PyCoder’s Weekly | Issue #354

CPython Governance News, Python Dev Survey Results, CPython 3.8, and More

#354 – FEBRUARY 5, 2019

Wow, so much has happened in the Python world last week!

I don’t even know where to begin here…

This issue is chock-full of actual Python news and, as usual, we’ve also got some interesting articles and tutorials for you.

Happy Pythoning!

— Dan Bader, Editor

2019 Python Steering Council Election Results
Voting for the first Python steering council election following PEP 8100 closed on February 4. The members of the first steering council are: Barry Warsaw, Brett Cannon, Carol Willing, Guido van Rossum, Nick Coghlan. The council has broad authority to make decisions about the Python project, such as accepting or rejecting PEPs.
PYTHON.ORG

Python Development in Visual Studio Code
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use Visual Studio Code for Python development. By following examples, you’ll cover everything from how to install and configure Visual Studio Code for Python development to how to run tests and debug application, so you can use this powerful tool.
REAL PYTHON

Use Your Python Skills to Practice Interviewing for the Job You Want (Practice for Free on Pramp)

Increase your chance of success: Practice your interview skills for data structures & algorithms, system design, data science, and behavioral interviews on Pramp, the world’s leading peer-to-peer mock interview platform. Pramp is 100% free. Schedule your first interview →
PRAMPsponsor

Python Developers Survey 2018 Results
Results of the official Python Developers Survey 2018 by the Python Software Foundation and JetBrains. More than 20k responses from more than 150 countries were collected. One takeaway as a teaser: Python 3 adoption hit 84%!
PSF & JETBRAINS

How to Write a “Complete Program” From Start to Finish
When is a program ever complete or finished? Inspiring article that shows you the process for writing programs of various “completion levels” for the same original use case. (This uses Ruby for the code examples but the same principles apply in Python.)
RICHARD MAVIS

Dense Matrices Implementation in Python
Machine learning algorithms often use matrices to store data and compute operations such as multiplications or singular value decomposition. In this article you’ll see how matrices are implemented in Python: how the data is stored and how much memory it consumes.
STANISLAS MORBIEU

PyCon 2019 Reminders and Information
“PyCon 2019 Early Bird tickets have sold out but registration at regular price is still available. If you are planning to attend, register soon as tickets will sell out and you don’t want to miss out on the largest Python Conference.”
PYCON.BLOGSPOT.COM

Simple Dependent Types in Python
A dependent type is a type whose definition depends on a value. For example, a dependent function’s return type may depend on the value (not just type) of an argument. This article shows you how to implement type checking for dependent types with Mypy.
NIKITA SOBOLEV

Conda 4.6 Released
Includes better Pip interoperability and PowerShell support on Windows.
ANACONDA.COM

CPython 3.8.0a1 Now Available for Testing
The most visible change so far is probably the implementation of PEP 572: Assignment Expressions with the := operator.
PYTHONINSIDER.BLOGSPOT.COM

Discussions

A Modern Version of Python?
What the creator of Flask (and other popular Python projects) wishes for Python’s future.
ARMIN RONACHER

Smart Python Script Template
“When I start development of new code I always use a script that starts off with traceback and pdb“
HACKER NEWS

How to Toggle a Value in Python?
In case you ever wondered what the most efficient way was to toggle between 0 and 1.
STACK OVERFLOW

What Kind of Code Should You Put on Your GitHub Profile?
REDDIT

Do Not Try This at Home… ;-)
TWITTER.COM/REALPYTHON

Python Jobs

Python Web Developer (Remote)
PREMIERE DIGITAL SERVICES

Software Developer (Herndon, VA)
L2T, LLC

Tech Lead/Senior Software Engineer/Full Stack (Seattle, WA)
INDEED.COM INCUBATOR

Python Software Engineer (London, UK)
POLE STAR SPACE APPLICATIONS LTD.

Senior Engineer Python (Winterthur, Switzerland)
DEEP IMPACT AG

Sr Enterprise Python Developer (Toronto, Canada)
KOGNITIV

Senior Software Engineer (Santa Monica, CA)
GOODRX

Python Software Engineer (Palo Alto, CA)
RHYTHM DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS, INC

Software Engineer (Herndon, VA)
CHARON TECHNOLOGIES

Web UI Developer (Herndon, VA)
CHARON TECHNOLOGIES

More Python Jobs >>>

Articles & Tutorials

Python Quiz Collection
Use this collection of online Python quizzes as a fun way for you to check your learning progress and to test your skills. Each quiz takes you through a series of questions and you’ll receive a score at the end.
REAL PYTHON

Tutorial for Writing a systemd Service in Python
Many Linux distributions use systemd to manage the system’s services (or daemons), for example to automatically start certain services in the correct order when the system boots. This tutorial will help you write your first systemd service using Python. Nice writeup!
FLORIAN BRUCKER

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SPRINGBOARDsponsor

Hashable Objects Must Be Immutable
In Python, hashable objects must be immutable and mutable objects cannot be hashable. Why? Find out by reading the full article.
AL SWEIGART • Shared by Ricky White

Mock vs MagicMock in Python
What’s the difference between the two and when to use one over the other?
RYAN ERMITA • Shared by Ryan Ermita

Why Python Is Not My Favorite Language (2016)
Opinion-piece on some of Python’s flaws, as perceived by the author.
ZENHACK.NET opinion

HFT-like Trading Algorithm in 300 Lines of Python
A complete Python trading system example, using asyncio and 300 lines of code.
HITOSHI HARADA

Practical Machine Learning With Python and Keras
An introduction to machine learning with Python. Learn how to use the Keras library to train a simple neural network that recognizes handwritten digits.
DANIEL PYRATHON

API/REST Testing Like Chuck Norris With pytest-play
See how to write HTTP API tests with Pytest using YAML files thanks to pytest-play.
DAVIDE MORO

Single Linked Lists in Python, With Examples
See the different types of linked lists, how to traverse a linked list, how to insert and remove elements from a linked list, the different techniques to sort a linked list, how to reverse a linked list, and more.
USMAN MALIK

Instagram Street Art Dataset and Detection Model
How to build your own deep learning dataset and detection model using public Instagram photos and the TensorFlow and Keras frameworks.
LEONARD BOGDONOFF

Why I Chose Flask to Build sr.ht’s Mini-Services
“There are frameworks which are smaller still - but I think Flask hits a sweet spot. If you’re making a monolithic web app and can live within the on-rails Django experience, you might want to use it.”
DREW DEVAULT

Formatting Numbers With Thousands Separators
Quick tip: You can use f"{number:,}" to thousands-format an integer to a string.
PETERBE.COM

Projects & Code

agm: (Unofficial) Command Line Interface for Google APIs
ALEX WENNERBERG • Shared by Alex Wennerberg

awesome-python-security: Curated List of Python Security Related Resources
GITHUB.COM/GUARDRAILSIO • Shared by Python Bytes FM

StanfordNLP: NLP Python Library for Many Human Languages
GITHUB.COM/STANFORDNLP

python-cheatsheet: Comprehensive Python Cheatsheet
It is comprehensive, that’s for sure!
GITHUB.COM/GTO76

A Neural Network Framework in 25 LOC
“Framework” is a big word here, but this is a neat minimal example for a Python neural network.
GITHUB.COM/MACOURNOYER

RustPython: A Python Interpreter Written in Rust
Implements a basic Python 3.5+ interpreter in the Rust programming language.
GITHUB.COM/RUSTPYTHON

📆🐍 Upcoming Python Events

⋅ PyLadies LA February 5, 2019

⋅ Sydney Python User Group (SyPy) February 7, 2019

⋅ Python Miami February 9 to February 10, 2019

⋅ PyTennessee 2019 February 9 to February 11, 2019

⋅ DjangoGirls Bangalore February 9 to February 10, 2019

⋅ Edmonton Python User Group February 11, 2019

⋅ Python Atlanta February 14, 2019

⋅ PyCon Belarus 2019 February 15 to February 17, 2019