Over the years, I’ve covered a wide variety of topics on my website. This page is my curated view of some of my more popular articles that I’ve created.
Python
Python is the topic I write about most often. Here are some articles that people enjoyed:
- Consistent Python code with Black explains how to add the Black code formatter to Python projects and teams. The article covers the benefits of Black and walks you through the setup to add Black to editors and continuous integration.
- Deciphering Python: How to use Abstract Syntax Trees (AST) to understand code is a primer that covers how Python processes source code. After explaining ASTs, the article illustrates how to write code that can use an AST.
- Teaching a kid to code with Pygame Zero is an exploration of Pygame Zero that I did with my (then six year old) son. We built a game together and both learned a ton of stuff along the journey.
- A complete guide to i18n in Python covers an opinionated viewpoint on how to add internationalization to your Python project. From start to finish, I explain all the steps needed to make Python code translatable.
Videos
Some of my content is posted on YouTube for those that are more visual learners.
- Python Testing 101 with pytest is a presentation I did at Python Frederick in March of 2019. It’s an introduction into Python testing that assumes no prior knowledge of testing.
- Building SaaS with Python and Django shows the entire playlist of my Twitch stream recordings where I build a Django application and cover all the details of putting an app onto the internet.
- Pipfile and pipenv is another Python Frederick presentation that is from August 2017. We looked at the Pipfile format and how you can use pipenv to manage your project’s dependencies.
- Web frameworks shootout is my attempt to explain a variety of popular Python web frameworks and compare and contrast them. It’s the recording from the Python Frederick meeting in October 2017.
Other Articles
- Supercharging Vim is a series of articles that dive into the Vim text editor and a variety of tools that make working with Vim awesome.
- Local web development vs Vagrant vs Docker: What’s right for you? looks at different modes for developing software. Each mode has positive and negative aspects, and I explain why your team might pick one style or another.
- No nitpicking in code reviews covers my opinions on code reviews from my many years of doing reviews.
- Feature flags and waffles looks at how to release software in a controlled way. The article uses the Django Waffle project to illustrate the use of flags to gate when users see new features.
- A “simple” D3.js area chart explains the basics of the D3.js charting library. It walks through an example of the tool and how to think about the data structure.