Topic Archive

Tools

  • The missing 66% of your skillset

    Julian Sequeira

    ·

    ·

    2 min read

    Bob and I have spent many years as Python devs, and 6 years coaching with Pybites and we can safely say that being a Senior Developer is only about 1/3 Python knowledge. The other 60% is the ecosystem. It’s the tooling. It’s all of the tech around Python that makes you stand out from the rest. This is the biggest blind spot keeping developers stuck in Tutorial Hell. You spend hours memorising obscure library features, but you crumble when asked to configure a CI/CD pipeline. (That’s not just made up by the way – many of you in dev roles will have seen…

  • Case Study: Developing and Testing Python Packages with uv

    Michael Aydinbas

    ·

    ·

    11 min read

    Structuring Python projects properly, especially when developing packages, can often be confusing. Many developers struggle with common questions: To help clarify these common challenges, I’ll show how I typically set up Python projects and organise package structures using the Python package and environment manager, uv. The challenge A typical and recurring problem in Python is how to import code that lives in a different place from where it is called. There are two natural ways to organise your code: modules and packages. Things are fairly straightforward in the beginning, when you start to organise your code and put some functionality…

  • Create Project-Less Python Utilities with uv and Inline Script Metadata

    Bob Belderbos

    ·

    ·

    4 min read

    The other day I wanted to demo the Google Books API (we use for Pybites Books) to somebody so I started to write some code on the fly to call its endpoints using httpx. Then I thought it would be nice to turn it into a small script to search for books and view details from the command line. And, to make it a one-off script that I could run without having to create a full Python project. Enter inline script metadata + uv Now with PEP 723 – Inline script metadata 🐍 you can:   This PEP specifies a…

  • Creating a Fitness Tracker App with Python Reflex

    Bob Belderbos

    ·

    ·

    10 min read

    In this post, I will build a simple fitness tracker app using Python Reflex. Reflex is a Python library that allows you to create reactive applications using a functional and declarative approach. We will use Reflex to create a simple fitness tracker app that allows you to log the amount of workouts completed per week. This is how it will look: Install Reflex After making a new directory and cd’ing into it, I’ll use uv (anybody not yet using this amazing tool? 💡) to initialize a project and install Reflex: The awesome thing about uv is that you don’t have…

  • OpenStreetMap, Overpass API and Python

    Judith Vockenroth

    ·

    ·

    7 min read

    OpenStreetMap (OSM) is known for being an open source project that allows people to browse the world map and to plan routes. However it is more than that. Among others it provides a read-only API that allows users to query for very diverse map data: Overpass API Data structure of OSM To understand the structure of the queries, we first need to understand how OSM saves its data. OSM uses basic data structures: node, way, and relation. Each element can have multiple tags, which consist of a key-value pair and they help specify the features of each element. Nodes also…

  • A Better Place to Put Your Python Virtual Environments

    Ahmed Lemine

    ·

    ·

    9 min read

    Virtual environments are vital if you’re developing Python apps or just writing some Python scripts. They allow you to isolate different app requirements to prevent conflicts and keep your global OS environment clean. This is super important for many reasons. The most obvious one is requirements isolation. Let’s say that you’re working on two different projects: Although you can install both Python 3.6 and Python 3.10 globally on your OS, you may have to manually set the default version which may end up breaking some packages in your OS that expect the other version. As for other packages, “requests” in…

  • How to Send Email Notifications Using Sendgrid and GitHub Actions

    Bob Belderbos

    ·

    ·

    6 min read

    Introduction As a Python developer I want to stay up2date with trends and useful tips & tricks. Of course there are great newsletters like Pycoders, but those are already hitting my inbox. Let’s look at Planet Python in this article, an aggregation site/ service that indexes a lot of good Python blog feeds. Keeping an eye on that resource will be useful. In this article we’ll build a tool to parse this resource and get a daily email with new articles. We will use Sendgrid for the emailing and GitHub Actions to run it automatically. Planet Python parse and email…

  • Maximizing Your Developer Experience (DX) with Adam Johnson: Git Mastery, Django and Open Source

    PyBites Team

    ·

    ·

    1 min read

    This week we talk with Adam Johnson, Python developer / consultant, Django steering counsel member and prolific book author. Listen here: Or check it out on our YouTube channel: We start off with some wins, then we dive into his new Boost your Git DX book. We also discuss:• Adam’s focus on DX or “developer experience” in his books.• State of Python tooling.• Future of Django + Htmx / front-end dev.• Open source projects motivation and tips for (aspiring) contributors.• Tips to diversify one’s skill set and contribute as a Python developer.• Technical blogging.• Book / resource recommendations. Links & Resources:–…

  • Sentry, a Developer’s Partner, Interview with Co-Founder David Cramer

    PyBites Team

    ·

    ·

    1 min read

    This week PDM coaches Hugh + Ryan talk with David Cramer, Co-founder and CTO of Sentry! Listen here: Also on YouTube: They delve into the journey of Sentry and its rise as an essential tool for developers. David highlights how Sentry’s developer-first approach significantly contributed to its growth. They touch upon community-centric decisions and the emphasis Sentry places on giving back. The discussion also ventures into the synergy between Sentry and Python and the attributes they prioritize when hiring. This episode is a treasure trove of insights for anyone in the tech industry. Chapters00:00 Introduction03:00 Wins of week06:32 What is…