Advantages of Completing Small Python Projects

Are you a beginner or intermediate Python programmer who has made it through some of the fundamentals? Have you tried to tackle a big project but got stuck and frustrated? Completing some small projects might be the answer. This week on the show, we have author Al Sweigart and talk about his new book, “The Big Book of Small Python Projects.”

We discuss the advantages of sometimes thinking small in terms of Python programs. We talk about completing projects and the benefits of manually copying code by typing it in yourself. Al also has suggestions about tools for beginners and intermediate developers.

Topics:

• 00:00:00 – Introduction
• 00:01:53 – Writing books and PyCascades 2021 Author panel
• 00:06:58 – Did you type in code from books as beginner?
• 00:10:16 – About the book
• 00:20:53 – Sponsor: Rev AI
• 00:21:30 – General instructions on how to start with the book
• 00:27:39 – Working with a debugger
• 00:30:28 – Experimenting with existing code
• 00:34:27 – Tools for learning touch typing
• 00:38:31 – Video Course Spotlight
• 00:39:37 – IDEs, Mu, and Python’s IDLE
• 00:45:42 – Online diff tool
• 00:47:27 – Some of the projects, games, animations
• 00:51:58 – Finishing things
• 00:54:07 – What are areas of Python you see beginners struggle with?
• 00:59:41 – What is something you wish you were shown as a beginner?
• 01:02:07 – What are you excited about in the world of Python?
• 01:04:34 – What do you want to learn next?
• 01:07:27 – Shout outs and social connections
• 01:08:33 – Thanks and goodbye

Show Links:

• The Big Book of Small Python Projects: No Starch Press
• Invent With Python
• Al Sweigart Website
• Everything You Need to Know About Writing Technical Python Books: PyCascades 2021
• PEP 657 – Include Fine Grained Error Locations in Tracebacks
• Episode 71: Start Using a Debugger With Your Python Code
• Nina Zakharenko - Goodbye Print, Hello Debugger! - PyCon 2020
• TypingClub: Learn Touch Typing for Free!
• Typespeed: Typing Speed Testing Game for Ubuntu Linux
• Code With Mu: Simple Python editor for beginner programmers
• IDLE: Python’s Integrated Development and Learning Environment
• 90 percent of US net users don’t know from crtl-F
• The Beginner’s Guide to Python Turtle: Real Python Article
• Python’s dir() Built-in Function: docs.python.org
• Python’s help() Built-in Function: docs.python.org
• How to Get Help in Python - Your First Steps -Announcing the Location for PyCon US 2022/2023
• Episode 33: Going Beyond the Basic Stuff With Python and Al Sweigart
• Focusmate: Distraction-free Productivity

Level up your Python skills with our expert-led courses:

• Grow Your Python Portfolio With 13 Intermediate Project Ideas
• Arduino With Python: Getting Started
• Debugging in Python With pdb

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