June 26, 2026

Maintaining Your Python Developer Instincts While Using LLM Tools

46 minutes

Do you feel like your Python skills are atrophying after using LLM coding tools? How do you add the right kind of friction into your coding routine to keep your developer instincts sharp? Christopher Trudeau is back on the show this week with another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects.

We discuss a recent article by previous guest Bob Belderbos about developers keeping their instincts when AI is writing the code. He stresses the importance of the right kind of friction for maintaining skills and scheduling a deliberate coding practice routine.

We also share other articles and projects from the Python community, including new releases, a roundup of recent Real Python tutorials and video courses, sending emails with Python, libraries to enhance your Python Polars workflows, exploring Django Integrity-Policy, a next-generation HTTP client for Python, and a project to detect lazy imports incompatibilities.

This episode is sponsored by AURI by Endor Labs

Course Spotlight: Accessing Multiple AI Models With the OpenRouter API

Access models from popular AI providers in Python through OpenRouter’s unified API with smart routing, fallbacks, and cost controls.

Topics:

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:02:53 – Python 3.14.6, 3.13.14, and 3.15.0b2 Released

00:03:20 – Django Security Releases Issued: 6.0.6 and 5.2.15

00:03:35 – PyPy v7.3.23 Released

00:04:25 – Python sleep(): How to Add Time Delays to Your Code

00:04:59 – Structuring Your Python Script

00:05:36 – How to Use GitHub Copilot Code Review in Pull Requests

00:06:13 – Accessing Multiple AI Models With the OpenRouter API

00:07:25 – Cursor vs Windsurf: Which AI Code Editor Is Best for Python?

00:08:28 – Sending Emails With Python

00:16:31 – Sponsor:AURI from Endor Labs

00:17:17 – Announcing Polars 1.41

00:19:43 – Libraries for Your Python Polars Workflows

00:23:42 – Django: Introducing Django-Integrity-Policy

00:28:39 – Video Course Spotlight

00:30:21 – Keep Your Developer Instincts When AI Writes the Code

00:39:58 – Lifeguard: Detect Lazy Imports Incompatibilities

00:42:46 – httpx2: A Next Generation HTTP Client for Python

00:45:34 – Thanks and goodbye

News:

Python 3.14.6 and 3.13.14 Released

Python 3.15.0b2 Released

Django Security Releases Issued: 6.0.6 and 5.2.15

PyPy v7.3.23 Released

Real Python News:

Python sleep(): How to Add Time Delays to Your Code - Tutorial

Structuring Your Python Script - Video Course

How to Use GitHub Copilot Code Review in Pull Requests – Tutorial

Accessing Multiple AI Models With the OpenRouter API – Video Course

Cursor vs Windsurf: Which AI Code Editor Is Best for Python? – Tutorial

Show Links:

Sending Emails With Python – Learn how to send emails with Python using SMTP, attach files, format HTML messages, and personalize bulk emails for your contact list.

Announcing Polars 1.41 – Polars 1.41 is out and this post covers the new features it includes. Learn about faster parquet metadata decoding, nested subplan elimination, and more.

Libraries for Your Python Polars Workflows – Four excellent libraries for your data science workflow with support for Polars DataFrames

Django: Introducing Django-Integrity-Policy – Recently, browsers have added support for the new Integrity-Policy response header (Firefox 145+, Chrome 138+). Adam quickly went to work to build a library that enables your Django project to take advantage of the feature.

How to Keep Your Developer Instincts When AI Writes the Code – The promise was less friction. The cost, it turns out, is instinct, a high price to pay. Bob’s answer: add deliberate practice to your routine, and keep the struggle.

Projects:

Lifeguard: Detect Lazy Imports Incompatibilities

httpx2: A Next Generation HTTP Client for Python

Additional Links:

OpenRouter

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AURI for Developers - AI-Native AppSec Platform - Endor Labs

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