Book Image

Secret Recipes of the Python Ninja

Book Image

Secret Recipes of the Python Ninja

Overview of this book

This book covers the unexplored secrets of Python, delve into its depths, and uncover its mysteries. You’ll unearth secrets related to the implementation of the standard library, by looking at how modules actually work. You’ll understand the implementation of collections, decimals, and fraction modules. If you haven’t used decorators, coroutines, and generator functions much before, as you make your way through the recipes, you’ll learn what you’ve been missing out on. We’ll cover internal special methods in detail, so you understand what they are and how they can be used to improve the engineering decisions you make. Next, you’ll explore the CPython interpreter, which is a treasure trove of secret hacks that not many programmers are aware of. We’ll take you through the depths of the PyPy project, where you’ll come across several exciting ways that you can improve speed and concurrency. Finally, we’ll take time to explore the PEPs of the latest versions to discover some interesting hacks.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
Title Page
Copyright and Credits
Packt Upsell
Foreword
Contributors
Preface
Index

Using alternative Python shells – bpython


bpython was created for developers who want more functionality in their Python environment without the overhead or learning curve associated with IPython. Hence, bpython provides many IDE-style features, but in a lightweight package. Some of the features available include:

  • In-line syntax highlighting
  • Autocomplete suggestions as you type
  • Suggested parameters for function completion
  • A code rewind feature that pops out the last line and re-evaluates the entire source code
  • Pastebin integration, allowing visible code to be sent to the Pastebin site

Getting ready

To use bpython, in addition to downloading the package itself you will also have to ensure that the following packages are installed on your system:

  • Pygments
  • requests
  • Sphinx (optional; for documentation only)
  • mock (optional; for the test suite only)
  • babel (optional; for internationalization purposes)
  • curtsies
  • greenlet
  • urwid (optional; for bpython-urwind only)
  • requests[security] for Python versions < 2.7.7

How...