An Introduction to Python

A short peek into what makes Python great and a somewhat mindless ran about my favorite feature. HINT: It's not the whitespace.

First presented in PyCon PH 2014 - Feb 22, 2014.

Transcript

1. An Introduction to Python D. Yu
2. Me! • engageSPARK • PizzaPy.PH • not as smart as my name sounds like • that’s not me in the picture
4. This is not a technical talk.
5. This is a warm and fuzzy talk.
6. Please don’t leave.
7. “I thought this was going to be a technical talk.” • I don’t have the skills to teach you Python in 30 minutes. • There’s a workshop for beginners tomorrow. • There are better resources on the Internet.
8. “There are better resources on the Internet.” Arranged in alphabetical order to avoid arguments: • Codecademy’s Python Track • Learn Python the Hard Way • The Official Docs
9. So first things first...
10. What do people think of first when talking about Python?
11. The semantic whitespace!
12. In Python: def breakfast(): if coffee: dyu.drink(coffee) dyu.eat(anything) else: dyu.buy_coffee() Whitespace matters... In languages that use braces: void breakfast() { // intentionally made // to look bad if (coffee > 0) { dyu->drink(coffee); dyu->eat(anything); } else dyu->buy_coffee(); }
13. In Python: def breakfast(): if coffee: dyu.drink(coffee) dyu.eat(anything) else: dyu.buy_coffee() K&R? In languages that use braces: void breakfast() { // intentionally made // to look bad if (coffee > 0) { dyu->drink(coffee); dyu->eat(anything); } else dyu->buy_coffee(); }
14. In Python: def breakfast(): if coffee: dyu.drink(coffee) dyu.eat(anything) else: dyu.buy_coffee() Egyptian? In languages that use braces: void breakfast() { // intentionally made // to look bad if (coffee > 0) { dyu->drink(coffee); dyu->eat(anything); } else dyu->buy_coffee(); }
15. In Python: def breakfast(): if coffee: dyu.drink(coffee) dyu.eat(anything) else: dyu.buy_coffee() Single line special case? In languages that use braces: void breakfast() { // intentionally made // to look bad if (coffee > 0) { dyu->drink(coffee); dyu->eat(anything); } else dyu->buy_coffee(); }
16. Notice how the left side was consistent?
17. In Python: def breakfast(): if coffee: dyu.drink(coffee) dyu.eat(anything) else: dyu.buy_coffee() To be fair... In languages that use braces: void breakfast() { // intentionally made // to look bad if (coffee > 0) { dyu->drink(coffee); dyu->eat(anything); } else dyu->buy_coffee(); }
18. There should be one-- and preferably only one -- obvious way to do it.
19. Sing-along time.
20. Do you want to build…
21. a server?
22. Try out Salt or Ansible.
23. Do you want to build…
24. Do you want to build a web app?
25. Django, Flask, or Pyramid...
26. Do you want...
27. Do you want documentation?
28. PyDoc, Sphinx, and Read the Docs...
29. Do you want to build…
30. Do you want to build a snowman?
31. Frozen was made with Python too...
32. Python comes with a lot of good libraries and frameworks.
33. Python comes with batteries included.
34. Can anyone guess what my favorite Python feature is?
35. The semantic whitespace!
36. NO
37. There should be one-- and preferably only one -- obvious way to do it.
38. NO
39. Python comes with batteries included.
40. NO
41. So what is it?
42. My favorite Python feature is...
44. #python, #pythonph, and #django on Freenode
46. We have very strong women in the community: What our women are presenting: • data analytics • image processing • NLP What our men are presenting: • warm and fuzzy talks
47. culture of volunteerism and “paying it forward”
49. So why choose Python?
50. people > technology
51. Come for the whitespace. Stay for the people.
52. END DISCLAIMER: I’m a horrible person in real life and even worse on the Internet.