Stay ConnectedA weekly Python podcast hosted by Christopher Bailey with interviews, coding tips, and conversation with guests from the Python community.
The show covers a wide range of topics including Python programming best practices, career tips, and related software development topics. Join us every Friday morning to hear what’s new in the world of Python programming and become a more effective Pythonista.
Copyright: © 2020 Real Python
What are discrete optimization problems? How do you solve them with constraint programming in Python? Christopher Trudeau is back on the show this week, bringing another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects
Christopher discusses an article about constraint programming using Python. He describes the fundamentals and how the problems resemble logic problems you may have experienced in school. The article shows how to solve a weekly work scheduling problem using the open-source CP-SAT package.
We discuss Leodanis Pozo Ramos’s recent tutorial, “Python’s Built-in Functions: A Complete Exploration.” These functions are available for use directly in your code without importing.
We also share several other articles and projects from the Python community, including a news roundup, spotting ships with satellites, grappling with Apple’s App Store rejecting Python applications, considering changes to Python’s security model, discussing pivoting from one development path to another, prettifying Jinja and Django templates, and generating static sites with Python.
This episode is sponsored by Sentry.
Course Spotlight: Parallel Iteration With Python’s zip() Function
In this course, you’ll learn how to use the Python zip() function to solve common programming problems. You’ll learn how to traverse multiple iterables in parallel and create dictionaries with just a few lines of code.
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Our TOPPODCAST Picks xz-utils BackdoorNews:
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urllib parser module in Python references a scheme for apps that use the iTunes feature to install other apps, which is disallowed. Auto scanning by Apple is rejecting any app that uses Python 3.12 underneath. A solution has been proposed for Python 3.13.xz-utils Backdoor – The backdoor introduced to the xz-utils compression project through social engineering was one of the topics at the Python Language Summit. Participants discussed what can be done to prevent similar social engineering attacks on the Python source.Discussion:
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Have you wondered about graph theory and how to start exploring it in Python? What resources and Python libraries can you use to experiment and learn more? This week on the show, former co-host David Amos returns to talk about what he’s been up to and share his knowledge about graph theory in Python.
David started a Ph.D. program studying mathematics, with a focus on graph theory. Though life interrupted his pursuit after three years, he is still passionate about the subject. He’s been using these skills to create documentation and teach users as part of RelationalAI’s education team.
David has also been exploring the Julia programming language. He wrote about it on his blog, created videos, and started a podcast on the topic. He shares his excitement about learning new techniques from different languages and how these ideas can enhance your coding in Python.
This episode is sponsored by Sentry.
Course Spotlight: Defining Python Constants for Code Maintainability
In this video course, you’ll learn how to properly define constants in Python. By coding a bunch of practical example, you’ll also learn how Python constants can improve your code’s readability, reusability, and maintainability.
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Does Python round numbers the same way you learned back in math class? You might be surprised by the default method Python uses and the variety of ways to round numbers in Python. Christopher Trudeau is back on the show this week, bringing another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects.
Christopher discusses his recent video course, “Rounding Numbers in Python.” He covers rounding bias and how to avoid introducing it into your dataset. We dig into the various rounding strategies and how to implement them in Python.
We also share several other articles and projects from the Python community, including a news roundup, a fast Python linter for error-free and maintainable code, the decline of the user interface, more thoughts on Python in Excel, a discussion about calendar versioning for Python, a financial database as a Python module, and a project to prettify the colors of your terminal user interfaces.
This episode is sponsored by Sentry.
Course Spotlight: Rounding Numbers in Python
In this video course, you’ll learn about the mistakes you might make when rounding numbers and how to best manage or avoid them. It’s a great place to start for the early to intermediate Python developer who’s interested in using Python for finance, data science, or scientific computing.
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What techniques go into synthesizing a guitar sound in Python? What higher-level programming and Python concepts can you practice while building advanced projects? This week on the show, we talk with Real Python author and core team member Bartosz Zaczyński about his recent step-by-step project, Build a Guitar Synthesizer: Play Musical Tablature in Python.
Bartosz shares how he had built an early prototype of the guitar synth using a different language. He describes recreating the Karplus-Strong algorithm in Python to create the plucked guitar sounds. We discuss teaching advanced Python concepts while guiding readers through constructing a complete project.
We also dig into reading and writing WAV files in Python, using Spotify’s pedalboard library, implementing Poetry in a project, and designing a file format for guitar tablature.
This episode is sponsored by Mailtrap.
Course Spotlight: Playing and Recording Sound in Python
In this course, you’ll learn about libraries that can be used for playing and recording sound in Python, such as PyAudio and python-sounddevice. You’ll also see code snippets for playing and recording sound files and arrays, as well as for converting between different sound file formats.
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What are the built-in Python modules that can work as useful command-line tools? How can these tools add more functionality to Windows machines? Christopher Trudeau is back on the show this week, bringing another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects.
Christopher shares an article by Trey Hunner about Python’s extensive collection of command-line utilities? The piece digs into general-purpose tools that format JSON data or start a simple web server and additional utilities for working with your Python code from the terminal.
We cover a set of Jupyter Notebooks for teaching and learning the art of music processing and Music Information Retrieval (MIR). The notebooks are resources for working through the textbook, “Fundamentals of Music Processing: Audio, Analysis, Algorithms, Applications.”
We also share several other articles and projects from the Python community, including a news roundup, a discussion of CRUD operations, a description of Python’s built-in bytes sequence, favorite essays on development and programming, Python resources for working with Excel, and a project for creating finite state machines in Python.
This episode is sponsored by APILayer.
Course Spotlight: Binary, Bytes, and Bitwise Operators in Python
In this course, you’ll learn how to use Python’s bitwise operators to manipulate individual bits of data at the most granular level. With the help of hands-on examples, you’ll see how you can apply bitmasks and overload bitwise operators to control binary data in your code.
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dataclasses.field” was determined to have an insufficient number of use cases.Show Links:
python -m module_name.bytes: The Lesser-Known Python Built-in Sequence – The bytes data type looks a bit like a string, but it isn’t a string. This article explores it and also looks at the main Unicode encoding, UTF-8Discussion:
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How do you find the most interesting or suspicious points within your data? What libraries and techniques can you use to detect these anomalies with Python? This week on the show, we speak with author Brett Kennedy about his book “Outlier Detection in Python.”
Brett describes initially getting involved with detecting outliers in financial data. He discusses various applications and techniques in security, manufacturing, quality assurance, and fraud. We also dig into the concept of explainable AI and the differences between supervised and unsupervised learning.
This episode is sponsored by APILayer.
Course Spotlight: Using k-Nearest Neighbors (kNN) in Python
In this video course, you’ll learn all about the k-nearest neighbors (kNN) algorithm in Python, including how to implement kNN from scratch. Once you understand how kNN works, you’ll use scikit-learn to facilitate your coding process.
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How do you effectively break a software problem into individual steps? What are signs you’re writing overly clever code? Christopher Trudeau is back on the show this week, bringing another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects.
We discuss an article about de-warping images of book pages. We both found the piece a good study on decomposing a complex software problem.
Christopher discusses an article titled “Clever code is probably the worst code you could write.” Early in a programming career, it’s easier to write complex and difficult-to-read code. The real challenge is progressing towards writing clearer and readable code.
We also share several other articles and projects from the Python community, including a news roundup, what the __pycache__ folder is for in Python, what’s new in Django 5.1, a discussion about software engineering hiring and firing, a project for setting up repeated tasks, and a simple way to create reusable template components in Django.
This episode is sponsored by Sentry.
Course Spotlight: Efficient Iterations With Python Iterators and Iterables
In this video course, you’ll learn what iterators and iterables are in Python. You’ll learn how they differ and when to use them in your code. You’ll also learn how to create your own iterators and iterables to make data processing more efficient.
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__pycache__ Folder in Python?News:
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__pycache__ Folder in Python? – In this tutorial, you’ll explore Python’s __pycache__ folder. You’ll learn about when and why the interpreter creates these folders, and you’ll customize their default behavior. Finally, you’ll take a look under the hood of the cached .pyc files.Discussion:
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How do you start adding unit tests to your Python code? Can the built-in unittest framework cover most or all of your needs? Christopher Trudeau is back on the show this week, bringing another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects.
We dig into a recent tutorial by Leodanis Pozo Ramos about writing unit tests using Python’s unittest. The tutorial covers organizing your tests, exploring assert methods, creating test fixtures, and debugging failing tests.
We explore a collection of Python data visualizations and tutorials from the Python Graph Gallery. The website features hundreds of charts and graphs built using popular plotting libraries. Each chart type features a foundational tutorial that introduces the structure and application.
We also share several other articles and projects from the Python community, including a news roundup, the new REPL coming in Python 3.13, a pytest daemon to 10X test iteration speed, a discussion about software friction, a Raspberry Pi document scanner, and a project for controlling time per iteration loop.
Course Spotlight: Building a Python GUI Application With Tkinter
In this video course, you’ll learn the basics of GUI programming with Tkinter, the de facto Python GUI framework. Master GUI programming concepts such as widgets, geometry managers, and event handlers. Then, put it all together by building two applications: a temperature converter and a text editor.
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unittest: Writing Unit Tests for Your CodeNews:
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unittest: Writing Unit Tests for Your Code – In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use the unittest framework to create unit tests for your Python code. Along the way, you’ll also learn how to create test cases, fixtures, test suites, and more.Discussion:
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What’s it like to learn Python as a visually impaired or blind developer? How can you improve the accessibility of your Python web applications and learn current guidelines? This week on the show, Real Python community member Audrey van Breederode discusses her programming journey, web accessibility, and assistive technology.
Audrey shares her background as a system administrator and instructor. While she was learning Python, she discovered Real Python. Audrey provided some feedback about the built-in video player’s accessibility. Dan reached out and worked with Audrey on some website improvements for the visually impaired.
We discuss navigating modern websites and using assistive technology. Audrey also provides resources Python developers can use to improve the accessibility of their applications.
Course Spotlight: HTML and CSS Foundations for Python Developers
There’s no way around HTML and CSS when you want to build web apps. Even if you’re not aiming to become a web developer, knowing the basics of HTML and CSS will help you understand the Web better. In this video course, you’ll get an introduction to HTML and CSS for Python programmers.
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Would you like to get more practice working with APIs in Python? How about exploring the globe using the data from OpenStreetMap? Christopher Trudeau is back on the show this week, bringing another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects.
We share an article from the Pybites blog about building queries using the Overpass API for OpenStreetMap. The post explores the data structures, tags, query formats, and how to use Overpass in Python.
Christopher discusses a Real Python article by recent guest Stephen Gruppetta about lazy evaluation in Python. The piece covers the advantages of generator expressions or functions and the potential disadvantages of using lazy versus eager evaluation methods.
We also share several other articles and projects from the Python community, including a news roundup, handling control-c in asyncio, preventing data leakage in pandas and scikit-learn, discussing the Django developer survey results, asking developers why they aren’t shipping faster, using UV to install into isolated environments, and a couple of tools for retrying in Python.
This episode is sponsored by Sentry.
Course Spotlight: How to Set Up a Django Project
In this course, you’ll learn the necessary steps that you’ll need to take to set up a new Django project. You’ll learn the basic setup for any new Django project, which needs to happen before programming the specific functionality of your project.
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asyncio.pandas & scikit-learn – How you impute missing values in machine learning data sets can affect the quality of your training. This article teaches you what data leakage is and what steps you should take to avoid it.Discussion
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