Bob

Bob Belderbos

Bob studied business economics, but got fired up about programming early in his career. He taught himself web design / coding and started living his biggest passion: automate the boring stuff, making other people's lives easier. Since then he has coded projects accruing millions in cost savings and built a coding platform that has taught Python to thousands of people worldwide. He deeply cares about helping other people succeed. His biggest win will be your next win!

Best Practices, Concepts, Developer

⚠️Why you should avoid import * in Python 🐍

By on 15 August 2023

Anyone who’s worked with Python knows that modules can be a Godsend, saving you time, effort, and many lines of code. They even have namespacing built-in 💪 😍 To expand on this a bit: However, not all ways of using modules are equally beneficial. In this article, we will discuss why using import * can… Continue reading ⚠️Why you should avoid import * in Python 🐍

Best Practices, Concepts, Tips

The Arbitrary (Keyword) Arguments (args and kwargs) don’t come “for free” in Python

By on 9 August 2023

Python allows you to use *args and **kwargs in function definitions to accept an arbitrary number of positional and keyword arguments, respectively. Here is a simple example: Different types of function arguments In the above example, the arbitrary_args function is defined to accept any number of positional and keyword arguments using the *args and **kwargs… Continue reading The Arbitrary (Keyword) Arguments (args and kwargs) don’t come “for free” in Python

Best Practices, Developer, Tips

Avoiding Silent Failures in Python: Best Practices for Error Handling

By on 7 August 2023

In the world of programming, errors are inevitable. But how we choose to handle these errors can make the difference between a system that is robust and user-friendly and one that is fraught with ambiguous issues 😱 The Zen of Python famously states, “Errors should never pass silently.” This principle emphasizes the importance of addressing… Continue reading Avoiding Silent Failures in Python: Best Practices for Error Handling

Tools, Developer

How to better streamline your Python project using a Makefile

By on 2 August 2023

Makefiles are awesome, and you can use them in your Python projects too (they are not only to compile and build C/C++ projects that is) 😎 They help you automate various tasks and streamline the development process overall 🚀 They allow you to: – Manage dependencies– Run tests– Build documentation– Format your code– Lint and… Continue reading How to better streamline your Python project using a Makefile

Best Practices, Modules

5 tips to learn any new Python library faster

By on 19 April 2023

This was a Pybites email first. To always get the latest and greatest content, subscribe here. Lately I have been learning some new libraries for weekly PDM Code Clinic demo sessions (e.g. PyScript, Flet, PySimpleGUI, Playwright, htmx, Redis, Leaflet, etc.) There is a general approach I take that makes this less painful and more fun.… Continue reading 5 tips to learn any new Python library faster

Developer

Teachers aren’t the only ones who teach. As a developer you’re expected to do so too …

By on 2 March 2023

This article appeared first as a Pybites email. To receive this kind of content first, subscribe to our weekly newsletter. For a long time, I thought I should not make mistakes when teaching other developers. I would hide behind slides because they were “hardcoded”, safe, or I’d do a lot of editing of my coding… Continue reading Teachers aren’t the only ones who teach. As a developer you’re expected to do so too …