How Python's Evolution Impacts Your Fluency With Luciano Ramalho

Summary

On its surface Python is a simple language which is what has contributed to its rise in popularity. As you move to intermediate and advanced usage you will find a number of interesting and elegant design elements that will let you build scalable and maintainable systems and design friendly interfaces. Luciano Ramalho is best known as the author of Fluent Python which has quickly become a leading resource for Python developers to increase their facility with the language. In this episode he shares his journey with Python and his perspective on how the recent changes to the interpreter and ecosystem are influencing who is adopting it and how it is being used. Luciano has an interesting perspective on how the feedback loop between the community and the language is driving the curent and future priorities of the features that are added.

Announcements

Hello and welcome to Podcast.__init__, the podcast about Python and the people who make it great.

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Your host as usual is Tobias Macey and today I’m interviewing Luciano Ramalho about the recent and upcoming changes in the Python language

Interview

Introductions

How did you get introduced to Python?

Can you start by giving an overview of the role that Python has played in your career?

What other languages do you work with on a regular basis?

How has that experience influenced the ways that you use Python?

What do you see as the biggest changes that have been added to Python in recent years?

How have the changes in Python changed the way that you approach program design?

How has your work on Fluent Python influenced your perspective on the language and its utility?

What do you find to be the most confusing aspects of Python, whether for newcomers or experienced developers?

How would you characterize the types of features that have been added to Python in recent years?

What, if any, trends have you observed in the types of features that are proposed and included in Python and what do you see as the motivating factors for them?

What changes to the language are you tracking?

Which are you personally invested in?

What new features or capabilities would you like to see included in Python?

Keep In Touch

@ramalhoorg on Twitter

ramalho on GitHub

LinkedIn

Picks

Tobias

Magic: The Gathering: Arena

Luciano

The Queen’s Gambit

Closing Announcements

Thank you for listening! Don’t forget to check out our other show, the Data Engineering Podcast for the latest on modern data management.

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Links

Fluent Python

Library and Information Sciences

Thoughtworks

São Paulo, Brazil

Perl

PHP

Object Oriented Programming

Dunder Methods

Python Essential Reference

Python In A Nutshell

Python Typing Module

Pytype

Pyre

MyPy

AsyncIO

Typing Protocols

Duck Typing

Static Typing Where Possible, Dynamic Typing Where Needed

TypeScript

Ruby 3 Type Annotations

C#

Go Language

KotlinJS

Matrix Multiplication Operator

Walrus Operator == Assignment Expressions

CPython PEG Parser

Podcast Episode

PEP 3099: Things that will Not Change in Python 3000

Elixir

Pattern Matching

Erlang

Prolog

Python Pattern Matching PEP

SWIG

Symbolic Computation

Python Descriptors

Beeware

The intro and outro music is from Requiem for a Fish The Freak Fandango Orchestra / CC BY-SA