James Powell explains Python's data model, decorators, generators, and context managers through live-coding in Vim.
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About PyData and being proficient in Python
Important features of Python and audience survey
Data model methods
__init__ method
__repr__ method
__add__ method
__len__ method
__call__ method
Metaclasses and the problem of writing safe library code
Contraints on the library code using assert
Compile-time vs run time executable code
Disassembling class code and using __build_class__
Constraining library code with the metaclass pattern
Introducing decorators
Code inspection
Writing a timer function
Decorator syntactic sugar
Writing a ntimes decorator
Wrapping functions into class
Eager execution
__iter__ and __next__ methods
yield and the Generator syntax
Coroutines and interleaving
Context Managers
Setup and teardown of resources
Applying to SQL transactions
__enter__ and __exit__ methods
Links between generators and context managers
Refactoring the SQL query code
Wrapping up
Opinions on writing clear code in Python
Q&A
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Why it's here
6 people recommend this
What people say. Highly recommended as one of the best and most engaging technical explanations of advanced Python concepts.
m
mattst88on Hacker News • Recommends
On “Resources to Learn Python in 2020”
I work professionally in C/C++ and the instances I needed to use Python I always felt like I was missing the core understanding of the language and was writing C in a different syntax. I found James Powell's PyData 2017 talk "So you want to be a Python expert?" ( link to this video ) to be incredible at helping me to gain that core understanding of the language. It's legitimately the best technical talk I think I've seen and I can't recommend it highly enough.
On “Advanced Python Mastery – A Course by David Beazley”
Another good (and entertaining) resource is James Powell's talk "So you want to be a Python expert" 1, the best explanation I've seen of decorators, generators and context managers. Good intro to the Python data (object) model too. 1link to this video
I recommend any of the talks by James Powell at PyData. For example this one link to this video Edit: maybe this one on Numpy may be more relevant: link
On “Ask HN: Which book would you recommend for learning Python in detail?”
James Powell frequently gives very deep Python talks at conferences like Pydata, and shows you his coding approach in real time on Vim. Plenty of them are on YouTube and are worth a watch. This one 1 entitled "So you want to be a Python expert?" has almost half a million views! 1link to this video
On “Ask HN: Reading list for being a better engineer?”
Understanding Python's data model helped me become a better software engineer. I'd recommend watching this PyData talk (James Powell: So you want to be a Python expert? | PyData Seattle 2017 - link to this video ) and then using the official doc as a reference which is also fun to read: link
On “C ruined all languages for me idk what to do ”
Here are some tips I’ve picked up throughout the years:
- The deeper you learn a language, the more interesting it is, which also makes it more fun
- Find something you like about the language
- Force yourself to go *actually* learn how to think in the way the language requires you.
On a personal note, I started programming with C++, so when I started learning Python, I *hated* it. I didn’t like dynamic typing, I wasn’t used to the white space, etc etc.
However, when I learned about a) how easy strings were and b) how much complexity Python was hiding in the form of meta classes and dunder methods (this talk is a good overview), I learned to love the language. I still have my issues with…
