Julia vs Python: Which is Best to Learn First?

Feb 05, 2022 by Zulie Rane

Anyone who’s anyone in the tech world has heard of Python. It’s one of the most popular programming languages in the world, and it’s been near the top of developer popularity rankings for years. Wired reported that it’s tied for second with Java behind JavaScript. Julia, on the other hand, is the new kid on the block. The language is over 20 years younger than Python, and a lot of programmers have never heard of it.

How Hard Is Python to Learn?

Jan 24, 2022 by Zulie Rane

One of the difficulties of learning to program is first being able to read code. The great thing about Python is that it was designed with readability in mind. For many programming beginners wondering how hard Python is to learn, this article will help set expectations and give four strategies to learn Python fast, no matter what your skill level is. Since Python was designed to be easy to read, this makes it ideal for learning to program.

From Beginner to Experienced: 7 Best Practices for Every Python Developer

Jan 04, 2022 by Zulie Rane

If you’re looking to improve your coding, there are lots of steps you can take, but the first is focusing on Python best practices. It’s really important that your code is readable, testable, and maintainable. From picking good variable names, refactoring code that gets repeated out into its own method, or having clean and logical lines of inheritance and abstraction, there are a lot of qualities that differentiate code that someone wants to work with from code that everyone dreads having to maintain or develop further.

C# vs Python Comparison: Which Is Best for Backend Development, Machine Learning, and More

Dec 17, 2021 by Meghan Reichenbach

C# and Python represent the two sides of what it means to be a powerful language. C# is fast, lightweight, and flexible, while Python is robust, simple, and secure. But which language does coding best? Let’s find out as we compare Python and C#’s learning curve, speed, salary, and see how they rank for backend development, game development, and machine learning. By the end of this guide, you’ll know which language is best for you!

Python Assert Statement, How to Test a Condition

Dec 13, 2021 by Lane Wagner

In Python, an assertion is a statement that confirms something about the state of your program. For example, if you write a createUser function and you are sure that the user needs to be older than 18, you assert that the age field is greater than or equal to 18. You can think of an assert statement like a unit test that is performed at runtime. def createUser(user): assert user.age >= 18 tl;dr Assertions are simply boolean expressions that raise exceptions if their condition is False The assert statement is the built-in syntax for assertions in Python Developers often use assert to do type checking, and input/output validation for function signatures The assert statement is used for debugging purposes Anatomy of an assert statement in Python Python has a built-in assert statement, and its syntax is as follows.

Complete Guide to Removing Elements From Lists in Python

Dec 09, 2021 by Lane Wagner

While lists aren’t the most efficient data structure if you’ll be doing lots of deleting from the middle, there are definitely good ways to accomplish the task. The built-in [remove()](https://python-reference.readthedocs.io/en/latest/docs/list/remove.html) method should be your first option. Let’s go over some examples. Remove element in Python list by value primes = [2, 3, 5, 5, 7, 11] primes.remove(5) print(primes) # [2, 3, 5, 7, 11] primes.remove(5) # [2, 3, 7, 11] primes.

How to Use the Ternary Operator in Python

Dec 09, 2021 by Lane Wagner

Developers love concise code that’s easy to read. A ternary operator in Python is a piece of syntax that lets you perform a small if/else statement in a single line. Let’s take a look at a few examples. Selecting the larger number with a ternary bob_height = 6 jill_height = 7 larger_height = bob_height if bob_height > jill_height else jill_height You’ll notice that a ternary in Python actually looks a lot like a normal if/else statement, just jammed into one line.

Removing Duplicates From a List in Python

Dec 09, 2021 by Lane Wagner

Let’s go over a few idiomatic ways to remove duplicates from lists in Python. Method #1 - Create a new list (simplest) This is the easiest algorithm to code, but because it requires creating a new list, also requires more memory and is a bit slower. def remove_duplicates(original): deduped = [] for item in original: if item not in deduped: deduped.append(item) return deduped We take advantage of Python’s in keyword here, only adding each item to the final list if it isn’t already present.

How to Check if a File Exists in Python

Dec 08, 2021 by Lane Wagner

When working with files in Python, you’ll often need to check if a file exists before you do anything else with it, such as reading from or writing to it. Luckily, the Python standard library makes this a piece of cake. Use pathlib.Path.exists(path) to check for files and directories from pathlib import Path path_exists = Path.exists("home/dir/file.txt") if path_exists: print("found it!") else: print("not found :(") Notice that path_exists will be True whether this is a file or a directory, it’s only checking if the path exists.

9 Reasons Why Python Crushes PHP In Almost Every Way

Nov 05, 2021 by Zulie Rane

PHP famously claims to be the backend programming language for just under 80% of the Internet. However, if you look at the popularity rankings of programming languages, Python is consistently far ahead of PHP. How can that be? Both languages can be used for backend web development, and PHP was even specifically made for that. So which one is better, Python or PHP? If I were starting fresh, I’d pick learning Python versus PHP any day, and here’s why.