Python AMA 5 Questions

Tuesday Dec 17th, the Python study group will be a Python AMA, with @Ned Batchelder (Deactivated) as the answerer. To ensure best answers, or just to spur other people to think of questions, you can write your questions on this page.

The Anything really means Anything: the language, the standard library, the culture, the community, other libraries like Django, and so on.

Previous AMAs:

• https://openedx.atlassian.net/wiki/pages/createpage.action?spaceKey=~ned&title=Python%20AMA%201%20Questions

• https://openedx.atlassian.net/wiki/pages/createpage.action?spaceKey=~ned&title=Python%20AMA%202%20Questions

• https://openedx.atlassian.net/wiki/pages/createpage.action?spaceKey=~ned&title=Python%20AMA%203%20Questions

• https://openedx.atlassian.net/wiki/pages/createpage.action?spaceKey=~ned&title=Python%20AMA%204%20Questions

Example Question:

• Is it true that Python is named for Monty Python, the legendary British comedy troupe, and that there are subtle and not-so-subtle references throughout the Python world? Like, the IDE that ships with Python is called IDLE (Integrated Development and Learning Environment), but really, IDLE is a backronym reference to Eric Idle?

Actual Questions:

• How do you judge whether a one-liner (or other solution) is “elegant” or complicated?

• What does your dev setup look like?

• On systems that don’t come with (current) Python cough macOS cough, how do you recommend installing and keeping it up-to-date?

• How did you get into Python originally?

  • What do you continue to like about it?

• Has python lived up to its original promise/why do you think python caught on?

• What is your opinion of typing(type hints) in python?

  • good? bad? unnecessary? way of the future? an essential fix? or not pythonic?

• What is your opinion of the := “walrus operator”?

• What question do you wish we would ask already?

• What is the thing you have encountered the most that most people think are correct but are actually wrong in Python? 

  • What are some Python things you’d like to see more widely used?

• What would you improve about the Python community in general?

• Is there anything you’d like to see Python adopt from other languages and communities?

• What is your recommendation for GUI app programming in Python?

• What’s missing from the stdlib?