Better Python Code

Python is one of the most widely used programming languages in the world. It is used everywhere from primary school education to workaday web development, to the most advanced scientific research institutes of the world. However, like all programming languages, Python has a collection of "Pythonic" ways of accomplishing tasks that are easy to overlook, especially when habits are borrowed wholesale from work in other programming languages.

Better Python Code is a guide to Pythonic programming. The book presents common mistakes that Python developers make--even Python developers who have used the language for years--often because Python sometimes presents "attractive nuisances." Throughout, the book is a guide to better programming in the core Python language.

Each section shows a concrete but concise example of some misunderstanding or bad habit in action. Each section contains a description of what is wrong with the sample code and a suggestion for one or more better ways to code equivalent functionality without the initial pitfall. Every pitfall addressed in this book reflects foibles, errors, and misunderstandings that the author as seen in concrete, widely used code bases written by experienced developers, over his 25 years of writing Python.

Both beginners and developers with decades of experience will learn to correct limitations in the code they write after reflecting on these discussions.

About the Author

David Mertz has been a member of the Python community for 25 years. He has taught Python to scientists, developers coming from other languages, and to programming neophytes. He was a director of the Python Software Foundation (PSF) for six years and continues to serve on, or chair, a variety of PSF working groups. David is the author of several technical books and has given keynote addresses at numerous international programming conferences.

Table of Contents:

Foreword
Introduction

Chapter 1: Looping Over the Wrong Things
Chapter 2: Confusing Equality with Identity
Chapter 3: A Grab Bag of Python Gotchas
Chapter 4: Advanced Python Usage
Chapter 5: Just Because You Can, It Doesn't Mean You Should
Chapter 6: Picking the Right Data Structure
Chapter 7: Misusing Data Structures
Chapter 8: Security
Chapter 9: Numeric Computation in Python
Appendix: Topics for Other Books