48 - Writing About Python with David Mertz

In this episode of the Python Show Podcast, I am pleased to have Tim Hopper as my guest. Tim is the author of the Python Developer Tooling Handbook, a free online resource for everyone.We chat about Python tooling, writing, Tim’s background, AI, and much more!You can check out Tim’s free handbook and some of his other work here:* Python Developer Tooling Handbook* pythonplot.com — a guide to Python plotting libraries* Into the Hopper — podcast on ML and software engineering Get full access to The Python Show at www.pythonshow.com/subscribe

In this episode, we hear from two sisters who put together a beginner's book about Python. The unique hook for their book is that one sister wrote the text while the other did the illustrations. Listen in as we learn about these incredible sisters and how they got into software programming, writing, and technical education.You can check out their book, Python Illustrated, on Packt or Amazon.Maaike is an Udemy instructor, and she also has courses on Pluralsight. Get full access to The Python Show at www.pythonshow.com/subscribe

In this episode, we have special guest Paul Everitt on the show to talk about the new Python Documentary that came our last week. Paul is the head of developer advocacy at JetBrains and a “Python oldster”.We chat about Python - the documentary, Paul’s start in programming as well as with Python, and much, much more!Links* Python: The Documentary* Paul’s GitHub page* Paul’s X account* How Python Grew From a Language to a Community - The New Stack Get full access to The Python Show at www.pythonshow.com/subscribe

In this episode, we have the honor of having Nicolas Rougier on our show. Nicolas is a researcher and team leader at the Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases (Bordeaux, France).We discuss how Nicolas utilizes computational models and neural networks in his research on the brain. We also talk about Nicolas’s history with Python, his work on Glumpy and VisPy, and much, much more!Links* Nicolas’s GitHub page * Scientific Visualization: Python & Matplotlib, an open access book on scientific visualization.* From Python to Numpy, an open access book on numerical computing* Braincraft* 100 Numpy Exercises is a collection of 100 numpy exercises, from easy to hard. Get full access to The Python Show at www.pythonshow.com/subscribe

In this episode, Mike Driscoll talks about his latest book, Creating TUI Applications with Textual and Python.Learn about how and why the book came about, what were some pain points in writing the book and how much fun Textual is. You will also learn about some of the current problems in self-publishing tech books.You can purchase Creating TUI Applications with Textual and Python on the following websites:* Amazon (Kindle and Paperback)* Leanpub (eBook)* Gumroad (eBook) Get full access to The Python Show at www.pythonshow.com/subscribe

In today’s podcast, we welcome Daniel Voigt Godoy to the show. Daniel is the author of Deep Learning with PyTorch Step-by-Step among other books.We chatted about the following topics:* Favorite Python packages* PyTorch* Book writing* and so much more!Be sure to check out the links section to learn more about Daniel!Links* The binary cross-entropy post: https://towardsdatascience.com/understanding-binary-cross-entropy-log-loss-a-visual-explanation-a3ac6025181a* The PyTorch post: https://medium.com/towards-data-science/understanding-pytorch-with-an-example-a-step-by-step-tutorial-81fc5f8c4e8e* Daniel’s new LLM book: https://leanpub.com/finetuning* Daniel’s books on Amazon Get full access to The Python Show at www.pythonshow.com/subscribe

In this episode, we have special guest, Jason McDonald, the author of Dead Simple Python from No Starch Press.We chatted about the following topics:* Python packages* Packaging in general* Python concurrency vs parallelism* Book writing* What’s coming in the 2nd edition of his Python book* and much more!LinksCheck out the following links from the show:* Get Dead Simple Python from No Starch* Check out Jason’s website* You can find Jason’s fiction books hereThe Python Show is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to The Python Show at www.pythonshow.com/subscribe

Imposter syndrome is a topic that some engineers and developers struggle with. It’s basically a type of self-doubt. WebMD has a good description and some good ideas for fighting self-doubt.Ways to combat imposter syndrome:* List out your accomplishments on a regular basis (keep it in a Google doc)* Review the list* If you receive compliments, record them (make a copy, write it down, take a screenshot) and store those too* Reminder: you will never stop learning. Embrace it!Sponsor🚨 Python devs, this one’s for you. If you’re tired of struggling with context-unaware coding tools, let me introduce you to a game-changer I’ve been exploring: Zencoder.Here’s why it’s caught my attention:1️⃣ Python-friendly to its core. Whether you’re building web apps, analyzing data, or automating tasks, Zencoder delivers context-aware suggestions that actually understand your project. No more “guessing” code completions. But don't worry it supports other programming languages as well!2️⃣ Custom AI agents you can create and tweak. Imagine having a bot that automates your repetitive Python tasks—refactoring, testing, debugging—leaving you free to tackle the fun parts.3️⃣ Natural language to code magic. Want to build a quick game for fun or a Python script in seconds? Just describe it in plain English, and Zencoder makes it happen. (Yes, it’s that good.)I’ve also been loving how it seamlessly supports unit testing and bug fixing—a massive time-saver for clean code lovers like me.Check out Zencoder if you’re looking for an AI assistant that actually gets Python devs: Get full access to The Python Show at www.pythonshow.com/subscribe

In this episode of The Python Show Podcast, we welcome Yury Selivanov as our guest. Yury is a core CPython developer and co-founder of EdgeDB and MagicStack.We chatted about many different topics, including the following:* Core Python development* EdgeDB and how it differs from relational databases* Python without the GIL* Python subinterpreters* Memhive* and more!LinksLearn more about our guest and the topics we talked about with the following links:* Yury’s GitHub page* EdgeDB on GitHub* EdgeDB’s website* PyCon 2024 - Yury Selivanov: Overcoming GIL with subinterpreters and immutability* An article about Memhive Get full access to The Python Show at www.pythonshow.com/subscribe

In this episode of the Python Show Podcast, David Mertz is our guest. David is a prolific writer about the Python programming language. From his extremely popular IPM Developerworks articles to his multiple books on the Python language, David has been a part of the Python community for decades.We ended up chatting about:* The history of Python* Book writing* Conference speaking* The PSF* and more!Show Links* David Mertz’s website* PyDev of the Week: David Mertz on Mouse vs Python* David Mertz on InformIT / Pearson Get full access to The Python Show at www.pythonshow.com/subscribe