Book Image

Expert Python Programming - Second Edition

By : Michał Jaworski
Book Image

Expert Python Programming - Second Edition

By: Michał Jaworski

Overview of this book

Python is a dynamic programming language, used in a wide range of domains by programmers who find it simple, yet powerful. Even if you find writing Python code easy, writing code that is efficient and easy to maintain and reuse is a challenge. The focus of the book is to familiarize you with common conventions, best practices, useful tools and standards used by python professionals on a daily basis when working with code. You will begin with knowing new features in Python 3.5 and quick tricks for improving productivity. Next, you will learn advanced and useful python syntax elements brought to this new version. Using advanced object-oriented concepts and mechanisms available in python, you will learn different approaches to implement metaprogramming. You will learn to choose good names, write packages, and create standalone executables easily. You will also be using some powerful tools such as buildout and vitualenv to release and deploy the code on remote servers for production use. Moving on, you will learn to effectively create Python extensions with C, C++, cython, and pyrex. The important factors while writing code such as code management tools, writing clear documentation, and test-driven development are also covered. You will now dive deeper to make your code efficient with general rules of optimization, strategies for finding bottlenecks, and selected tools for application optimization. By the end of the book, you will be an expert in writing efficient and maintainable code.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
Expert Python Programming Second Edition
Credits
About the Authors
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

The seven rules of technical writing


Writing good documentation is easier in many aspects than writing code. Most developers think it is very hard, but by following a simple set of rules it becomes really easy.

We are not talking here about writing a book of poems but a comprehensive piece of text that can be used to understand a design, an API, or anything that makes up the codebase.

Every developer is able to produce such material, and this section provides seven rules that can be applied in all cases:

  • Write in two steps: Focus on ideas and then on reviewing and shaping your text.

  • Target the readership: Who is going to read it?

  • Use a simple style: Keep it straight and simple. Use good grammar.

  • Limit the scope of the information: Introduce one concept at a time.

  • Use realistic code examples: "Foos" and "bars" should be avoided.

  • Use a light but sufficient approach: You are not writing a book!

  • Use templates: Help the readers to get habits.

These rules are mostly inspired and adapted from Agile Documentation...