Are you a visual learner? Does it help to have programming concepts shared with concrete examples and images? Would you like to see if your child might be interested in programming? This week on the show, we talk with author Shari Eskenas about her books, “A Day in Code - Python: Learn to Code in Python Through an Illustrated Story” and “Learn Python Through Nursery Rhymes & Fairy Tales.”

We talk about the books and what inspired her to bring programming to picture books. Shari discusses her goal of providing a fun way for beginners to experience learning to code.

Shari is also an electrical engineer with multiple patents and the founder of Sundae Electronics. We talk briefly about SoundBrake, which is an audio device that alerts headphone users to outside sounds.

Shari’s programming background is primarily in C, and we cover her path to Python. We also discuss how she is using Python and the Raspberry Pi to prototype new projects.

Course Spotlight: Reading and Writing Files With Pandas

In this course, you’ll learn about the Pandas IO tools API and how you can use it to read and write files. You’ll use the Pandas read_csv() function to work with CSV files. You’ll also cover similar methods for efficiently working with Excel, CSV, JSON, HTML, SQL, pickle, and big data files.

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Are you a beginner or intermediate Python programmer who has made it through some of the fundamentals? Have you tried to tackle a big project but got stuck and frustrated? Completing some small projects might be the answer. This week on the show, we have author Al Sweigart and talk about his new book, “The Big Book of Small Python Projects.”

We discuss the advantages of sometimes thinking small in terms of Python programs. We talk about completing projects and the benefits of manually copying code by typing it in yourself. Al also has suggestions about tools for beginners and intermediate developers.

Course Spotlight: Grow Your Python Portfolio With 13 Intermediate Project Ideas

Get started on 13 Python project ideas that are just right for intermediate Python developers. They’ll challenge you enough to help you become a better Pythonista.

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How well do you know Python’s math module? Maybe you’ve used a few of the constants or arithmetic functions. You may be surprised by the amount of functionality hiding within this built-in library, and perhaps you don’t need to reach for an additional outside library. This week on the show, David Amos is back, and he’s brought another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects.

We discuss a recent video course about the math module. David shares a recent article about implementing efficient queues and stacks with Python’s deque (double-ended queue) class. We also talk about an article that shares 25 Pandas functions you may not have known to exist.

We cover several other articles and projects from the Python community including, visualization and interactive dashboards in Python with HoloViz, designing a camera with Python and PyRayT, graphing data science with Python and networkx, another useful Python pdf library, and runtime software verification and automated testing for scientific software in Python with a project named paranoidscientist.

Course Spotlight: Exploring the Python math Module

In this step-by-step course, you’ll learn all about Python’s math module for higher-level mathematical functions. Whether you’re working on a scientific project, a financial application, or any other type of programming endeavor, you just can’t escape the need for math!

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Python’s deque: Implement Efficient Queues and Stacks – In this step-by-step tutorial, you’ll learn about Python’s deque and how to use it to perform efficient pop and append operations on both ends of your sequences. Deques are commonly used to build queues and stacks.

Visualization and Interactive Dashboard in Python – Have you ever heard of HoloViz? It’s a set of Python visualization and plotting tools for browser-based data visualization and presentation. In this article, Sophia Yang — a senior data scientist at Anaconda — explains why she loves HoloViz and what her workflow looks like when using it.

Design a Camera with Python and PyRayT – Camera lenses are more complex than you might think. If you cut open a camera to look at a cross-section, you’d see that a lens is actually made up of several smaller lenses. This article explores how camera lenses work using a new Python raytracing project called PyRayT that’s designed for designing optical systems.

25 Pandas Functions You Didn’t Know Existed – Did you know that you can style the pandas DataFrame output in a notebook? This listicle covers twenty-five pandas functions that you may not have heard of, including .explode(), .squeeze(), and the pandas DataFrame styler. There’s something in this article for everyone, so read it to find out how you can take your pandas skills to the next level.

Graph Data Science With Python and NetworkX – Graph theory network analysis can yield deep data insights that are difficult to tease out via alternative methods. Get a taste of what graph analysis can do in this quick, hands-on tutorial that uses NetworkX to create and analyze a graph.

Exploring the Python math Module – In this step-by-step course, you’ll learn all about Python’s math module for higher-level mathematical functions. Whether you’re working on a scientific project, a financial application, or any other type of programming endeavor, you just can’t escape the need for math!

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Can you make a version of Python that fits within the memory constraints of a microcontroller and have it still feel like Python? That is the intention behind CircuitPython. This week on the show, we have Scott Shawcroft, who is the project lead for CircuitPython.

We talk about all things CircuitPython. While working with the language on several projects I have developed many of my own questions to ask Scott. Scott answers my questions about boot loaders, packages, the bundle, and bluetooth low energy (BLE).

He also talks about the struggle of fitting the language and board specific libraries within tiny memory constraints. We discuss projects and boards for beginners, and many resources to learn more.

Course Spotlight: Getting Started With MicroPython

Are you interested in the Internet of Things, home automation, and connected devices? If so, then you’re in luck! In this course, you’ll learn about MicroPython and the world of electronics hardware. You’ll set up your board, write your code, and deploy a MicroPython project to your own device.

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Have you started to use Python’s assignment expression in your code? Maybe you have heard them called the walrus operator. Now that the controversy over the introduction in Python 3.8 has settled down, how can you use assignment expressions effectively in your code? This week on the show, David Amos is back, and he’s brought another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects.

David shares a recent article by previous guest Brett Cannon about what to do if you botch a release to PyPI. It’s a valuable resource to keep bookmarked for when things go sideways. We also talk about a recent project by Brett, a Python launcher for Unix based operating systems.

We cover several other articles and projects from the Python community including, a Python framework with a built-in database and authorization support from Replit, do coders learn how to use entire libraries just from the documentation, how to use sleep() to code a Python uptime bot, monitor your home’s temperature and humidity with Raspberry Pis and Prometheus, and a fast Settlers of Catan Python implementation with a strong AI player.

Course Spotlight: Using sleep() to Code a Python Uptime Bot

In this course, you’ll learn how to add time delays to your Python programs. You’ll use the built-in time module to add Python sleep() calls to your code. To practice, you’ll use time.sleep() when making an uptime bot that checks whether a website is still live.

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The Walrus Operator: Python 3.8 Assignment Expressions – In this tutorial, you’ll learn about assignment expressions and the walrus operator. The biggest change in Python 3.8 was the inclusion of the := operator, which you can use to assign variables in the middle of expressions. You’ll see several examples of how to take advantage of this new feature.

Replit.web: A Python Framework With Built-in Database and Auth Support – The folks over at replit have released a new Python web framework with built-in authentication and database support and, more interestingly, hosting. In a few lines of code, you can have a Python web app connected to a database, authenticating users, and hosted on replit. This could be a great tool for quickly building and hosting prototypes or experimental projects.

Do Coders Really Learn How to Use Entire Libraries Just From the Documentation? – How do you learn a new library? Do you start with the docs? What do you do if the documentation is lacking? Or do you first search for video lessons or written tutorials?

Using sleep() to Code a Python Uptime Bot – Learn how to add time delays to your Python programs. You’ll use the built-in time module to add Python sleep() calls to your code. To practice, you’ll use time.sleep() when making an uptime bot that checks whether a website is still live.

Monitor Your Home’s Temperature and Humidity With Raspberry Pis and Prometheus – Do you enjoy collecting and analyzing data, or are you looking for a fun project to improve your data skills? Do you also enjoy tinkering with hardware? Then this project might be a fun one for you to check out! Learn how to set up a RaspberryPi using Prometheus to collect and monitor temperature sensor data.

What to Do When You Botch a Release on PyPI – Mistakes happen to everyone. But what do you do if you make a mistake when releasing a package to PyPI? Don’t panic! There are a number of things you can do to fix a bad release. This article walks you through several scenarios and suggested solutions.

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How do you define open source software? What are the challenges an open source project and maintainers face? How do maintainers receive financial, legal, security, or other types of help? This week on the show, we have Josh Simmons from Tidelift and the Open Source Initiative to help answer these questions.

Josh does open source ecosystem strategy for Tidelift. We talk about what Tidelift is and how they support maintainers. We also discuss the types of support maintainers need and the barriers that can block that support.

Josh also serves as President of the Open Source Initiative. OSI is actively involved in open source community-building and education. He talks about how collectives and foundations can be powerful tools in the open source ecosystem.

Course Spotlight: Python Inner Functions

In this step-by-step course, you’ll learn what inner functions are in Python, how to define them, and what their main use cases are. You’ll see how to write helper functions, create closure factory functions, and how to add behavior to existing functions with decorators.

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Have you heard of FastAPI? An application programming interface is vital to make your software accessible to users across the internet. FastAPI is an excellent option for quickly creating a web API that implements best practices. This week on the show, David Amos is back, and he’s brought another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects.

We share an introduction to FastAPI written by the framework’s author, Sebastián Ramírez. The goal behind the article is to get you started creating production-ready APIs.

David covers an article about the Python import system and how it remains a mystery for many Python developers. We share some additional Real Python resources on the import system and statements.

We cover several other articles and projects from the Python community including, a buffet of specialized data types with Python’s collections module, maps with Django using GeoDjango, PostGIS, and Leaflet, moving SciPy to the Meson build system, what’s new in Python 3.11, a community-maintained Python framework for creating mathematical animations, and easily make PDFs with pdfme.

Course Spotlight: Python Modules and Packages: An Introduction

In this course, you’ll explore Python modules and Python packages, two mechanisms that facilitate modular programming. See how to write and import modules so you can optimize the structure of your own programs and make them more maintainable.

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Python’s collections: A Buffet of Specialized Data Types – Python has a number of useful data types beyond the built-in lists, tuples, dicts, and sets. In this tutorial, you’ll learn all about the series of specialized container data types in the collections module from the Python standard library. Learning the collections module is a great way to level up your Python programming knowledge!

Maps With Django: GeoDjango, PostGIS, and Leaflet – This quickstart guide shows you how to create a web map using Django’s GeoDjango module. Data for the map is stored in a PostgreSQL database using the PostGIS extension, and Leaflet, a lightweight JavaScript library for interactive maps, is used on the front-end. You’ll not only learn how to set up the Django application and display the map but also add markers to the map and automatically center the map on the application user’s location.

Moving SciPy to the Meson Build System – In accordance with PEP 632, distutils will be deprecated in Python 3.10 and in Python 3.12 it will be removed. This posed a big problem for SciPy, since it’s build system depends on NumPy’s distutils module — an extension of Python’s built-in distutils. The SciPy maintainers set out to find a new build system and settled on Meson, which solves a number of build issues and even scores a 4x speed-up on build times!

What’s New In Python 3.11 – Python 3.10 is still in beta, but work on Python 3.11 has already begun. Big changes include some major improvements to tracebacks as well as a new cube root function in the math module.

Behind the Scenes: How the Python Import System Works – Importing a Python module is probably one of the most used language features. But Python’s import system remains a mystery to many Python developers, even folks with years of experience. This in-depth article explores how the import system works from the top down. You’ll learn everything from the difference is between absolute and relative imports to how Python searches for modules and packages and resolves naming conflicts.

Using FastAPI to Build Python Web APIs – In this guide, written by FastAPI creator Sebastián Ramírez, you’ll learn the main concepts of FastAPI and how to use it to quickly create web APIs that implement best practices by default. By the end of it, you will be able to start creating production-ready web APIs.

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Are you still sprinkling print statements throughout your code while writing it? Print statements are often clunky and offer only a limited view of the state of your code. Have you thought there must be a better way? This week on the show, we have Nina Zakharenko to discuss her conference talk titled “Goodbye Print, Hello Debugger.”

We talk about how to get started debugging your code by adding a single keyword. Nina discusses the differences between debugging on the command line vs using the tools included with an Integrated Development Environment(IDE). She also shares tricks and best practices. If you haven’t seen Nina’s conference talk, it’s a great starting point.

We also talk about working through the last 18 months and how to recharge your creative batteries. We briefly discuss two other presentations Nina gave about CircuitPython and getting started with electronics and Python.

Course Spotlight: Python Debugging With pdb

In this hands-on course, you’ll learn the basics of using pdb, Python’s interactive source code debugger. pdb is a great tool for tracking down hard-to-find bugs, and it allows you to fix faulty code more quickly.

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How is Python being used today, and what can you do with the language? Do you want to develop software, dive into data science and math, automate parts of your job and digital life, or work with electronics? This week on the show, David Amos is back, and he’s brought another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects.

We talk about a Real Python article that covers the incredible variety of ways you can use Python. David shares an article about the pythonic way to count objects using the Counter class from the collections module. We discuss the ways it can lead to cleaner and more efficient code.

We cover several other articles and projects from the Python community including, the inaugural CPython developer-in-residence, typeclasses in Python, GitHub Copilot writes a text-based game, friendlier tracebacks in REPLs (including Jupyter), 120+ interactive interview challenges, a module that helps you build complex pipelines of batch jobs, and a tool for plotting in the terminal.

Course Spotlight: Understanding Python List Comprehensions

Python list comprehensions make it easy to create lists while performing sophisticated filtering, mapping, and conditional logic on their members. In this course, you’ll learn when to use a list comprehension in Python and how to create them effectively.

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Łukasz Langa Is the Inaugural CPython Developer-in-Residence

What Can I Do With Python? – You’ve finished a course or finally made it to the end of a book that teaches you the basics of programming with Python. You’ve learned about variables, lists, tuples, dictionaries, for and while loops, conditional statements, object-oriented concepts, and more. So, what’s next? What can you do with Python nowadays?

Typeclasses in Python – Sometimes you need to change the behavior of a function based on the type of argument passed to it. This is a classic example of polymorphism in programming. In this article, you’ll learn how this is typically done in Python, compare that to polymorphism in other languages, and see how the new classes library can make the whole process easier.

Copilot Writes a Text-Based Game in Python – GitHub’s new Copilot feature has a lot of people talking. The project’s goal is to be an AI pair programmer — a tool that can suggest entire lines of code or even entire functions! In this amusing article, one developer who gained access to Copilot’s technical preview shares how the AI wrote an entire text-based adventure game that turned out to be the solution to an exercise from a Python instructional book.

Python’s Counter: The Pythonic Way to Count Objects– In this step-by-step tutorial, you’ll learn how to use Python’s Counter to count several repeated objects at once. You’ll also learn how to use Counter objects to enhance other computations that you do in Python.

interactive-coding-challenges: 120+ Interactive Python Coding Interview Challenges With Anki Flashcards

Friendlier Tracebacks in REPLs (Including Jupyter) – Tracebacks are often the start of any Python debugging journey. But tracebacks can be difficult to read and confusing to beginners. The friendly-traceback project aims to lift the veil of confusion for tracebacks by providing more helpful error messages with lots of context. New updates to the project include better tracebacks in Jupyter Notebooks!

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Do you wonder what the future may hold for the Python language? Are there speed improvements coming soon? What if you could be in the room while the core developers discuss Python’s future? This week on the show, we have Joanna Jablonski, who was invited to the Python Language Summit 2021 as a journalist to summarize and document the event.

A small group of core developers from the Python community gather to work toward a healthy future for the language. Through presentations and group discussions, they share insights, ideas, and potential problems.

Joanna has been the executive editor at Real Python and she was invited to write a series of blog posts for the Python Software Foundation (PSF) that summarize the presentations and deeper conversations of the summit. We walk through the two days and discuss the topics covered.

Several of the presentations focused on performance and speeding up CPython. There were conversations about packaging, documentation, the standard library, handling exceptions, testing, and more.

Course Spotlight: Defining and Calling Python Functions

In this course, you’ll learn how to define and call your own Python function. You’ll also learn about passing data to your function and returning data from your function back to its calling environment.

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