Ever had a Python function behave strangely, remembering values between calls when it shouldn’t? You’re not alone! This is one of Python’s sneakiest pitfalls—mutable default parameters. Recently someone asked for help in our Pybites Circle Community with a Bite exercise that seemed to be behaving unexpectedly. It turned out that this was a result of modifying a mutable parameter… Continue reading The Mutable Trap: Avoiding Unintended Side Effects in Python
Articles on best practices
Your First Python Open Source Contribution: A Step-By-Step Guide
By Bob Belderbos on 20 September 2023
Introduction I recently re-engaged with one of my open source projects and it was a rewarding experience. 🎉 It was a Pybites project I had written the core for years ago, but thanks to some amazing Pythonistas in our community it became a way more mature tool so I had to get acquainted again. I… Continue reading Your First Python Open Source Contribution: A Step-By-Step Guide
Common Python developer pitfalls and the 80/20 that really matters
By PyBites Team on 23 June 2022
Listen here: Welcome back to another Pybites podcast episode. In this episode we talk about common pitfalls you want to avoid when becoming a Python developer: Pitfall #1: Tutorial paralysisPitfall #2: Improper sequencingPitfall #3: Obsessing over Pythonic codePitfall #4: Going on your own for too long … after that we look at the 80/20 (aka… Continue reading Common Python developer pitfalls and the 80/20 that really matters
Code Better with Type Hints – Part 3
By Michael Aydinbas on 8 April 2022
This is the third part of a series of articles dealing with the type annotation system in Python, type hints for short. The second part discussed a set of beginner examples and highlighted the benefits of using type hints. This article series is aimed at newcomers to type hints and wants to help you get… Continue reading Code Better with Type Hints – Part 3
Code Better with Type Hints – Part 2
By Michael Aydinbas on 27 August 2021
This is the second part of a series of articles dealing with the type annotation system in Python, type hints for short. The first part gave an introduction to type hints. This article is aimed at newcomers to type hints and wants to help you get started. In this second part, I will go over… Continue reading Code Better with Type Hints – Part 2
Code Better with Type Hints – Part 1
By Michael Aydinbas on 12 August 2021
This is the first part of a series of articles dealing with the type annotation system in Python, type hints for short. With this opinionated article, I advocate the use of type hints. I want to explain why you should care and why your code will be better, more bug-free, more accessible, and easier to… Continue reading Code Better with Type Hints – Part 1
10 Things We Picked Up From Code Reviewing
By Bob Belderbos on 24 September 2020
Here are some things we picked up from code reviews that when addressed can make your code a lot cleaner.
7 Tips to Improve Your Error Handling in Python
By Bob Belderbos on 6 May 2020
Proper error handling can make your Python code simpler, more readable, and idiomatic. Here are 7 tips to help you.