Python Best Practices

Learn to Write Clean Python Code

Estefania Cassingena Navone

Learn to write Clean Python Code following the Official Python Style Guide and Python Best Practices. Expand your skills with engaging video lectures, diagrams, quizzes, articles, and additional resources.

This course is your Python Best Practices Handbook where you can find Python best practices and tips to write "pythonic" code.

Learn to Write Clean Python Code and Take your Python Skills to the Next Level

Write clean, readable, and maintainable Python code.
Assign meaningful names to your variables, functions, classes, and methods.
Learn how to indent Python code following the Python Style Guide.
Apply Python best practices for line length, line breaks, and blank lines.
Use whitespaces appropriately with variables, parentheses, operators, commas, colons, and semicolons.
Learn Python best practices to write comments in your code and why they are helpful to write readable code.
Apply Python best practices to work with strings, sequences, operators, functions, loops, files, and object-oriented programming.
Plus, learn additional tips to write "pythonic" code (the walrus operator, list comprehension, dictionary comprehension, and more...)

Course Updates

The course is frequently updated with new lectures, projects, and resources:

September 2023 - NEW. Code editor updated to Visual Studio Code.
September 2023 - NEW. Updated the PDF course study guide.
September 2023 - NEW. Updated lectures with a new style.
August 2023 - NEW. New discussion topics.
August 2023 - NEW. Updated articles.

Python and Clean Code: In-demand Skills Around the World

Python is currently one of the most popular programming languages and its popularity continues to rise every year. It is used for real-world applications in diverse areas such as Web Development, Data Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and many more.

If you are learning Python or if you already have some experience with this language, learning how to write clean, readable, and concise Python code following the best practices of the language is your next step into the amazing and powerful world of Python.

Learning Material & Resources

Throughout the course, you will find these resources:

Video Lectures: video lectures with carefully designed graphics and diagrams. You will learn the best practices of each topic with illustrative examples.
Quizzes: check your knowledge with 45+ quizzes with 213+ questions that provide unlimited attempts and instant feedback.
Articles: read articles with detailed explanations and illustrations to complement your knowledge.
Study Guide: review for the course exam with a detailed and unique PDF study guide with 120+ questions.
Course Exam: take a final course exam with 30+ questions to test your knowledge. The exam has unlimited attempts and detailed results for each attempt.

What makes this course unique?

This course is unique because of its emphasis on providing visual and detailed explanations of the best practices of Python. You will not only learn how to use these principles in Python, you will understand the purpose of each guideline and visualize it.

Unique study materials complement the course experience. You will find a PDF study guide specifically designed for the course with 120+ questions on the course content.

You will check your knowledge with Quizzes that will make you think more deeply about the topics presented in each section and you will receive instant feedback to check your answers.

You will receive a Certificate of Completion that you can add to your CV and social media profiles to showcase your new skills.

You will also have Lifetime Access to the course.

You are very welcome to watch the preview lectures and check out the full course curriculum.

If you are looking for an engaging, visual, and practical course, then you've found it.

Enroll now, add "Python Best Practices" and "Clean Code" to your resume, and showcase your new skills.

Enroll now

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What's inside

Learning objectives

How to write clean python code following the python style guide (pep 8).
Best practices for naming variables, functions, classes, methods, and sequences.
Best practices for indentation, line breaks, blank lines, and whitespaces in python.
How to write clean python loops with enumerate(), zip(), break, and the else clause.

Best practices to work with object-oriented programming in python.
How to work with files following the python style guide.
Tips to write more "pythonic" code (swap variables, list comprehensions, merge dictionaries, the walrus operator, and more).
How to document your code with block comments, in-line comments, and docstrings.

How to write clean python code following the python style guide (pep 8).
Best practices for naming variables, functions, classes, methods, and sequences.
Best practices for indentation, line breaks, blank lines, and whitespaces in python.
How to write clean python loops with enumerate(), zip(), break, and the else clause.
Best practices to work with object-oriented programming in python.
How to work with files following the python style guide.
Tips to write more "pythonic" code (swap variables, list comprehensions, merge dictionaries, the walrus operator, and more).
How to document your code with block comments, in-line comments, and docstrings.

Syllabus

Welcome to the Course: Python Best Practices

Importance of Writing Clean Code

Welcome to the Course - Important Course Information

Introduce yourself in the Q&A section and share your goals.

Advice on when to follow the Python Style Guide and when not to follow it.

Variables Best Practices in Python

Welcome to this Section

Check your knowledge of the use of compound statements with this short quiz.

Commonly used naming styles in programming, including snake_case, CamelCase, and mixedCase.

Check your knowledge of naming conventions with this short quiz.

Learn the rules that you must follow to name a variable in Python and the established naming conventions.

Learn the Python best practices for naming variables.

Learn what variable names you should avoid using in Python according to the official Python Style Guide (PEP 8).

Learn how to solve naming conflicts with Python keywords according to the official Python Style Guide (PEP 8).

Check your knowledge of naming rules and guidelines with this short quiz.

Learn how to define a constant in Python following the established naming conventions.

Check your knowledge of constants with this short quiz.

Learn the prefixes that are commonly used to name a variable that only takes boolean values (True or False).

Discussion Topic: Share your Thoughts

Indentation Best Practices in Python

Learn the best practices to write blank lines in Python functions, methods, and classes.

Learn why indentation is crucial in Python and why you will definitely need to use it in your programs.

Learn the Python indentation best practices and guidelines.

This is a very important concept that you need to know: handing indentation.

Check your knowledge of indentation guidelines and best practices with this short quiz.

Learn how to indent and unindent code in IDLE (+ keyboard shortcuts).

Learn how to tabify and untabify code in IDLE.

Learn how to change the number of spaces used per level of indentation in IDLE.

Learn the best practices to indent multi-line constructs.

Check your knowledge of indentation best practices with this short quiz.

Lines Best Practices: Break, Length, and Blank Lines

Learn how to write one-line docstrings and the best practices mentioned in the Python Style Guide.

Learn the length limit recommended by the Python Style Guide (PEP 8) and the acceptable modifications.

Check your knowledge of line length with this short quiz.

Learn how to use implied line continuation in Python with parentheses, square brackets, and curly braces.

Learn how to use backslashes to break a line into multiple lines.

Check your knowledge of line breaks with this short quiz.

Learn where to write binary operators that connect operands in different lines.

Check your knowledge of binary operators and line breaks with this short quiz.

Learn why you should avoid writing compound statements in a single line.

Check your knowledge of the recommended use of blank lines with this short quiz.

Whitespaces Best Practices in Expressions and Statements

Learn how to write multi-line docstrings and the best practices mentioned in the Python Style Guide.

Learn how to use whitespaces in variable definitions appropriately.

Check your knowledge of whitespaces and variables with this short quiz.

Learn how to use whitespaces with parentheses appropriately following the rules of the Python Style Guide (PEP 8).

Check your knowledge of whitespaces and parentheses with this short quiz.

Learn how to write whitespaces with commas, colons, and semicolons following the rules of the Python Style Guide.

Check your knowledge of the recommended use of whitespaces and commas, colons, and semicolons with this short quiz.

Learn how to use whitespaces with operators appropriately following the rules of the Python Style Guide.

Check your knowledge of the recommended use of whitespaces and operators with this short quiz.

Learn the best practices to use trailing whitespaces in Python.

Comments and Docstrings Best Practices

Learn how to check for prefixes and suffixes in a string following the recommendations of the Python Style Guide.

Learn why it is important to write comments to make your code more readable and understandable.

Learn why it is important to avoid over-commenting your code.

Check your knowledge of the basics of comments with this short quiz.

Learn what inline comments are, what they are used for, and how to use them appropriately.

Check your knowledge of inline comments with this short quiz.

Learn what block comments are, what they are used for, and how to use them appropriately.

Check your knowledge of block comments with this short quiz.

Learn what docstrings are and why they are very helpful to document your code.

Learn how to read the documentation strings of functions, classes, and methods using the __doc__ attribute.

Check your knowledge of docstrings with this short quiz.

Strings Best Practices in Python

Learn the recommended use of parentheses in expressions and statements.

Learn the recommended use of quotes for Python strings.

Learn how to define docstrings using triple quotes.

Check your knowledge of string quotes with this short quiz.

Learn the appropriate use of whitespace in string slicing with two and three parameters.

Check your knowledge of spaces in string slicing with this short quiz.

Learn why string methods should be used instead of the methods defined in the string module.

Learn how to concatenate strings following the best practices mentioned in the Python Style Guide.

Check your knowledge of string methods with this short quiz.

Learn the best practices for trailing whitespaces and how to trim leading and trailing whitespaces from strings.

Operators Best Practices in Python

Quick Tip: How to Leave or Update Your Review

Learn how to use comparison operators chaining in Python expressions.

Check your knowledge of the correct use of parentheses and comparison operators chaining with this short quiz.

Learn how to compare values to singletons like None using the 'is' operator.

Learn the recommended format to compare values using the 'is' operator.

Check your knowledge of the is operator with this short quiz.

Learn how to use truthy and falsy values directly in comparisons to avoid writing more complex expressions.

Example of the use of truthy and falsy values in Python.

Check your knowledge of truthy and falsy values with this short quiz.

Quick review of the best practices of operators, spaces, and line breaks in Python.

Sequences Best Practices (Lists, Tuples, and Dictionaries)

Good to know

Know what's good

, what to watch for

, and possible dealbreakers

Focuses on Python programming, which is highly relevant to industry

Provides a comprehensive study of Python programming practices

Builds strong python programming fundamentals for beginners

Strengthens existing Python programming foundations for intermediate learners

Offers a creative approach to Python programming

Taught by Estefania Cassingena Navone, a recognized expert in Python

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Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Python Best Practices: Learn to Write Clean Python Code with these activities:

Review Python Basics

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Review the basics of Python to ensure a strong foundation for learning advanced concepts in this course.

Browse courses on Python Basics

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Read through online tutorials or documentation on Python basics.
Revisit basic Python data types, operators, and control flow.
Practice writing simple Python scripts to reinforce understanding.

Build a Python Project

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Undertake a Python project to apply the concepts learned in the course and demonstrate your proficiency in Python programming.

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Identify a project idea that aligns with your interests and course objectives.
Plan and design the project, including its functionality, structure, and user interface.
Implement the project using Python, following best practices and adhering to the course guidelines.
Test and debug the project thoroughly to ensure its functionality and accuracy.
Document the project, including its purpose, implementation details, and usage instructions.

Show all two activities