- 📁 Models - Some python classes
- 📁 PrintXY - A base puzzle posted by Tim Sweeny on Twitter
- 📁 corepy - A Pluralsight course notes and code
- 📁 crafting - Solving a crafting problem
- 📁 demo_reader - A Pluralsight course notes and code
- 📁 functions - A Pluralsight course notes and code
- 📁 puzzle - Solved a puzzle
I remember way back in the day (2002) I was laid off, got 6 months of severance, and started to look for my "dream job". I networked and interviewed like crazy, submitting my resume to the likes of Pixar, ILM, and Digital Domain. I finally got a phone screen/interview with Dreamworks. Things were going amazingly well until that fatal question "Do you know Python?". I said no. Right then and there the interview was pretty much over. It's as if someone said "My socks are pink" (inside joke) and the interview wrapped up.
After the interview I hopped on the internet and found that Python was just another scripting language. SERIOUSLY? Like I couldn't learn another scripting language in about a week? I took a look at it and was not impressed. Since when does white space matter? Is this the FORTRAN of scripting languages? I'll stick with my .bat files and C++ thank you very much.
Cut to 18 years later (5/18/2020) and I'm trying to see what all the damn hype is about Python. I LOVE Monty Python 🥥🥥🦜, so I figured I'd give it another go. And this is my story as it unfolds...
- Download Python
- Version 3.8.3 (as of 5/19/2020)
💻 Setup Visual Studio Code
- Select the Python interpreter (probably if you have multiple versions of Python).
- Visual Studio Code prompts (recommends)
pylint
I installed Python in the default directory, which I'm guessing is ~\AppData\Local\Programs\Python since I wasn't paying much attention.
I have not cluttered up my path variable with all of the Python stuff, so I've been doing everything "brute force". (You should also be able to use the py alias if everything is installed correctly.) Use the Package Installer for Python (PIP).
~\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\Scripts\pip.exe install pylint
I installed the linter, but it will also nag at you saying that your version of pip is out of date and to run the following command.
~\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\python.exe -m pip install --upgrade pip
Once you've created your "Hello World" file, then you'll want to set up the debugger tell it what version of Python you want to use and the location of the python.exe file which is stored in the settings.json file. You will also need a launch.json file which describes how the debugger will launch. VS Code has a template for this where you can use the current active file or attach to a process.
~\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\Scripts\pip.exe install autopep8
Installing autopep8 will allow VS Code to format your code using the [SHIFT ALT F] command.
When I first looked at Python quite a few years ago I immediately hated it "What do you mean whitespace matters? Are we back in the FORTRAN days?"
And I'm almost POSITIVE that there are people out there that insist on using spaces, and probably only TWO.
Right now, I don't hate it, but after using it a bit... It really feels like BASIC (I'm assuming without the GOTOs)
The choice to exclude ++? I don't get it. If you have the += operator, then why not include ++? Did C++ patent the use of ++? I don't think so.
except vs catch? Maybe I'm just so used to the "try/catch" syntax that "except" seems so foreign to me. "Handle your exceptions in the except block." Hmmmm... Maybe that does sound better than "Handle your exceptions in the catch block".
So basically a colon ":" says that there is "more" to come, and as long as it's indented then that's the block of code which is "more".
"Type Hinting" wasn't added until 3.5, but I would definitely recommend this for more readable and structured code.
docstrings allow you to document your code as explained down in the References section below.
I'm STILL struggling to see why people are so gaga over Python. Maybe I'll get it one day. And then again...
- Inheritance / Interfaces / Polymorphism
- Public / Private? NO! Everything is public. "private" variables are marked with a leading underscore.
- IoC Container
- Threading
- Reflection (call a method based on its string name / metadata on a class)
- Website
- Unit Tests
- Blender (Application Scripting)
- Try this on my Mac
These tenets can be accessed in the REPL by entering import this
>>> import this
The Zen of Python, by Tim Peters
- Beautiful is better than ugly.
- Explicit is better than implicit.
- Simple is better than complex.
- Complex is better than complicated.
- Flat is better than nested.
- Sparse is better than dense.
- Readability counts.
- Special cases aren't special enough to break the rules.
- Although practicality beats purity.
- Errors should never pass silently.
- Unless explicitly silenced.
- In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess.
- There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it.
- Although that way may not be obvious at first unless you're Dutch.
- Now is better than never.
- Although never is often better than right now.
- If the implementation is hard to explain, it's a bad idea.
- If the implementation is easy to explain, it may be a good idea.
- Namespaces are one honking great idea -- let's do more of those!
- Learn Python - Full Course for Beginners
- This was the first one I found. I should have stopped watching, but I couldn't! The guy was so "chill" so I listened and did my own thing in some of these sammple files.
- Python: The Big Picture
- What a refreshing change from the "chill" video above. You will need a subscription to Pluralsight though.
- Core Python: Getting Started
- An amazing and thorough course of the core material.
- I pronounce it "Pie-THON" and this guy says "Pie-thun" (and "I-cun" vs "I-CON"); I chuckled the entire class.
- Core Python: Organizing Larger Programs
- Same guy as above course.