & The 30-Hour Method for learning a new skill
- Our productivity course: very practical, tailored to the effective developer but also generic enough (< 4 hours you'll have a framework to keep your productivity high)
Thanks for listening.
---
Lastly, apart from Slack we're also building an exciting community on Facebook where we'll soon provide some LIVE developer mindset training, join us here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pybites
Welcome back to the Pybites podcast.
Today Julian's shares a personal story of something that happened to his 6 year old son at school. It made us pause and reflect also linking it to the workplace.
We also share an important coding / scratch-your-own-itch win and talk about books we're currently reading: Architecture Patterns with Python and The Internet of Money.
Hope you enjoy this episode and reach out to us for any feedback or requests.
Thanks for listening and we'll be back next week.
In this podcast episode Bob interviews Alex Wulff and Russell Helmstedter from Ventura Unified School District.
These guys are doing something really special for their students: they integrate math, computer science, Python and physical objects into a practical, holistic and super engaging learning experience.
In our interview we dive into their curriculum, the backstory how they built it out, what drives them, and much more.
We also discuss how they leverage our platform in the classroom (mentioned certificate wall / Pybites demo) and other entrepreneurial initiatives to prepare students better (the stuff we'd have loved to have learned at that age wow!) and how they mentor other teachers as well.
We hope you enjoy this episode and that it inspires you to become a better teacher and always think critically how we can better train the next generation of programmers.
If you like this episode you should totally connect with them as well, they make it easy to do so (thanks guys!)
Alex
- Email: alex.wulff@venturausd.org
- Website: https://www.stembassadors.net/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-wulff-402a54149
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ideas2bits2atoms/
- Facebook (Stembassadors is Alex’s non-profit): https://www.facebook.com/STEMbassadors2017
Russell:
- Work email: russell.helmstedter@venturausd.org
- Personal: rhelmstedter@gmail.com
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/RHelmstedter
- On Pybites Slack: https://pybit.es/community -> @Russell Helmstedter
Today we discuss how detrimental it is to compare yourself to others, be it on social media, in the workplace or just life in general.
What does this have to do with Python developers? A lot actually. Comparing yourself seriously increases anxiety and imposter syndrome so we hope this episode gives some perspective. If you fall into this trap, we also hope it helps you get out of it so that the only person you compare yourself to is yourself.
Bonus: a bit of an introvert / extrovert reflection discussion.
What we're reading:
- Bob: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
- Julian: The Insider's Guide to Culture Change: Creating a Workplace That Delivers, Grows, and Adapts
---
We hope you enjoy this episode and if there are things you'd like us to discuss, we're only one email a way: support@pybit.es
Thanks for listening and please give us an upvote or like. We don't know the podcast app algorithms, but we're sure it will help get this content out to more Pythonistas, developers and IT people that can benefit from it.
---
As per our ad segment, to talk about your Python journey and career book us in for a 30 min chat here.
We've helped ~ 100 Pythonistas 1:1 by now and they seriously boosted their skills and confidence which they apply on a daily basis to obtain greater career opportunities and give back to the community.
Sometimes we feel like we need to put up a façade, especially in front of our leaders. Showing up as your authentic self is so important though and the benefits are immense.
In this episode, Hannah Kook, a Senior Communications Manager at AWS, shares her story and tips on what it is to be your authentic self at work.
Hannah's Actionable Tips to being your authentic self:
References:
Where you can find Hannah:
Welcome back to the Pybites podcast. This week we had the pleasure of interviewing Jesse Brink about his transformation from school teacher to professional software developer.
In this interview he shares valuable insights what he did to get there. There was the technical part, but there were also strong marketing and mindset components we dig into.
We hope you enjoy this episode and leave us a rating and/or review if you do. It will help grow the show, get this content out to more people that might benefit from it - thanks!
You can reach out to Jesse on our Slack. You can find more information about PDM here and if interested you can set up a call with us here.
In this episode we introduce our new logo and share the backstory how it came about and its meaning.
We think it better aligns with our mission of creating well-rounded developers and growing people's careers.
What we're currently reading:
- Bob: Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (+ on reading list: The Nineties: A Book)
- Julian: Create Space: How to manage time and find focus, productivity and success
Have a good weekend and thanks for your support.
---
If you're interested in seriously improving your Python, developer and mindset skills, in just 10 weeks, check out our PDM program.
Today we have Thomas Gaigher (creator of pypyr) back on the show to talk about debugging.
We hit on various important areas:
- Visualization.
- The debugging process.
- Tracking and tracing.
- Preventative measures.
We even unexpectedly (and interestingly) spoke about design patterns.
We hope you enjoy the show.
Mentioned resources:
- A debugging tale PyBites article
- Thomas' first appearance on the podcast
Books mentioned:
- Metropolitan novel
- Design patterns (Gang of Four)
Reach out to Thomas:
- Twitter
- PyBites Slack
---
Are you serious about taking your Python career to the next level?
Our PDM program takes you from scripter to proficient Pythonista in just 10 weeks.
You'll become an effective developer that writes robust software and knows how to market those skills well.
Does that sound appealing to you? If so, book us in for a chat and we'll see how PDM would look for you, based on your individual needs and goals ...
In this episode we talk about The Great Resignation and the responsibility of companies and employees to seek improvement in this regard. It might be a bit soapboxy, but it's an important trend we wanted to cover on our podcast. We hope it's helpful.
Books mentioned:
- Writing Solid Code
- Search Inside Yourself
(Btw these links go to our PyBites Books app, a nice and simple way to track your reading.)
Interested in taking your Python career to the next level? We provide coaching that will get you to your goals faster. To learn how we do that, book us in for a chat.
This week we have Tim Gallati on our podcast to talk about his Python journey and a very interesting search database he developed: QuietLinks.com
We discuss the problem his solution solves, the stack it uses, and some of the challenges he faced when developing this app.
He talks about the importance having an MVP (Minimal Viable Product), which is in line with our philosophy of shipping soon and often.
Check out QuietLinks here and connect with Tim on LinkedIn or Slack.
Mentioned infinite scroll YouTube video.
This podcast episode is based on this article.
Additional resources:
- 10 Tips to Write Better Functions in Python
- Linting tools: flake8, black and pre-commit on which we have a training: Increase Python code quality with pre-commit
- Mentioned Vim plugin I use to disallow save if there are syntax errors
- Two exception handling articles: 7 Tips to Improve Your Error Handling in Python and Errors should never pass silently
- Not mentioned but relevant for the namespaces part: When to Write Classes in Python And Why it Matters
- Useful Python Built-in Functions [Beginner / Intermediate]
- Idiomatic Python: EAFP versus LBYL
- Zen of Python (or type "import this" in the REPL) / PEP8
- A great book in this context is Uncle Bob's Clean Code.
---
Thanks for listening. If you struggle with this, check out our PDM coaching program where we can significantly increase your Python and developer skills in 10 weeks.
This week we talk with Josh Engroff about his Python and career journey.
We talk about how he landed a developer job, what he does day to day, learning technical skills, job interviewing, the mindset of a successful developer, and more.
We hope you enjoy this episode.
Connect with Josh on LinkedIn and PyBites Slack.
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If you want to land a software developer job, get a promotion, increase your current salary, work from anywhere, be in control of your schedule, contribute to opensource, giving back. And you want to get those results fast, then it's time to check out our PDM program.
This week we talk about the challenge of changing jobs and that a lateral move is sometimes strategically smarter for your longer term goals.
Main take aways of this episode:
- Being in a certain role for too long you might become too comfortable and in order to grow you'll need to become uncomfortable again.
- Take advice from others with a grain of salt, keep a varied group of "advisors" to make the best (unbiased) decision.
- Sometimes you have to take one step backwards, to take two or three steps forward.
- You are the an accumulation of your past experiences. Don't underestimate this! Leverage your adjacent skills when applying for a new job.
- And remember, you are never ready, you'll get ready when you actually start executing!
--
On that note, if you're serious about taking your Python career to the next level, aiming high and thinking big, then come talk to us.
We have helped people double their income, earn freedom they thought was impossible, become prolific open source contributors and more.
This is well within reach for most of us as long as you combine consistent effort with the proper guidance. If you want to get to your goals faster, book a strategy session with us.
--
Books mentioned: Super Human and Game Changers
Welcome back to the PyBites Podcast. In this episode we invited Ed Garcia to share his inspiring journey of becoming a Python developer.
He joined PDM almost a year ago as a beginning Pythonista and has built a couple of projects end-to-end boosting his skills and with that his confidence.
His latest app is a complete SAAS business idea turned into reality! He also contributed to PyBites OpenSource and is an active member of the PyBites community.
Ed put in the hard work, it wasn't easy, he could have given up on more than one occasion. But he didn't!
Listening to Ed's story we see important lessons we often teach: don't get stuck in tutorial paralysis, start building, persist / adopt a positive mindset, don't let imposter syndrome stop you in your tracks, embrace it! Be coachable and accept that there is always more to learn, that apps are never done and that's ok (drop perfectionism!)
We hope his journey will inspire you to aim higher and to ruthlessly go after your goals, you can do it!
Check out Ed's MaxUptime app and WorldClock cli tool / contribution.
What we're reading:
A Curious Moon
Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python
The Obstacle is the Way
The Slight Edge
Reach out to Ed on PyBites Slack and/or LinkedIN.
This week we have Oli Bridge from Bonjoro on the show.
Bonjoro lets you boost customer engagement with personal videos and we're big fans (ab)using the service (you might have gotten one or more videos from us already!)
He goes into the backstory of Bonjoro and some fun ways people have used the service.
He goes into the tech stack and the importance of Zapier integrations, their customer first focus, moving from product into platform, and last but not least he has some really useful career tips for us.
Reach out to Oli on Twitter and try Bonjoro for free here.
What we're reading:
What I Talk about when I Talk about Running
The Power of Strangers
The Minimalist Entrepreneur
Python Distilled
Show Your Work!
Welcome back to the PyBites Podcast and happy New Year!
We kick this episode off with what we're going to focus on as PyBites this year.
We also discuss why "the ONE thing" and setting boundaries matter. Not only for reaching your goals, but also to keep a healthy sustainable balance (now more than ever!)
As usual we relate via some of our own stories.
Enjoy and hit us up if you have ideas or preferences for the show:
https://pybit.es/community/
Check out our productivity reading list:
https://pybitesbooks.com/lists/productivity
If you struggle with productivity as a developer, check out our course:
https://pybitesproductivity.com
In this special episode we celebrate 5 years of PyBites and 1 year of podcasting.
Some favorite moments and lessons learned.
Enjoy, thanks for listening, and more to come in 2022 ...
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
This week we talk about the stack we used for our new IronScribe service and some of the challenges we faced when building it.
We'll also write a more in-depth technical article about this which we'll link here when it's ready ...
Links:
This week we talk about our PyBites Flashcards, what they are and why we made them.
Not much else to say other than thank you as always for your support.
We know that you'll get something out of these so if you do purchase them, please let us know what you think!
Links:
This week we talk with Martin Héroux about his learnings / teachings of writing clean, maintainable code. Join us and learn how to create more robust software, enjoy!
And wow we're 50 episodes in, thank you everybody for your support!
Marty's Bio:
Marty trained as a physiotherapist before obtaining a PhD from Queen’s University (Kingston, Canada). He has worked at Neuroscience Research Australia for almost 10 years, where he is a Senior Research Fellow. Marty's research spans a multitude of areas, include human motor neuron physiology, muscle function and biomechanics, human proprioception, sensorimotor control and spinal cord injury research. More recently, he has investigated issues surrounding bad science and poor reporting in the biomedical science. Marty started to code (poorly) during his PhD, and he never stopped. In addition to coding for his own research, Marty teaches scientific computing to students and early-career researchers.
Notable PYPI packages:
Show mentions:
Connect with Marty:
This week we speak to our fellow PDM-er, Pythonista and friend Ryan Austin about The Payroll App he just released.
What does the app do? How did he tackle coding such a complex app? What were some of the struggles? And what about the mindset he had to apply to get through it all? As usual we also talk wins and books of course.
Enjoy and we hope this inspires you to build your own app / project / side gig. There is nothing more satisfying that that and it's an asset on your resume / for your career.
So we challenge you: find a niche and start building a solution. If you need help come talk to us.
Resources / links:
Thanks for listening!
This week we talk about burnout which can be a serious productivity / health issue.
We luckily have not had it but at times we've come close to it.
Over the years we've learned how to pick up on signals that we're getting burned out and developed some tips to better prevent falling into its insidious traps. All of which we cover in this episode.
Enjoy and we hope it helps you.
Resources / links:
- The One Thing - from Gary Keller, one of our productivity staples!
- The Pareto principle - 20% effort -> 80% yield.
- The Reality of Developer Burnout - Kenneth Reitz' essay on burnout.
- A Mind for Numbers - from Barbara A. Oakley, we learned about the diffused mode from this book.
- Daily Rituals: How Artists Work - from Mason Currey, a fun / relaxing book tip.
- Btw, a great Dutch book on burnout is De lessen van burn-out, however we could not find an English edition yet.
---
If you are struggling with productivity, check out our Practical Productivity With PyBites Video Course.
To check out our community of passionate Pythonistas (where a lot more than just Python is going on).
And to learn more about what we do at PyBites, head over to our website.
This week we talk about how to control your emotions specially when responding to heated situations, code reviews, feedback, etc.
Some practical tips:
- Ask (keep in mind) what problem are we trying to solve?
- Don't reply to email directly, let your response marinate and/or review by somebody. Writing them in an editor might also help (be safer).
- Choose the right medium, e.g. a short meeting can be way more effective (also email = text != tone)
- Take a breath first before speaking up, 2 extra seconds can change your response (good example: kids!)
- Harsh code review? Acknowledge where the other person is coming from and recognize that there is always more to learn. Any feedback will sharpen you!
We hope you enjoy this show and if you do please leave us a review in your favorite podcast app.
If you want to seriously upskill as a Python developer, check out our PDM program: https://pybit.es/catalogue/the-pdm-program/
Also we would love to hear from you: what topics would you like us to talk about? Drop us a line: info@pybit.es or hit us up in our community: http://pybit.es/community/
Thanks for listening!
In today's PyBites Podcast we look at 5 of our open source projects:
- PyBites Tools
- Git Stats
- PyBites Alarm
- Pysource
- PyBites Carbon
This is the first episode we put onto our YouTube, so if you want visuals, check it out here.
There are still a few days left to finish your Hacktoberfest goal of four pull requests:
- Watch our training
- Contribute to one of our repos
- Take one of our Blog Code Challenges
More from PyBites:
- Join our Slack Community here.
- Book your free Python career assessment call here.
- To build projects with us 1:1 join our PDM coaching program / community.
Today we talk about value systems and how they impact your work.
Are you as happy in your job as you should be?
Julian teaches us a valuable exercise to get to your core values. This can greatly influence what decisions you will make to better your career.
To do this exercise yourself head over to our PyBites Value System Worksheet and fill it out. If the results surprise you / boost your effectiveness, let us know ...
Book mentioned: Why We Sleep
What is PDM? It's our 10 week coaching program in which you build your dream app with our guidance, MVP (minimal viable product) ready. Check it out here.
This week we talk about the importance of building in order to really grasp not only Python, but any practical skill for that matter.
We share some stories of our own how building and the use of deliberate practice really led to fluency in certain skills.
The mentioned brag doc article is here.
Books we're reading:
- Pikachu's Global Adventure
- Flipnosis
- Más vegetales, menos animales
- Learning Docker
Note that these books link to PyBites Books, one of our opensource projects.
You can check out all our open source projects here and contributions are more than welcome (a nice way to get your Hacktoberfest goal in!)
More from PyBites:
- Join our Slack Community here.
- Book your free Python career assessment call here.
- To build projects with us 1:1 join our PDM coaching program / community.
This week we talk with Mike Driscoll, a Python developer and content creator / book writer.
We talk about:
- how he got into programming and Python (and the importance of community),
- how he uses Python at work for an automated test framework (to test C++ GUI apps),
- how he got into Python content creation through blogging and later writing 9 (!) books,
- how to keep up with new technology,
- how to stay consistent and motivated in producing content,
- the fundamental skills as a Python developer these days,
- dealing with imposter syndrome (realizing you might have more to bring to the table than you think!)
- learning new libraries, the benefit of pair programming (for both junior and senior engineers),
- and more ...
You can get in touch with Mike on Twitter and/or on PyBites Slack.
You can also check out his blog, books and YouTube.
In this episode Julian has a conversation with Andrew Knight, the Automation Panda, about his journey in the Python space. Over the years, Andy has worked his way beyond being in the developer job he'd always wanted, to being a prominent figure in the Python Testing space.
Andy shares the story of how he started in the industry and what his first big hurdle was. There are just so many mindset lessons and tips he used throughout his journey that this is an episode you simply have to listen to.
As Julian and Andy are mates off-microphone, the conversation is light, leads to quite a few laughs and is one of our lengthier episodes (I don't regret a second! - Julian).
Enjoy and as always, give us a like/recommendation and please share with anyone that might find this useful.
Andy's Twitter: https://twitter.com/AutomationPanda
Andy's Blog: https://automationpanda.com/
Test Automation University: https://testautomationu.applitools.com/instructors/andrew_knight.html
Hollow Knight: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/hollow-knight-switch/
This week we talk with Thomas Gaigher about software planning ...
We discuss many things ranging from the Zen of Python, being pragmatic as a software developer, his pypyr open source project (a lightweight task runner implemented in pure Python), how to start a software project without getting stuck in analysis paralysis (both in a company or on your own), premature optimization, adaptability and much more ...
There are a lot of nuggets in this episode so make a coffee (or grab your favorite beverage), sit back and give it a listen.
To the person who asked about software planning on our Slack:
Thanks! We hope this helps you moving your project(s) forward.
Links mentioned:
- The Law of Leaky Abstractions
- Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
- Agile Manifesto
Thomas' pypyr open-source taskrunner (not Piper lol!)
You can contact Thomas on our Slack (yaythomas).
Hope you enjoy this episode, and feel free to reach out to us on Slack or email us with any feedback or ideas for upcoming episodes.
In this episode we talk about shipping your code and why it is important to get code out there fast, because it's where part of the learning / feedback loop happens.
We hope the main takeaway from this episode will be that you shouldn't sit on code. Get it out there, and make it better in conjunction with the real world and people using your software.
This iterative process is also one of the things that is fascinating about the development process!
We take a recent feature we built and some of the issues we faced, a nice real world example.
Here is our mentioned PyBites Books app. You can try out the Goodreads import feature here.
And please help us grow our PyBites YouTube channel, check it out here - thanks!
Books mentioned:
Julian: Coraline
Bob: s/read/code/g :)
Shout-out to Roller and Mike for getting us on Effortless
Join our Slack Community here.
Book your free Python career assessment call here.
To work with us 1:1 joining our amazing PDM community, check out our coaching program.
Thanks for listening and we're back next week!
This week we have a very special guest on the podcast, our mate, Anthony Shaw.
There are so many things we discuss in this episode but we essentially discuss his career path, his switch from a managerial to a software dev / advocate role at Microsoft and, his process for writing his book, CPython Internals.
Most importantly though, we dive into the mindset involved with every one of these endeavours.
Thanks so much to Anthony for joining us and having such a deep and raw chat about his experiences. We couldn't be more grateful!
Some of the valuable takeaways:
As you can see this episode is jam-packed with things that are dear to us developers.
You can reach out to Anthony here:
https://twitter.com/anthonypjshaw
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonypshaw/
https://pybit.es/community (our Slack channel)
Every serious Python developer should get a copy of his book:
https://realpython.com/products/cpython-internals-book/
In this special Bonus episode, Julian dives into the story Ryan Austin tells in Episode #037.
Not being part of the episode himself, he was so inspired listening to it he had to break down the lessons he took away from it and share them with you all.
It's quick and packed full of inspiration.
Enjoy!
Grab a coffee and sit down for this week's episode and guest!
Ryan Austin is a client in our PDM Coaching Program and always brings a wealth of knowledge to our conversations.
This week he joins Bob for a deep and inspirational conversation about Entrepreneurialism and the Mindset it takes to follow your dreams.
Having done what many of us only dream of doing, Ryan shares some deep and personal details on how he quit his 9-5 job and is now living his dream as a business owner and giving back by helping kids learn Python.
We hope Ryan's story inspires you to take your leap and chase your dreams down too!
Book mentioned: Skin in the Game
You can find Ryan on Twitter and in our PyBites Community.
In today's episode I interview Julian about one of his favorite topics: communication skills.
We talk about why those skills are so important and beneficial, challenges in current COVID-19 and lockdown times, and communication tips for the increasingly remote and virtual ways of working.
Mentioned quote: "Communication - the human connection - is the key to personal and career success." - Paul J. Meyer
Mentioned books we're reading:
- The Whole-Brain Child
- The Self-Driven Child
(You can track your reading (even be gamified) using our books app.)
More from PyBites:
- Join our Slack Community.
- Get weekly valuable Python, career and mindset content via our Friends List.
- Code more Python on our platform.
- Need some more intensive help building apps 1:1 with us? Check out our coaching.
We're doing it differently this week! Even though Bob was on holidays last week, he jumped on to have a chat... so naturally Julian quizzes him on the benefits of taking a break!
The underlying message / takeaway: Take a long break and make sure you actually switch off, unwind and recharge so you come back ready to kick goals.
This is a pretty casual chat so grab a coffee (or beer), sit back and enjoy the conversation!
Mentioned books:
The Laws of Human Nature
Emotional Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (thanks Mirela!)
Search Inside Yourself
This week we speak with Gabriel Simões about his career journey, particularly how he worked his way up from chef to support engineer to software test engineer.
As usual, mindset played a big part in him succeeding in this journey and in this episode you will get some valuable career advice how you can achieve this too.
Enjoy this inspiring story.
Gabriel's career article: How I made my move into software test engineering
Books mentioned:
- Introducing Software Testing
- The C Programming Language
Reach out to Gabriel: homepage, Twitter, PyBites Community.
This week we have Mirela Tulbure on the show to talk about her work, mindset and books.
Mirela is a geospatial scientist using terabytes of satellite data to quantify environmental change, particularly flooding.
She is deeply passionate about research that has a societal impact.
In this episode Mirela shares with us:
- Some of the tech she is using to conduct and automate her research (DS libraries and cloud infrastructure).
- Some of the challenges around scalability / portability of the (supervised) ML/ DL models and getting access to labeled image data.
- The impact of flooding and how she has grown her career in this field of research.
- Practical tips to stay productive and continuously grow every day.
- How a growth mindset has really helped her in her career and life.
- How to read more and retain more of what you read.
- How she motivates her students / fellow researchers adding books + mindset lessons in her teaching / mentoring.
- Favorite books.
Enjoy this episode, it’s chuck-full of practical tips and advice you can implement today.
You can reach out to Mirela on Twitter or the PyBites Slack.
Check out Mirela’s favorite books list here.
Other links:
- PyBites productivity course
- PDM coaching program
- Coded Bias Netflix documentary
We started reading Dare to Lead which starts with a great quote from Roosevelt:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
It really pays off to be the person that has been in the trenches, that gets their hands dirty.
It makes you an effective leader, it earns you trust and makes you well-rounded (as per our motto: we create well-rounded developers).
As usual we share some stories of our own:
- Julian had a manager with exceptional technical skills and not shying away from getting his hands dirty, he really formed an inspiration of how to lead by example.
- Bob's story revolves around his pivot from software developer into coach (of our clients) and how getting knee deep into the code with them is so valuable for their further progression as developers, their working relation, but also for Bob's own growth.
So think about how you can lead by example, get into the arena and be willing to fail because remember: without failure there is no growth!
For career advice and in order to take your Python and developer skills to the next level, book us in for a call, we love to help you!
Books mentioned:
- Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
- Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language
- Principles: Life and Work
This week we talk about the Sunk cost bias, also been called the "Concorde fallacy" when the UK and French governments took their past expenses on the costly supersonic jet as a rationale for continuing the project, as opposed to cutting their losses (source: Wikipedia).
As you'll see we encounter it in every part of your life including coding and career.
We talk about various concrete examples:
- Standing in a line for too long making yourself "stand it out" because you already lost too much time. Julian fixed this the other day by setting a deadline when to cut his losses.
- Keep investing in a complicated (sub optimal) programming language while there are better ones (e.g. Python!)
- Investing more effort in a software solution with a sub optimal design. The Zen of Python offers a good criteria here: "If the implementation is hard to explain, it's a bad idea". Sometimes you need to heavily refactor, taking one step back to be able to move two steps forward.
- It also happens in one's job, by staying into a comfortable yet underappreciated role knowing you can do better elsewhere, yet you hope one day the situation will (magically) improve.
- Another good example of the sunk cost fallacy is "having to finish books", the self imposed pressure of having to read books cover to cover even if you don't like them.
- And our last example is around investing, the difficulty of cutting one's losses when money has been already invested. Ego and social pressure make this even harder.
Book about cognitive biases: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
CTA: take note of what is going on in your life, where your time / money / effort are going, then ask yourself if you are getting the results you want? Is it time to cut losses and move on?
And if you see a sunk cost in your Python career, maybe it's time to hop on a strategy session with us or hit us up on Slack.
This week we talk about persistence and its importance for developers.
The skill of learning (complex) things fast and persisting through the difficulty that accompanies it is one of the best skills you can develop.
After all we don't always get to choose what technology to use. And there is no better feeling of accomplishment after having struggled through a complex problem.
Other areas we talk about is pushing back on requirements, the patience you have to have if results are not showing up immediately and a powerful quote of The Slide Edge.
Enjoy and if you're enjoying the show, please leave us a rating on your app of choice! It'll help us get the message in front of even more developers :)
A common issue is the fear and uncertainty around employment our veterans face when leaving the military. After years of solid structure, coming into the civilian world and being left to fend for yourself and not know if you'll be able to land a "9-5 job" can be incredibly daunting.
This is the situation our guest found himself in when he left the Australian Army.
In this very special episode, I speak with one of my best mates, Ranui "Ra" Rice.
Ra tells the story of how he left the military and eventually worked his way into the Tech Industry, discovering his passion for front-end development and graphic design.
His journey was not linear and Ra shares many tips and lessons he learned over the years. It wasn't easy but his mindset and determination were his greatest asset.
There's a lot to digest in this episode so listen to it once, then listen to it again and take notes!
Two of my favourite quotes from Ra:
If you'd like to say g'day to Ra, look him up on the PyBites Slack - "Ranui Rice".
Ranui's Website: Coming Soon
- Julian
Every time you go up you're inevitably going to hit more challenging problems which takes a lot of mindset.
Today we talk about 3 occasions where we entered new levels, met new devils and how we dealt with it:
1. Getting our first coding role:
2. Working out:
3. PyBites / getting out there:
So the main takeaway: look for new levels, take things head-on, remember that the pain is temporary and you'll look back realizing there was not that much magic. Then repeat.
We hope this inspires you to keep challenging yourself continuously, because it's one of the best feelings in life.
What we're reading:
If you want to be challenged in order to grow as a Python developer, pursuing better career opportunities, come talk to us. We have helped many people achieve those goals and we would love to see you be our next success story.
Book a call here: https://pybit.es/apply
Thanks for listening and see you in the next episode.
This week we have Drew Kerr on the show, consultant / web developer and like us, big on self development and mindset.
We talk about the importance of mindset as a developer and lessons learned from The Last Dance, an amazing documentary about the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan:
This and much more in our new episode.
Enjoy and if you like the show please leave us a review.
Get in touch with Drew on PyBites Slack or LinkedIn.
Books mentioned:
In this episode I have a chat with long time PyBites Community Member, Rhys Powell, about the skills programmers should have when coming into a coding role or opportunity.
As someone who mentors and trains graduates in Python development for success in the industry Rhys has some great insights into what's really needed, what works and what doesn't.
One of the takeaways here is that many of the points that lead to success are more around the mindset people bring over the pure technical skill.
Some points we raise and discuss in our conversation:
If you want to see more of Rhys, please, please check out his Twitch channel or reach out to him on the PyBites Slack.
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/bleachin74
PyBites Slack Username: "Rhys"
Github: https://github.com/rhyspowell
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bleachin
Today we talk with Paul Nnaoji, software engineer and co-founder of AskAGuru.
We talk about how he got into Python and used it to build out his passion project into a startup!
AskAGuru solves a real world problem: how to make music sharing more social.
Paul used Flask and Vue.js, a decoupled architecture that makes it easier to scale.
We also talk about the business and marketing side of things, how to grow an audience and some important leadership and mindset lessons Paul learned along the way.
Links:
Protect your calendar
In this episode we wanted to address another productivity issue.
We talk about the concerning trend of having an open calendar and how detrimental this can be for getting stuff done.
We talk about how we balance meetings vs deep work via time boxing.
Related essay: http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
Mentioned meeting quote: "Meetings are a symptom of bad organization. The fewer meetings the better." - Peter Drucker
We talk about the culture of "now vs when" and how Slack (ironically) gets this down! They seem to have embraced the "when you work, work, when you play, play".
We hope that after listening you take control of your calendar and tell us all about it:
https://twitter.com/pybites
https://pybit.es/community
Finally, at the start of the episode we mention our new, free 6 day training course:
The 6 Key Ingredients of a Successful Pythonista
You can get it here:
https://www.buildpythonapps.com/
Extra Resources:
Julian's Reading:
Bob's Reading:
Today we tackle the ugly monster of distraction.
We give you some valuable pointers that can reduce the amount of stress that distractions cause:
- Work on the 80/20, the stuff that matters and have goals so you know what to aim at.
- Time-box your time, including social media.
- Airplane mode is your new best friend.
- Watch your bio (= willpower).
- Social media vicious cycle (story time!)
- Go async with online reading, batch articles with Pocket.
- Tab galore is bad (unclosed loops!), go minimal, less is more.
- An accountability partner increases your focus and therefore reduces distractions.
- Disable desktop notifications and uninstall distracting phone apps.
- When you work work, when you play play (again, control your phone use).
To seriously boost your productivity, gaining valuable hours back every single week, check out our dedicated course: https://pybitesproductivity.com
This week we talk with Patrick Groß, long time PyBites community member and lead developer of Karmabot, the bot that handles karma points and other tasks in the PyBites Slack Community.
We talk about how Patrick got into Python and how he really learned it, his switch from a university to a data analytics job and ... his overhaul of our early Karmabot prototype, turning it into the mature open source project it is today (thanks!)
You'll learn about the improvements Patrick made to Karmabot, integrating "Hypermodern Python" concepts, and some of the lessons he learned from contributing to open source overall (hint: both tech and soft skills were important!)
We hope this episode will inspire you to start (or continue) contributing to open source, it's a beautiful thing.
Karmabot project and Hypermodern Python series:
https://github.com/PyBites-Open-Source/karmabot
https://cjolowicz.github.io/posts/hypermodern-python-01-setup/
To reach out to Patrick:
https://twitter.com/patrick_grs
https://pybit.es/community
(DM or #karmabot_dev channel ... actually while there let's give him some Karma, just type "@Patrick +++")
In this episode we have a chat about how setting realistic expectations in your day-to-day can make all the difference when it comes to frustration and stress.
We share a bunch of stories and situations to drive the point home.
Links to mentioned content:
- Podcast: Chris Voss on Negotiation
- Book: Indistractible by Nir Eyal
- Book: How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need by Bill Gates
- Book: Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown
Join our Community: https://pybit.es/community
This week we talk with another member of our PyBites community: Robin Beer.
He shares his coding journey, going from physicist to cloud software architect and co-founder of an energy startup.
Some takeaways from our conversation:
- Learning core Python and having a constant curious mindset gets you really far.
- You have to become comfortable stepping outside of your comfort zone, specially in a high-paced startup environment.
- How his perception of Pythonic / quality code changed going from a coding physicist to a professional software architect.
- How Python gave him more fulfilment in life, even to the point of becoming a digital nomad :)
Reach out to Robin:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/R_E_Beer
- Our community: https://pybit.es/community
Stress comes from everywhere these days. It's become such a constant part of all of our lives and if we don't know how to acknowledge and deal with it, it can lead to all sorts of problems.
In this episode we share 5 Tips on how we deal with stress:
What it all comes down to is mindset and productivity. We've distilled all of this and much more in our very own "Practical Productivity with PyBites" course.
The framework and practical examples we have in place will get you back on track to achieving your goals and reduce your stress in the process.
Links:
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
PyBites Podcast Episode on "Saying No": https://www.pybitespodcast.com/1501156/7783030-012-how-to-say-no
Practical Productivity with PyBites course: https://pybit.es/productivity
Books we're reading:
Julian: Contagious
Bob: The Pragmatic Programmer and The Laws of Human Nature
This week we interview Pete Lynch who is a long time PyBites Community member.
We talk about his career, how he shifted from marketing to a coding role (!) after taking a 5 month break to upskill by taking part in a bootcamp.
Now as a web developer he is architecting his dream life.
You might think: "Wow, this cannot be a technical skill transformation only, right?"
Correct, MINDSET has been one of the key ingredients in pulling this off!
So meet "Deathbed Pete" and learn how Pete deliberately manages risk for greater rewards in his career and life.
We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did producing it.
Ah and some interesting books mentioned in this episode:
Mind for Numbers, Mindset (Carol Dweck) and The Daily Stoic.
Get in touch with Pete here:
P.S.: If you want to achieve results like Pete, come talk to us about our high intensity Python coaching program: https://pybitesdevelopermindset.com/
This week we talk with Sarah Gencarelli, animation director @ Cartoon Network and avid Pythonista and member of the PyBites community.
We talk about how surprisingly common art creation and programming are!
Sarah also shares how applying a creative mindset can help you as a developer.
We had a blast, we hope you too!
If you want to connect with Sarah you can do so here:
https://www.instagram.com/sarah_gencarelli/
https://pybit.es/community
In this episode we share our career stories: how we got into programming and Python. If you're somewhat new to PyBites or haven't yet heard how we got to where we are, you'll want to give this a listen.
Note: this is an excerpt from a presentation we proudly gave to students at UCLA!
The key takeaway from this episode is that careers are not always linear. The skills you develop along the way can lead you down different paths. Taking these opportunities as they come are usually highly beneficial - they certainly were for us.
Many of the concepts we talk about in the podcast are also present in our stories: getting uncomfortable; building things and networking with people.
Links:
Click here to join the PyBites Community: https://pybit.es/community
This week we have Chris Patti on the show.
We talk about how he got into programming going all the way back to the 80s!
We talk about automation (and scratching your own itch) being the root of his everlasting passion for coding.
His message is dear to our heart, because it was his ability to overcome perfectionism ("ship it" mentality), putting his work out there that opened doors for him and led to an amazing career so far.
And this virtuous cycle is accessible to you too, just listen to Chris' valuable advice around:
Resources:
Get in touch with Chris:
In this episode we talk all about Habits and Triggers!
In fact, this is actually a snippet from our new Practical Productivity with PyBites course that we know you'll get a lot of value out of.
"Goals are paramount, habits are King".
You'll hear us share our thoughts on habits, what triggers are and most importantly, we share some solid, relatable examples of our own.
Enjoy the listen and if you are interested in this course, check it out here:
https://pybit.es/productivity
In this episode we have a wonderful conversation with Christo Olivier, one of our valued PyBites Community Members.
Christo joins us to talk about a very cool app he created while working with us. He also dives into the Mindset that makes a successful developer.
Everything Christo has achieved is totally doable by anyone as long as you have the right mindset.
You can learn more about the PyBites Developer Mindset (PDM) Program that Christo participated in here:
https://pybitesdevelopermindset.com/
Christo's Blog: https://www.christoolivier.com/
Christo's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christoolivier/
In this episode we talk about How to Say No, the benefits of doing so and as always, throw in a story or two.
Some noteworthy highlights from the episode:
Have a read of this article that goes into more detail on ways to say no:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/8-ways-say-without-feeling-like-jerk-steve-cunningham
Our favourite ways to say no:
Another thing you need to do is get on top of things so you're not even put in the situation where you have to say "no". Fix it earlier in the pipeline
Taking on too much ultimately results in multitasking because you're overcommitted (ever been in a meeting while doing your email?)
Stories:
You'll have to listen!
This episode is an excerpt from our Marketing Training.
In just these brief 10 minutes we discuss two of our pillars: Being Proactive and Growing your Network.
Notable Links:
PyBites Marketing Training: https://pybit.es/marketing
Subscribe to Weekly Python, Career and Mindset Tips: https://codechalleng.es/tips
Book: So Good They Can't Ignore You - Cal Newport
In this episode we discuss Perfectionism, what it is and how we overcome it ourselves.
To put some skin in the game we each share some stories (coding and every day life) where we got caught up in Perfectionism and the impact it had.
If as a coder you experience Perfectionism more often than you'd like, we encourage you to hop on a call with us so we can help get you some clarity and next steps: https://pybit.es/pages/talk
Curious about what it's like for grade and middle school students working on real-world Python exercises?
For us, one of the greatest honours of 2020 was seeing our codechalleng.es Python exercises platform being utilised by a school in the U.S. This was thanks to two teachers who happen to be the Teaching Python Podcast hosts, Sean Tibor and Kelly Schuster-Paredes.
In this episode we nab some valuable time from Sean and Kelly to discuss what it's been like for them to teach Python to students in their school, what the challenges are and how they've been able to utilise our codechalleng.es platform in the classroom.
Needless to say, they've certainly blown our expectations!
Enjoy the listen and if you're interested in trying the platform out in your classroom or at your child's school, schedule a free demo here!
Notable Links:
Sean Tibor: https://twitter.com/smtibor
Kelly Schuster-Paredes: https://twitter.com/KellyPared
PyBites Code Challenges Platform: https://codechalleng.es
Teaching Python Podcast: https://www.teachingpython.fm/
Schedule a free demo: https://pybit.es/pages/schools
Today we talk about some tactics we use ourselves to stay productive.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- The 4 Hour Workweek
- The Pareto principle
- Parkinson's law
Join our Slack Community to continue the conversation (we created a #Productivity channel!)
In this episode you'll hear a fragment of our Confidence Training, how it can be learned and earned!
If you like this you can watch the complete training with slides here.
Don't let imposter syndrome hold you back from achieving your goals!
Happy New Year all! A new year, new opportunities :)
In this episode we talk about our Python Tips book:
1. Why did we write this book?
2. What was the mindset / process behind writing this book?
3. Some of our favourite tips from the standard library and external modules.
4. What’s next.
5. Get the book here: https://pybit.es/tips
Marc Falzon and Anthony Lister are two passionate members of the PyBites Community and happen to be our first guests on the PyBites podcast!
In this episode we dive into Marc's journey on the 100 Days of Code Challenge and how Anthony became his incredibly valuable Accountability Partner.
Accountability is something we harp on about all the time so when we saw that Marc and Anthony were doing this we knew it was a story worth telling and diving into.
If you've ever thought of seeking out an Accountability Partner or wondered how having one even works, you'll want to listen to this.
Enjoy!
Links:
Marc's digital footprint:
Anthony's digital footprint:
To speak with us about your Python journey and to be held accountable (hint hint!), book a call with us here: https://pybit.es/talk
If you're keen to kick off your own 100 Days of Code journey, check this out.
In this episode we talk about goal setting: why it is important, tips and our goals.
Why is it important?
- Regain focus.
- By default you might be aiming too low.
- Inspire yourself and others.
Tips for setting good goals:
- Make them measurable (how we applied this building one of our products).
- Aim higher than you feel comfortable.
- Break them down into sub goals.
- Write them down (repeatedly) in the present tense.
- Have an accountability partner.
Our goals:
- In 2020 we achieved: launch of new products, most notably our PDM (PyBites Developer Mindset) coaching program / Bob went full time on PyBites / Julian: integrated mindset into PyBites.
- In 2020 we did not achieve: moving houses (Julian), reading/ books goal (Bob), ideal workout volume (both).
- For 2021 PyBites goals are: growing coaching business 5x (= acquiring a team), release the physical Tips book + more info products (hint: not only Python!)
- For 2021 our personal goals: move houses + increase kid's computer skills (Julian) / investing 101 + family travel post-covid (Bob)
Call to action:
- Write down your goals, make it a weekly / monthly habit, and have fun with it.
- If you want to talk about Python / Career goals hop on a strategy session with us: https://pybit.es/apply
In this episode we provide you some tips to get unstuck with your code:
1. Walk away from the problem
2. Exercise / physical activity to refresh your mind
3. You actually have to go through the struggle (thanks Will)
4. Be kind to yourself / prevent negative self talk
5. Visualise the problem (get away from the code)
6. Drop perfectionism
Next we share a story each where we hit a roadblock ...
Visit PyBites at: https://pybit.es
How to ask good questions: https://stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-ask
In this episode we talk about the "scary" topic of code reviewing. What does it entail and why do some of us fear them?
Is it perfectionism, fear or failure, the pain of receiving critique?
What have we learned from code reviews we've been through and what are some of the things we highlight when we review code for our clients?
For us there clearly is a BEFORE and AFTER in our developer careers thanks to code reviews (we still remember some review comments!)
Not only will they teach you a lot, it also gives you the opportunity to train other developers.
They give you access to more experienced developers, an opportunity you want to grab with both hands!
And ... as you'll discover in this episode, it was even the offspring of PyBites!
Lastly, join our Slack Community and share us one of your anecdotes: https://pybit.es/community
In this episode we talk about Tutorial Paralysis, something that we all get stuck with while on the learning path.
Even with all of our experience, this is something we ourselves still experience from time to time. We share our thoughts on the topic and an example of how we've gotten stuck with it too.
Visit PyBites at: https://pybit.es
Episode 00! We introduce ourselves and what this Podcast is about. Yes, we're refusing to call it our Hello World episode :)
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