python version
MP 147: How do you clean up when you have too many Pythons lying around? About a year and a half ago, I wrote a post about how to update the version of Python you're using locally. I was hoping that would be a guide I could refer
debugging
MP 146: What happens when the bug actually is in one of your project's dependencies? Note: This post is part of an ongoing series about debugging in Python. The posts in this series will only be available to paid subscribers for the first 6 weeks. After that they
debugging
MP 145: Why third-party code appears in tracebacks, and what you can learn from it. Note: This post is part of an ongoing series about debugging in Python. The posts in this series will only be available to paid subscribers for the first 6 weeks. After that they will be
debugging
MP 144: What happens when you fix a bug, only to find another bug right away? Note: This post is part of an ongoing series about debugging in Python. The posts in this series will only be available to paid subscribers for the first 6 weeks. After that they will
debugging
MP 143: How do you find a bug in a larger project? Note: This post is part of an ongoing series about debugging in Python. The posts in this series will only be available to paid subscribers for the first 6 weeks. After that they will be available to everyone.
PyCon
MP 142: Conference "open spaces" are a great place to get valuable feedback about new projects. Note: The debugging series will continue shortly. I spent a full week at PyCon, and my son graduated from middle school the day after I got back. Life has been busy. :) I
reflections
MP 141: Advice from a climbing guide that's quite relevant to programming. Note: The debugging series will continue shortly. I'm busy getting ready for PyCon, and haven't had time to finish the next post in that series yet. Since moving to North Carolina last
debugging
MP 140: How can we take a systematic approach to a "simple" bug? Note: This post is part of an ongoing series about debugging in Python. The posts in this series will only be available to paid subscribers for the first 6 weeks. After that they will be
debugging
MP 139: A systematic, inquisitive approach makes debugging simple issues easier, and complex bugs possible. Note: This post is part of an ongoing series about debugging in Python. The posts in this series will only be available to paid subscribers for the first 6 weeks. After that they will be
debugging
MP 138: Debugging is often learned "on the job", but you can learn a lot with structured practice. Note: This is the first post in a series about debugging. This post is free to everyone, but the remainder of the series will be available to paid subscribers only
real-world projects
MP 137: I just learned about the webbrowser module; maybe it can save you some work as well. Note: I'll start a new series about debugging on Thursday, April 3. The series will cover a variety of debugging tools and techniques, and will also offer a focused way
MP 136: I don't use it often, but I keep coming back to it. The walrus operator was introduced in Python 3.8, back in 2019. I haven't used it often over the last five years, but occasionally I find myself writing some code that looks
reflections
MP 135: They're focused on .gov right now, but I'm pretty sure they're coming for all of us. I can't believe I have to use the name DOGE seriously. When I first heard a new government organization would be formed with that
optimization
MP 134: Be careful about performance assumptions until you measure them! Note: In the next few weeks, I'm going to slow the pace slightly on Mostly Python. I've been writing at least one post per week for two full years now. I really enjoy writing these
refactoring
MP 133: Naming things is hard, but renaming things can be even harder. I've been steadily working through the remaining issues that should be closed before the 1.0 release of django-simple-deploy. One of the last things to address involves reconsidering a name that's used throughout
refactoring
MP 132: It's a simple built-in function, but using it isn't as straightforward as it might seem. A task that's come up repeatedly in my programming work involves looking through a collection of values, and taking an action if a specific item appears anywhere