Mon 21 May 2018

Python's Fake Increment and Decrement Operators

In Python, you can increase the value of a variable by 1 or reduce it by 1 using the augmented assignment operators. The code spam += 1 and spam -= 1 increments and decrements the numeric values in spam by 1, respectively.

Other languages such as C++ and Java have the ++ and -- operators for incrementing and decrementing variables. (The name of C++ itself reflects this; the name is a tongue-in-cheek joke that indicates it's an enhanced form of the C language.) Code in C++ and Java could have ++spam or spam++. Python wisely doesn't include these operators; they are notoriously susceptible to subtle bugs.

Mon 05 February 2018

Python Tuples are Immutable, Except When They're Mutable

Posted by Al Sweigart in misc

Before we can get a nuanced answer to "Are tuples mutable or immutable?", we need some background information.

Fri 02 February 2018

How To Ask For Programming Help

Posted by Al Sweigart in misc

I often get emails say little more than "Why doesn't my program work?" Often I can't answer them; either I don't have enough information about your problem or you're asking me about something I don't know anything about.

Wed 05 April 2017

Lessons Learned from Creating a Udemy Course

Posted by Al Sweigart in misc

This post contains the lessons I've learned and my process for creating video tutorials, and I hope others who want to do the same find it useful. While this post is specific to Udemy and programming courses, the same lessons probably apply to all online courses.

Tue 14 March 2017

How to Install Django 1.10.6 and Python 3.6.0 on Dreamhost Shared Hosting

Posted by Al Sweigart in misc

Django is a web app framework for Python (similar to Rails for Ruby). It implements common web app features so you don't have to write that code. Dreamhost is a web host that offers cheap but reliable web servers. Their shared hosting plan is $11 a month, and provides more than enough disk space and bandwidth for personal sites.

Mon 21 September 2015

"Automate the Boring Stuff with Python" online course now available!

Posted by Al Sweigart in misc

For the last few months I've been putting together an online course that follows my latest (and free) book, "Automate the Boring Stuff with Python". It is now available.

Tue 15 September 2015

APIs, not apps: What the future will be like when everyone can code

Posted by Al Sweigart in misc

I've written an article for OpenSource.com called APIs, not apps: What the future will be like when everyone can code, where I write about a coming future where programming ability is in the hands of everyone.

Tue 01 September 2015

3rd Edition of "Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python" Released

Posted by Al Sweigart in misc

The 3rd edition of "Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python" is now available.

Sat 20 December 2014

Translate Your Python 3 Program with the gettext Module

Posted by Al Sweigart in misc

You've written a Python 3 program and want to make it available in other languages. You could duplicate the entire code-base, then go painstakingly through each .py file and replace any text strings you find. Fortunately, Python provides a solution with the gettext module.