Write More Pythonic Code
Learning Path ⋅ Skills: Zen of Python, PEP 8, List Comprehensions, Application Layouts, Refactoring, Duck Typing, Type Checking, Type Hints, Protocols, Code Documentation, MkDocs, Code Quality, Pylint
In this learning path, you’ll learn to write cleaner, more Pythonic code. You’ll start with the Zen of Python and the PEP 8 conventions that encode it, then measure code quality, structure projects, and refactor what got complicated.
From there you’ll work through duck typing, type hints, static type checking, and protocols, and finish by documenting your projects with docstrings and MkDocs.
Write More Pythonic Code
Learning Path ⋅ 16 Resources
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Python Philosophy and Style
Pythonic code starts with knowing what Python’s designers were aiming for. You’ll explore the Zen of Python, learn the PEP 8 conventions that encode it, and put both to work writing idiomatic loops and comprehensions. Everything later in the path builds on this shared sense of what good Python looks like.
Course
Tapping Into the Zen of Python
Explore the Zen of Python and its 19 guiding principles for writing readable, practical code. Learn its history, jokes, and meaning.
Interactive Quiz
What Exactly Is the Zen of Python?
Course
Writing Idiomatic Python
What are the programming idioms unique to Python? This course is a short overview for people coming from other languages and an introduction for beginners to the idiomatic practices within Python. You'll cover truth values, looping, DRY principles, and the Zen of Python.
Course
Writing Beautiful Pythonic Code With PEP 8
Learn how to write high-quality, readable code by using the Python style guidelines laid out in PEP 8. Following these guidelines helps you make a great impression when sharing your work with potential employers and collaborators. This course outlines the key guidelines laid out in PEP 8.
Interactive Quiz
How to Write Beautiful Python Code With PEP 8
Course
How to Write Pythonic Loops
See how you can make your loops more Pythonic if you're coming to Python from a C-style language. You'll learn how you can get the most out of using range(), xrange(), and enumerate(). You'll also see how you can avoid having to keep track of loop indexes manually.
Course
Using List Comprehensions Effectively
This short course breaks down Python list comprehensions for you step by step. See how Python's comprehensions can be transformed from and to equivalent "for"-loops so you'll know exactly what's going on behind the scenes.
Code Quality and Structure
Style conventions tell you what good code looks like, but they don’t tell you whether your project has drifted. Now you’ll measure quality with linters like Pylint, lay out projects so they stay navigable as they grow, and refactor the parts that got complicated. These are the habits that keep a codebase readable after the first draft.
Course
Managing and Measuring Python Code Quality
Master Python code quality tools like linters, formatters, type checkers, and profilers to measure, manage, and improve the code you write.
Interactive Quiz
Python Code Quality: Best Practices and Tools
Course
Writing Cleaner Python Code With PyLint
See how to install and set up the PyLint code linter tool. You'll learn why you should use code linters like PyLint, Flake8, PyFlakes, or other static analysis tools—and how they can help you write cleaner and more Pythonic code.
Course
Structuring a Python Application
This course is a reference guide to common Python application layouts and project structures for command-line applications, web applications, and more.
Interactive Quiz
Python Project Structure: How to Choose the Right Layout
Tutorial
Refactoring Python Applications for Simplicity
Learn how to refactor your Python application to be simpler and more maintainable and have fewer bugs. You'll cover code metrics, refactoring tools, and common anti-patterns.
Duck Typing, Type Checking, and Protocols
Clean, well-structured code still needs to be clear about what it expects. Python’s answer starts loose with duck typing, then gets progressively more explicit through type hints, static type checking, and protocols that let you name a shape without inheriting from it. You’ll finish by annotating functions that can return more than one type.
Course
Getting to Know Duck Typing in Python
Learn about duck typing in Python---a type system based on an object's behavior rather than inheritance. By taking advantage of duck typing, you can create flexible and decoupled sets of Python classes that work together or independently.
Interactive Quiz