Issue #15

Readability counts.

May 25, 2012

Readability counts.
Jython 2.7 alpha, daemon tutorial and much more. 

Issue #15 : Readability counts. 

 

Friday, May 25th, 2012


Hi Pythonistas,

We recieved our proof from the new sticker company we decided to go with this morning.  You can checkout the sticker before you get yours here. We were glad to recieve the first few letters in the mail this week, getting snail mail is quite exciting.

Another issue that emerged in last week's issue is that Gmail spam filters caught some of the emails we sent out. We have taken precautions to ensure that this doesn't happen again. We would appreciate that you mark it as not spam if it does end up in your spam folder. 


If you want a sticker send us a self addressed stamped envelope to (while supplies last):

44 Byward Market Square, Suite 210
Ottawa, Ontario Canada 
K1P 7A2

 
RSS and archives can be found here, and here respectively.

Be a hero (or heroine) and do the right thing. Follow @pycoders.

--
Mahdi and Mike
 

News and Latest Developments.

Python Redesign (readthedocs.org)
The Python Software Foundation (PSF) is accepting proposals for architecture, design, development, and maintenance of the primary web site for the Python programming language, www.python.org.

Light Table (kickstarter.com)
I am sure most have you seen the amazing Light Table IDE video by Chris Granger. Light Table is based on a very simple idea: we need a real work surface to code on, not just an editor and a project explorer. SO BOSS.  Support this awesome project.

PEP 405 (Built in Virtualenvs) has been accepted (python.org)
This is great news. Optional lightweight virtualenvs coming builtin and targeted for Python 3.3. Virtualenvs are a basic necessity for the Python hacker who works on more than one project, good to see see them ending up in core.

OUR SPONSOR POSTMATES IS HIRING!

Postmates is a small team with a huge vision that is changing local commerce.
They are currently hiring Python and iOS Engineers in San Francisco, California.


Discussions.

Mistakes and stylistic faux-pas? (reddit.com)
This is a great post on common mistakes people make when writing Python as well as stylistic faux-pas. Do you do any of the things mentioned in this discussion? Maybe it's time to take a look at that old code you wrote and spruce it up, and as always don’t forget to take a look at PEP 8.

Implicit Namespace Packages (reddit.com)
Good discussion on PEP 420 which specifies the that __init__.py will not be required in future versions of python. Packages can be created by making sub-directories of directories on sys.path, and will be additive if multiple subdirectories with the same name  are specified. __init__.py can still be used but will not be required.


Projects.

0bin (github.com)
0bin allows anybody to host a pastebin while welcoming any type of content to be pasted in it. The idea is that one can (probably...) not be legally entitled to moderate the pastebin content as he/she has no way to decrypt it. Seeing as many pastebin sites have been under fire for moderation this is quite awesome.

libsaas (github.com)
libsaas is an API library for SaaS API’s. It gives you an abstraction layer on top of existing SaaS API’s. It will perform all the hard work of dealing with these external API’s and  let you focus on the things that matter. Check it out.

gmvault (github.com)
Gmvault is a tool for backing up your gmail account and never lose email correspondence. Cross platform, with cool functionality like email restore.

Stallion (github.com)
This is pretty cool, from the site “Stallion is a Python Package Manager interface created to provide an "easy-to-use" visual interface for Python newcomers”. The interface to Stallion is nice, it is easy to setup and provides a very nice visual interface for navigating python packages.


Articles.

Building the big red button (metricfire.com)
I have always been waiting for an excuse to play with hardware and python. This cool article summaries how to create your own big red button from parts around your house and little bit of code.

Core Python Development: How to Submit a Patch (pythonlibrary.org)
Interested in contributing to core Python development? If so this post is a great place to get started. The auhor gives a brief but useful step by step example of how he created and submitted a patch to Python developers. Good work! t

My Road to the Python Commit Bit (hynek.me)
This is a great post by Hynek Schlawack about his road to getting the commit bit(committer permissions) on CPython. This is a great article to give you a taste of what it takes to get the commit bit in the Python community. Interested? What are you waiting for, start contributing!

Python built-in functions are awesome. Use them! (isbullsh.it)
The reason we love python for its strong built-in functions for doing all kinds of things. This article highlights how the unenlightened would go about doing things vs. people who are builtin aware. Good read.

Python Fundamentals Tutorial (marakana.com)
This is a very extensive tutorial of Python fundamentals. It starts right from opening the interpreter, and proceeds to touch on topics such as variable, control flow, code organization, regular expressions and lots of other things. Definitely worth reading for the beginner or someone looking to refresh their knowledge on a particular area of Python fundamentals.

Python Vs. Processing as a first language (blogspot.ca)
This is an interesting blog post about what is more appropriate as a first programming language, Python or Processing. While the author may be leaning towards processing, MIT would likely disagree with her assessment.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Pycoder's Weekly Issue # 16
June 1st, 2012

ABOUT THE CURATORS

This mailing list has been hand picked by Mahdi Yusuf and Mike Grouchy

ABOUT OUR SPONSORS

Postmates is a small team with a huge vision that is changing local commerce.
They are currently hiring. Check out their open positions here!

Follow on Twitter | Friend on Facebook | Forward to Friend 
Copyright © 2012 PyCoder’s Weekly, All rights reserved.





|