Writing clear, consistent docstrings in Python helps others understand your code’s purpose, parameters, and outputs. In this video course, you’ll learn about best practices, standard formats, and common pitfalls to avoid, ensuring your documentation is accessible to users and tools alike. By the end of this video course, you’ll understand that: Docstrings are strings used to document your Python code and can be accessed at runtime. Python comments and docstrings have important differences. One-line and multiline docstrings are classifications of […]

Interactive Quiz ⋅ 10 QuestionsBy Ian Eyre Share In this quiz, you’ll test your understanding of the TinyDB database library and what it has to offer, and you’ll revisit many of the concepts from the TinyDB: A Lightweight JSON Database for Small Projects tutorial. Remember that the official documentation is also a great reference. The quiz contains 10 questions and there is no time limit. You’ll get 1 point for each correct answer. At the end of the quiz, you’ll […]

TinyDB is a Python implementation of a NoSQL, document-oriented database. Unlike a traditional relational database, which stores records across multiple linked tables, a document-oriented database stores its information as separate documents in a key-value structure. The keys are similar to the field headings, or attributes, in a relational database table, while the values are similar to the table’s attribute values. TinyDB uses the familiar Python dictionary for its document structure and stores its documents in a JSON file. TinyDB is […]

Interactive Quiz ⋅ 10 QuestionsBy Joseph Peart Share Get hands-on with Python lists in this quick quiz. You’ll revisit indexing and slicing, update items in place, and compare list methods. Along the way, you’ll look at reversing elements, using the list() constructor and the len() function, and distinguishing between shallow and deep copies. For a refresher, see the Real Python guide to Python lists. The quiz contains 10 questions and there is no time limit. You’ll get 1 point for […]

Interactive Quiz ⋅ 9 QuestionsBy Joseph Peart Share In this quiz, you’ll revisit how to tame the file system with Python’s pathlib module. You’ll reinforce core pathlib concepts, including checking whether a path points to a file and instantiating Path objects. You’ll revisit joining paths with the / operator and .joinpath(), iterating over directory contents with .iterdir(), and renaming files on disk with .replace(). You’ll also check your knowledge of common file operations such as creating empty files with .touch(), […]

Interactive Quiz ⋅ 8 QuestionsBy Joseph Peart Share In this quiz, you’ll test your understanding of The Zen of Python. By working through this quiz, you’ll revisit core aphorisms and learn how they guide readable, maintainable, and Pythonic code. The questions explore practical tradeoffs like breaking dense expressions into smaller parts, favoring clarity over cleverness, and making code behavior explicit. The quiz contains 8 questions and there is no time limit. You’ll get 1 point for each correct answer. At […]

The Zen of Python is a collection of 19 aphorisms that capture the guiding principles behind Python’s design. You can display them anytime by running import this in a Python REPL. Tim Peters wrote them in 1999 as a joke, but they became an iconic part of Python culture that was even formalized as PEP 20. By the end of this tutorial, you’ll understand: The Zen of Python is a humorous poem of 19 aphorisms describing Python’s design philosophy Running […]

When you’re writing robust code, tests are essential for verifying that your application logic is correct, reliable, and efficient. However, the value of your tests depends on how well they demonstrate these qualities. Obstacles such as complex logic and unpredictable dependencies can make writing valuable tests challenging. The Python mock object library, unittest.mock, can help you overcome these obstacles. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to: Create Python mock objects using Mock Assert that you’re using objects […]

Last month brought exciting performance news for Python! The Python 3.15 alphas showed JIT compiler speed gains of up to 7–8% on some platforms, while pandas released version 3.0, delivering the most significant performance improvements in years. The Python Software Foundation also received considerable investments in Python security and launched the 2026 Python Developers Survey, and PyTorch 2.10 deprecated TorchScript. Time to dive into the biggest Python news from the past month! Python Releases and PEP Highlights Last month brought […]