I just read about Python 3.4’s release notes. I found a nice little gem. I didn’t know what “Single Dispatch Functions” were all about. Sounded very abstract. But it’s actually pretty cool, and covered in PEP 443. What’s going on here is that Python has added support for another kind of polymorphism known as “single … Continue reading Functional dynamic dispatch with Python’s new singledispatch decorator in functools
Python has a number of protocols that classes can opt into by implementing one or more “dunder methods”, aka double-underscore methods. Examples include __call__ (make an object behave like a function) or __iter__ (make an object iterable). The choice of wrapping these functions with double-underscores on either side was really just a way of keeping … Continue reading Python double-under, double-wonder
PyCon US 2013 is coming up in March. It is in beautiful Santa Clara, right outside of Palo Alto / San Francisco. The main conference is sold out, but there are still a few spots open for the tutorial sessions. (Here’s a secret: the tutorials are where I’ve always learned the most at PyCon.) Most … Continue reading Solidify your Python web skills in two days at PyCon US 2013
Wanna build a web app fast? Know a little bit about programming but want to build a modern web app using well-supported, well-documented, and universally accessible languages? You’ll love these Python, HTML/CSS, and JavaScript resources. I’ve been sharing these documents with friends who ask me, “I want to start programming and build a web app, … Continue reading Build a web app fast: Python, HTML & JavaScript resources
It’s hard to find me gushing more unapologetically than when I talk about the virtues of my favorite programming language, Python. Indeed, my life for the last 3 years has been dominated by the language. In many ways, pursuing a startup and enduring the associated financial hardship was partially because I had become frustrated with … Continue reading import this: learning the Zen of Python with code and slides
I’ve been quite busy with work lately, so haven’t had time to send a few posts toward my blog. However, I have been working on some spare time and work-related projects that I’d love to share with everyone here. Among them: Lifehacking through standing desks. I have created a standing desk setup for my home … Continue reading Upcoming: standing desk setup, Python training, Groovy/JavaScript articles
Python Training Course public materials. Here is how you use the web-based presentation: C key opens up a bottom-right hand “control panel”, where you can skip ahead a slide or back, and use the pull-down to jump ahead multiple slides quickly. When in the control panel, the O button will switch to Outline/Handout mode, where … Continue reading Python Training
I was a bona fide Java programmer for 5 years before I started working on Aleph Point and Parse.ly. I truly believe that Python and JavaScript are fundamentally better languages than Java for a variety of reasons born out of experience with each of them. (Note: Before this gets marked as flamebait, please notice that … Continue reading Groovy, the Python of Java
Pythonic isn’t just idiomatic Python — it’s tasteful Python. It’s less an objective property of code, more a compliment bestowed onto especially nice Python code. The reason Pythonistas have their own word for this is because Python is a language that encourages good taste; Python programmers with poor taste tend to write un-Pythonic code. This … Continue reading Pythonic means idiomatic and tasteful
PIDA 0.2.2 was released recently. This is truly a novel development in the Python/OSS world. What PIDA provides is a nice plugin system and the “makings” of an IDE. So, in a nice IDE you have a class browser, an integrated debugger, a profiler, maybe even a RAD-like GUI builder, an interpreter console, etc. The … Continue reading PIDA: Python Integrated Development Application
